Collective Bargaining Rights Research Articles

Tackling Labour Monopsony by Gig Platforms: The Anti-Monopoly Law as an Alternative Legal Approach to the Labour Law System in China

Abstract In the gig economy, workers could be subject to exploitative and coercive practices by platforms and their stringent labour algorithms. Since gig workers are not defined as typical employees, the Chinese labour law system fails to adequately protect gig workers. Furthermore, the limited scope of labour law protection is also another reason for the ineffectiveness of the Chinese labour law system. Even if gig workers can be identified as employees, the regulation of labour algorithms is uncovered by the existing labour laws. Additionally, collective bargaining rights of gig workers may help but as explained in Section 4, they are still immature and collective barging practices are likely to violate the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law. This article claims that the enforcement of the Anti-Monopoly Law can be an alternative approach to protecting gig workers as the gig platforms may constitute a labour monopsony. Therefore, anti-trust enforcement can step in and punish exploitative and coercive practices harming gig workers. However, there are limitations of the Anti-Monopoly Law in dealing with these practices and thereby the advantages of the Chinese labour law system regarding the protection of gig workers should still be taken seriously.

Global Flow of Foreign Aid and Change in Recipients’ Local Labor Institutions

How does foreign aid affect recipient countries’ labor institutions? Extant empirical evidence is sparse due to ambiguous theoretical predictions and potential endogeneity issues. This study uses data detailing aid flow and institutional functions to mitigate such inconclusiveness and displays originality by constructing a concise theoretical framework in which foreign aid contributes to the improvement of the labor institutions in recipient countries through two mechanisms—economic growth purpose and expected aid attraction. The findings indicate that only aid to enhance local economic growth provides incentives to change domestic labor markets. Such effects have a more crucial influence on labor institutions of minimum wage, collective bargaining rights, and working hours than those related to hiring and firing regulations, mandated costs for worker dismissal, and conscription. For comparison with the actual aid level, we construct forecasted proxies to capture exogenous fluctuations in aid, determining that domestic labor markets can also change via a novel mechanism, as the recipient voluntarily mimics the funder’s labor policies in anticipation of receiving future aid, with exact amounts derived from the noninstitutional characteristics of pairs of bilateral recipient and giver economies. Therefore, we provide policy implications for the aid giver on how to secure a continued and increased aid flow and for the aid receivers on which aspects of reforming measures are most effective in enhancing the labor market regulations.

The Presumption of the Employment Relationship of Platform Workers as an Opportunity to Eliminate Obstacles Arising from Competition Law in the Conclusion of a Collective Agreement: The Example of Spain

Abstract Collective bargaining is the most appropriate tool to introduce detailed regulations specific to platform work. However, the status of platform workers (they are usually self-employed), combined with EU competition law, constitutes a significant restriction on their collective bargaining rights. Hence, the aim of this article is to prove the thesis that the presumption adopted in the Spanish regulation of recognising platform workers as workers in the strict sense would be a universal solution to the problem of ensuring proper labour protection for this group of workers.

The Origins and Application of the “Core of Indianness” in Indigenous Labour Relations

This article examines the history of, and legal precedent set by, Four B Manufacturing v. United Garment Workers of America, a 1980 Supreme Court of Canada case involving an Indigenous-owned manufacturing firm that resisted the efforts of its Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers to form a union on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, a reserve in southeastern Ontario. The employer, Four B, contested the jurisdiction of the Ontario Labour Relations Board and argued, unsuccessfully, that as an “Indian enterprise,” its own operations were a matter of federal jurisdiction. We return to the case of Four B for three interrelated reasons. First, we argue that Four B remains relevant because of the ways that the political economy of settler-colonial Canada continues to structure Indigenous enterprises, labour, and employment as ongoing sites of tension. Second, as the inaugural case dealing with the “core of Indianness” – a contested legal concept used by the courts to determine federal jurisdiction over Indigenous labour – this case both set the legal precedent and shaped the subsequent political terrain of Indigenous labour relations. Third, the issues addressed in Four B contextualize recent jurisdictional struggles over Indigenous enterprises, labour, and employment in what we term the “Indigenous public sector” – namely, health care, social services, and First Nations government administration. The article reviews the case history of Four B, setting this against the backdrop of deindustrialization in southeastern Ontario during the period, before tracing how the case influenced the juridical and political landscape of Indigenous labour relations. We close by considering the potential tensions between Indigenous self-determination and the exercise of collective bargaining rights by Indigenous workers.

