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Trade Unions (trade + union)
Terms modified by Trade Unions Selected AbstractsTransforming a Trade Union?BRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 1 2009An Assessment of the Introduction of an Organizing Initiative In 1995 Unison implemented a National Recruitment Plan, and, in 1997, a National Organizing and Recruitment Strategy, with the objective of reversing the decline in union density in the public sector. This article traces the development of these initiatives and assesses their results. The article shows that there is limited involvement of lay representatives in the National Organizing and Recruitment Plan, but that there is a positive relationship between participation in union programmes intended to promote organizing and the performance of individual branches. [source] Unemployment, Growth, and Trade UnionsGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2001Henri L. F. De Groot This paper develops a two-sector endogenous growth model with a dual labor market caused by the operation of trade unions. Trade unions strive for the extraction of rents from the growth generating imperfectly competitive primary sector. This union behavior results in a non-competitive wage differential between the primary and secondary (perfectly competitive) sector. How the relationship between growth and unemployment depends on the institutional details of the labor market is analyzed. In general, growth and unemployment are intimately related for two reasons. Unemployment affects the scale of operation of the economy and thereby the growth rate. Growth affects inter-temporal decisions of workers about where to allocate on the labor market once they are laid off, and thereby it affects equilibrium unemployment. [source] Innovation in Australian Trade UnionsINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 2 2002Paul Jarley Building on the study of innovation in American national unions, this article specifies and tests a model of the determinants of innovation in Australian trade unions. The results generally support the principal Delaney, Jarley, and Fiorito (1996) finding that the degree of union innovative activity is positively associated with rationalization and size,an indicator of resource availability. Several contrasts between the Australian and American findings are also noted and discussed. [source] The Struggle for a Social Europe: Trade Unions and EMU in Times of Global Restructuring , By Andreas BielerINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 6 2007Andrew MathersArticle first published online: 18 OCT 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] The polyphonic spree: the case of the Liverpool DockersINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2003Chris Carter This paper is concerned with the possibilities opened up for Trade Unions by the internet age. The paper analyses forms of resistance, their preconditions and organisational backgrounds. It is argued that polyphonic organisation and, closely linked, new organisational forms, provide a strong basis for power relations and strategies of resistance. The paper starts with a brief introduction to the dispute between the Dockers of Liverpool and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. Contextualising the evolving issue in the broader picture of trade union crisis and renewal, the case study is theorised using linguistically informed approaches to management and organisation theory. Introducing these theoretical developments, the potential of new organisational forms for power relations and resistance are elaborated. [source] A Revised Role for Trade Unions as Designed by New Labour: The Representation Pyramid and ,Partnership'JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2002Tonia Novitz A key objective of British unions is to develop their representative role so as to establish their relevance to the workforce and thereby reverse the overall decline in trade union membership. To many, the legislative reforms undertaken by New Labour since 1999 offer some hope that this can be achieved. These reforms seem to provide a pyramid of representation, whereby trade unions can establish their relevance when they ,accompany' individual employees in grievance and disciplinary proceedings, and when they act as recipients of information and consultation. By attracting members in this fashion, there would seem to be the promise that unions can reascend to the position of recognized and effective parties in collective bargaining. However, this paper suggests that a barrier to the achievement of this objective is the particular conception of ,partnership' adopted by New Labour, which deviates from that of the TUC. This ,partnership' is essentially individualistic in character, procedural in form, and unitary in specification. These characteristics are reflected in the relevant statutory and regulatory provisions and are therefore likely to inhibit the progression of a trade union to recognition in collective bargaining. [source] Trade Unions, Wage Bargaining Coordination, and Foreign Direct InvestmentLABOUR, Issue 4 2008Roxana Radulescu Conventional wisdom is that a high trade union bargaining strength and a system of coordinated wage bargaining reduce the attractiveness of an economy as a location for foreign direct investment, although there is limited evidence for this. The paper takes panel data for 19 OECD economies to examine the relationship between trade union bargaining strength, bargaining coordi nation, and a range of incentives for inward foreign direct investment. It finds a strong negative effect of trade union density on inward foreign direct investment, which is dependent on the degree of wage bargaining coordination. A high degree of coordination weakens the deterrent effect of high union density, which is consistent with the notion that under certain circumstances a coordinated increase in wages can increase profits of the multinationals by hurting domestic firms. [source] Delegation and Wage Determination in Trade UnionsLABOUR, Issue 3 2000Laszlo Goerke Delegation of wage determination is modelled as the transferral of decision-making rights to better-informed agents. The rank and file of trade unions has less information and can, therefore, benefit from delegation. However, delegation might be disadvantageous for union members, since delegates pursue their own objectives. Also, delegates might incur a utility reduction, since becoming a delegate implies forfeiting a better-paid outside option. We investigate under