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The Rhetoric of Restraint: The Struggle for Legitimacy of the Dutch Temporary Work Agency Industry, 1961–1996

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2015

Bas Koene  and
Hugo van Driel
Bas Koene
Affiliation:
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Burg. Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: hdriel@rsm.nl
Hugo van Driel
Affiliation:
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Burg. Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: hdriel@rsm.nl
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Abstract

In many countries governments and labor unions have contested the post-war rise of temporary agency work, arguing that this innovation infringed on workers' rights and security. We investigate the rhetorical strategies used by Dutch temporary work agencies (TWAs) to gain legitimacy for their business between 1961 and 1996. Our conclusion is that the TWAs' trade association ABU developed a sophisticated rhetoric of “self-restraint” to legitimize the deployment of a non-standard labor arrangement. The core message was that – if applied properly - agency work did not threaten permanent employment. The complexity of the inclusive nature of this rhetorical approach, aiming to acknowledge the concerns of multiple stakeholders, was reflected in ABU's difficulty in aligning its claims of socially responsible behavior with an effective defense of the sector's economic interests. Still, the consistent focus on restraint lent credibility to the claimed function of “allocating” workers to their jobs that eventually gained the TWA industry fundamental acceptance as a responsible labor market actor.

Type
Articles
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 562 - 600
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2011. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved.

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References

References

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Guus, van Betten official of the FNV service industry union involved in agency work matters between 1986 and 1998, on March 29, 2010.Google Scholar
Aart, van der Gaag, between 1990 and 1996 deputy managing director at Start, on February 9 2010.Google Scholar
Frits, Goldschmeding, TWA owner-manager between 1960 and 1998 and ABU Board Member between 1968 and 1982, on October 20, 2009.Google Scholar
Fred, van Haasteren, TWA managing director since 1979 and involved in ABU matters from 1982, on January 14, 2010.Google Scholar
Annemarie, Muntz, ABU-official and ABU-director between 1986 and 1991 and 1991 and 1996 respectively, on January 14, 2010.Google Scholar
Wim, Ruggenberg, TWA owner-manager between 1960 and 1980 and secretary to the chairman and chairman of ABU from 1966 to 1969 and from 1969 to 1997 respectively, on November 5, 2009.Google Scholar
ABU. Maatwerk: uitzendwerk in Nederland, ABU, 1976.Google Scholar
Albeda, W., Blanpain, R. and Veldkamp, G., eds. Temporary Work in Modern Society, 3 Deventer: Kluwer, 1978–1979.Google Scholar
Andersson, Elffers Felix. Achtergronden van uitzendarbeid. Den Haag: Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 1983.Google Scholar
Bergström, O. and Storrie, D.. Contingent Employment in Europe and the United States. Cheltenham: Edgar Elgar, 2003.Google Scholar
Bootsma, P. and Breedveld, W.. De verbeelding aan de macht. Den Haag: SDU, 1999.Google Scholar
Bottenburg, M. van. ‘Aan den arbeid!’: in de wandelgangen van de Stichting van de Arbeid, 1945–1995. Amsterdam: Bakker, 1995.Google Scholar
Catz, F. Een gewone baan bij het uitzendbureau. FNV-opvattingen over uitzendarbeid en detachering. Amsterdam: Stichting FNV Pers, 1996.Google Scholar
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS). 1899–1999. Negentigjaren statistiek in tijdreeksen. Den Haag: Sdu, 1989.Google Scholar
CBS. Tweehonderd jaar statistiek in tijdreeksen, 1800–1999. Amsterdam: Stichting Beheer IISG, 1999.Google Scholar
