Organizing Latin American workers in Japan

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stewart ◽  
Andy Danford ◽  
Edson Urano
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Weight Of Evidence ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess difficulties facing the unionization of foreign workers focusing on the experience of trade unionists in Union MIE, an exemplar of what in Japan is known as a community union (sometimes described as a form of Minority union – Stewart, 2006). Union MIE is characterized by its orientation to the social and political agenda of Latin American workers, among whom Brazilians form the most numerous group. The paper also addresses the precarious nature of workers’ employment including the condition of labor. The increasing significance of community unions raises the question as to the possibility of the reregulation of worker interests in ways not fully encompassed by traditional labor market-focused unions. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores unique interviews using snowball technique and direct questionnaires to union membership of community union in Japan. Findings The increasing significance of community unions raises the question as to the possibility of the reregulation of worker interests in ways not fully encompassed by traditional labor market-focused unions. In addition to having relevance to the wider discussion on union decline, this paper contributes to the debate on migrant workers, their condition of labor and one form of labor organization responsive to their concerns. Research limitations/implications A comparative approach would add even more to the weight of evidence accrued in the paper. Practical implications Mainstream trade unions need to anticipate that the concerns of migrant and precarious workers will become increasingly common among their erstwhile “regularly” employed membership and so the activities of community and minority unions need to be taken on board in an organic, as opposed to an opportunistic, manner. Originality/value From unique interviews using snowball technique and direct questionnaires to union membership of community union in Japan, the paper presents original data not typically accessible in Anglo-Saxon research tradition.

Identification and assessment of the unionization factors of the US electrical construction trade

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisham Said ◽  
Aishwarya Mali ◽  
Ajay Deshmukh
Keyword(s):  
Union Membership ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Us ◽  
Share Data ◽  
Trend Data ◽  
Industrial Projects ◽  
Practice Knowledge

PurposeConstruction trade unions have been a vital force in improving the job standards and wellbeing of trade workers. However, the union membership in the construction industry has dropped by half between 1983 and 2017. The objective of this study is to identify and assess the controlling factors of construction electrical trade unionization in the United States.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved four main steps. Literature review and industry townhall meetings were conducted to identify the electrical trade unionization factors. A new unionization trend metric was developed using available union market share data to quantify the growth and decline of local unions. Mixed-mode surveying was used to collect questionnaire and interview data on the unionization factors in different local units of the electrical trade union. Finally, the survey data from the questionnaire and interviews were merged and their correlation with the unionization trend data was assessed.FindingsThe study found that the unionization of this specialty trade is dependent on increasing the crew ratio, expanding the non-apprenticeship union membership program, organizing larger contractors, and continuing the union focus on public and heavy industrial projects.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the construction management body of knowledge by providing a data-driven industry-wide assessment of the factors that affect electrical construction unionization. The study advances the understanding of construction trade unions by narrowing the theory-practice knowledge gap, illustrating the use of macro quantitative empirical research methods, and developing a new unionization trend metric.

Grassroots struggles to protect occupational and environmental health

2019 ◽  
pp. 189-210
Author(s):  
Kathy Jenkins ◽  
Sara Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Downward Pressure ◽  
The Face ◽  
Changing Patterns

This chapter is based on a number of international case studies of grassroots occupational and environmental health struggles that are attempting to link workplace, environment and community. Interviews with key people involved in each struggle, in combination with documented campaigns and our own experience as occupational and environmental health activists, have provided a picture of the changing patterns of work under neoliberalism, and the implications for community and workers’ struggle for environmental justice and occupational health. Themes include the erosion of the distinction between work and community and between the workplace and the environment; the increasing casualisation and precarity of work; downward pressure on working conditions; repression of trade unions and decline in union membership; deregulation of work, safety and environmental protection; and particular risks faced by women, young and migrant workers. Union and community organisers are employing diverse tactics in the face of these challenges.

