Background and rationale of collective bargaining around work-family issues in Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Egidio Riva
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Family Issues ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Available Information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline and assess the role of industrial relations in introducing work-family-related policies and investigate the drivers, nature and scope of contract provisions that were bargained in the following domains: flexible working arrangements, leave schemes, care services and other supportive arrangements. Analyses draw on information filed in a unique and restricted access repository, the SEcond-level Collective Bargaining Observatory (OCSEL) held by Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori (CISL), one of the major trade union organizations in Italy. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents and examines, by means of descriptive statistics and content analysis, available information on 285 company-level agreements around work-family-related issues that were signed in Italy between January 2012 and December 2015, in the aftermath of the great recession. Findings Work-family issues do not seem to be a major bargaining concern. The availability of specific arrangements is mostly limited to the domain of working time flexibility and it is not quite innovative in its contents. Besides, there is little evidence that the mutual gains rationale is embedded in collective bargaining in the field. However, mature and well-established labour relations result in more innovative and strategic company-level bargaining that is also conducive to work-family-related arrangements. Research limitations/implications The sample is not representative. Thus, the results obtained in this study cannot be extended to make predictions and conclusions about the population of collective agreements negotiated and signed in Italian companies in the period under scrutiny. Originality/value Research on the industrial relations context that lies behind the design and implementation of work-family workplace arrangements is still limited. Furthermore, the evidence is inconclusive. This manuscript intends to address this research gap and provide a much more nuanced understanding.

Industrial relations (IR) changes in China: a foreign employer’s perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 826-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sun Wook Chung
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Multinational Corporation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Foreign Firm ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scaling Down ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

Purpose Although studies on Chinese industrial relations (IR) have examined topics such as unionization and collective bargaining, little is known about employers’ reactions to recent IR changes. In particular, researchers have not thoroughly considered foreign employers’ labor relations strategies. Amidst this background, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how a foreign employer perceives and responds to the recent IR changes in China. Design/methodology/approach This paper conducted an exploratory, inductive study of the Chinese subsidiary of one multinational corporation. The data were collected through the author’s extensive fieldwork at its headquarters and Chinese subsidiary. Findings This paper shows that the union of a foreign firm in China serves three major functions – a collective voice, a monopoly, and an external affairs function – and that the firm’s interpretation of these functions has changed within China’s dynamic IR environment. Further, this paper finds that an employer has initiated its own compliance strategies, such as forming a friendly union, decoupling the union’s functions, de-collectivizing employment relations through effective HR practices and stricter policies, and scaling down in size to reduce administrative burden. Originality/value By introducing an employer perspective regarding recent IR changes, this paper provides a nuanced understanding of unionization and collective bargaining implementation in China. In addition, this paper identifies an emerging pattern of employer perception and response in China, highlighting unique features that have not been addressed in the existing literature on employers’ anti-union behavior. This study’s contributions also facilitate further research encompassing different contexts.

Comparing collective bargaining agreements for developing countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna Besamusca ◽  
Kea Tijdens
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Collective Bargaining Agreement ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Paid Leave ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
Country Comparison ◽  
Work Family

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to fill several knowledge gaps regarding the contents of collective agreements, using a new online database. The authors analyse 249 collective agreements from 11 countries – Benin, Brazil, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Peru, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda. The authors research to what extent wage and other remuneration-related clauses, working hours, paid leave arrangements and work-family arrangements are included in collective agreements and whether bargaining topics cluster within agreements. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use the web-based WageIndicator Collective Bargaining Agreement Database with uniformly coded agreements, that are both collected and made accessible online. The authors present a quantitative multi-country comparison of the inclusion and contents of the clauses in the agreements. Findings – The authors find that 98 per cent of the collective agreements include clauses on wages, but that only few agreements specify wage levels. Up to 71 per cent have clauses on social security, 89 per cent on working hours and 84 per cent of work-family arrangements. The authors also find that collective agreements including one of these four clauses, are also more likely to include the other three and conclude that no trade off exists between their inclusion on the bargaining agenda. Research limitations/implications – Being one of the first multi-country analyses of collective agreements, the analysis is primarily explorative, aiming to establish a factual baseline with regard to the contents of collective agreements. Originality/value – This study is unique because of its focus on the content of collective bargaining agreements. The authors are the first to be able to show empirically which clauses are included in existing collective agreements in developing countries.

scholarly journals Diverging Trajectories: Economic Rebalancing and Labour Policies in China

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 105-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boy Lüthje
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
Manufacturing Industries ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
Labour Management

This paper develops a new approach to analyse labour relations at the level of companies, industries, and regions in China. Referring to Western and Chinese labour sociology and industrial relations theory, the author applies the concept of “regimes of production” to the context of China's emerging capitalism. This article focuses on China's modern core manufacturing industries (i.e. steel, chemical, auto, electronics, and textile and garment); it explores regimes of production in major corporations and new forms of labour-management cooperation, the growing inequality and fragmentation of labour policies within the modern sectors of the Chinese economy, consequences for further reform regarding labour standards, collective bargaining, and workers’ participation.