what conditions delegation of wage bargaining power is beneficial for union members and their potential leaders. The wage and employment effects of delegation are derived. [source] Coming in From the Cold: The Role of Trade Unions on Public Policy Bodies at a Regional Level, with a Focus on London, the Southeast and the East of EnglandANTIPODE, Issue 5 2001Laurie Heselden This short article will review the comparative contribution of trade unions to the design and implementation of public policy before and after the election of the Labour government, 1 May 1997. The article will then explore those factors that have proved to be obstacles to trade union's greater or more effective engagement in public policy formulation. Finally, I will recommend possible remedies to alleviate those obstacles. [source] Decades of Disillusion: Reappraising the ALP-ACTU Accord 1983,1996AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 4 2007Geoff Dow In this article we review the Accord between the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), in order to address current uncertainty over the role of unions in politics, particularly in the face of both the Coalition Government's 2006 industrial relations legislation and the ALP's apparent repudiation of the country's longstanding institutional leverage over wages and non-wage policies. The Accord exemplified an explicitly corporatist union strategy and it initially attracted extensive and hostile commentary. However, discussion of the experiment, together with other tripartite approaches to policy formation, has waned in recent years, perhaps suggesting that it was a tactic whose time has passed. Reviewing some major criticisms, we argue that critics have dismissed the Accord too hastily. Although serious problems with the Accord process are acknowledged, the articulation of a broad program of social democratic initiatives is always likely to retain support on the political left. Despite changes in union density and workforce composition, the union movement still possesses capacity to mobilise community support and develop a principled program. [source] Trade Unions in an Elitist Society: The Singapore StoryAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 4 2000Michael D. Barr In the Singapore model of industrial relations, the trade unions are said to be in a "special relationship" with the government. On the surface this special relationship looks suspiciously like the government exercises straightforward top-down corporatist control. This paper argues that despite being basically correct, such an understanding is overly simplistic because it ignores modest, but nevertheless real elements of inclusion. The paper focuses on the experience of the trade unions in the first half of the 1980s to argue this case, and to consider both the strengths and weaknesses of the Singapore system of corporatist trade unionism. [source] RESEARCH AND EVALUATION: WorkChoices and Howard's DefeatAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 3 2010Dennis Woodward This article seeks to perform two tasks. It seeks to first detail the changes to the industrial relations system entailed in WorkChoices (set against the background of previous Howard government policies in this field), analyse the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU's) campaign against it and the Australian Labor Party's (ALP's) industrial relations policy in response to it, and belated changes to WorkChoices. Second, it seeks to examine the extent to which WorkChoices (and the industrial relations issue) was decisive in Howard's defeat. This will be done by using Newspoll surveys to plot the revival of ALP electoral support against salient events leading up to the election, drawing upon early post election assessments and existing studies, and also examining the results of the Australian Election Study 2007 to see whether this new evidence confirms the importance of industrial relations in the election outcome. [source] Trade Unions and Workplace Democracy in Africa , By Gerard KesterBRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 3 2009Edward Webster No abstract is available for this article. [source] Female Part-time Workers' Attitudes to Trade Unions in BritainBRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 1 2002Sally Walters This paper discusses the reasons that can be offered for the lower trade union membership rates of female part-time workers in the UK and focuses in particular on female part-timers' attitudes to trade unions. The findings are based on original research: 50 qualitative interviews with female part-time workers in the retail industry. The paper argues that female part-timers are supportive of the aims of the trade union movement and concludes that an integrated approach is necessary in order to understand part-timers' unionization rates. This includes structural factors, the approach that trade unions have taken towards part-time workers and attitudes towards trade unions. [source] Unemployment, Growth, and Trade UnionsGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2001Henri L. F. De Groot This paper develops a two-sector endogenous growth model with a dual labor market caused by the operation of trade unions. Trade unions strive for the extraction of rents from the growth generating imperfectly competitive primary sector. This union behavior results in a non-competitive wage differential between the primary and secondary (perfectly competitive) sector. How the relationship between growth and unemployment depends on the institutional details of the labor market is analyzed. In general, growth and unemployment are intimately related for two reasons. Unemployment affects the scale of operation of the economy and thereby the growth rate. Growth affects inter-temporal decisions of workers about where to allocate on the labor market once they are laid off, and thereby it affects equilibrium unemployment. [source] Do Unions Help or Hinder Women in Training?INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2000Apprenticeship Programs in the United States Trade unions are frequently criticized for excluding women from skilled crafts by denying them training. This article examines this argument by eestimatin the retention and attrition probabilities of men and women in the joint union-management and the unilateral employer-sponsored apprenticeship programs. While men, on average, have higher retention and lower attrition rates than women, joint sponsorship raises women's graduation probability above (and lowers their quit probability below) those