scholarly journals Trade unions in transnational automotive companies in Russia and Slovakia: Prospects for working-class power

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hinz ◽  
Jeremy Morris
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Structural Power ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Class Power ◽  
Unconventional Methods

This article compares industrial relations in production sites in Slovakia and Russia owned by a single transnational automotive firm, Volkswagen. We analyse the empirical data using a working-class power approach. In Slovakia, associational and institutional power is well developed and influenced by the model of German work councils, but structural power is weakly exercised and unions rely on non-conflictual engagement with management. In Russia, structural working-class power remains strong, but the opportunities for transforming this into lasting associational, let alone institutional power, remain limited; thus, new unions make use of unconventional methods of protest to promote worker interests.

Legal Expertise: A Critical Resource for Trade Unionists? Insights into the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Guillaume
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Collective Redress ◽  
Critical Resource ◽  
The Law ◽  
Legal Expertise

Abstract Based on in-depth qualitative research conducted in one of the major French trade unions (the CFDT), this article explores to what extent and under what conditions trade unions adopt different legal practices to further their members’ interests. In particular, it investigates how ‘legal framing’ has taken an increasingly pervasive place in trade union work, in increasingly decentralised industrial relations contexts, such as France. This article therefore argues that the use of the law has become a multifaceted and embedded repertoire of action for the CFDT in its attempt to consolidate its institutional power through various strategies, including collective redress and the use of legal expertise in collective bargaining and representation work.

scholarly journals Labour and democracy in the Maghreb: The Moroccan and Tunisian trade unions in the 2011 Arab Uprisings

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Feltrin
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Core ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Class Power

This article focuses on the part played by Moroccan and Tunisian labour in the 2011 Arab Uprisings and their outcomes, aiming to add fresh evidence to the long-standing debate over the place of social classes in democratisation processes. In Morocco, most labour confederations supported a new constitution that did not alter the undemocratic nature of the political system. In Tunisia, instead, rank-and-file trade unionists successfully rallied the single labour confederation in support of the popular mobilisations, eventually contributing to democratisation. The most important facilitating factor for these divergent processes and outcomes was the different level of working-class power existing in the two countries. On the eve of the Uprisings, working-class power was higher in Tunisia than in Morocco and this enabled Tunisian workers to mobilise more effectively. Democratisation in Tunisia, however, has so far failed to address the demands for social justice that were at the core of the Uprisings.

Spanish Unions: Institutional Legacy and Responsiveness to Economic and Industrial Change

ILR Review ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Hamann
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Industrial Production ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Industrial Change ◽  
Short History ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Strong Position

Using empirical data drawn from multiple sources, including interview material, the author examines Spanish trade unions' responses to the reorganization of Spain's economy and changes in the structure of industrial production in the 1980s and 1990s. She argues that Spanish unions, though not in a strong position compared to unions in other Western European countries, avoided a crisis situation by designing flexible strategies and redefining some aspects of Spain's industrial relations institutions. This quick adjustment was possible, the author argues, because the organizations, institutions, and strategies requiring change were not deeply ingrained, given the short history of democratic politics in Spain.

Labor Movements in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico M. Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Labor Movements ◽  
Relational Approach ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Labor

The history of Latin America cannot be understood without analyzing the role played by labor movements in organizing formal and informal workers across urban and rural contexts.This chapter analyzes the history of labor movements in Latin America from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. After debating the distinction between “working class” and “popular sectors,” the chapter proposes that labor movements encompass more than trade unions. The history of labor movements is analyzed through the dynamics of globalization, incorporation waves, revolutions, authoritarian breakdowns, and democratization. Taking a relational approach, these macro-dynamics are studied in connection with the main revolutionary and reformist strategic disputes of the Latin American labor movements.

