Digital and Ecological Transformations in the Regulatory Environment of Labour Relations

The research project examines the similarities and differences of the digital and ecological transformations – which are often also referred to as "double" or "twin" transformations – in core industrial sectors as transformations of work and working conditions. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which labour relations actors interpret these changes in terms of labour policy and attempt to combine them with new forms of labour regulation. In this way, labour relations actors shape the regulatory environment for the digital and ecological transformation and create a legitimacy framework for changes in work and working conditions in the application of digital and ecological technologies.

The research project pursues three central research goals. The first is to investigate how digital and ecologically sustainable technologies are implemented in companies and to what extent they permeate work and working conditions. How transformative do the transformations affect labour, and what interdependencies and contradictions can be identified between them? Secondly, it will be analysed how the actors in labour relations interpret possible changes in terms of labour policy, and how they thematise them in labour policy discourses. This involves examining which labour policy issues – like automation and employment, surveillance, home office or agile work – are in the foreground, how discourses on them are conducted, whether conflicts arise from them and which labour regulations are possibly negotiated within this framework. Finally, the third research objective focuses on the question of the actors' capacity to act. On the one hand, this ability to act is based on competences and resources the actors can dispose of, on the other hand it is also linked to the location of issues and problems in the fields of action of the multi-level system of industrial relations.

Research Design

Methodologically, the analysis is based on case studies in companies and workplaces, supplemented by analyses of industry-related processes of lobbying and collective bargaining. In this way, both the fields of action within and beyond the companies can be addressed. With the automotive industry, the chemical industry and the steel industry, three sectors were selected in which digitalisation and ecologisation are important developments and challenges. Five company case studies are conducted in each of the industries. The analysis is based on a combination of expert interviews, group interviews, site visits and document analyses.