Collective bargaining and reforms to hospital healthcare provision: A comparison of the UK, Italy and France

Abstract:

Reforms inspired by the ‘new public management’ approach have changed the provision of hospital healthcare and challenged established arrangements for governing the workforce.

We identify four main reform processes in three countries, and examine their impact on collective bargaining and administrative and statutory mechanisms of workforce governance. Although the extent and nature of reforms play a role in the changes to workforce governance, political choices and the interests and responses of organized employers and trade unions intervene to shape outcomes.