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Just vote no! Union–busting in the European fast–food industry: the case of McDonald’s
Author(s) -
Royle Tony
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
industrial relations journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.525
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1468-2338
pISSN - 0019-8692
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2338.00234
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , representation (politics) , corporation , european union , statutory law , collective bargaining , international trade , trade union , limiting , business , economics , law and economics , political science , law , market economy , mechanical engineering , politics , engineering
This paper examines the problem of effectively regulating the labour relations practices of multinational corporations. It focuses on the activities of the McDonald’s Corporation in a number of European countries. The findings suggest that public and private codes of conduct have a very limited effect and that determined and well–resourced corporations can not only undermine regional forms of regulation—such as that provided by the European Union—but also, and to a considerable extent, national–level regulation. This is particularly evident in the area of independent trade union representation. Although its aim of avoiding collective bargaining and union recognition wherever possible is only partially successful, McDonald’s appears to have developed a number of highly effective strategies for limiting the presence of trade unions at restaurant level, particularly in avoiding or undermining statutory works councils and union representation rights.