of men or women apprentices in unilateral programs. [source] European Integration and the Transnational Restructuring of Social Relations: The Emergence of Labour as a Regional Actor?,JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 3 2005ANDREAS BIELER Informed by a neo-Gramscian perspective able to conceptualize transnational class formation, this article assesses whether European trade union organizations have developed into independent supranational actors, or whether they are merely secretariats in charge of organizing the co-operation of their national member associations. The first hypothesis is that those trade unions which organize workers in transnational production sectors, are likely to co-operate at the European level, because they have lost control over capital at the national level. Trade unions, organizing workers in domestic production sectors, may be more reluctant because their sectors still depend on national protection. The second hypothesis is that trade unions are more likely to co-operate at the European level if they perceive such an engagement as furthering their influence on policy-making in comparison with structural possibilities at the national level. Additionally, in line with the critical dimension of neo-Gramscian perspectives, it will be assessed whether European co-operation implies acceptance of neo-liberal economics, or whether unions continue to resist restructuring. [source] Going Against the Historical Grain: Perspectives on Gendered Occupational Identity and Resistance to the Breakdown of Occupational Segregation in Two Manufacturing FirmsGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2002Anne-marie Greene This article discusses a process of restructuring of working practices within two manufacturing firms with respect to its implications for gendered occupational segregation. A contextualized, historically situated analysis is presented, which is cast within debates on the nature of gendered occupational identity, equality initiatives and arenas of power and influence for women and men, within what were traditionally male-dominated organizational contexts. Such an analysis serves to highlight the significance of the new restructuring in sweeping away 150 years of practice and embedded ,ways of doing things' and offers explanations for the actions of contemporary men and women in opposing what were seen by management and the trade union as emancipatory changes. [source] Disaffection with trade unions in China: some evidence from SOEs in the auto industryINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010Theo Nichols ABSTRACT Despite the growing research into China's industrial relations system there is remarkably little research into how China's workers regard their trade union. This article draws on over 500 interviews conducted in three SOEs in the auto industry in Hubei Province to examine this question. [source] The dynamics of positive action in UK trade unions: the case of women and black membersINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002Gill Kirton This paper considers positive action strategies amongst UK trade unions, aimed at increasing membership and levels of participation and representation among women and black workers. It provides an overview of women's, black members' and race structures within large Trades Union Congress unions and a detailed case study of one large UK trade union. We find that there are salient differences in the way that unions approach issues of gender equality, compared with the approach adopted towards race equality. The paper explores possible explanations, justifications and implications of these differences. [source] A Revised Role for Trade Unions as Designed by New Labour: The Representation Pyramid and ,Partnership'JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2002Tonia Novitz A key objective of British unions is to develop their representative role so as to establish their relevance to the workforce and thereby reverse the overall decline in trade union membership. To many, the legislative reforms undertaken by New Labour since 1999 offer some hope that this can be achieved. These reforms seem to provide a pyramid of representation, whereby trade unions can establish their relevance when they ,accompany' individual employees in grievance and disciplinary proceedings, and when they act as recipients of information and consultation. By attracting members in this fashion, there would seem to be the promise that unions can reascend to the position of recognized and effective parties in collective bargaining. However, this paper suggests that a barrier to the achievement of this objective is the particular conception of ,partnership' adopted by New Labour, which deviates from that of the TUC. This ,partnership' is essentially individualistic in character, procedural in form, and unitary in specification. These characteristics are reflected in the relevant statutory and regulatory provisions and are therefore likely to inhibit the progression of a trade union to recognition in collective bargaining. [source] Trade Union Preferences in Double Dividend ModelsLABOUR, Issue 3 2001Torsten Sløk This paper analyses wage formation in a unionized economy where consumers as an externality in their utility function have the level of local pollution. If modelled in a microeconomically consistent way this externality should also be present in the preferences of the trade union. The key result is that when this trade-off between pollution and employment is included in the trade unions' preferences then they are willing to lower wages to generate substitution towards higher employment and lower pollution. As a consequence, an increase in the pollution tax will lead to lower wages. At a more general level the results show that in models analyzing pollution issues, such as the double dividend literature, it is very important for the policy conclusions how trade unions are introduced. [source] Socio-political control in urban China: changes and crisis*THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Raymond W. K. Lau ABSTRACT This paper examines urban China's socio-political control crisis under the impact of economic reforms as an epitome of a more general social crisis. The traditional urban institutional form of socio-political control in the People's Republic of China (PRC), the work unit form of control, is a variant of age-old forms. The latter's reproduction in variant form in the former was premised upon the fact that the PRC's industrialization was carried out by a peasant-based party