Industrial relations in Botswana – workplace conflict: behind the diamond sparkle

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Motsomi Ndala Marobela
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Corporate Image ◽  
Workplace Conflict ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Customers ◽  
The Right

Subject area Management: human resources management. Study level/applicability Undergraduate and postgraduate. Case overview This case gives critical insights in the complex issues surrounding the management of employment relationship in Africa, specifically focusing on Botswana. It is set in the context of explosive industrial relations involving Debswana Diamond Mining Company and the Botswana Mine Workers Union over the contentious issues of pay bonus and collective bargaining. Failure to reach an amicable compromise by both parties' results in a debilitating strike which costs the company millions of funds and affected it's the corporate image contrary to its well crafted social responsibility. More painfully, the end game is a loss of employment and dreams shattered for 461 dismissed workers who depended solely on this work as their only source of income. Expected learning outcomes At the end of reading the case students are expected to: understand the limits of managerial prerogative and the right to manage; appreciate the inherent conflict of interests between labour and capital; consider more equitable compensation schemes in dealing with collective bargaining; and discuss the concept of social responsibility in the context internal customers-employees. Supplementary materials Teaching note.

Unions’ response to corporate restructuring in Telefónica: locked into collective bargaining?

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Óscar Rodríguez-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Management Strategy ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Corporate Restructuring ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the restructuring approach followed by the highly profitable Telefónica in its 2011 redundancy plan, and explores unions’ response to management strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The research follows a case study approach constructing a dataset with information from company reports, committee records, union documents, press releases, and other available sources such as specialized journals and newspapers. Findings – Specifically this case study tries to show how massive job cuts have been implemented through a labour-mediated downsizing strategy that mitigates contestation and industrial conflict. Originality/value – The paper tackles the relevant question of how unions respond to corporate restructuring (involving downsizing) in countries where industrial relations institutions remain relatively strongly embedded and proactive.

scholarly journals Award, Agreement or Nothing? A Review of the Impact of S132(a) of the Labour Relations Act 1987 on Collective Bargaining

1970 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Harbridge ◽  
Stuart McCaw
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Court System ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Court Of Appeal

The on-going saga of the G.N. Hale redundancy dispute appears now to have run its course. From grievance committee, to the Labour Court, to the Court of Appeal, and back to the Labour Court, the case has attracted considerable attention - from the media and naturally from industrial relations practitioners, eager to learn the view of the New Zealand court system on the vexed matter of redundancy compensation. In the most recent Labour Coun decision on Hale (WLC89/90), Goddard C J held that while the employer was able to prove that the worker was genuinely made redundant the dismissal was unjustifiable because "the circumstances called for the payment of compensation; none was paid; and the amount that was offered and refused was fixed by unilateral decision of the employer and was inadequate". The effect of this decision is profound. Employers planning to make employees redundant have a new set of requirements to meet before their actions can be taken as justifiable. While it will remain the case that there is no right to compensation for a dismissal on the grounds of redundancy unless that right is conferred by a redundancy agreement or by an award or collective agreement, there may still be a right to compensation if the dismissal, although genuinely on the grounds of redundancy, is unjustifiable and thereby gives rise to a successful personal grievance. An employer will now need to focus on the circumstances of the redundancy to detetuaine whether it calls for compensation and where it does, the employer will need to offer, and have accepted, compensation that is both adequate and negotiated.

scholarly journals The industrial relations chameleon: collective bargaining in the facility management business

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Godino ◽  
Oscar Molina
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Facility Management ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employment Conditions ◽  
The Uk

PurposeThe paper aims to analyze collective bargaining in the facility management business of these six countries to explore similarities and differences between them. The analysis serves to test the differential impact of the national institutional setting on the protection provided by collective agreements to facility management workers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a case study methodology to approach a facility management multinational company providing services in six European countries (France, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK) that represent different industrial relations systems with variance in key dimensions of collective bargaining, including its structure, coverage and extension of agreements.FindingsThe extension of the facility management business model has not always adopted a high-road strategy aimed at enhancing the quality and efficiency through the integrated management and delivery of services, which is expected to positively impact employment conditions. Rather, it has, in many cases, been a deliberate, low-road attempt to undercut working standards, taking advantage of the multiple services provided by the company in a context of growing de-centralization in collective bargaining. The results point to an important role of industrial relations institutions in shaping facility management strategies and outcomes.Originality/valueSimilar to other forms of outsourcing, facility management leads to fragmented employment relations. However, the concentration of outsourced workers under the same supplier organization introduces opportunities to ensure the protection of workers, depending on the adoption of a high- or low-road competitive strategy. This paper provides for the first time comparative evidence about industrial relations in facility management businesses, a largely under-researched area.

scholarly journals The resilience of collective bargaining – a renewed logic for joint regulation?

