Valmet Automotive: Adapting and negotiating through changes in the automotive industry in Finland

The Finnish case examines Valmet Automotive amidst increasing global competition and developments in the automotive sector. As Finland’s only major passenger car manufacturer, the Uusikaupunki factory is a unique case as their operation relies on contract production for established car brands rather than manufacturing its own models. The factory is regarded as an important industrial employer with highly unionized workforce

New WP2 reports now available in the Research section

We have published new reports in the Research section prepared as part of WP2 – Historical case studies and theoretical framework.

Find out more about EGRUiEN's researchers sharing insights on the stateownership and the paradoxes of workers' rights, and economics of new technology and global change!

Our colleagues from the University of Jyväskylä, LUT University, and the University of Parma participated in the series of workshops, conferences and seminars during the fall season of 2025!

From limited power to empowerment to negotiate on equal terms’: industrial relations and socio-economic in United Kingdom

Labour relations in the UK have undergone a number of radical transformations since the industrial revolution took shape in the middle of the 18th century. After almost 200 years of very limited power afforded to organised labour, trade unions enjoyed a brief period of 30 years in which they were empowered to negotiate on equal terms’ with employers. Since the late 1970s, however, the pendulum has firmly swung back in favour of employers

From the uncertainties to a diversified service economy: the case of industrial relations and socio-economics of Spain

The Spanish case encapsulates the evolution from the uncertainties of industrial and agricultural restructuring to a diversified service economy, but with persistent challenges in terms of social inequalities and employment quality.

Slovakia’s socio-economic and industrial relations trajectory

Slovakia’s modern socio-economic development is shaped by its late but intense industrialisation and its turbulent post-socialist transition. Once the less developed part of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia saw rapid growth in heavy industry, arms, and automotive manufacturing under state socialism, though often at the expense of agriculture and living standards. By 1989, over one million people worked in industry and construction, but inefficiency, technological lag, and poor competitiveness left the economy vulnerable at the regime’s collapse.

From integration to re-opening: Social dialogue after the Uber reform in Vienna’s taxi sector

In previous studies, Austria is often cited as a case in which digitalisation and platformisation via Uber were successfully integrated into a coordinated market economy through corporatist regulation. Our Vienna case study qualifies this view, adding to our knowledge on the dynamics of industrial relations in face of transformations in the labour markets. While the 2019–2020 reforms formally embedded platform-based ride-hailing into a unified regulatory framework, from 2021 onwards renewed conflict emerged over pricing, representation, and competitive conditions

Why a Failed Agreement Matters: Labour Relations and Energy Transition in Estonia

This case study examines a failed attempt to unify collective labour agreements at Eesti Energia, Estonia’s state-owned energy company, during 2009–2010. The case was selected because it captures a critical historical moment in which market liberalisation, post-socialist institutional legacies, and labour relations intersected in the energy sector.

The Transformation of Vauxhall-Ellesmere Port, 1989 – 2001: an analysis of the UK automotive industry

The detailed UK case study analyses the transformation of General Motors' Vauxhall Ellesmere Port assembly plant between 1989 and 2001, focussing on the contested transition from Fordist and Taylorist production to Lean Production. Plant management and trade unions, through contested negotiations, were the main actors shaping the simultaneous technical, social, and cultural transformation of the plant.

State ownership, trade unions and green transition: an analysis of the Polish coal industry

In this cycle of blog entries we commence to encapsulate main findings within the D2.2 - historical case study analyses as a part of the WP2. Specifically, we examined the impact of social dialogue on local actors’ responses to transformative processes shaping the world of work.

National case studies: the case of Norway

Norway combines substantial natural resources, a robust welfare state, and well-established social partnership institutions. These institutions include comparatively high union and employer organization rates, extensive collective bargaining coverage, and a highly organized collective bargaining model.

Transforming Work and Industry in Finland

Finland is undergoing a profound economic transformation. How are these changes affecting the labor market, trade unions, and the social welfare model?

Cardiff workshops

EGRUiEN teams came together in Cardiff for two days of collaboration, discussion, and new insights.

EGRUiEN researchers share insights on AI, green transition, and the future of work

Participation in international events helps bridge research, policy, and practice.

Case of Austria: Coordinated market economy

This time, we turn our attention to Austria – a country where cooperation between the government, employers, and trade unions is deeply rooted.

National case studies: Case of Estonia

Fragile labour market and the tension between Estonia’s celebrated innovation narrative and the persistent inequalities and vulnerabilities

National case studies: Case of Italy

From an agriculture-based economy to services

National case studies: Case of Poland

In this entry we present the main findings on the historical case study of Poland

Expert Workshop on the Employment Dimension of the Green Economy

EGRUiEN researchers Fabio Landini and Marta Fana took part in the workshops on The Employment Dimension of the Green Economy: Assessment, New Metrics, and Evidence on Green Jobs in the EU

Studying the energy sector in times of twin transition

Energy sector as a laboratory for understanding how the twin transition is transforming the world of work

The automotive sector in the EGRUiEN project

Industry at the heart of a twin transition: shifting from combustion engines to electromobility while implementing new digital technologies.

Transport on demand during the transition

Currently one of the most dynamic and, at the same time, one of the most crisis-hit service industries in Europe.

1st Early Career Network (ECN) Seminar

Care sector in times of transition

In the face of growing digital and green transformations, not all sectors experience disruption in the same way. In some, like care services, social dialogue can help manage the transition, however, this potential is challenged by the sector’s generally weak worker representation.

Reading recommendation

Few publications that may provide important theoretical inspiration for those interested in green and digital transition.