Competitive consensus: bargaining on employment and competitiveness in the Netherlands

This article shows how bargaining on the conflicting issues of fighting unemployment and increasing competitiveness has evolved. It offers an empirical insight into the degree to which the national framework agreements that form part of the now famous Dutch polder model are implemented. At the national level framework agreements are set up and recommendations are made on a wide range of issues. It is shown that these are then interpreted and partly adopted by negotiators at lower collective bargaining levels. At company level, three cases illustrate differences in the degree to which companies implement the outcomes of collective agreements: from ‘dedicated follower’ to ‘rebels with a cause'. Looking at the evidence, it seems the Dutch have experienced a form of organised decentralisation.