Trade unions answer to the challenge of the network company: the petrochemical and nuclear sectors

Abstract

The network-firm model represents a challenge for industrial relations systems. Collective bargaining institutions were historically conceived within the Fordist model of vertically integrated organizations. However, these institutions do not seem to be adapted to the problems raised in the dispersed enterprise created by outsourcing. Work organizations are increasingly dissociated from the firm, defined as a legal entity and assets owner, and this establishes de facto triangular employment relations between the main company (client), the outsourced company (formal employer) and the worker. We argue that the search for answers and efforts to rebuild work solidarities rely upon action by workers’ representatives and social relations. Based on a qualitative study conducted in two process industries (power generation and petrochemical), the article analyses the effects of the triangular work relation at the plant-level using two experiments of trade unions’ organization and territorial collective bargaining. We question their outcomes and limits in the rebuilding of a “work community” involving outsourced workers.