Trade Unions and Welfare Markets Comparing Dynamics in Three Domestic/Care Markets in the Netherlands

This chapter examines the role played by trade unions in the dynamics of three Dutch domestic/care services markets. A series of policy reforms in the 2000s has increased competition and private provision in childcare, home-based care and domestic services, though in very different ways. These reforms have had profound implications for workers employed in these sectors. The chapter shows that trade unions have been key representatives of care workers in childcare and home-based care, while the informality of the domestic services sector undermined unionisation. While trade unions opposed marketizing reforms, they were not able to prevent or alter them. Instead, trade unions have started to follow more confrontational strategies with the aim of enhancing workers’ power position. The results of these strategies are still undetermined.