The Revival of Union-Government Social Pacts in Europe

Abstract

0 ne of the most striking developments in the industrial relations and political economy of Western Europe has been the re-emergence of " social pacts . " Generally defined as union-government agreements on wage and/or nonwage issues, ostensibly similar arrangements flourished during the upsurge of union power and militancy that began in the late 1960s, but they practically disappeared with the onset of world recession in the early 1 9 80s. The re-emergence of pacts, often dated from the early 1 990s, has raised important questions about union and governmental power. If union decline is as widespread and as severe as many commentators have argued, then why have so many governments entered negotiations with union movements about such major issues as wage increases? What do such pacts tell us about the power of governments? And to what extent do such negotiations bring benefits for unions and their members?