FNV. Gewoon goed werk voor iedereen. Arbeidsvoorwaardennota 2009–2013, no place given: FNV, 2009).Google Scholar
Gorter, H., Kagie, F., Kerkhof, B., van Marrion, J. and Rensen, W.. Uitzendburoos. Odijk: Sjaloom, 1977.Google Scholar
Haasteren, F.C.A. van Overeem, van, M.. Arbeid à la Carte. Scheveningen: SMO, 1976.Google Scholar
Haasteren, F.C.A. van ed. Uitzendbureaus ter sprake. Scheveningen: SMO, 1977.Google Scholar
Hatton, E.E. The Temp Economy: From Kelly Girls to Permatemps in Postwar America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Knegt, R. ed. Instituties van de arbeidsmarkt: een retrospectieve studie. Den Haag: SDU, 1995.Google Scholar
Leijten, M. De opkomst en ontwikkeling van het Nederlandse uitzendwezen. unpublished master thesis, Rotterdam: Faculteit Bedrijfskunde, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, 1991.Google Scholar
Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid. Flexibiliteit en zekerheid. Den Haag: SDU, 1995.Google Scholar
NVV, NKV, and CNV. Werkgelegenheidsnota, no place given, 1975.Google Scholar
Scheinfeld, J.D. A History of Manpower, Inc. 1948–1976, no place and publisher given, 2006.Google Scholar
Sociaal-Economische Raad (SER). Advies over de uitlening van arbeidskrachten. Den Haag: SER, 1961.Google Scholar
SER. Advies arbeidsbemiddeling en TBA. Den Haag: SER, 1994.Google Scholar
Smith, V., and Neuwirth, E.B.. The Good Temp. Ithaca: ILR Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Stichting, van de Arbeid. Nota ‘flexibiliteit en zekerheid’. Den Haag: Stichting van de Arbeid,1996.Google Scholar
Storrie, David. Temporary Agency Work in the European Union. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2002.Google Scholar
Tijdelijk heden. Tijdelijk werk, welvaart en werkgelegenheid, no place and publisher given, 1982.Google Scholar
Timmerhuis, V. De opmars van flexibilisering van arbeid: een case-study naar de veranderende meningsvorming rondom uitzendarbeid. unpublished master thesis, Rotterdam: Faculteit der Historische en Kunstwetenschappen, Erasmus Universiteit, 1989.Google Scholar
Tóth, S. Een geslaagde onderneming: opzet van een succesvol bedrijf. Amsterdam: Sijthoff, 1987.Google Scholar
Veldkamp, G.M.J. Sociaal en gerechtig: een selectie opstellen uit het werk van Prof. Dr. G.M.J. Veldkamp van 1946–1986. Alphen aan den Rijn: Samsom, 1986.Google Scholar
Vosko, L. Temporary Work: The Gendered Rise of a Precarious Employment Relationship. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Werff, J. van der. Het zakenleven van Sylvia Tóth. Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 2001.Google Scholar
Albeda, W. “Ekonomische aspekten van uitzendarbeid.” In Uitzendarbeid: ontwikkeling en verwikkeling, ed. van den Braak, H.J., Rotterdam: Universitaire Pers, 1972, 45–54.Google Scholar
Boeklagen, J., Rensen, W.., Heuckeroth, R.., and Kamps, L.. “Tijdelijke en vaste werkers in het nauw dankzij het uitzendbureau.” Entree 2 No. 2 (1976): 22–25.Google Scholar
Brak, W. “Uitlening van arbeidskrachten.” Sociaal Maandblad 10 (1955): 481–490.Google Scholar
Erkama, N. and Vaara, E.. “Struggles Over Legitimacy in Global Organizational Restructuring: A Rhetorical Perspective on Legitimation Strategies and Dynamics in a Shutdown Case.” Organization Studies 31 (2010): 813–839.Google Scholar
Forde, C. “You Know We Are Not an Employment Agency: Manpower, Government, and the Development of the Temporary Help Industry in Britain.” Enterprise and Society 9 (2008): 337–365.Google Scholar
Galvin, T.L., Ventresca, M.J., and Hudson, B.A.. “Contested Industry Dynamics.” International Studies of Management and Organization 34 (2004): 56–82.Google Scholar
Gonos, G. “The Contest Over Employer Status in the PostWar United States: the Case of Temporary Help Firms.” Law & Society Review 31 (1997): 81–110.Google Scholar
Jarzabkowski, P., Sillince, J.A.A., and Shaw, D.. “Strategic Ambiguity as a Rhetorical Source for Enabling Multiple Interests.” International Studies of Management and Organization 63 (2010): 219–248.Google Scholar
