Talking about non-union collective agreements: A union perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110513
Author(s):  
Lawrence Ben ◽  
Alistair McLaren Sage
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Recent Contribution ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Policy Strategy ◽  
Collective Agreements

In a recent contribution in this journal, Mark Bray, Shae McCrystal and Leslee Spiess posed the question, ‘Why doesn't anyone talk about non-union collective agreements?’ Surveying business, government and union perspectives, the authors identified the need for greater attention and research to understand their effect on contemporary Australian industrial relations. This article serves as a response to this concern. Two case studies illustrate how non-union agreements work in practice under the Fair Work Act 2009. We outline further examples of how unions have been talking about non-union agreements through a legal and policy strategy rather than public advocacy. Assessing employer motivations for pursuing non-union agreements, as well as bargaining outcomes for workers, we conclude that there is an urgent need for reform.

Unions and collective bargaining in Australia in 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bray ◽  
Johanna Macneil ◽  
Leslee Spiess
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
Industrial Disputes ◽  
Wage Outcomes

There is a storm brewing over the roles of unions and collective bargaining in Australian employment relations. Unions, frustrated with what they see as practical and legislative restrictions on protection of workers’ rights, seek to ‘change the rules’. Employers, on the other hand, have been successful in restricting or rolling back bargaining rights, supported by their associations, the Coalition government and an assertive interpretation of the Fair Work Act. Add to this the impending federal election and the scene is set for a tempest that could bring industrial relations back to the centre of Australian politics in 2019. The review explores the various elements contributing to the coming storm, including trends in union membership, structure and strategy. It also surveys trends in the number and coverage of collective agreements, wage outcomes and industrial disputes. Two idiosyncractically Australian versions of collective agreement making are also discussed: cooperative bargaining facilitated by the Fair Work Commission and non-union collective agreement making.

Why doesn’t anyone talk about non-union collective agreements?

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 784-807
Author(s):  
Mark Bray ◽  
Shae McCrystal ◽  
Leslee Spiess
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Main Section ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
The Media ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Way

Non-union collective agreements have become a common and widely accepted phenomenon in Australian industrial relations since the 1990s. This article asks why they are so rarely discussed in research, the media and public policy debates. On the way to exploring a range of factors that answer this question, we first summarise the relevant legislative provisions and reflect on their international exceptionalism. We review both data on the incidence and coverage of non-union collective agreements and the modest research on the practice of non-union collective agreement-making, almost all of which preceded the Fair Work Act. The penultimate main section analyses the few accounts of non-union collective agreements in the media and policy debates. The last main section presents our speculative and multi-causal answer to the why question.

scholarly journals Trade Unions, Bargaining Coverage and Low Pay: A Multilevel Test of Institutional Effects on Low-Pay Risk in Germany

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110244
Author(s):  
Chiara Benassi ◽  
Tim Vlandas
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Union Member ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Institutional Effects ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Low Pay

Employment relations scholars argue that industrial relations institutions reduce low pay among the workforce, while the insider-outsider literature claims that unions contribute to increase the low-pay risk among non-union members. This article tests these expectations by distinguishing, respectively, between the individual effect of being a union member or covered by collective agreements and the sectoral effect of strong trade unions or encompassing collective agreements. Findings from multilevel logistic regression analyses of the German Socio-Economic Panel reveal that unions and bargaining coverage have distinct effects at individual and sectoral level. The analysis of their cross-level interactions provides partial support to both the insider-outsider approach, since non-union members are more exposed to the risk of low pay in highly unionized sectors, and to the power resource perspectives, since the probability of being in low pay in sectors with encompassing collective agreements decreases also for those workers who are not covered by them.

scholarly journals The Direction of Personnel and its Responsibilities

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-296
Author(s):  
T.P. Dalton
Keyword(s):  
Personnel Management ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
Personnel Director

Summary After a short historical summary of the evolution of industrial relations and the direction of personnel, the author defines the functions of personnel management. He then points out the particular obligations of the personnel director himself, in regard to the negotiation of collective agreements, the settlement of grievances and the training of employees. In conclusion, the author reminds us of the numerous and important qualities required to fill properly this function of personnel director.

scholarly journals Brazilian Trade Unions

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Lang ◽  
Mona-Josée Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Union Leader ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Heavy Body ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Labour Legislation

Many analysts of Brazilian industrial relations share a determinist vision of the country’s trade unionism, according to which the unions maintain a paradoxical yet atavistic relationship with the heavy body of laws that provide them with advantages while limiting their freedom. We tested this vision by conducting field enquiries into the daily activities of two Brazilian unions: the ABC Metalworkers Union and the Seamstress Union for the Sao Paulo and Osasco Region. In this article, we present the results of our case studies and what they reveal about Brazilian trade unionism’s relationship with the labour legislation. We also briefly discuss former trade union leader and current President Lula’s recent attempts to reform the country’s labour relations system.

Tipping the Scales for Labour in Ireland? Collective Bargaining and the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Murphy ◽  
Thomas Turner
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Social Partnership ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Missed Opportunity

Abstract Trade union density in Ireland has followed a similar pattern of decline to that of other Anglo-Saxon economies in recent decades. However, two factors make Ireland distinctive within this classification of countries, firstly the system of national social partnership that prevailed from 1987 to 2008, and secondly, the absence of a statutory route to union recognition. In this paper, we examine the extent to which a new piece of legislation, the Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015, provides unions with a route to securing bargaining rights for workers and extends collective bargaining rights generally. We conclude that the Act represents a missed opportunity to offer mechanisms to secure rights for unions and their members capable of delivering collective bargaining to the non-union sector. We situate the paper within debates concerning the role of labour law in supporting workers rights to collective bargaining.

scholarly journals Dialogue as a Strategy of Struggle: Religious Politics in East Germany, 1957–1968

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-186
Author(s):  
Heléna Tóth
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Religious Politics ◽  
Policy Strategy ◽  
Argumentative Strategies ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Church Policy ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis article argues that the topos of dialogue between Christians and Marxists fulfilled a key role in the creation and maintenance of power relations in religious politics in East Germany. Three case studies illustrate the topos of dialogue as a strategy of struggle: 1. the campaign against ‘revisionism’ and ‘politicised religion’; 2. the church policy strategy of ‘differentiation’; 3. the critique of the phenomena commonly associated with the Christian–Marxist dialogue outside East Germany in the mid-1960s. These instances of socialist religious politics, while having their own dynamics, were closely related through specific actors and argumentative strategies.

Employer Strategies Towards Non‐Union Collective Voice

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Gollan
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Collective Voice ◽  
Dual Channel ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
Union Voice

Non-union collective voice (NCV) has tended to play a minimal role in many Anglo industrial relations systems, with few formal processes or legal requirements. However, the lack of representative structures covering increasing numbers of non-union employees due to declining levels of trade union density and legislative changes banning closed shop or compulsory union arrangements have prompted the current interest in NCV arrangements. This article explores management strategies towards, and the development of, NCV arrangements and union responses to such arrangements in predominately English-speaking countries. It also tracks the development of dual-channel NCV and union voice arrangements, and examines the interplay between channels of NCV and trade unions. Overall, the article reviews this theory and raises debates around management strategies and issues involved in the process of transition from NCV to unionism.

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