The Meaning of the Working Class in Africa

1972 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. L. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Cautious Approach

The purpose of this article is largely methodological, in that it aims to sketch an analytical approach to the question of differentiation rather than to provide an empirical analysis. There are clear reasons for approaching the issue in this way. We need to know what the term ‘working class’ means, whether there are divisions within it which significantly influence the behaviour of those affected by them, and the forms which these divisions take. In other words we want to know whether it is stratified. To assume that it is so is to take as given the answers to questions which should be asked. We need to know whether social relationships in any situation are arranged into strata and, if they are, whether they have consistent relationships and are ranked in terms of superiority according to some pre-selected criterion. It is because these questions are not usually asked that studies of social stratification largely consist of fitting empirical data into a predetermined mould. To start by questioning the existence of differentiation is a very modest, cautious approach.

South African Black Trade Unions as an Emerging Working-Class Movement

1989 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony W. Marx
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Labour Unions ◽  
Industrial Manufacturing ◽  
Union Movement ◽  
African Black ◽  
New Phase

The Recent resumption of popular protest signals a new phase in South Africa's internal opposition, characterised notably by the rising political engagement of black labour unions and their federations. Membership in these unions has reached over a million workers, reflecting the dramatic expansion of South Africa's industrial manufacturing sector in the last 20 years. With severe restrictions placed on the leading national and local political organisations since 1985, the unions have developed beyond their initially narrow concerns for their members into the forefront of opposition to established economic and political order. As a result, class consciousness and working-class organisation have increasingly been combined with, and taken precedence over, previous conceptions of opposition based on racial and national identity. This development has exacerbated both remaining ideological divisions and pressures for united action within the union movement.

scholarly journals International framework agreements: new paths to workers' participation in multinationals' governance?

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Schömann ◽  
André Sobzack ◽  
Eckhard Voss ◽  
Peter Wilke
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
International Level ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The Impact

This article describes the results of a major study on the impact of codes of conduct and international framework agreements (IFAs) on social regulation at company level. The limits of labour legislation at the national, as well as the international, level provide a strong motivation for both multinationals and trade unions to negotiate and sign IFAs. IFAs offer a way to regulate the social consequences of globalisation and to secure adherence to labour and social standards. They thus form part of the growing political debate on the international working and production standards of private actors. Examination of the negotiation process, the motivations of the parties, and the content of the agreements and implementation measures provides valuable insights into the impact of IFAs on multinationals' behaviour in respect of social dialogue and core labour standards. Finally, the article highlights the influence of such agreements on public policy-making and the limits of private self-regulation at European and international level, addressing the growing and controversial debate on the need for supranational structures to regulate labour standards and industrial relations.

The Conservative Party and the Trade Unions since 1974

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Moran
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Conservative Party

Public policy on industrial relations can be interpreted as a variation on three traditional themes: individualism; voluntary collectivism; and compulsory collectivism. Before 1974 the Conservative Party had at various times been committed to policies suggested by all these traditions. Since the Party's expulsion from government in that year arguments between Conservatives over industrial relations have likewise involved choices between policies suggested by the three traditions. Despite superficial signs of a revival of individualism in the Party, the substance of policy has been decisively shaped by voluntary collectivism.

scholarly journals New social risk groups, industrial relations regimes and union membership

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Kyu Shin ◽  
Tuomas Ylä-Anttila
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Single Parents ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Temporary Workers ◽  
Country Level

The literature on new social risk (NSR) groups, such as single parents and temporary workers, has argued that they are less likely to join trade unions than other employees. It has been suggested that this is due to the unions’ incapacity or unwillingness to promote policies that mediate NSRs. We argue that there are differences in unionization between different NSR groups, and that country-level institutional structures, operationalized here as industrial relations (IR) regimes, have effects on how likely NSR groups are to unionize. Our multilevel logistic models using European Social Survey (ESS) data produce three main results: (1) family policy-related NSR groups (single parents, female employees with children and female caregivers) are more – not less – unionized than the average worker; (2) precarious workers (low-skilled service employees, temporary employees and part-timers) are, indeed, less unionized than average but (3) this result concerns mostly the liberal and transitional IR regimes.

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