Mulder, B. “Uitzendbureaus en sociale verzekering.” Sociaal Maanblad Arbeid 21 (1966): 247–252.Google Scholar
Niestadt, G.B.J. “Het ter beschikking stellen van arbeidskrachten met winstoogmerk.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 27 (1972): 459–478563–589.Google Scholar
Passchier, C.E. “Loon naar werkgever of loon naar werkvloer.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 53 (2002): 7–41.Google Scholar
Peck, J., and Theodore, N.. “Temped Out? Industry Rhetoric, Labor Regulation and Economic Restructuring in the Temporary Staffing Business.” Economic and Industrial Democracy 23 (2002): 143–175.Google Scholar
Sol, E. “Targeting on Transitions: Employment Services in the Netherlands.” Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal 23 (2005): 81–127.Google Scholar
Spruytenburg, M. “Pieken en dalen in de behoefte aan personeel.” Tijdschrift voor Efficiency en Dokumentatie 31 (1961): 600–601.Google Scholar
Spruytenburg, M. Meningsvorming over tijdelijke werkkrachten, In Tijdelijke werkkrachten. Amsterdam: Manpower, 1966 5–7.Google Scholar
Suddaby, R., and Greenwood, R.. “Rhetorical Strategies of Legitimacy.” Administrative Science Quarterly 50 (2005): 35–67.Google Scholar
Wilthagen, T., and Tros, F.H.. “The Concept of Flexicurity. A New Approach to Regulating Employment and Labor Markets.” Transfer, European Review of Labor and Research 10 (2004): 166–186.Google Scholar
Windmuller, J.P. “Legal Restrictions on Employment Termination in the Netherlands.” Labor Law Journal 18 (1967): 39–46.Google Scholar
Windsor, D. “Corporate Social Responsibility: Three Key Approaches.” Journal of Management Studies 43 (2006): 93–114.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De minister en de uitzendtypistes.” Nederlands Juristenblad 34 (1964): 921–930.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De uitzendtypistes verzekerd - van wat.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 21 (1966): 349–352.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De uitzending en uitlening van arbeidskrachten. Een ontstuitbare ontwikkeling.” SociaalMaandblad Arbeid 25 (1970): 162–172.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De aard van het contract van de uitzendkracht.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 26 (1971): 679–689.Google Scholar
ABU Jaarverslagen 1970–2009 (ABU Annual Reports) Kamerstukken en handelingen van de Tweede Kamer van de Staten Generaal (Documents and Minutes of the Dutch Second Chamber) Staatscourant (gazette).Google Scholar
Uitzendbureaus en uitzendarbeid in Nederland, 1977.Google Scholar
Uitzendarbeid nu en in de toekomst, 1996.Google Scholar
ABU Archives (ABUA), privately held, stored at several places in the Netherlands. Boxes 102 and 103 contain unnumbered folders, boxes 9 through 16 contain numbered smaller boxes the number of which is mentioned after the slash.Google Scholar
Maarten van der Woude Archives (MvdWA), privately held by Martine van der Woude, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Bert, Beugelsdijk. TWA manager and ABU Board member 1971–1982, on November 23, 2009 (1) and October 20, 2010 (2).Google Scholar
Guus, van Betten official of the FNV service industry union involved in agency work matters between 1986 and 1998, on March 29, 2010.Google Scholar
Aart, van der Gaag, between 1990 and 1996 deputy managing director at Start, on February 9 2010.Google Scholar
Frits, Goldschmeding, TWA owner-manager between 1960 and 1998 and ABU Board Member between 1968 and 1982, on October 20, 2009.Google Scholar
Fred, van Haasteren, TWA managing director since 1979 and involved in ABU matters from 1982, on January 14, 2010.Google Scholar
Annemarie, Muntz, ABU-official and ABU-director between 1986 and 1991 and 1991 and 1996 respectively, on January 14, 2010.Google Scholar
Wim, Ruggenberg, TWA owner-manager between 1960 and 1980 and secretary to the chairman and chairman of ABU from 1966 to 1969 and from 1969 to 1997 respectively, on November 5, 2009.Google Scholar
ABU. Maatwerk: uitzendwerk in Nederland, ABU, 1976.Google Scholar
