Lars Vande Keybus
Post growth without strong collective bargaining?
Goals post growth = goals TU movement
Reduce the environmental impact of human activities;
Redistribute income and wealth both within and between countries;
Promote the transition from a materialistic to a convivial and participatory society.
Goals post growth = goals TU movement
ď ľ
A post growth world is impossible without a radical redistribution of income and wealth.
ď ľ
A post growth world is impossible without eradicating the existing inequalities.
Outrageous inequalities the period between 2006 and 2015, ordinary workers saw their incomes rise by an average of just 2% a year, while billionaire wealth rose by nearly 13% a year – almost six times faster.
In
82%
of all growth in global wealth in the in 2017 went to the top 1%, while the bottom half of humanity saw no increase at all.
42
people now own the same wealth as the bottom 3.7 billion people
How did we get here?
How did we get here?
How did we get here?
Tax and regulation minimised
Public services privatised.
The organisation of labour and collective bargaining by trade unions = market distortions
Inequality = a virtue: a reward for winners, trickle down
1965 vs 2018
Profit
1965 : 11 billion (2017 $)
Workforce:
650.000
Profit
2017: 48 billion
Workforce:
120.000
Where did all the money go?
Reinvested (partly)
Consumed (massive & unnecessary)
Hidden where no tax officer has gone before
Rent seeking, financial castles in the sky, …. 2008
It could have gone to…
How can we overcome?
Organise – Organise – Organise
The Belgian case
The Belgian case
Union membership
Coverage rate of collective bargaining
Statutory, national minimum wage
Wage indexation system
And coordinated, centralised wage bargaining
The Belgian case
The Belgian case
The Belgian case: the outcome
The Belgian case: widely applauded? IMF, OECD, ECB, EU Commission opinions:
Abolish wage indexation system
Decentralise wage negotiations
Lower minimum wages
Flexibilize labour market
Redistribution = working time reduction
Unvoluntarity part time >< burn-outs, depression
precarious contracts >< stable contracts
gender
Concluding remarks
Stronger collective bargaining => the way to go (Ryanair,…) Gig economy? Disruption?
A relic from the past? Don’t think so…