Collective bargaining in transnational companies: global and European dimensions

Abstract

As regards to European social dialogue, collective bargaining and agreements are considered paramount to guarantee a proper connexion with and among different social actors intervening in labour markets. The increased internationalization of European enterprises has brought up the inevitable relation between a company’s different workplace centres across borders. However, keeping in mind the diversity of legal labour regulations between Member States, the issue of which rules should apply to the implementation of those transnational company agreements remains uncertain. Unlike cross-industry agreements, company agreements lack the legal coverage to properly develop; hence the need to seek, within the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union, for legal mechanisms that might strengthen the legal binding character of transnational company agreements and assure their implementation in different countries. This article critically analyses some different legal solutions suggested by the literature in this regard and explores to which extent they can also be applied on an international or global scale.