A Flexible Country in the Making:Reaction and strategy of the trade union movement to flexibilization in the Netherlands in the 1980s

Internationally, the 1980s marked a shift in economic policy. In the Netherlands, the supposedly moderate neoliberal turn and the first round of flexibilization characterized the decade. Nowadays, labour market flexibility is exceptionally high in the Netherlands compared to neighbouring countries. This article examines how the trade union movement in the 1980s responded to increasing flexibilization, which strategy was used, and how this contributed to early Dutch flexibilization. In contrast to literature reflecting an institutional perspective, the trade union movement is analysed in this a... Mehr ...