creating a new working class of rural migrants engaged in non-market production and exchange. The persistence of non-market economic relations ensured this form of control's continued reproduction. Post-1978 market-oriented reforms have undermined this form. As the emergence of new forms has been slow, a socio-political control crisis has arisen, at a time when millions of urban employees are being thrown out of work. In dealing with the crisis, the official trade union, an organic constituent institution of the work unit form of control, plays a prominent part, in being given the tasks of sustaining this decaying form, and preventing and defusing potential social explosion. Yet, the very economic reform programme that has undermined the work unit form of control, is also gravely weakening the union. [source] Collective Consultation and Industrial Relations in ChinaBRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 2 2004Simon Clarke Economic reform in China has seen the replacement of the administrative regulation of labour relations by their contractual regulation, with an increasing emphasis on the role of the collective contract system. Studies of the introduction of the system emphasized the determining role of the state. In this paper we examine the more recent development of the collective contract system and conclude that it is primarily the continued integration of the trade union into management at the workplace that prevents collective consultation from providing an adequate framework for the regulation of labour relations. [source] Women, Power and Trade Union Government in the UKBRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 3 2000Geraldine Healy This paper addresses the under-explored relationship between women's structures and union democracy and argues that women's structural progress is mediated by an enduring gendered oligarchy and an associated struggle to access power resources. It provides, first, an analysis over time of women's structures in UK unions, and second, a case-study analysis of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF) trade union. The analysis over time demonstrates women's progress in achieving positional power, but conceals the complexity of the way different resources are used to constrain and enable women trade unionists. [source] An innovative model to promote CSR among SMEs operating in industrial clusters: evidence from an EU projectCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2010Massimo Battaglia Abstract This paper presents the findings of our EU co-funded project, an idea developed to better understand the opportunities to formalize corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a clustered system. Small companies often have to compete in a global market; for this reason, cooperation among SMEs, and with local stakeholders and intermediary institutions, might be facilitated by a collective answer to new market requests. Cooperation and social capital are key elements to facilitate trust amongst involved local actors. Moreover, they can also play a key role in the formalization of CSR policies and practices for small companies. In our project, we aimed at identifying and understanding the role of the ,intermediary institutions' (such as trade unions, local authorities, business consortia) in the cluster. Throughout the paper, we focus on the analysis of three industrial clusters in Tuscany (Italy). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Politics: Is there a future for trade unions?CRITICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2001Denis MacShane First page of article [source] Towards a new Bradshaw?ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 1 20071960s, Economic statistics, the British state in the 1950s SUMMARY This article outlines the attempts of British central government to react to the perceived inadequacy of official economic statistics. A huge amount of work went into this project, the main aim of which was to speed up the production of statistics so that the economy could be analysed in more detail, and thus better managed. If this was to work, more data was required on the labour market, on productivity, on production, and on the interlinkages between those indicators. British official statistics clearly were more comprehensive and more detailed at the end of this period than they had been at the start. Even so, the effort was usually thought to have been a failure by the early 1970s. More detail took time to produce; it was difficult to recruit the necessary staff; successive administrative reorganizations also absorbed energies. The devolved informality of British government hampered the emergence of an overall picture. Businesses and trade unions resisted attempts to collect more data, especially when it showed them in an unflattering light. Above all, the elite, specialist, and technical nature of the reform process meant that very little political and popular pressure built up to force through further changes. [source] United we stand: a history of Britain's trade unionsECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 1 2005COLIN GRIFFIN No abstract is available for this article. [source] Unemployment, growth and taxation in industrial countriesECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 30 2000Francesco Daveri To the layman, the upward trend in European unemployment is related to the slowdown of economic growth. We argue that the layman's view is correct. The increase in European unemployment and the slowdown in economic growth are related, because they stem from a common cause: an excessively rapid growth in the cost of labour. In Europe, labour costs have gone up for many reasons, but one is particularly easy to identify: higher taxes on labour. If wages are set by strong and decentralized trade unions, an increase in labour taxes is shifted onto higher real wages. This has two effects. First, it reduces labour demand, and thus creates unemployment. Secondly, as firms substitute capital for labour, the marginal product of capital falls; over long periods of time, this in turn diminishes the incentive to invest and to grow. The data strongly support this view. According to our estimates, the observed rise of 14 percentage points in labour tax rates between 1965 and 1995 in the EU could account for a rise in EU unemployment of roughly 4 percentage points, a reduction of the investment share of output of about 3 percentage points, and a growth slowdown of about 0.4 percentage points a year. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||