The purpose of this article is to engage critically with
recent scholarship that accuses European trade unions
of having been co-opted into neoliberal restructuring
within the EU. The article first demonstrates, through
a focus on British and German unions, that even if they
have accepted economic and monetary union as such,
trade unions still reject its underlying neoliberal
rationale and demand changes to its operation. Then
an analysis at the European level shows how trade
unions have potential strategies at their disposal that
allow them to counter restructuring, with specific
reference to the European Metalworkers’ Federation
and the European Federation of Public Service Unions.
Andreas Bieler
