Trust: the key to social cohesion and growth in Latin America and the Caribbean

Trust is the most pressing and yet least discussed problem confronting Latin America and the Caribbean. Whether in others, in government, or in firms, trust is lower in the region than anywhere else in the world. The economic and political consequences of mistrust ripple through society. It suppresses growth and innovation: investment, entrepreneurship, and employment all flourish when firms and government, workers and employers, banks and borrowers, and consumers and producers trust each other. Trust inside private and public sector organizations is essential for collaboration and innovation. Mistrust distorts democratic decision-making. It keeps citizens from demanding better public services and infrastructure, from joining with others to control corruption, and from making the collective sacrifices that leave everyone better off. The good news is that governments can increase citizen trust with clearer promises of what citizens can expect from them, public sector reforms that enable them to keep their promises, and institutional reforms that strengthen the commitments that citizens make to each other. This book guides decision-makers as they incorporate trust and social cohesion into the comprehensive reforms needed to address the regions most pernicious challenges.

Trust: The Key to Social Cohesion and Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean (Executive Summary)

Trust is the most pressing and yet least discussed problem confronting Latin America and the Caribbean. Whether in others, in government, or in firms, trust is lower in the region than anywhere else in the world. The economic and political consequences of mistrust ripple through society. It suppresses growth and innovation: investment, entrepreneurship, and employment all flourish when firms and government, workers and employers, banks and borrowers, and consumers and producers trust each other. Trust inside private and public sector organizations is essential for collaboration and innovation. Mistrust distorts democratic decision-making. It keeps citizens from demanding better public services and infrastructure, from joining with others to control corruption, and from making the collective sacrifices that leave everyone better off. The good news is that governments can increase citizen trust with clearer promises of what citizens can expect from them, public sector reforms that enable them to keep their promises, and institutional reforms that strengthen the commitments that citizens make to each other. This book guides decision-makers as they incorporate trust and social cohesion into the comprehensive reforms needed to address the region's most pernicious challenges.

Influence of Organisational Based Self-Esteem on Assertive Behaviour among Government Workers in Ekiti State

This study investigated the influence of organizational based self-esteem on assertive behaviour among government workers in Ekiti State. The study made use of a total number of one hundred and ninety-six (196) participants across government organizations in Ekiti State who were randomly selected. The sample comprised of Male 115 (58.7%) and Female 81 (41.3%). Organizational based self-esteem (OBSE) was measured with a 10-item survey developed by Pierce, Gardner, and Dunham (1989). Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) was used to measure assertiveness. Three hypothesis were formulated and tested in the study and results shows that there is no significant influence of organizational based self-esteem on assertiveness t(194)=-.717,p>.05, there is no significant influence of sex on assertiveness t(194)=.694,p>.05. Finally, there is no significant age difference on assertiveness t(194)=.694,p>.05. Findings were discussed and it was recommended that assertiveness training or other such techniques may be given to the non-assertive employees to build their self-concept and self-esteem and a longitudinal study may be conducted on large sample to assess the effects of assertive training on assertive behaviour and self-esteem with comparison of the different interventional strategies.

Housing Affordability among Civil Servants in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Housing has been acknowledged generally as a key human necessity. One of its problems may be claimed that it is not affordable for the ordinary Nigerian worker, whose earnings and wages are now strongly depressed and unable to fulfill their fundamental necessities. From the perspective of the above, this study studied the affordability of government workers in the State of Ekiti, Nigeria. Purposive method of sampling was used to sample two government agencies and parastatals. A total of One Hundred and Twenty Six (126) government officials were picked. 94 questionnaires were retrieved. The questionnaire was used to collect the information required and analysed by descriptive and medium item score statistics. The findings indicated that government employees in Ekiti State could, on average, afford to pay rental housing since most employees spend less than 30 per cent of their yearly salary on rentals, especially in the medium and high income categories. In the study, public and private engagements were proposed, leading to affordable and sustainable state housing delivery. Keywords: Housing, Civil Servant, Affordable, Rent, Ekiti State.