An examination of public discourse about teachers’ collective bargaining rights in a portfolio school district

Employing an institutional logics framework and critical discourse analysis, this study examines the discourse of participants in a stakeholder-feedback meeting about a proposal by the Denver Public School board to extend collective bargaining rights to teachers in the district's innovation schools. The findings provide insight into the logics that control how teacher unions and collective bargaining agreements are understood by proponents of autonomous schools and portrayed to the general public through media. The analysis explores how connections to power and status allowed some stakeholder groups to influence the board to revise the policy to one more favorable toward market-oriented school reform. In this case, the dominant narrative that emerged from the stakeholder feedback cycle was one in which the collective bargaining rights of teachers were positioned as a threat to autonomous schools’ ability to provide “what's best for kids” in their classrooms.

Aggregate Markup and Its Impact on Income Inequality: Country Panel Evidence

This study investigates the relationship between market power, as measured by aggregate markups, and income inequality across 34 countries between 1991 and 2016. We find that market power is positively associated with income inequality in developing countries, while the relationship between markups and income inequality in advanced economies is more nuanced and statistically insignificant. Our study reveals that a higher collective bargaining rights mitigate the impact of market power on income inequality, emphasizing the importance of robust worker protection systems for fostering a more equitable labor market environment.

Police unions and police fatalities in the United States, 1990−2018

As of 2018, thirty-one states granted collective bargaining rights to police officers that require local government management to recognize and collectively bargain in good faith with police unions. Although scholars have identified factors related to police fatalities, the influence of police unions has gone understudied. Research in other occupational areas shows that union strength is associated with fewer workplace injuries and fatalities. This research analyzes the influence of union strength and collective bargaining rights on police fatalities. Using state-level data from 1990 to 2018, a rare-event analysis of police fatalities indicates that states with strong public employee unions experience fewer accidental line-of-duty deaths of police officers. Further, this analysis shows that states which grant collective bargaining rights to police officers have fewer felonious line-of-duty deaths of police officers compared with those that do not grant police collective bargaining rights. This article concludes with a discussion of the policy implications and the role of collective bargaining in police safety.

Is collective bargaining for better working conditions an option for security guards from Samburu community working In Nairobi?

The study determines whether collective bargaining for better working conditions is an option for security guards from the Samburu community working in Nairobi. The theoretical framework of the study was the Interests Theory of human rights, which emphasised the capacity of the right-holder (employee) to have rights and the obligation of the right-grantor (employer) to grant those rights. The research adopted a survey design to investigate the welfare of security guards from nomadic pastoralist communities working in Nairobi.The study involved all security guards from the Samburu community working in Nairobi as the population of study and individual security guards as the unit of analysis. Five areas of the city, that is, Westlands/Kabete, Lavington/Kangemi/Waithaka/Muthaiga/Thika Road, Karen/Lang’ata, South C/South B and Embakasi, were marked out as the places from which the study sample was taken from each of these areas. A sample of 200 security guards was selected through random sampling. The data used in the study was both quantitative and qualitative.The study focused on several employee welfare issues, including employee exposure to knowledge about trade unions, which is relevant to collective bargaining for better working conditions. The indicators examined in the study to assess the granting or non-granting of employee rights included membership in a trade union and collective bargaining rights. The findings indicated that security guards lacked information about trade unions and were not enjoying their collective bargaining rights.

Rigged Elections: The Failure of Mexico’s New Labor Model to Protect Farmworker Rights

Due to recent labor reforms and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiation, Mexico ratified freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. This new labor model promises the end of employer protection unions that thwart labor organizing and drive down wages. Through an ethnographic case study of farm labor organizing in the agro-export industry in San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico, this article argues that recent labor reforms are not sufficient to democratize labor relations in rural industries as they fail to overcome regional and transnational power structures. Although limited to one case, this article fills a gap in the literature on the impact of recent labor reforms on farmworkers. Mexico’s salaried agricultural workers offer critical insights into the promises and failures of current efforts to reform labor laws and remediate the adverse effects of economic integration.