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-295
Author(s):  
Sian Moore ◽  
Ozlem Onaran ◽  
Alexander Guschanski ◽  
Bethania Antunes ◽  
Graham Symon
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
National Income ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Share

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to reassert the persistent association of the decline in collective bargaining with the increase in income inequality, the fall in the share of wages in national income and deterioration in macroeconomic performance in the UK; and second, to present case studies affirming concrete outcomes of organisational collective bargaining for workers, in terms of pay, job quality, working hours and work-life balance.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based upon two methodological approaches. First, econometric analyses using industry-level and firm-level data for advanced and emerging economies testing the relationship between declining union density, collective bargaining coverage and the fall in the share of wages in national income. Second, it reports on ten in-depth case studies of collective bargaining each based upon analysis of collective bargaining agreements plus in-depth interviews with the actors party to them: in total, 16 trade union officers, 16 members and 11 employer representatives.FindingsThere is robust evidence of the effects of different measures of bargaining power on the labour share including union density, welfare state retrenchment, minimum wages and female employment. The case studies appear to address a legacy of deregulated industrial relations. A number demonstrate the reinvigoration of collective bargaining at the organisational and sectoral level, addressing the two-tier workforce and contractual differentiation, alongside the consequences of government pay policies for equality.Research limitations/implicationsThe case studies represent a purposive sample and therefore findings are not generalisable; researchers are encouraged to test the suggested propositions further.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes that tackling income inequality requires a restructuring of the institutional framework in which bargaining takes place and a level playing field where the bargaining power of labour is more in balance with that of capital. Collective bargaining addresses a number of the issues raised by the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices as essential for “good work”, yet is at odds with the review’s assumptions and remedies. The case studies reiterate the importance of the development of strong workplace representation and bargaining at workplace level, which advocates for non-members and provides a basis for union recruitment, organisation and wider employee engagement.Originality/valueThe paper indicates that there may be limits to employer commitment to deregulated employment relations. The emergence of new or reinvigorated collective agreements may represent a concession by employers that a “free”, individualised, deinstitutionalised, precarious approach to industrial relations, based on wage suppression and work intensification, is not in their interests in the long run.

Work-family studies in the tourism and hospitality contexts

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 2422-2445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyuan (Roy) Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Family Relationships ◽  
Family Studies ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Holistic Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Family Issues ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality

Purpose This review aims to summarize previous research on work–family relationships in the tourism and hospitality contexts. It then integrates the various approaches into a holistic model and identifies important areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach Over 150 research papers from the past 20 years were retrieved from Elsevier Science Direct, SAGE, Emerald, Taylor & Francis and EBSCOHost. In total, 77 papers reporting empirical research were analyzed in terms of concepts, theories, antecedents, consequences and methods. Findings The major findings on work and family issues in the tourism and hospitality contexts were synthesized. Critical topics for future research were identified. A holistic model of the factors that affect work and family was developed to improve the consistency of future research. Research limitations/implications An overview of work–family studies will provide a solid research background to tourism and hospitality faculty members and graduate students who are considering research in this area. This paper is a general review of previous research, and the review focus is relatively global. Originality/value This paper is the first comprehensive summary and narrative review of work and family studies in tourism and hospitality.

Why worker-supported collective bargaining may still fail

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-491
Author(s):  
Siqi Luo ◽  
Tao Yang
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Structure ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Chain Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Enterprise Level ◽  
Systematic Understanding ◽  
Supply Chain Structure ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that some enterprise unions in South China, as strategic labor actors, made local progress in collective bargaining, but further elaborates on why gainful bargaining would require a more systematic understanding of the prevailing industrial structure. Design/methodology/approach This paper is mainly drawn from intensive site visits and 51 in-depth interviews in 2013 and 2014, and several follow-ups up to 2018. Three cases of collective bargaining, featuring different union strategies of assertive negotiation, informal cooperation and direct confrontation, are discussed in detail. Findings The study illustrates that viable collective bargaining with worker-supported unions is possible in China. However, the effectiveness of bargaining does not count on this alone; the supply chain structure also imposes significant constraints, mainly by narrowing the bargaining scope of each supplier and differentiating the structural power of their unions. In these cases, institutionalized union coordination beyond individual suppliers is proposed. Research limitations/implications These cases began as post-strike bargaining in Japanese auto supply chains and became the frontier of industrial relations in China. The impact of the supply chain in different sectors or regions requires further study. Originality/value This paper draws attention to the effect of an “invisible” but increasingly significant factor, industrial structure, on enterprise-level collective bargaining in China, unlike many previous criticisms of unwillingness or incompetence among labor actors.

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