The PATCO Strike and the Decline of Labor

In 1981, US President Ronald Reagan decisively broke the illegal strike of the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic controllers, which had been organized by their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO). Because of its timing, its notoriety, and its impact in encouraging private sector employers to follow Reagan’s example and break strikes, the PATCO debacle contributed significantly to the continuing decline of the labor movement in the decades following 1981. The breaking of PATCO took place at a crucial inflection point in US labor history. Changing political, ideological, and economic trends made unions vulnerable as the 1980s began. In this volatile context, the PATCO strike garnered unprecedented attention and enormous influence. The walkout, which started on August 3, 1981, took place in every US state and territory, and Americans watched it play out in real time on live television. They saw President Reagan warn strikers that since they were government workers their walkout was illegal, issuing an ultimatum that they would be fired in forty-eight hours if they did not return to work. Then they saw Reagan fire more than eleven thousand strikers who defied his order, replacing them with military controllers and hastily trained substitutes, all with strong public backing. This event shocked rank-and-file unionists, frightened union leaders, and encouraged private sector employers to emulate Reagan in their own dealings with unions. Thus, following the PATCO strike, numerous private sector employers took advantage of weak protections for strikers in US labor law to break strikes in their industries. Workers’ willingness to strike in order to advance or defend workplace standards plummeted thereafter. Declining labor militancy in turn exacerbated the continuous decline in union membership after 1981, leaving the union movement in a deepening crisis by the early 21st century.

UPAYA PENCEGAHAN PEMUTUSAN HUBUNGAN KERJA PEKERJA DI SEKTOR FORMAL BERDASARKAN KEADAAN MEMAKSA PANDEMI COVID-19

The business world everywhere including those in Indonesia cannot but felt the brunt of economic slowdown caused by the public health emergency (the COVID 19 pandemic). Quite a few national and local businesses have had to close their operation and lay off all its employees. Although the consensus between the government, workers (individuals and unions) as well as employers is to prevent and avoid termination of employment at all costs, the Law No. 11 of 2020, re. Job Creation allows massive dismissal of employees due to economic necessity or state of emergency. This article shall critically examine how the prevailing law, Law No. 11 of 2020 re. Job Creation regulates termination of employment in case of state of emergency.

Black West Indian Mothering : A Canadian Perspective

Raising a family in a society where the culture, values, and beliefs differ from one's 'home country', is a challenge for most immigrants. This is especially true for Black West Indian mothers as they try to raise their children in a society where race, class, and gender are forces of oppression and marginalization. This qualitative study examined the experiences of a small group of single Black West Indian mothers raising their children in a large urban Canadian city. Black Feminist thought was used as the theoretical framework to analyze critically the social barriers and supports impacting this group. The results revealed that while these women experienced negative attitudes when working with government workers, and differences in childrearing practices between West Indian and Canadian cultures; attending community parenting programs were a source of social support and relevant parenting information. Implications for health promotion initiatives and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Black West Indian Mothering : A Canadian Perspective

Raising a family in a society where the culture, values, and beliefs differ from one's 'home country', is a challenge for most immigrants. This is especially true for Black West Indian mothers as they try to raise their children in a society where race, class, and gender are forces of oppression and marginalization. This qualitative study examined the experiences of a small group of single Black West Indian mothers raising their children in a large urban Canadian city. Black Feminist thought was used as the theoretical framework to analyze critically the social barriers and supports impacting this group. The results revealed that while these women experienced negative attitudes when working with government workers, and differences in childrearing practices between West Indian and Canadian cultures; attending community parenting programs were a source of social support and relevant parenting information. Implications for health promotion initiatives and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Putting a price on tenure

Government employees in Brazil are granted tenure after three years on the job. Firing a tenured government employee is all but impossible, so tenure is a big employee benefit. But exactly how big is it? In other words: how much money is tenure worth to a government employee in Brazil? No one has ever attempted to answer that question. I do that in this paper. I use a modified version of the Sharpe ratio to estimate what the risk-adjusted salaries of government workers should be. The difference between actual salary and risk-adjusted salary gives us an estimate of how much tenure is worth to each employee. I find that in the 2005-2019 period the monthly value of tenure was R$ 3980 to the median federal government employee, R$ 1971 to the median state government employee, and R$ 500 to the median municipal government employee.