Albeda, W., Blanpain, R. and Veldkamp, G., eds. Temporary Work in Modern Society, 3 Deventer: Kluwer, 1978–1979.Google Scholar
Andersson, Elffers Felix. Achtergronden van uitzendarbeid. Den Haag: Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 1983.Google Scholar
Bergström, O. and Storrie, D.. Contingent Employment in Europe and the United States. Cheltenham: Edgar Elgar, 2003.Google Scholar
Bootsma, P. and Breedveld, W.. De verbeelding aan de macht. Den Haag: SDU, 1999.Google Scholar
Bottenburg, M. van. ‘Aan den arbeid!’: in de wandelgangen van de Stichting van de Arbeid, 1945–1995. Amsterdam: Bakker, 1995.Google Scholar
Catz, F. Een gewone baan bij het uitzendbureau. FNV-opvattingen over uitzendarbeid en detachering. Amsterdam: Stichting FNV Pers, 1996.Google Scholar
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS). 1899–1999. Negentigjaren statistiek in tijdreeksen. Den Haag: Sdu, 1989.Google Scholar
CBS. Tweehonderd jaar statistiek in tijdreeksen, 1800–1999. Amsterdam: Stichting Beheer IISG, 1999.Google Scholar
FNV. Gewoon goed werk voor iedereen. Arbeidsvoorwaardennota 2009–2013, no place given: FNV, 2009).Google Scholar
Gorter, H., Kagie, F., Kerkhof, B., van Marrion, J. and Rensen, W.. Uitzendburoos. Odijk: Sjaloom, 1977.Google Scholar
Haasteren, F.C.A. van Overeem, van, M.. Arbeid à la Carte. Scheveningen: SMO, 1976.Google Scholar
Haasteren, F.C.A. van ed. Uitzendbureaus ter sprake. Scheveningen: SMO, 1977.Google Scholar
Hatton, E.E. The Temp Economy: From Kelly Girls to Permatemps in Postwar America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Knegt, R. ed. Instituties van de arbeidsmarkt: een retrospectieve studie. Den Haag: SDU, 1995.Google Scholar
Leijten, M. De opkomst en ontwikkeling van het Nederlandse uitzendwezen. unpublished master thesis, Rotterdam: Faculteit Bedrijfskunde, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, 1991.Google Scholar
Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid. Flexibiliteit en zekerheid. Den Haag: SDU, 1995.Google Scholar
NVV, NKV, and CNV. Werkgelegenheidsnota, no place given, 1975.Google Scholar
Scheinfeld, J.D. A History of Manpower, Inc. 1948–1976, no place and publisher given, 2006.Google Scholar
Sociaal-Economische Raad (SER). Advies over de uitlening van arbeidskrachten. Den Haag: SER, 1961.Google Scholar
SER. Advies arbeidsbemiddeling en TBA. Den Haag: SER, 1994.Google Scholar
Smith, V., and Neuwirth, E.B.. The Good Temp. Ithaca: ILR Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Stichting, van de Arbeid. Nota ‘flexibiliteit en zekerheid’. Den Haag: Stichting van de Arbeid,1996.Google Scholar
Storrie, David. Temporary Agency Work in the European Union. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2002.Google Scholar
Tijdelijk heden. Tijdelijk werk, welvaart en werkgelegenheid, no place and publisher given, 1982.Google Scholar
Timmerhuis, V. De opmars van flexibilisering van arbeid: een case-study naar de veranderende meningsvorming rondom uitzendarbeid. unpublished master thesis, Rotterdam: Faculteit der Historische en Kunstwetenschappen, Erasmus Universiteit, 1989.Google Scholar
Tóth, S. Een geslaagde onderneming: opzet van een succesvol bedrijf. Amsterdam: Sijthoff, 1987.Google Scholar
Veldkamp, G.M.J. Sociaal en gerechtig: een selectie opstellen uit het werk van Prof. Dr. G.M.J. Veldkamp van 1946–1986. Alphen aan den Rijn: Samsom, 1986.Google Scholar
Vosko, L. Temporary Work: The Gendered Rise of a Precarious Employment Relationship. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Werff, J. van der. Het zakenleven van Sylvia Tóth. Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 2001.Google Scholar
Albeda, W. “Ekonomische aspekten van uitzendarbeid.” In Uitzendarbeid: ontwikkeling en verwikkeling, ed. van den Braak, H.J., Rotterdam: Universitaire Pers, 1972, 45–54.Google Scholar
Boeklagen, J., Rensen, W.., Heuckeroth, R.., and Kamps, L.. “Tijdelijke en vaste werkers in het nauw dankzij het uitzendbureau.” Entree 2 No. 2 (1976): 22–25.Google Scholar
