Collective Bargaining Networks and Relational Coordination

The chapter presents results from a comparative analysis of collective bargaining networks in four countries and two sectors and discusses findings and methodological aspects at the light of the existing theories and concepts. In each country, collective bargaining networks in the pharmaceutical and retail sectors have been analysed. These two sectors have been selected as they represent different combinations of two variables: the skill level of the workforce and the degree of exposure to international competition. The results suggest an important role for non-formal interactions and forms of coordination in bargaining processes in all countries and sectors. These non-formal coordination mechanisms exhibit variance but are particularly important in those sectors/countries with more decentralised bargaining settings. Moreover, the analysis of bargaining networks has allowed to identify the importance of intra-organisational coordination dynamics for inter-organisational coordination, with trade unions playing a particularly important role in decentralised settings. Whilst the national institutional frameworks seem to play a relevant role in shaping bargaining networks and interactions, the results also point to the existence of sectoral patterns in the forms of coordination.