Tony Royle – författare

The fast-food industry is one of the few industries that can be described as truly global, not least in terms of employment, which is estimated at around ten million people worldwide. This edited volume is the first of its kind, providing an analysis of labour relations in this significant industry focusing on multinational corporations and large national companies in ten countries: the USA, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Russia.The extent to which multinational enterprises impose or adapt their employment practices in differing national industrial relations systems is analysed, Results reveal that the global fast-food industry is typified by trade union exclusion, high labour turnover, unskilled work, paternalistic management regimes and work organization that allows little scope for developing workers'' participation in decision-making, let alone advocating widely accepted concepts of social justice and workers'' rights.

The fast-food industry is one of the few industries that can be described as truly global, not least in terms of employment, which is estimated at around ten million people worldwide. This edited volume is the first of its kind, providing an analysis of labour relations in this significant industry focusing on multinational corporations and large national companies in ten countries: the USA, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Russia.The extent to which multinational enterprises impose or adapt their employment practices in differing national industrial relations systems is analysed, Results reveal that the global fast-food industry is typified by trade union exclusion, high labour turnover, unskilled work, paternalistic management regimes and work organization that allows little scope for developing workers'' participation in decision-making, let alone advocating widely accepted concepts of social justice and workers'' rights.

The McDonald''s Corporation is not only the largest system-wide sales service in the world, it is a phenomenon in its own right, and is now recognized as the most famous brand in the world. By providing a detailed analysis of the extent to which the McDonald''s Corporation adapts or imposes its labour relations policies in Europe, this volume represents a real life case study revealing the interaction between a global multi-national enterprise and the regulatory systems of a number of different European countries. Key features include:

* an overview of the McDonald''s Corporation''s development and structure * an analysis of its corporate culture and the issues of franchising * an examination of key union strategies, including systems of co-determination, consultation and collective-bargaining* a chapter dealing specifically with European legislation, in particular the McDonald''s European Works Council The author systematically analyzes the conflict between the McDonald''s Corporation and the industrial relations systems of the European countries within which it operates, and exposes this conflict as an ''unequal struggle'' between economic liberalism and collectivism.