Trade Unions in Europe

Based on a previous research on Trade Unions in Europe, it is interesting to found that continents with such a deep differences in extent of development, cultures and Corporate Practices agree in something as important as Trade Unions.
In Latin America as in Europe, trade Unions play an important a determinant role in the industrialization process, in other words, in the economy.
It’s quite particular to see the importance of trade Unions in a Continent which is well known for promoting individual rights and favoring the best working conditions.
Addressing the current crisis, Trade Unions have enforced their roles in an attempt to protect their interest and guide the practices of governments to desirable outcomes that benefit the current position in today’s economies. This position is reflected into the new practice of companies and unions, a “neoprotectionist” way.

"European Trade Unions have made a very clear choice inspired by a vision of continuity rather than of innovation. This choice belongs to a tendency which manifests itself also in continents very different from Europe, such as Latin America. Here in the countries with the strongest trade unionist tradition, we witness the deepest differences and most contrasting dynamics of trade unions' activities. This is due to the role which the political classes still play in the system of industrial relations, a role that has been on the decline in Europe (Astudillo 1999). For this reason, it is necessary to proceed on the basis of comparative studies more intensively than has occurred so far.11 In Europe, as in South America, labour unions aim at strengthening statist neoprotectionist tendencies as well as strengthening the resistance against globalization. As a consequence, unions try to promote at the industrial relations level policies consistent with the above tendencies rather than with the orientations favoured by business associations and by the micro-molecular entrepreneurs who support all-out deregulation. Labour unions have historically implemented their strategy in a well tested manner. Whenever their power of representation was strong and the fragmentation of that representation was limited, unions attempted, often with success, to trade social peace and moderation in contractual and wage bargaining, for a co-management of the processes regulating industrial restructuring and the other changes underway, resulting in 'neocorporatist pacts'. The mechanism known as 'supply side corporatism' arose from the process outlined above."1

1Sapelli, G.. (2009). Industrial Relations and the World Economic Crisis in the Context of Globalisation: From Europe to the World. The Economic and Labour Relations Review : ELRR, 20(1), 111-122. Retrieved April 28, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1961405251)