Transforming the unemployed: trade union benefits and the advent of state policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Whiteside
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
National Insurance ◽  
Local Branch ◽  
The Unemployed

The introduction of state insurance for the unemployed, under the 1911 National Insurance Act, forced the trade unions to make adjustments to their visions of how they treated the unemployed. Before the 1911 Act there was immense diversity and variation in how the trade unions supported their members and controlled the labour market through providing benefits for the unemployed. However, the 1911 Act, imposed a rigidity on unemployment, defining it by imposing a limit of benefits for 15 weeks per year, with those falling out of benefit being unfortunate rather than long-term unemployed. Since many unions ran the new state scheme it was their previous flexibility in providing benefits to a more liberally defined unemployed, and allowing local branch variation, was replaced by the state’s insistence on uniformity and centralisation.

scholarly journals The fate of labor after regime change: Lessons from post-communist Poland and post-apartheid South Africa for Tunisia’s Nobel-Prize winning unions

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian M Hartshorn ◽  
Rudra Sil
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Economic Liberalization ◽  
Nobel Peace Prize ◽  
Unanticipated Consequences ◽  
The Arab Spring

Wherever labor has played a significant role in bringing about regime change, there may be opportunities to join in the post-authoritarian ruling coalition in the hopes of consolidating its influence. This article examines the long-term risks and unanticipated consequences of giving in to this temptation by comparing post-communist Poland and post-apartheid South Africa, where the leading trade union federations became weaker and more divided as their political allies pushed forward with economic liberalization. Tunisia’s trade unions, awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for their contribution to a stable transition after the ‘Arab Spring,’ face the risk of going down the same path should they continue to view themselves as partners of the new governing elite, which has already signaled its intention of pursuing further liberalization.

French trade union rivalry is likely to intensify

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Power Struggle ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government

Subject French trade unions. Significance French trade unions have found themselves at the centre of a continuing and powerful social movement against the labour reform proposed by the government under President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls. However, the strong opposition is not just driven by the content of the reform but also by the power struggle among trade unions which are now split into 'reformist' and 'non-reformist' camps. Impacts The division between trade unions is likely to lead to a radicalisation of the non-reformist unions with violent strikes continuing. The government will be held responsible for the lock-down, which will weaken Hollande's re-election bid further. The labour reform dispute could relegitimise non-reformist trade unions in the long term, complicating future reform attempts.

scholarly journals Relying on weak governments: Austrian trade unions and the politics of smoothed dualization

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Rathgeb
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Labour Market Policy ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Market Policy ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Power Resources

Austrian political actors have improved the protection of outsiders by expanding the coverage of labour rights, social security, and active labour market policy spending in the past two decades. The article attributes these ‘solidaristic’ traits of Austrian labour market policy change to the persistent reliance of weak governments on trade union support in the mobilisation of a durable consensus. When governments are internally divided and prone to reform deadlocks, they face a powerful incentive to share policy-making authority with the social partners. Despite a significant decline in power resources, the Austrian trade union confederation has therefore remained influential enough to compensate outsiders for growing economic uncertainty on a volatile labour market. To substantiate this claim empirically, the article draws on primary and secondary sources as well as interview evidence with policy-making elites.

Labour reforms will be key test for France’s Macron

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Stock Option ◽  
Market Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Market Reform ◽  
Market Liberalisation

Significance The labour market liberalisation sought by President Emmanuel Macron goes beyond the reform passed by the previous Socialist-led government last July, which lost some of its substance because of parliamentary obstruction. Impacts Controversy around Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud’s past stock option deals may undermine public support for the reform. The planned labour market reform could reduce France’s unemployment rate in the medium to long term. There is a risk of social and industrial unrest from September onwards as the most militant trade unions try to capsize the reform.

Social marginalization and chronic illness: A critical analysis of the role of labour-market exclusion

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iben Nørup
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Chronic Illnesses ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Social Marginalization ◽  
Labour Market Participation ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
The Unemployed

Since the 1990s, most European countries have implemented activation policies targeting the unemployed. During the past decade, the target group for activation policies expanded and currently also includes persons with limitations in their ability to work due to long-term or chronic illness and disabilities. The argument underlying these policies is that labour-market exclusion is the main cause for social marginalization because participation in paid work provides important social and psychological functions that cannot be found elsewhere. Based on an extensive set of quantitative data that combines register data and survey data, and using structural equation modelling, this paper analyses the relationship between chronic illness and social marginalization, and in particular which role labour-market exclusion plays in this relationship. Is labour-market exclusion a crucial factor in explaining why individuals with chronic illnesses face a higher risk of social marginalization if factors such as income and education are also taken into account? From the statistical results, the paper states that individuals with chronic illnesses face a far higher risk of social marginalization, but that this risk is caused by their health limitations and not by their lack of labour-market participation. Contrary to the policies’ logic and the theoretical argument of psycho-social theories originating from the deprivation perspective, no direct, indirect or mediating effects of labour-market exclusion on social marginalization were identified.

