scholarly journals Work accommodations and sustainable working: The role of social partners and industrial relations in the employment of disabled and older people in Estonia, Hungary and Poland

2020 ◽  
pp. 095968012097189
Author(s):  
Deborah Foster ◽  
Mart Masso ◽  
Liina Osila
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Identity And Agency ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
Work Accommodations

The under-utilization of the labour of disabled and older people is a problem across the European Union (EU) but is most pronounced in Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states, where labour shortages are greatest. This presents a puzzle that is explored with reference to a project with social partners from Estonia, Hungary and Poland, the objective of which was to stimulate debate and actions around the role of industrial relations actors in facilitating work accommodations for disabled and older people. After establishing the extent of the demographic labour crisis in these countries, the policy tools being employed to address it are scrutinized and found wanting. A variety of factors are identified as having contributed to debate in this area: historical legacy, social policy path-dependency, social partner identity and agency, a ‘dead letter’ approach to EU policies, and the limited role of civil society organizations. We examine the potential of the concept of sustainable work, more commonly found in Northern Europe, to influence alternative approaches to the employment of disabled and older people in countries where state, labour and employment relations differ.

scholarly journals The influence of collective employment relations on work accommodation: case studies in Estonia, Hungary and Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Märt Masso ◽  
Deborah Foster ◽  
Liina Osila ◽  
Balázs Bábel ◽  
Jan Czarzasty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Specific Situation ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Reasonable Accommodations ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Disabled Employees ◽  
Work Accommodation ◽  
Work Accommodations

Work accommodations are generally understood to refer to individual solutions for older and disabled employees that have been tailored to their specific situation within a workplace. This article, however, argues that there is potential for collective employment relations to motivate and enable social partners to develop a role in implementing reasonable accommodations and supporting older and disabled employees in the labour market. Focusing on industrial relations and work accommodation systems in Estonia, Poland and Hungary, the potential role that social partners could play in creating more inclusive workplaces is explored. This is done by reference to the findings from an action research project that brought together social partners to discuss ways in which practices in providing work accommodations could help better to integrate underutilised sources of labour in these three countries. The industrial relations regimes in the three countries have potentially enabling characteristics that could facilitate work accommodations. Current knowledge of the work accommodation process and the integration of this issue into the collective employment relations agenda, however, needs further improvement.

scholarly journals The European Citizens’ initiative: too much democracy for EU polity?

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Longo
Keyword(s):  
European Convention ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Governance ◽  
Political Unity ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
Eu Commission ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis Article analyzes the state of democracy in the EU through the study of the European Citizens’ Initiative. The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) represents one of the main ways the European institutions chose during the making of the European Convention, and then reproduced in the Lisbon Treaty, to beat populism by bringing decision-making closer to the citizens and promoting a new legitimization of Europe’s political unity. This Article starts by arguing that if one wants to understand European versions of populism it is necessary to pay attention to the reason why “democratic deficit” and “Euroscepticism” are predominant problems that the European Union is facing. It then analyzes the implementation of the ECI and the main issues of this instrument of democratization pointing at three flaws: a) the problem of e-democracy; b) the difficulty of stimulating large participation of civil society and people for the purposes of the ECIs; c) the cumbersome role of the EU Commission and the difficulties to ensure a real participatory instrument for the European citizens. From the analysis of the ECI this Article first advocates for a more robust public sphere in Europe as indispensable ground for a supranational democracy; second, it supports the revision of the ECI procedural aspects to transform it into a viable channel for amending EU policies in a more democratic way; third, this Article participates in the debate over the brand of democracy most suited to EU governance and polity.

Norwegian Asylum Policy and Response to the 2015 Refugee Crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-406
Author(s):  
Sumbul Parveen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Asylum Policy

In recent years, Norway has emerged as an important destination of asylum for refugees. During the refugee crisis of 2015, Norway, with a total population of slightly above 5 million, received more than 31,000 applications for asylum. This was close to the total number of asylum seekers it had received in the last three years. This article discusses Norway’s history as an asylum destination as well as policies for the protection and integration of refugees. It focuses on how the refugee crisis of 2015 unfolded in Norway. The domestic political discourse and the response of civil society organizations are analysed. The article also looks at the changes introduced in the asylum policy and the role of the European Union in determining Norway’s response to the crisis.

scholarly journals How Much Is Enough? Explaining the Continuous Transparency Conflict in TTIP

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Gheyle ◽  
Ferdi De Ville
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Transatlantic Trade ◽  
Trade And Investment

Transparency has been a central issue in the debate regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), especially on the side of the European Union (EU). The lack of transparency in the negotiating process has been one of the main criticisms of civil society organizations (CSOs). The European Commission (EC) has tried to gain support for the negotiations through various ‘transparency initiatives’. Nonetheless, criticism by CSOs with regard to TTIP in general and the lack of transparency in specific remained prevalent. In this article, we explain this gap between various transparency initiatives implemented by the EC in TTIP and the expectations on the side of European CSOs. We perform a content analysis of position papers on transparency produced by CSOs, mainly in response to a European Ombudsman consultation, complemented by a number of official documents and targeted interviews. We find that the gap between the TTIP transparency initiatives and the expectations of CSOs can be explained by different views on what constitutes legitimate trade governance, and the role of transparency, participation, and accountability herein.

