Trade union power during labour adjustments – comparison of company-level cases

Abstract

This article discusses local trade union power in labour adjustment processes within the Nordic systems of industrial relations by comparing labour adjustment processes in construction and manufacturing in Finland and Norway. The quality of cooperative relations and the conditions for exchange – through co-decision mechanisms and procedures, as well as rules for temporary lay-offs and dismissal selections – are essential for union influence. Together with production technologies, the organization of work and employee competence, such institutions and regulations interact in influencing union power, providing more influence to the unions in the Norwegian cases than the Finnish ones, while the unions in the manufacturing cases were more influential than those in construction.