The Troubled Partnership: Trade Unions and Working-class Parties in Italy, 1948-78

1978 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 416-436
Author(s):  
Paolo Farneti
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Political Market

The problem of ‘tutelage’ of trade unions by political parties in italy must be seen against a background of: the structural conditions of the labour market (where trade unions are active) and those of the ‘political market’ (where parties are active) as masses for manoeuvre used to attain certain aims; the characteristics of the leadership of the trade unions and those of the political parties; the ‘styles of leadership’ (including the conduct of conflict) by trade union and party leaders.

Long-term unemployed in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-34
Author(s):  
Ewa Flaszyńska
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Public Employment ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
Employment Services ◽  
Unemployed People ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Unemployed

The COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly affected the increase in unemployment, including the change in the structure of long-term unemployment. Long-term unemployment increases with some delay after the recession. This article analyses the changes in the situation of long-term unemployed people in Poland before and during the COVID-2019 pandemic, presents actions taken at that time by employment and social services, and presents recommendations for the future, considering information collected from employees of poviat labour offices. In Poland, the reasons for the persistence of a relatively high level of long-term unemployment in general may include the following factors: registration in labour offices of people who, mainly for health reasons, are not ready to participate in processes of restoring the ability to work, a limited amount of funds allocated to activation of the unemployed activities and, finally, the lack of mechanisms rewarding the public employment services (PES) for bringing the long-term unemployed back to the labour market.

Trade Unionists in Parliament and Macroeconomic Performance: Evidence from Germany

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-116
Author(s):  
Michael Berlemann ◽  
Klaus W. Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Macroeconomic Performance ◽  
Macroeconomic Conditions ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Members Of Parliament

This article focuses on the role of unionised members of parliament. While unions have a direct effect on the labour market via wage negotiations, they often also take part in political debates. In many countries, significant shares of the members of parliament are also members of a trade union. However, up to now little empirical evidence is available on the extent to which unionised members of parliament try to achieve union-specific goals and thereby influence the macroeconomic conditions of an economy. A recent study for Germany comes to the conclusion that union members in the Bundestag cannot be seen as the parliamentary arm of the trade unions. However, we present contradicting empirical results by showing that, in Germany at least, the degree of unionisation of parliamentary members has a negative impact on economic growth and increases inflation, while unemployment remains unaffected.

scholarly journals The Unemployed Workers’ Perceptions of Stress and Employment Prospects in Macedonia: The Role of Alternative Adjustment Mechanisms

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-79
Author(s):  
Dimitar Nikoloski ◽  
Ljupcho Pechijareski
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Macroeconomic Shocks ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
Adjustment Mechanisms ◽  
Persistent Unemployment

AbstractDepressed labour market conditions in Macedonia manifested by high and persistent unemployment rate, strong segmentation and prevailing long-term unemployment is considered as a heritage of more than two decades long period of transition. Unemployment has a number of negative consequences such a decreased income which is assumed to influence the subjective experience of unemployment. The negative macroeconomic shocks in Macedonia have been mitigated due to the strengthened role of alternative labour market adjustment mechanisms such as: employment in the informal sector, emigration and inactivity. However, their impact on the unemployed workers’ perceptions of stress and future labour market prospects is less clear-cut. In this paper we use results from a survey carried out on a sample of unemployed workers in Macedonia in order to identify the psychological implications of unemployment by assessing the perceived stress and employment prospects with particular reference to the role of alternative labour market adjustment mechanisms.

Representing foreign workers in the private security industry: a South African perspective on trade union engagement

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-149
Author(s):  
Steven Gordon ◽  
Brij Maharaj
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Undocumented Migrant ◽  
Trade Union Movement ◽  
Study Approach

ABSTRACTIn recent years South African cities have become home to a large number of undocumented migrant workers. If trade unions do not organise undocumented migrant workers, it opens up such workers to exploitation and maltreatment by employers, thereby creating a split labour market that undermines the entire labour movement. This article focuses on the responses of the national trade union movement in the private security sector to the presence of undocumented workers at the grassroots level. Using a case study approach, we find that the pressures of labour market informalisation in the industry prompt unions to seek to maintain and advance their position from their traditional support base of citizen workers rather than attempt to include new groups. The failure to engage is reinforced by anti-immigrant attitudes which link foreigners with problems in the industry such as low wages and portrays such workers as co-conspirators rather than comrades. While justice and solidarity have always been the foundation of trade unionism in South Africa, the movement is in danger of failing this test if the current situation in terms of the exclusion of undocumented foreign workers persists.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document