The impact of the civil service trade union movement on labour relations in Hong Kong

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ka-kit, Susanna Chan
1979 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Farrell

In common with many other countries, Australia has had, since 1920, a Communist Party, which is an obvious and continuing symbol of international reaction to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Naturally enough the formation of this Communist Party and its subsequent history has attracted a degree of attention from historians and scholars of Communist movements and Australian politics. The impact of the Profintern, on the other hand, has been completely neglected. Even at the international level no full-scale study of the Profintern and its related trade-union organisations is yet available, and though one scholar has noticed that in Australia “the history of communism in the unions is […] separate from CPA political history”, the bases of this separation have been left relatively unexplored. This article seeks to examine Moscow's links with the Australian trade-union movement via the Profintern in the period 1920–35. It would seem that these links overshadowed the CPA as a “Communist” influence in the Australian context, at least for the first decade of the Comintern's existence. The separation of CPA history from the wider influence of Communism in the unions is discernible almost from the very start.


Author(s):  
Shelton Stromquist ◽  
Greg Patmore

Comparative history provides an opportunity for scholars to move beyond national boundaries and reflect on their own societies in new light. But such comparisons are not always straightforward. While both Australia and the United States have federal governments, the state played a more coercive role against organized labor and radicals in the United States than in Australia. Several factors softened the impact of the state on labor in Australia: a stronger trade union movement, the formation of labor parties, and a political consensus on regulating industrial relations at least until the 1980s. In the United States, unbridled hostility of large corporations toward organized labor governed state policy. Despite these differences, labor in both countries found political space to promote progressive policies and modify the harsh behavior of governments....


1987 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mitchell

The power to award preference to unionists pursuant to the Commonwealth Con ciliation and Arbitration Act, 1904 is potentially of great importance to the trade union movement. When such a power is exercised it may extend to union members an advan tage over non-unionists across a broad range of employment rights, including engage ment, promotion, taking of leave and retrenchment. It is argued that the power to grant preference has been misunderstood and misapplied by those responsible for its implementation, and that unionists have thereby been deprived of benefits to which they were legally and ethically entitled. It is argued further that the supposed 'principles' adopted in preference cases have been inadequately identified and analysed. In practice one principle has prevailed: preference would be refused unless an employer could be shown to be actively discriminating against union members. Opportunity for a revision of the principles applicable in preference cases arose with the passage of the 1947 amendments to the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. However, the impact of these amendments was to all intents and purposes negated by the High Court's decisions in R. v. Wallis and R. v Findlay. A disinclination to revise past practice in preference cases and to take a more expansive approach to the issue led to the complete demise of federal union interest in preference awards by the late 1960s.


1961 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Jamieson

It should be stressed at the outset that this brief portrayal of the role that unions have played among native Indians is restricted to a particular region, namely, Canada's far western province of British Columbia. The article is based largely upon data compiled in a comprehensive interdisciplinary study of the Indians of this province, carried out by a University of British Columbia group during 1954-56. Data from this source has been supplemented by labour relations research that this author and others have done on the subject between 1948 and 1960.


2016 ◽  
pp. 245-290
Author(s):  
Kjeld Jakobsen

Como manera de aportar a una reflexión sobre los posibles caminos que se pueden abrir en Colombia, luego de la firma del Acuerdo de Paz entre el Gobierno y las Farc-EP, y la apertura de negociaciones de paz entre el mismo gobierno y el ELN, el presente artículo examina los procesos de paz y transición a la democracia en diez países de Centro, Sur América y Sudáfrica. Se parte de un análisis que prioriza el rol de los movimientos sindicales en los procesos de cada uno de estos países, análisis que se configura como forma de ofrecer una reflexión para el propio movimiento sindical colombiano. Esta propuesta es relevante en la medida que dicho movimiento aún se encuentra deliberando sobre cómo influir en la implementación de los Acuerdos de la Habana, ya que estos traen consigo mejorarías en las relaciones laborales, en beneficio al ejercicio de las libertades sindicales y los demás derechos laborales. A partir del análisis comparativo de estos diez casos, se pretende argumentar que, a pesar de la notable heterogeneidad de los procesos, ninguno logró transformar el modelo político económico dominante y solo en Sudáfrica se pudo elegir un gobierno de izquierda en el transcurso de las transiciones democráticas. Del mismo modo en que solo en Perú hubo participación directa, aunque limitada, del movimiento sindical en la transición democrática.Palabras clave: Transición democrática, autoritarismo, movimiento sindical, dictaduras, comisión de la verdad, derechos humanos, libertades sindicales. AbstractInternational Experiences of Peace Processes and Transition to Democracy: The Impact of the Trade Union MovementAs a means of reflecting on the possible paths that could open up in Colombia, after the signing of the Peace Accords between the Colombian government and Las FARC, and the formal opening of Peace negotiations with the ELN, this article examines the peace processes and democratic transitions that took place in ten countries (in Central and South America, and in South Africa). The article gives special attention to examining the role of the trade union movements in each of these processes, in particular to contrast with the Colombian union movement, at a time when this actor is still deliberating as to how best it can influence the implementation of the Havana Peace Accords in a way which helps improve labor relations and the protection of union and other labor rights. Based on the comparative analysis of these ten cases, the author argues that despite the vast heterogeneity of each process, not one peace process managed to transform the dominant political-economic model, and only in South Africa was a leftist government elected during the democratic transitions. Furthermore, only in Peru was there a direct participation of the union movement in the democratic transition, although limited.Key words: Democratic transition, authoritarianism, trade union movement, dictatorships, Truth Commission, Human Rights, union freedoms.   


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2018) ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
Simona Mina

Trade union movement in Romania is mostly oriented on actions by reaction type, and the decrease of the impact of trade unionism would be generated by the fact that, for various reasons, these reactions are emptied of content, and are simple reflexes of mobilizing structures now deprived of their engine: the political action. My thesis is that already long enough, Romanian unionism preferred the participation in the construction of policies in areas of interest, against the old social reaction and trade union struggle. Unions should be transformed into some important social actors, who are establishing social rules regarding civil society. This should be an important way for eliminating the gap of power between employers and employees.


Author(s):  
Kenneth E. Parku ◽  
Yvonne Ayerki Lamptey

The practice of trade union pluralism at an enterprise level is seen as problematic for both the management of enterprises and the trade union movement. The problems arise from inter-union rivalries, competition and disputes over demarcations of privileges and rights. This article explores the practice of trade union pluralism at the enterprise level in Ghana with the aim of creating awareness of the effect of the practice on the general trade union movement. This qualitative study employed a cross-sectional design and used purposive and snowball sampling methods in selecting the participants. The data was analysed thematically. The findings from the study show that union pluralism is stimulating the decline in general union membership, the breakaway of local unions from the federations, and employers’ classification of workers based on their qualifications once they are employed by organisations, and their assignment to specific unions (automatic membership at enterprise level). It is suggested that employment laws encourage union breakaways, which weakens the unions especially at the enterprise level. It is recommended that the state, labour officials and policy-makers should enforce labour laws, especially regarding freedom of association, and consider revisiting or amending some labour laws to curb their abuse. The government and labour institutions need to work together to operationalise the implementation of legal provisions on freedom of association or consider amending the provisions to curb the existing abuse.


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