Summaries
Political aspects of Dutch unemployment W.Visser en R. Wijnhoven
Teh development of Dutch unemployment cannot be explained by reference to economic factors alo ne. The huge unemployment is partly due tot poli tical factors, i.c. socio-economic policy. This con clusion is illustrated by interviews with 25 per sons, who were actively involved in the design of Dutch socio-economic policy in the past and the present. The findings from the interviews give way for the assumption that the socio-economic conditions for a return to a situation of full em ployment do not exist, even when economic con ditions for full employment were present.
Why do young people join unions? H. de Witte
This article presents results of a research into low degrees of participation of young people in trade unions in Belgium. It is shown that three factors are responsible for subscription: union members hip of frinds, stimulation by parents and the expe rience of problems on the labour market. The so cial environment is decisive, not the need for in dividual assistance. The influence of friends is more important than the influence of parents. The results show that less conscious factors might be more important than rational choice.
This conclusion has implications for trade union membership policies. If working youngsters’ membership were based upon rational choice and cost benefit analysis, unions would have to ex pand (individual or collective) services to mem bers. If it is true that the social environment is the most important factor explaining union subscrip tion by young people, unions will have to try to influence the social environment.
New technology and the labor position of women
by R. Braaksma, E. POutsma and D. Trommel Women’s work is endagered by the introduction of new technology in factories producing sweets, chocolates etc.. Research shows that reorganizati ons in consequence of new technology lead to (potentially) better chance for men than for wo men. This is mainly a result of a spilt-up of tasks between core and peripherical functions, based on technical considerations. Prejudices concer ning men’s and women’s qualifications also play their part. Very few women succeed in attaining a core function. If they do, their position remains vulnerable.
It is concluded that a policy to improve the labor position of women will have to take into account both an integrated approach to the design of the labor organization and conditions concerning wo men’s emancipation.
The Belgian technology agreement CA039 M. Albertijn, B. Hanck6. D. Wijgaerts
In December 1983, the technology agreement CA039 was reached in Belgium, covering all en terprises in the private sector. In this review arti cle, bases on both qualitatve and quantitative re search data, a general evaluation of the history, content and practical use of CA039 in Belgian in dustrial relations is presented.
Since there appear to exist quite a large number of obstacles to a creative use of the agreement, the final paragraphs list some of the short term and longer term strategic issues at stake for the Belgi an trade unions.
Summaries
The balance of working time reduction W.A.M. de Lange
From 1983 to 1987 there has been a general re duction of working time in the Netherlands. In this article this development is evaluated form an organisational point of view.
From this point of view conclusions on the intro duction of working time reduction are disappoin ting: operating hours were often reduced instead of enlarged; there have been many organisational problems; management, especially in the lower and middle levels, has problems with it; and there was no substantial amount of new jobs as a conse quence of working time reduction.
Probably working time reduction has had a positi ve effect on profits. Nevertheless, employers are no advocates of further working time reduction, to a large extent because of the problems mentio ned above. The unions too have problems with further working time reduction.
That is why the process of the introduction of fur ther working time reduction has stopped now. For the future the author expects further working time reduction, although its form will change. Flexibilisation of labour, individualisation in so ciety, decentralisation and other developments lead to the conclusion that the probability of new and differentiated patterns of working time reduc tion is high.
Labour mobility in the Netherlands 1957-1985 J. Hartog, E. Mekkelholt and H. van Ophem The discussion on the working of the labour mar ket concentrates on the question to which degree there has been a structural rigidity of labour. In this article it is concluded that there is no drama tic strutural decrease in job mobility, as is often suggested. More plausible is a conjunctural cause for the decrease in job mobility. Insofar there has been a structural decraese can this be attributed to a shift from the external to the internal labour market.
The labour market position of educational qualifications
A.G. Glebbeek
A theoretical model is proposed for the relative position of educational qualifications in the labor queue. The purpose is to formalize and make ex plicit the determining factors that have largely re mained implicit in Thurow’s original contributi on. It can be shown that a synthesis in one model of the human capital and screening hypotheses is quite possible.
The second part of the article illustrates the fruit fulness of the model for the explanation of unem ployment differences between academic discipli nes. The model enables the systematic deduction of a great many different explanations. This throws a clear light on the limited and unsophisti cated character of the conceptions on wich many policy measures and much publik discussion is based.
