Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T07:26:58.242Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Between government unilateralism and corporatist bargaining: public sector pension reforms in the UK and Ireland, 2000s–2010s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2019

Sung Ho Park
Sung Ho Park*
Affiliation:
Department of International Relations, Yonsei University, 1 Yonseidae-gil, Wonju, Gangwon 26493, Wonju Campus, South Korea
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Studies on welfare reform in advanced European countries have identified two established paths to welfare retrenchment: government unilateralism and corporatist bargaining. This study explores a more complicated path to welfare reform, wherein governments pursue ‘non-corporatist’ bargaining by actively combining features of unilateralism and negotiation. Such a hybrid case is explained by employing an ‘insider-outsider’ framework for public policy reform. The key argument is that the presence of exclusive insiders complicates the reform process, disqualifying both unilateralism and corporatist bargaining as feasible options for benefit cuts. The author demonstrates the validity of this claim by examining three cases of public sector pension retrenchment in the UK and Ireland during the 2000s and 2010s. Defying the common expectation that benefit cuts in residual welfare states would be promoted with government unilateralism, the public sector pension reforms in the UK and Ireland exhibited more complicated features which combined governments' unilateral initiatives and ad hoc negotiations with public sector unions. Future studies may build on this finding to examine hybrid reform cases in a general European context.

Keywords

Non-corporatist bargainingpublic sector pensionthe UKIrelandwelfare reform
Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 107 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, D (2011) (Chief Secretary to the Treasury, HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, the UK). Letter to: Brendan Barber (TUC General Secretary, Congress House, Great Russel Street, London, the UK). July 18, 2011.Google Scholar
Anderson, KM and Meyer, T (2003) Social democracy, unions, and pension politics in Germany and Sweden. Journal of Public Policy 23, 23–54.Google Scholar
Armingeon, K and Bonoli, G (eds) 2006. The Politics of Post-Industrial Welfare State: Adapting Post-war Social Policies to new Social Risks. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
ASTI (2012) Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement 2010–2014 Outcome of ASTI/Department Talks. Available at http://www.asti.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Other_publications/9877_ASTI_Croke_Park_Talks.pdfGoogle Scholar
Baccaro, L (2003) What is alive and what is dead in the theory of corporatism. British Journal of Industrial Relations 41, 683–706.Google Scholar
Baccaro, L and Pontusson, J (2016) Rethinking comparative political economy: the growth model perspective. Politics & Society 44, 175–207.Google Scholar
Bach, S and Winchester, D (2003) Industrial relations in the public sector. In Edward, P (ed.), Industrial Relations: Theory & Practice in Britain. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 285–312.Google Scholar
Biegert, T (2017) Welfare benefits and unemployment in affluent democracies: the moderating role of the institutional insider/outsider divide. American Sociological Review 82, 1037–1064.Google Scholar
Blake, D (2003) Pension Schemes and Pension Funds in the United Kingdom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bonoli, G (2000) The Politics of Pension Reform: Institutions and Policy Change in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bonoli, G and Natali, D (eds) 2012. The Politics of the New Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cabrero, GR (2011) The consolidation of the Spanish Welfare State (1975–2010). In León, M and Guillén, AM (ed.), The Spanish Welfare State in European Context. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, pp. 17–38.Google Scholar
Carrera, LN and Marina, A and Carolo, D (2010) Political competition and societal veto players: the politics of pension reform in Southern Europe. Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche 1, 5–31.Google Scholar
Chulia, E (2009) Spain: between majority rule and incrementalism. In Immergut, EM, Anderson, KM and Schulze, I (eds), The Handbook of West European Pension Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 499–554.Google Scholar
CPSU (2011) Civil Public and Services Union 2011 Annual Report. Dublin: New Century Publishing Ltd.Google Scholar
Culpepper, PD and Regan, A (2014) Why don't governments need trade unions anymore? The death of social pacts Ireland and Italy. Socio-Economic Review 12, 723–745.Google Scholar
