CERC Public Seminar: 'Neo-Liberalism and “The Race to the Bottom” in European Labour Standards'

Tuesday 31 July, 1:00-2:00pm
at Room 212, Level 2, 234 Queensberry Street, The University of Melbourne

presented by

Prof Charles Woolfson

(Professor of Labour Studies in the School of Law, University of Glasgow)

Co-sponsored with Department of Criminology

Download audio mp3 (approx 14MB)

Abstract

The creation of market economies in post-communist Eastern Europe has been marked the implementation of ‘employer-friendly’ neo-liberal policies. The Baltic New Member States of Eastern Europe have experienced a significant deterioration in labour standards and in the working environment. Neo-liberal policies have led to an erosion of labour rights and undermined the role of regulation in labour protection, leading to a prevailing ‘conventionalisation’ of safety crime. This seminar explores some of the implications of a ‘race to the bottom’ in labour standards and working environment in post-communist societies for the preservation of labour standards and a ‘Social Model’ in the wider EU, particularly in the context of increasing migration flows from Eastern Europe.

For an article related to this topic see Charles Woolfson, "Labour Standards and Migration in the New Europe: Post-Communist Legacies and Perspectives" European Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 13, No. 2, 199-218 (2007)

Biography

Charles Woolfson is Professor of Labour Studies in the School of Law at the University of Glasgow. During 2004-2007 he has been on extended leave of absence as European Commission - appointed ‘Marie Curie Chair’ based at the University of Latvia. He has lived in the Baltic States for the last six years, conducting an ongoing programme of comparative research on issues of industrial relations, working environment and Corporate Social Responsibility in post-communist societies.