Spanish Employment Legislation Reforms in the Recent Crisis - Towards a New Model of the Industrial Relations System

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-288
Author(s):  
Fernando Fita Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
New Model ◽  
Managerial Power ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Employment Legislation ◽  
Political Decisions

The recent crisis and its consequences have induced major changes in Spanish employment legislation which may lead into what could be recognized as a new model of the industrial relations system. Since the early 90's, and as a reaction to globalization, the need of introducing measures for promoting adaptability and flexibility have had echoes in Spanish employment legislation. However, the crisis we are experiencing nowadays is having a greater impact upon the Spanish economy, and hence on employment regulations, than any other previous crisis. The legislature's reaction in order to reverse the situation is leading to a new model of the industrial relations system, since this is happening in the whole European Union, where the power of collective bargaining has been undermined, and with it the role of trade unions. This has had a huge impact on the essence of Spanish labour law (derecho del trabajo). These regulations seek to protect employees at their working places from the managerial power of the employer, but without forgetting the need of protecting the efficiency of the enterprise. In fact, after the new legislation following the political decisions of the Spanish Government, we are closer than ever to an Employment Law (derecho alempleo) where the protection is focused on the citizens' ability to work, protecting them in the labour market. The aim of this paper is to give a short description of the Spanish labour market's situation showing the most relevant data; to provide an analysis of the main measures introduced into Spanish employment legislation, and to draw some conclusions about where and why some decisions are made and what consequences they have for the industrial relations system. 

The Wapping Dispute and Labour Law

1986 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. Ewing ◽  
B. W. Napier
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
International Group ◽  
Industrial Conflict ◽  
The Law ◽  
Rich Material ◽  
The Right

A decade ago the conflict between George Ward, proprietor of Grunwick Processing, and the Association of Professional, Executive Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) provided a platform for an extended debate about the role of the law in industrial relations, the right of employers to refuse to recognise trade unions for collective bargaining purposes and, in particular, the efficacy of legislation as a means of promoting such recognition. In 1986 the decision to move the printing of various newspapers within the News International Group (the chairman of which is Mr. Rupert Murdoch) from Fleet Street to a new purpose-built printing plant at Wapping in London's docklands occasioned another set-piece battle between labour and a strong-minded employer. The issues and the climate of industrial relations in which the dispute took place are very different but, like Grunwick, the Wapping dispute provides rich material for all interested in how the law can be used as part of the strategy of industrial conflict.

scholarly journals The emergence of coercive federal Australian labour law, 1901–2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110039
Author(s):  
Eugene Schofield-Georgeson
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Union Power ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Industrial Environment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Labour Legislation ◽  
Employment Legislation

Over the past two decades, industrial relations scholarship has observed a trend towards an increasingly punitive industrial environment along with the ‘re-regulation’ of labour law. Absent from much of this literature, however, has been an empirical and historical measurement or comparison of the scale and quality of this systemic change. By surveying coercive and penal federal industrial legislation over the period 1901–2020, this study shows empirically that over the last 40 years, there has been a steep increase in the amount of coercive federal labour legislation in Australia. It further measures and compares the volume of coercive labour legislation enacted specifically against ‘labour’ and ‘capital’ or both throughout the same period (1901–2020). Analysis reveals a correlation between a high volume of coercive labour legislation with low levels of trade union power and organisation. Argued here is that coercive labour legislation has been crucial to transitioning from a liberal conciliation and arbitration model of Australian industrial relations towards a neoliberal framework of employment legislation. In the former, regulation was more collective, informal and egalitarian (embodied by the sociological concept of ‘associative democracy’). Under a neoliberal framework, regulation is now more individualised, technical, punitive and rarely enforced, resulting in less equal material outcomes.

Approaching the 21st Century: Perspectives on Korean Industrial Relations

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seoghun Woo
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Direct Interaction ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Government ◽  
Time Changes ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Major Factors

This paper argues that the future direction for the development of Korean industrial relations will evolve through direct interaction between employers and trade unions (either conflictual or cooperative). The government is likely to play a less interventionist role in industrial relations, compared with the past, and to adopt the role of mediator between unions and employers. Characteristics of Korean industrial relations during the pre- 1987 period is firstly examined; four major factors are used to explain the industrial relations practice during this time. Changes after 1987 are also considered. Special consideration is given to interaction between the environment and the three major industrial relations participants, and the interactions between them. Both macro and micro aspects of industrial relations are examined. The special Presidential Address (26/04/1996), known as New Conception of Industrial Relations, is also analysed in terms of its implications for future industrial relations issues in Korea.

scholarly journals Learning to live with the law? The legislative attack on British trade unions since 1979

1970 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Dickens
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Intervention ◽  
British Trade ◽  
Industrial Action ◽  
The Law ◽  
Labour Legislation

This article takes as its focus the labour legislation of the Conservative governments in Britain under Mrs. Thatcher since 1979. It locates the legislation in its broader context and examines three main prongs of what is seen as a legislative attack on the trade unions: the move away from collective industrial relations; the restricted terrain for lawful industrial action; and legal intervention in internal union affairs. The immediate impact, use of and response to this legislation is discussed and a broader question raised concerning whether, as well as having to adjust to the new legal framework, British trade unions are reappraising their attitude to the role of law in industrial relations more generally.