Daly, M and Yeates, N (2003) Common origins, different paths: adaptation and change in social security in Britain and Ireland. Policy & Politics 31, 85–97.Google Scholar
DSFA (2007 a) Green Paper on Pensions. Dublin: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
DSFA (2007 b) Speech by the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D, at the launch of the Government Green Paper on Pensions in Government Building. Available at http://www.welfare.ie/en/downloads/speech%20by%20the%20taoiseach%2017102007.pdfGoogle Scholar
DSFA (2008) Report on the Consultation Process for the Green Paper on Pensions. Dublin: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
DSFA (2010) National Pensions Framework. Dublin: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
DWP (2002) Simplicity, Security and Choice: Working and Saving for Retirement. Norwich: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B (2011) Introduction: studying pension privatization in Europe. In Ebbinghaus, B (ed.), The Varieties of Pension Governance: Pension Privatization in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–22.Google Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B and Gronwald, M (2011) The changing public-private pension Mix in Europe: from path dependence to path departure. In Ebbinghaus, B (ed.), The Varieties of Pension Governance: Pension Privatization in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 23–56.Google Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B and Hassel, A (2000) Striking deals: concertation in the reform of continental European Welfare States. Journal of European Public Policy 7, 44–62.Google Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B and Visser, J (eds) (2000) Trade Unions in Western Europe Since 1945. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Emmenegger, P, Häusermann, S, Palier, B and Seeleib-Kaiser, M (eds) (2012) The Age of Dualization: The Changing Face of Inequality in Deindustrializing Societies. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
EPSU (2006) Further action planned after national pensions strike. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
EPSU (2007) Unions consult over local government pension changes. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
EPSU (2009 a) Union ballots members for strike action. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
EPSU (2009 b) Public sector unions plan further action after national strike. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
EPSU (2010) Union decides to recommend acceptance of public service agreement. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
EPSU (2011 a) Unions step up pensions campaigning. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
EPSU (2011 b) Mixed reactions to pension proposals. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
EPSU (2012) Further strike action against pension proposals. Available at https://www.epsu.org/search/type/epsucob_article?mefibs-form-autocomplete-search_api_views_fulltext=&mefibs-form-autocomplete-mefibs_block_id=autocompleteGoogle Scholar
European Commission (2013) Industrial Relations in Europe 2012. Luxemburg: Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
EurWork (2005 a) Government and unions agree on public sector pensions framework. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
EurWork (2005 b) Talks on public sector pensions avert planned strike. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
EurWork (2009) National pay deal collapses in midst of economic crisis. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
EurWork (2010) Croke park deal delivers cost containment and promises major change in public sector. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
EurWork (2011 a) New proposals for public service pensions. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
EurWork (2011 b) Strikes highlight union concerns over public sector pension reform. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
EurWork (2012 a) Public service workers strike over pension reforms. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
EurWork (2012 b) Change in public service pensions for new recruits. Available at https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurworkGoogle Scholar
Ferrera, M (ed.) (2005) Welfare State Reform in Southern Europe: Fighting Poverty and Social Exclusion in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fisher, J (2002) The United Kingdom. European Journal of Political Research 41, 1101–1110.Google Scholar
Gamble, A (1988) The Free Economy and the Strong State. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Grossman, GM and Helpman, E (2001) Special Interest Politics. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hamann, K and Kelly, J (2011) Parties, Elections and Policy Reforms in Western Europe: Voting for Social Pacts. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hardiman, N (2002) From conflict to Co-ordination: economic governance and political innovation in Ireland. West European Politics 25, 1–24.Google Scholar
