The ETUC and its role in advancing the cause of European worker participation rights

This article looks at the political development of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the peak organization representing the regional interests of national trade unions operating in Europe. It argues that the ETUC is better understood as a political lobby group rather than an orthodox trade union, and that its influence at the level of European politics is the criterion by which its effectiveness should be gauged. The vehicle used to carry this claim is a case study that elaborates the role played by the organization in lobbying for European Union legislation on worker participation rights. The article finds that changes in the legislative procedures of the EU and moves to implement a single market had positive implications for the ETUC's external political legitimacy, and that this proved influential in the spread of worker participation practices in European multinationals and the eventual adoption of EU legislation in this area. From these insights the article concludes with some comment on the theory of regional trade unionism. © 1998 SAGE.