Brak, W. “Uitlening van arbeidskrachten.” Sociaal Maandblad 10 (1955): 481–490.Google Scholar
Erkama, N. and Vaara, E.. “Struggles Over Legitimacy in Global Organizational Restructuring: A Rhetorical Perspective on Legitimation Strategies and Dynamics in a Shutdown Case.” Organization Studies 31 (2010): 813–839.Google Scholar
Forde, C. “You Know We Are Not an Employment Agency: Manpower, Government, and the Development of the Temporary Help Industry in Britain.” Enterprise and Society 9 (2008): 337–365.Google Scholar
Galvin, T.L., Ventresca, M.J., and Hudson, B.A.. “Contested Industry Dynamics.” International Studies of Management and Organization 34 (2004): 56–82.Google Scholar
Gonos, G. “The Contest Over Employer Status in the PostWar United States: the Case of Temporary Help Firms.” Law & Society Review 31 (1997): 81–110.Google Scholar
Jarzabkowski, P., Sillince, J.A.A., and Shaw, D.. “Strategic Ambiguity as a Rhetorical Source for Enabling Multiple Interests.” International Studies of Management and Organization 63 (2010): 219–248.Google Scholar
Mulder, B. “Uitzendbureaus en sociale verzekering.” Sociaal Maanblad Arbeid 21 (1966): 247–252.Google Scholar
Niestadt, G.B.J. “Het ter beschikking stellen van arbeidskrachten met winstoogmerk.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 27 (1972): 459–478563–589.Google Scholar
Passchier, C.E. “Loon naar werkgever of loon naar werkvloer.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 53 (2002): 7–41.Google Scholar
Peck, J., and Theodore, N.. “Temped Out? Industry Rhetoric, Labor Regulation and Economic Restructuring in the Temporary Staffing Business.” Economic and Industrial Democracy 23 (2002): 143–175.Google Scholar
Sol, E. “Targeting on Transitions: Employment Services in the Netherlands.” Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal 23 (2005): 81–127.Google Scholar
Spruytenburg, M. “Pieken en dalen in de behoefte aan personeel.” Tijdschrift voor Efficiency en Dokumentatie 31 (1961): 600–601.Google Scholar
Spruytenburg, M. Meningsvorming over tijdelijke werkkrachten, In Tijdelijke werkkrachten. Amsterdam: Manpower, 1966 5–7.Google Scholar
Suddaby, R., and Greenwood, R.. “Rhetorical Strategies of Legitimacy.” Administrative Science Quarterly 50 (2005): 35–67.Google Scholar
Wilthagen, T., and Tros, F.H.. “The Concept of Flexicurity. A New Approach to Regulating Employment and Labor Markets.” Transfer, European Review of Labor and Research 10 (2004): 166–186.Google Scholar
Windmuller, J.P. “Legal Restrictions on Employment Termination in the Netherlands.” Labor Law Journal 18 (1967): 39–46.Google Scholar
Windsor, D. “Corporate Social Responsibility: Three Key Approaches.” Journal of Management Studies 43 (2006): 93–114.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De minister en de uitzendtypistes.” Nederlands Juristenblad 34 (1964): 921–930.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De uitzendtypistes verzekerd - van wat.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 21 (1966): 349–352.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De uitzending en uitlening van arbeidskrachten. Een ontstuitbare ontwikkeling.” SociaalMaandblad Arbeid 25 (1970): 162–172.Google Scholar
Woude, M.V. van der. “De aard van het contract van de uitzendkracht.” Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 26 (1971): 679–689.Google Scholar
ABU Jaarverslagen 1970–2009 (ABU Annual Reports) Kamerstukken en handelingen van de Tweede Kamer van de Staten Generaal (Documents and Minutes of the Dutch Second Chamber) Staatscourant (gazette).Google Scholar
Uitzendbureaus en uitzendarbeid in Nederland, 1977.Google Scholar
Uitzendarbeid nu en in de toekomst, 1996.Google Scholar
ABU Archives (ABUA), privately held, stored at several places in the Netherlands. Boxes 102 and 103 contain unnumbered folders, boxes 9 through 16 contain numbered smaller boxes the number of which is mentioned after the slash.Google Scholar
Maarten van der Woude Archives (MvdWA), privately held by Martine van der Woude, Amsterdam.Google Scholar