Curbing inequalities in Europe: The impact of industrial relations and labour policies

A key focus of international debate in recent times has been increased income inequalities and their adverse effects both socially and economically. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2015) income inequality is at its highest level for the past half-century and for the International Monetary Fund (IMF, 2015) growing inequalities hamper economic growth. The reduction of inequalities was recently asserted by the international community (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; United Nations General Assembly, 2015) and European organisations as an important policy target. It has also been highlighted that the sources of growing inequality emerge from mechanisms in the world of work (ILO, 2014, 2016; Berg, 2015; EC, 2015a; OECD, 2015). The purpose of this volume is to address the question of income inequalities from its root causes, by highlighting that inequalities may be generated from different labour market and industrial relations systems. Particular attention is thus paid in this volume to how industrial relations – the various interactions that employers, worker representatives and the state may have on a number of issues – and, in particular, collective bargaining (bilateral negotiations between employer and worker representatives, which the European Commission (EC) calls ‘autonomous social dialogue’ (Andor, 2012: 3; see also EC, 2015b)) and tripartite social dialogue (dialogue and perhaps negotiations between the three sides) may contribute to limiting or even reducing different possible forms of inequality. We also highlight how this relationship may have changed over time. All European countries have put in place a number of labour market reforms that have led to the emergence of new forms of employment