UNION CONCEPTIONS OF EMPLOYEES INTERESTS IN A CHANGING EUROPE - DILEMMAS AND PROSPECTS

For several years now, debate has been waged about modernizing labor u nions. What new conceptions of employees' interests can the unions wor k out as the workforce is diversifying, egalitarian norms are wearing thin, economies are being globalized and the law of the marketplace is tightening its hold? By referring to the labor movement's history, th ree questions are raised that call out for answers. Whose interests do the unions represent? How are these interests classified by order of priority? What organizational solutions can be imagined for satisfying them? By exposing these problems, it is shown that the quest for soli darity a never achieved goal, has always been contradictory for the la bor movement. Given that the achievements from past struggles are comi ng under attack given the risk of solutions being reduced to microcomp romises, given that losers and winners are ever more visibly distingui shed, new approaches are suggested for the unions to explore in the qu est to build other forms of solidarity.