Australian Labour Market Issues: an Historical Perspective

1998 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 690-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Institutional Arrangement ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Women's Wages ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Wage Inflation

This paper provides an historical perspective on topics related to recent developments in the Australian industrial relations system discussed in this issue of the Journal— the 'living wage' concept and the safety net, 'fairness' in relative wages, women's wages, the Accord, labour market decentralisation and the role of trade unions. It concludes that recent legislation was not necessary to facilitate increased productivity because the prevailing system had shown sufficient responsiveness to the needs of the economy, both macro and micro. By limiting the jurisdiction of the AIRC and reducing the power of the weaker unions, recent legislation bas created a dual system with a less equitable pay structure and an institutional arrangement less able to deal with wage inflation under more buoyant economic conditions.

scholarly journals Reflexive law and the reformulation of EC-level employee consultation norms in the British systems of labour law and industrial relations

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aristea Koukiadaki
Keyword(s):  
European Community ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Enforcement Mechanism ◽  
Employee Representation ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Ec Law

The 2002/14/EC Directive establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community allowed considerable flexibility in transposition and implementation. Viewing – in line with reflexive law theory – the Directive as a key tool in allowing EC law to become embedded in the national legal and industrial relations systems, the paper assesses its transposition and impact in Britain. The very flexibility of the Directive made it possible for the British social systems to respond in an innovative way to the changing forms of employee representation. But the relative weakness of the regulatory design of the transposing legislation with regard to the nature of the legal obligations, the enforcement mechanism and the degree to which legal resources could be utilised by trade unions constrained the re-configuration of labour law and its coupling to employee representation arrangements traditionally associated with the British industrial relations system.

The Working Class Goes to the Movies: Labour Law and Thatcherism in British Films

Pólemos ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Peruzzi
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
British Perspective ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Individual Dimension

AbstractThe essay focusses on the employment relationship as a privileged perspective for the analysis of the binomial “power of voices/voices of power.” In such context, the right to strike is presented as a meaningful example of the power stemming from a collective organisation of voices, the voices of the workers, granted as a means to counter-balance the power and the voice of the employer. The analysis highlights the enduring relevance of the British perspective towards the topic, from the liberalist policies fostered by Prime Minister Thatcher in the Eighties until the critical approach recently adopted by the British Government with regard to the protection of the right to strike at international level. British filmography is chosen as a lens for observing such perspective, in particular to the extent it describes the impact of Thatcherism on the British model of industrial relations as well as the economic and social consequences of such political measures in the Nineties. After a general overview, aimed at highlighting common features across the films, like the pivotal role of music and dance in the storyline, the analysis focusses on Billy Elliot, examining the ambiguous relationship between the collective and individual dimension in its narration.

scholarly journals The ILO and Transformation of Labour Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 17-49
Author(s):  
Ulla Liukkunen
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Contractual Arrangements ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
International Labour Standards

Abstract The article explores some of the biggest challenges to the ILO caused by globalization and altering of the collective labour rights scene. It examines the recent transformation of collective bargaining regimes at national and transnational level and the consequences for normativities that characterize the relationship between labour law and the system of international labour standards. Domestic bargaining regimes are influenced by decentralization whereas in a transnational setting, with the phenomena of contractual arrangements between multinational enterprises and trade unions or other employee representatives, transnational collectivization of labour law is occurring. The process of transnationalization of labour law affects the traditional labour law paradigm with profound consequences for our understanding of the purpose and role of labour law. The transformation of labour law highlights regulatory developments that require reinforcement of the role of fundamental labour rights. Building a perspective on major global challenges to the ILO at the beginning of its second centenary requires an assessment of the labour question in terms of flexibility and vulnerabilities. This raises the question of inclusivity, calling for the ILO decent work agenda, employment creation, social protection, rights at work and social dialogue, all to be more firmly integrated in global regulatory approaches to work.

scholarly journals Industrial legislation in Australia in 2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Schofield-Georgeson ◽  
Michael Rawling
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Wage Theft ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Liberal Government ◽  
Policy Trend ◽  
Union Governance

In this 2019 electoral year, a federal Morrison Liberal Government was returned to power with little in the way of an industrial agenda. It failed to implement its key legislation, which mainly included reform to union governance and changes to religious freedom in the workplace. Meanwhile, the state governments, particularly the Victorian Andrews Labor Government, reviewed a swathe of labour law, including wage theft, industrial manslaughter, owner–driver legislation and workers' compensation laws and implemented a host of progressive changes. This year has also seen the continuation of a key policy trend, observable at both state and federal levels of government, towards regulation of aspects of industrial relations by the state that were once exclusively the province of employers and trade unions through a twentieth-century system of conciliation and arbitration.

The Ambiguous Role of Trade Unions in Startup Formation

2018 ◽  
pp. 308-325
Author(s):  
Sylvia Rohlfer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Occupational Choice ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Firm Formation ◽  
The Individual

In this chapter the authors analyze the role of trade unions for firm formation from the perspective of the individual entrepreneur. The industrial relations and entrepreneurship literature reviewed shows that trade unions matter in firm formation decisions in three ways: with regard to the occupational choice problem, the management of potential employees and the resource availability for the startup. Taking the Spanish economy as an example the findings from an empirical study demonstrate the perceived actual and potential role of unions for firm formation. The findings are compared with trade union activity in Germany and the United States in order to draw recommendations for trade union strategists.

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