Transnational framework agreements: In search of a European legal framework
2021, 89, No. 1
University of Zielona Góra; University of Silesia in Katowice
Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wydział Prawa i Administracji, Instytut Nauk Prawno-Administracyjnych, Katedra Prawa Pracy i Polityki Społecznej
University of Warsaw
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Abstract
This article focuses on the phenomenon of Transnational Company Agreements (TCAs) concluded between the employees’ representatives and the employer. This legal embodiment of industrial relations has been gaining noticeable popularity since the 1980s. After that decade, many agreements, both of international and European dimension, have been concluded. The European social dialogue doctrine has adopted TCAs as an instrument promoting collective bargaining. Agreements signed in the absence of legal framework comprise a variety of content and might be signed by several actors. Sometimes agreements undergo a follow-up implementation and then they strongly resemble the national collective agreements. But, in general, TCAs exert variable legal effects depending mostly on their character. Many agreements have been attributed solely with a political character, whereas others do convey strong obligations for the parties. The current question is whether TCAs are in need of creating a legal framework or quite the contrary?
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