About the project
The EU enlargements in 2004 and 2007 made it easier for Western European shipbuilders to offshore hull production to central and eastern European countries and acquire shipyards in countries such as Poland and Romania, as well as to hire labour and subcontractors from these countries for production at their home sites, often aiming to reduce labour costs. As shipbuilding is deeply impacted by globalisation, the industry gives a good illustration of the dynamics of change in the international division of labour.
This project conveys how this dual mobility –eastward transfer of production and investment, and westward movement of labour and services – has impacted the shipbuilding industry’s production and staffing strategies in Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland and Romania. Moreover, it analyses how this dual mobility has influenced industrial relations and social dialogue at different levels. The results are based on the available literature, statistics, registry data, qualitative interviews and case studies in these five countries. The participating institutions are the Arena Centre for European Studies, the University of Oslo, the Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research, the University of Padova, the Scuola Normale Superiore, the University of Duisburg Essen, the European Trade Union Institute, the SGH Warsaw School of Economics and Dublin City University. The project is headed by Ines Wagner, Arena Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo.
The reports can be downloaded below. For more information about the series, please visit the ETUI website.
Country Report Norway: Offshoring production and importing labour – Norwegian shipbuilding in transition. Jon Erik Dølvik, Anne Mette Ødegård, Sondre Thorbjørnsen and Ines Wagner.
Country Report Romania: International integration of production and segmentation of labour in Romanian shipbuilding. Aurora Trif.
Country Report Poland: Like Phoenix from the ashes: industrial restructuring in the absence of state coordination in Polish shipbuilding. Jan Czarzasty and Horacy Dębowski.
Country Report Germany: The transformation of the German shipbuilding industry: a transnationalised growth model under pressure. Frederic Hüttenhoff and Karen Jaehrling.
Country Report Italy: Outsourcing and fragmentation in the Italian shipbuilding industry. Francesco Eugenio Iannuzzi, Guglielmo Meardi, Nicola Quandamatteo and Devi Sacchetto.