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This article explores the changing focus of collective bargaining within the context of the global drive for competition. The first section describes how the main items on the agenda for collective bargaining have shifted from income distribution to means of promoting and protecting employment and competitiveness, and explains how mass unemployment and precarious employment have pushed employment security to the top of the collective bargaining agenda. Technological change, the increasing globalisation of the economy, the formation of regional economic groupings, and the intensification of competition between firms in the product market have all contributed to the pressure on collective bargaining institutions to improve competitiveness. The second section examines innovative approaches to dealing with the issues of employment protection, creation and competitiveness by highlighting the collective bargaining experiences of a number of countries outside of the European Union.
