EMPLOYABILITY AND SECURITY IN A FLEXIBLE GLOBAL LABOUR MARKET Current issues, challenges and opportunities Trade unions must adapt to change or die Trade unions will not survive unless they adapt to reflect changes in the work environment, believes John Monks, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress(TUC), Britain’s national trade union organisation. Launching a discussion centred on the issues, challenges and opportunities confronting trade unions, he argued that the kind of labour market we want, and how we balance job flexibility and security, are of crucial importance to unions throughout Europe. ‘One of the most important policy debates in our society is what kind of capitalism we want, how it is tempered by rules and how we manage it. These questions and the ways in which trade unions confront them are crucial to our continuation and future. How we balance flexibility and security, cope with changes, create jobs – are just some of the challenges facing us.’ Trade unions grew strong on the back of policies aimed at achieving high or full employment. Workers’ rights then became the leading issue. Now, however, unions face a variety of challenges emanating from the twin issues of flexibility and security. ‘These are among the most important policy debates in our society. They go beyond mere market considerations to define the kind of capitalism we want, and how it will be tempered by rules and human considerations. This debate is at the heart of where the trade union movement is going. In Britain we have seen the way people earn a living change quickly in a relatively short space of time. When I talk to schoolchildren, not one of them is thinking of working in a factory. Those living in southeast England do not see future employment opportunities anywhere other than in service industries. When I was at school 44 per cent of the boys left to become apprentices. Now expectations have changed completely. Over 20 per cent of those entering the workforce have higher education qualifications, and in Scotland the proportion is even higher. Furthermore the government is committed to raising the proportion still further. Huge sociological changes have been taking place. In both the UK and Germany the mills and large engineering works that were characteristic of both countries have closed. Employment prospects are very different. We must ask ourselves if our future will inevitably follow the US model. Will those entering the labour market at the lower end be trapped? Or do such jobs represent the gateway to the American dream of advancement and prosperity?’ 2 © Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society