Bringing labour market flexibilization under control? Marginal work and collective regulation in the creative industries in the Netherlands

Abstract

The cultural and creative industries (CCI) is a sector where the workforce is highly educated, yet precarious working conditions are prominent. Although flexible and marginal work is often treated as an overall feature of the sector, this study based on register data on all workers in the sector shows that processes of flexibilization and marginalization are highly divergent between its subsectors. In half of the CCI subsectors, some form of collectively bargained response to the ongoing flexibilization and marginalization has emerged. This first of all shows that creative workers do indeed not only care about expressing their creativity but also about their material working and living conditions. Also how employers’ organizations and trade unions respond to these developments by means of collective agreements varies. Where they disagree, concrete action is postponed. Where they align, either counteracting measures are included, or attempts are made to bridge the divide between employees and the self-employed to some extend in the collective agreement. By doing so, they counteract processes of dualization, paving the road for innovative approaches of industrial relations actors. Still, this counts only for part of the CCI as much of it remains not covered by collective agreements.