ABSTRACT
Given the effects of liberalisation, privatisation and marketisation described in the previous sections it should be no surprise that these policies have met increasing resistance across Europe. Considering the consequences for employment and working conditions, public service trade unions have a genuine interest in opposing privatisation and its associated processes. This chapter summarises and analyses main features of the trade union struggle for public services in Europe. Not only has the form of struggles changed over the last two decades, the content has also shifted from a rather narrow stand against employment cuts and the deterioration of working and employment conditions to a fight for high-quality and widely accessible public services. In this connection trade unions have applied new strategies and found new combatants. The chapter starts with a summary of the traditional means of industrial conflict such as strikes and concession bargaining. The following section describes new strategies such as campaigning and coalition building and discusses its main strengths and weaknesses. The next section deals with a special feature of the struggle for public services: the struggle for social regulation in liberalised and privatised sectors and companies. This is followed by a short account of European campaigns for high-quality and accessible public services and for a separate public service directive. The chapter ends with a description of more proactive campaigns—aiming at strengthening the public sector and bringing back privatised services under public management—and with a summary of the struggle.