Hassel, A (2014) The paradox of liberalization: understanding dualism and the recovery of the German political economy. British Journal of Industrial Relations 52, 57–81.Google Scholar
Häusermann, S (2010) The Politics of Welfare State Reform in Continental Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
HM Treasury (2011) Public Service Pensions: Good Pensions That Last. London: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
House of Commons (2011) HC Deb. 2 November 2011 c.928.Google Scholar
Howell, C (2005) Trade Unions and the State: The Construction of Industrial Relations in Britain, 1890–2000. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Huber, E and Stephens, JD (2001) Development and Crisis of the Welfare State. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
IB (2011) Public Service Agreement 2010–2014: First Progress Report. Available at http://implementationbody.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Implementation-Bodys-First-Progress-Report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Immergut, EM, Anderson, KM and Schulze, I (eds) (2009) The Handbook of West European Pension Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
IPSPC (2010) Independent Public Service Pensions Commission: Interim Report. London: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
IPSPC (2011) Independent Public Service Pensions Commission: Final Report. London: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
Jessoula, M and Alti, T (2010) Italy: an uncompleted departure from Bismarck. In Palier, B (ed.), A Long Goodbye to Bismarck? The Politics of Welfare Reform in Continental Europe. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 157–182.Google Scholar
Levy, JD (1999) Vice in to virtue? Progressive politics and welfare reform in continental Europe. Politics & Society 27, 239–273.Google Scholar
Lindeman, (2002) Issues Concerning Occupational Schemes for Civil Servants and Other Public Sector Workers. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Lohmann, S (1998) An information rationale for the power of special interests. American Political Science Review 92, 809–827.Google Scholar
LRC (2010) Labour Relations Commission: Annual Report for 2010 and Challenges in 2011. Available at https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Publications_Forms/Archived_Publications/LRC_Annual_Report_2010_English_.pdfGoogle Scholar
Mahoney, J (2007) Qualitative methodology and comparative politics. Comparative Political Studies 40, 122–144.Google Scholar
Myles, J and Pierson, P (2001) The comparative political economy of pension reform. In Pierson, P (ed.), The New Politics of the Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 305–333.Google Scholar
Natali, D and Rhodes, M (2004) Trade-offs and veto players: reforming pensions in France and Italy. French Politics 2, 1–23.Google Scholar
Natali, D and Stamati, F (2014) Reassessing south European pensions after the crisis: evidence from two decades of reforms. Southern European Society and Politics 19, 309–330.Google Scholar
O'Malley, E (2010) Ireland. European Journal of Political Research 49, 1017–1024.Google Scholar
OECD (2007) Pensions at a Glance: Public Policies Across OECD Countries. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD (2012) Pensions at a Glance 2011: Retirement-Income Systems in OECD and G20 Countries. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD (2013) Review of the Irish Pension System: Preliminary Version. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Olson, M Jr (1971) The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ornston, D and Schulze-Cleven, T (2015) Conceptualizing cooperation: coordination and concertation as Two logics of collective action. Comparative Political Studies 48, 555–585.Google Scholar
Palacios, R and Whitehouse, E (2006) Civil-service Pension Schemes Around the World. SP Discussion Paper No.0602. Washington DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Palier, B (2010) Ordering change: understanding the ‘Bismarckian’ Welfare Reform Trajectory. In Palier, B (ed.), A Long Goodbye to Bismarck? The Politics of Welfare Reform in Continental Europe. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 19–44.Google Scholar
PCS (2011) PCS stands firm for fair pensions deal. Available at http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/pcs_comment_archive.cfm/id/36ADF955-53A6-4C32-99F0A993C992ED1DGoogle Scholar
PCS (2012) Unite rejects local government pension proposal. Available at http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/pcs_comment_archive.cfm/id/F0A7EC4A-A3B6-4A72-99CF6EDB6A48FDF9Google Scholar