Chile's labour reform will pass this year

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Small Companies ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Broad Agreement

Subject The pending labour reform bill. Significance Complying with an important election promise, President Michelle Bachelet has presented a bill to Congress to strengthen trade unions and encourage more widespread collective bargaining in the private sector. Given the governing coalition's majority in Congress and broad agreement among its parties on the bill's terms, it is expected to become law largely in its current form, probably by mid-year. Impacts Small companies, where unionisation is now uncommon, are particularly concerned about the reform's implications. A key disincentive for union membership -- non-members' access to the benefits it obtains -- would disappear with the reform. Trade unions are urging authorisation of sector-wide collective bargaining but this would require constitutional reform.

scholarly journals United against precarious working conditions? Explaining the role of trade unions in improving migrants’ working conditions in the British and German meat-processing industries

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Johanna Kuhlmann ◽  
Colette S. Vogeler
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Meat Processing ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
Causal Pathways

Abstract The literature has described trade unions’ positions towards both precarious workers and migrant workers as ambivalent. By studying an extreme case, the meat-processing industries in the United Kingdom and in Germany, we show how trade unions were decisive in both countries in bringing exploitative working conditions on the political agenda and in advancing policy change. However, the strategies through which trade unions contributed to this differed remarkably, highlighting different causal pathways in both countries. The British case can clearly be seen as an example of successful union revitalisation by relying on innovative strategies. In contrast, the German story exhibits a strong reliance on a more traditional approach to improving workers’ rights, which was only successful after employers were willing to improve working conditions in the sector as well. Our analysis shows that policy change can happen despite unfavourable conditions and weak actors, especially if these actors make strategic use of situational conditions.

scholarly journals Micro-evidence on product and labor market regime differences between Chile and France

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabien Dobbelaere ◽  
Rodolfo Lauterbach ◽  
Jacques Mairesse
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Market Imperfections ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Market Imperfection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Output Price ◽  
Western European

Purpose – Institutions, social norms and the nature of industrial relations vary greatly between Latin American and Western European countries. Such institutional and organizational differences might shape firms’ operational environment in general and the type of competition in product and labor markets in particular. The purpose of this paper is to identify and quantify industry differences in product and labor market imperfections in Chile and France. Design/methodology/approach – The authors rely on two extensions of Hall’s econometric framework for estimating price-cost margins by nesting three labor market settings (LMS) (perfect competition (PC) or right-to-manage bargaining, efficient bargaining (EB) and monopsony). Using an unbalanced panel of 1,737 firms over the period 1996-2003 in Chile and 14,270 firms over the period 1994-2001 in France, the authors first classify 20 comparable manufacturing industries in six distinct regimes that differ in the type of competition prevailing in product and labor markets. The authors then investigate industry differences in the estimated product and labor market imperfection parameters. Findings – Consistent with differences in institutions and in the industrial relations system in the two countries, the authors find regime differences across the two countries and cross-country differences in the levels of product and labor market imperfection parameters within regimes. Originality/value – This study is the first to compare the type and the degree of industry-level product and labor market imperfections inferred from consistent estimation of firm-level production functions in a Latin American and a Western European country. Using firm-level output price indices, the microeconomic production function estimates for Chile are not subject to the omitted output price bias, as is often a major drawback in microeconometric studies of firm behavior.

How do Latin American migrants in the USA stand on schooling premium? What does it reveal about education quality in their home countries?

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 855-879
Author(s):  
Daniel Alonso-Soto ◽  
Hugo Nopo
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Education Quality ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Former Soviet Republics

Purpose Indicators for quality of schooling are not only relatively new in the world but also unavailable for a sizable share of the world’s population. In their absence, some proxy measures have been devised. One simple but powerful idea has been to use the schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to extend this idea and compute measures for the schooling premium of immigrant workers in the USA over a span of five decades. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors focus on the schooling premia for the Latin American and the Caribbean region and compare them to those of migrants from other regions, particularly from East Asia and Pacific, India, Northern Europe and Southern Europe, all relative to immigrants from former Soviet Republics. The available data allow us to measure such premia for workers who graduated from school, either at the secondary or tertiary levels, in their home countries between 1940 and 2010. Findings The results show that the schooling premia in Latin America have been steadily low throughout the whole period of analysis. The results stand after controlling for selective migration in different ways. This contradicts the popular belief in policy circles that the education quality of the region has deteriorated in recent years. In contrast, schooling premium in India shows an impressive improvement in recent decades, especially at the tertiary level. Originality/value In this paper, the authors extend the idea of computing schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002) and present comparative estimates of the evolution of schooling premia in 17 Latin American countries for both secondary and tertiary schooling levels.

Strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pacific Alliance countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-356
Author(s):  
Vanina Vivas ◽  
Manuel Villar
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Social Effects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Strategic Responses ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Latin American Countries

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments of different countries to implement unprecedented strategies with the aim of reducing the rate of contagion and mitigating its economic and social effects. In this scenario, the purpose of this paper is to analyze four fundamental strategies, namely, testing and diagnosis, macroprudential, labor market and social assistance, based on the crisis management theory. Design/methodology/approach This research note is based on a review of the principal official legislations regarding the strategies implemented during the first 80 days from the first zero case registered in the Pacific Alliance countries. Findings The review shows that the Pacific Alliance countries have implemented similar strategies regarding macroprudential and labor market measures. On the other hand, there are differences among the strategies related to testing and diagnostic and social assistance. Originality/value The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected Latin American countries due to their economic and social problems. In this sense, the reporting and analysis of the principal strategies implemented by the Pacific Alliance countries constitute a baseline to understand the effectiveness of these strategies in mitigating the negative effects of the pandemic.

Rewriting the Meaning of Silence: Latin American Migrant Workers from Kanagawa City Union

2019 ◽  
pp. 79-104
Author(s):  
Reiko Shindo
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Labour Disputes ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Long Action

This chapter discusses how migrant workers of Kanagawa City Union (KCU), who are largely from Latin American countries, participated in the annual negotiation meeting with government representatives and the union's well-known activity called ‘Day Long Action’. Japanese is predominantly used in these events, with little effort to translate for non-Japanese-speaking participants. While the previous chapter looks at an instance where migrant protesters challenge the gap between their visibility and audibility, this chapter shows that they strategically use such a gap for their own benefit. For some migrants, being unable to understand Japanese is not a hindrance but a convenient pretext to follow what they are ordered to do. In this regard, silence gives them an opportunity to perform their loyalty to the trade unions they belong to. Demonstration of such loyalty is a key strategy for KCU migrant members because it is Japanese unionists who ultimately handle migrants' labour disputes.

Organizational structure and convergent change: explanatory factors in SMEs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Armando Marín-Idárraga ◽  
José Manuel Hurtado González
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hierarchical Arrangement ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
The Impact

PurposeBy integrating the structural contingency and the organizational adaptation theories, this study analyzes the impact of the main variables of organizational structure on convergent change. The authors also examine whether some contingency variables, such as the firm's size, age and sector, may help to explain differences in the relationship between organizational structure and convergent change.Design/methodology/approachThis work was carried out through an explanatory and cross-sectional study. The hypotheses were tested through a multiple regression analysis.FindingsThis paper demonstrates that, in Bogota's SMEs, modifications in differentiation and formalization explain convergent change, and that centralization does not affect it. Furthermore, the authors find that the company's size explains these relationships, and that age and sector do not influence them.Practical implicationsThe authors provide useful information in this work to guide managers and professionals on the implications of organizational structure and convergent change, more specifically on decisions regarding hierarchical arrangement, job division and processes redefinition.Originality/valueThis work provides empirical evidence with original data for a better understanding of the reality of Colombian SMEs in the Latin American context.

Anxieties of Experience

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Latin American ◽  
World Literature ◽  
Latin American Literature ◽  
First Century ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Leaves Of Grass ◽  
Literary Authority ◽  
The Us ◽  
New Interpretation

Anxieties of Experience: The Literatures of the Americas from Whitman to Bolaño offers a new interpretation of US and Latin American literature from the nineteenth century to the present. Revisiting longstanding debates in the hemisphere about whether the source of authority for New World literature derives from an author’s first-hand contact with American places and peoples or from a creative (mis)reading of existing traditions, the book charts a widening gap in how modern US and Latin American writers defined their literary authority. In the process, it traces the development of two distinct literary strains in the Americas: the “US literature of experience” and the “Latin American literature of the reader.” Reinterpreting a range of canonical works from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass to Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, Anxieties of Experience shows how this hemispheric literary divide fueled a series of anxieties, misunderstandings, and “misencounters” between US and Latin American authors. In the wake of recent calls to rethink the “common grounds” approach to literature across the Americas, the book advocates a comparative approach that highlights the distinct logics of production and legitimation in the US and Latin American literary fields. Anxieties of Experience closes by exploring the convergence of the literature of experience and the literature of the reader in the first decades of the twenty-first century, arguing that the post-Bolaño moment has produced the strongest signs of a truly reciprocal literature of the Americas in more than a hundred years.

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