scholarly journals When Strangers Become Family: The Role of Civil Society Organizations in the Care of Older People

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 478-478
Author(s):  
Veronica Montes de Oca ◽  
Ronald Angel
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Older People ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
The Impact

Abstract As in other nations, the aging of the population of Mexico presents many challenges specially in dependence. These social and political changes occur in the context of a series of interacting political, social and demographic transformations. At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st Centuries civil society organizations have begun to define a third sector. A growing desire of individuals to exercise more direct democracy, has accompanied the growth of identity politics and the rise of groups representing women, indigenous populations, racial and religious minorities, environmental interests, older persons, and others. These groups have changed public discourse and today give individuals greater capacity to demand their basic human and social rights. This paper reviews the impact of these changes on older people and multidimensional care.

Industrial relations and migrant integration in European cities: A comparative perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 587-600
Author(s):  
Gemma Scalise ◽  
Luigi Burroni
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Migrant Integration

Migrant inclusion in a society is a process that ultimately succeeds or fails at the local level and cities have increasingly taken a proactive stance in delivering their own policies for integration. The literature on the topic has focused particularly on the cooperation between local political institutions and civil society organizations, underestimating the key role played by social partners. This paper demonstrates the participation of social partners in the local governance of migrant integration in three European cities: Barcelona, Lyon and Gothenburg. Drawing on process tracing analysis and qualitative interviews, the article illustrates the different responses of local unions and employers’ organizations to immigration and the variety of approaches to supporting migrant integration into employment and society. The article argues that these approaches, which take place within different institutional and structural contexts, shape different patterns of migrant inclusion and allow us to explain the new and traditional ways in which social partners operate as social and political actors.

Transnational Company Industrial Relations: The Role of European Works Councils and the Implications for International Human Resource Management

2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 697-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Gilson ◽  
Anni Weiler
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Industrial Democracy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Works Councils ◽  
Centralized Management ◽  
Management Decision Making ◽  
Independent Variable ◽  
Transnational Company

The general study of institutional arrangements that are designed to impact on managerial prerogatives is typically cast in the genre of forms of industrial democracy. While the last few decades have seen a decline in interest in this area of study, developments in the European Union have enabled an ongoing dialogue specifically on the topic of consultation. Although consultation is generally seen by scholars as a modest form of industrial democracy, formal European Directives have provided the opportunity to assess the representative strength or otherwise of initiatives such as European Works Councils that are explicitly designed to address social policy and inequality in the workplace. Drawing on 41 case studies, we examine the determinants of European Works Councils morphology, activities undertaken and general outcomes. We note that it is important to presumptively inquire as to what is being theorized rather than simply take the implicit position that European Works Councils are the prime institution of influence. This leads us to establish the primacy of management and in particular, the vector of management decision-making as the primary independent variable that predicts much about the operation and robustness of European Works Councils. Accordingly, we find that strong centralized management, rather than the usual suspects of differing national industrial relations systems and cultural differences, typically account for much of what we understand in terms of the role that European Works Councils play.

French multinational companies, new state regulations and changes in the employment relationship during the crisis

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violaine Delteil ◽  
Patrick Dieuaide
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Automobile Industry ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Economic Regulation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eastern European Countries

On the basis of a survey conducted in three French multinational corporations in the automobile industry that have set up production facilities in central and eastern Europe, this article examines some of the major changes in the employment relationship that have taken place in the rather specific economic context of the second half of the decade after 2000. Two main propositions are put forward and discussed: the first relates to the rise of a ‘management-led social dialogue’ as the outcome of an increasingly close meshing of corporate industrial strategies, human resource policies and the management of industrial relations at the local level; the second relates to the emergence of a ‘Porterian state’ playing a role of, on the one hand, mediator in the effort to build some ‘labour-management compromises’ for coping with the crisis and, on the other hand, promoter of new forms of socio-economic regulation requiring new institutional complementarities. The analysis, developed on the basis of a comparative approach – i.e. France versus the central and eastern European countries – is rounded off by an examination of the place and role of the European Union in these changes.

scholarly journals The role of perceptual access in infants' third party evaluations of imitation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey J Powell ◽  
Elizabeth Spelke
Keyword(s):  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Current Experiment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Preverbal Infants

Previous research has demonstrated that preverbal infants have a preference for individuals who imitate their social partners over those who do not. It is unknown, however, if this preference is dependent upon infants’ inference that the imitation reflected an intentional response to the imitator’s social partner. The current experiment addresses this question by asking if infants only prefer individuals who copy their social partner to those who do not when these responding individuals had perceptual access to the partner’s initial behavior. Consistent with this hypothesis, infants were more likely to reach for an imitator than a non-imitator when both had perceptual access to the movements of the social partner to whom they were responding, whereas preferential reaching to the imitator over the non-imitator did not differ from chance when the responders’ access to the partner’s initial behavior was blocked. However, the likelihood of reaching to the imitator did not reliably differ between the two conditions, so the experiment fell short of providing strong evidence that the imitator’s perceptual access to its social partner affects the elicitation of infants’ preferences. We discuss reasons for this potential weakness and ways to remedy it in future experiments.

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