Pierson, P (1994) Dismantling the Welfare State? Reagan, Thatcher and the Politics of Retrenchment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pierson, P (ed.) (2001) The New Politics of the Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pontusson, J (2005) Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Public sector unions to ballot over pensions and job cuts as talks stall. 2011 The Guardian. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/may/18/public-sector-unions-ballot-pensions-cutsGoogle Scholar
Regan, A (2012) The political economy of social pacts in the EMU: irish liberal market corporatism in crisis. New Political Economy 17, 465–491.Google Scholar
Rhodes, M (2001) The political economy of social pacts: ‘competitive corporatism’ and european welfare reform. In Pierson, P (ed.), The New Politics of the Welfare State. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 165–194.Google Scholar
Ross, F (2000) Beyond left and right: the new Partisan politics of welfare. Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration 13, 155–183.Google Scholar
Rothenbacher, F (2004) The Welfare State of the Civil (or Public) Servants in Europe: A Comparison of the Pension Systems for Civil (or Public) Servants in France, Great Britain, and Germany. Working Papers No. 74. Mannheim: MZES.Google Scholar
Rueda, D (2005) Insider–outsider politics in industrialized democracies: the challenge to social democratic parties. American Political Science Review 99, 61–74.Google Scholar
Schludi, M (2005) The Reform of Bismarckian Pension Systems: A Comparison of Pension Politics in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.Google Scholar
Schludi, M (2008) Between conflict and consensus: the reform of Bismarckian pension regimes. In Arza, C and Kohli, M (eds), Pension Reform in Europe: Politics, Policies and Outcomes. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Schmitter, PC (1974) Still the century of corporatism? Review of Politics 36, 85–131.Google Scholar
Schulze, I and Moran, M (2009) United Kingdom: pension politics in an adversarial system. In Immergut, EM, Anderson, KM and Schulze, I (eds), The Handbook of West European Pension Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 49–96.Google Scholar
Taylor-Gooby, P (2002) Welfare reform in the UK: the construction of a liberal consensus. In Talyor-Gooby, P (ed.), Welfare State Under Pressure. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, pp. 147–170.Google Scholar
Thurley, D (2010) Public service pension reform–1997 to 2010. House of Commons Library Research Paper, SN/BT5298, 23 November.Google Scholar
Thurley, D (2011) Local Government Pension Scheme, 2008 reforms. House of Commons Library Research Paper, SN/BT4115, 13 January.Google Scholar
Thurley, D (2012) Public service pension reform–2010 onwards. House of Commons Library Research Paper, SN05768, 26 October.Google Scholar
Thurley, D, Cracknell, R, McInnes, R and Rutherford, T (2012) Public Service Pensions Bill: Bill No 70 of 2012–3. House of Commons Library Research Paper, 12/57, 16 October.Google Scholar
Triantafillou, P (2009) Greece: political competition in a majoritarian system. In Immergut, EM, Anderson, KM and Schulze, I (eds), The Handbook of West European Pension Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 97–149.Google Scholar
TUC (2003) Detailed TUC response to government pension statement. Available at https://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/pensions-and-retirement/pension-law-regulation/detailed-tuc-response-governmentGoogle Scholar
TUC (2004) Public sector workers lobby MPs to protect their pensions. Available at https://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/pensions-and-retirement/public-sector-pensions/public-sector-workers-lobby-mpsGoogle Scholar
TUC (2005) Unions announce public sector pensions campaign date. Available at https://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/pensions-and-retirement/public-sector-pensions/unions-announce-public-sectorGoogle Scholar
TUC (2011) Statement after pensions meeting. Available at https://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/pensions-and-retirement/statement-after-pensions-meetingGoogle Scholar
van Kersbergen, K and Vis, B (2014) Comparative Welfare State Politics: Development, Opportunities, and Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Vis, B (2010) Politics of Risk-Taking: Welfare State Reform in Advanced Democracies. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.Google Scholar
Visser, J (2006) Union membership statistics in 24 countries. Monthly Labor Review 129, 38–49.Google Scholar
Wallace, J, Gunnigle, P and McMahon, G (2013) Trade unions. In Wallace, J, Gunnigle, P and McMahon, G (eds), Industrial Relations in Ireland. Dublin: Gill & McMillan, pp. 46–68.Google Scholar
Whitaker, R (2011) The United Kingdom. European Journal of Political Research 50, 1164–1174.Google Scholar