Collective Bargaining Retrenchment in Union Country: The Politics of 2011 Wisconsin's “Budget Repair” Bill

AbstractIn 2011, the passage of Governor Scott Walker's “Budget Repair” policy retrenched collective bargaining rights for public workers in Wisconsin, a state that was the earliest adopter of these rights and locally celebrated as “union country.” In this article, I use critical juncture analysis to examine this significant case of institutional change. I argue that newly elected GOP politicians initially saw opportunity in a new legislative majority—emerging from the popularity of the Tea Party during the 2010 midterm elections—and attempted strategic policy crafting to mobilize support for this anti-union bill. However, these efforts eventually devolved into a reactive struggle for power with entrenched Democratic legislators and previous policy beneficiaries. Incorporating work on organizational deviance, I show how politicians in both parties sought to control the policymaking process with improvised oppositional tactics that undermined governing norms, ultimately resulting in the bill's passage. This study, thus, expands on theories of institutional change, illuminating the subversive politics of many contemporary movements and political parties.

Unravelling the ‘race to the bottom’ argument: Foreign direct investment and different types of labour rights

Does foreign direct investment (FDI) lead to better or worse labour standards in developing countries? We argue that it depends on the type of labour right, and how costly it is to protect it. We propose that governments are likely to follow international pressure and ‘climb to the top’ of improved labour standards, but only for those rights that do not incur direct costs to foreign investors, such as collective bargaining rights. In contrast, we expect that governments engage in a ’race to the bottom’ when it comes to rights that bear immediate costs for firms, such as overtime pay. To test our argument, we use novel data to distinguish between the legal protection of (1) fair working contracts, (2) adequate working time, (3) dismissal protections, which are more costly; versus (4) collective worker representation, and (5) industrial action rights, which are relatively cheaper to grant. Our panel data analysis for 75 developing countries (1982–2010) shows that higher FDI stock and flow is indeed connected to better protection of collective rights, while FDI flow is connected to a decline in relatively expensive outcome rights. These results remain robust across a range of model specifications.

The effect of changes in public sector bargaining laws on teacher union membership

AbstractThis study uses a simple model of demand for and supply of union services to analyse the effect of public sector bargaining laws on teacher unionization. Relying on a nationally representative dataset covering 2001–2018, I exploit natural experiments that occurred in several US states to identify the effect of legal and institutional changes weakening collective bargaining rights of teachers on their union membership rate. Based on both difference‐in‐difference estimation and synthetic control method, I find that the new legislation significantly reduces teachers’ union membership and that the impact of the anti‐union bills on unionization evolves, growing in magnitude, over time. I also find that the magnitudes of the impacts are greater for female, younger and minority teachers.

Divided Unions: The Wagner Act, Federalism, and Organized Labor

Divided Unions: The Wagner Act, Federalism, and Organized Labor

Workers Participation in Management

History of the modern idea of workers participation can be traced back to the industrial revolution which began in the Eighteenth Century. With the advent of the industrial revolution the size of the enterprises increased and along with it the numerical strength of the workforce increased. By the mid-nineteenth century, the intellectual reaction to industrialism had assumed a whole spectrum of different forms and with the emergence of joint stock company type of organization workers were neglected, eliminated for maximization of profits. Workers felt that since they had a much greater stake in their Organizations, their interests should be protected. To counterbalance the power of the owners, workers organized themselves into unions and made the owners consider their various demands including point of view in the management of the enterprises. The owners, after reconsidering the power of unions, gradually yielded to the demand of the workers and negotiated with them on the aspects which directly affect the workers. These new trends strengthened the Trade Union movements and enabled them to play a constructive role in the furtherance of democratic values and principles. Several governments in Europe and Latin America passed laws giving level protection to Trade Unions and recognized the practice of the Trade Unions and the practice of collective bargaining. The Declaration of Philadelphia adopted by the I. L.O. in 1944 gave further stimulus to the movement as a consequence of which the personality and dignity of the workers was upheld. The Declaration further asked for the formation of a programme which among other things should achieve the effective recognition of the right of collective bargaining, the co-operation of management and labour in the continuous improvement of production efficiency and the collaborations of workers employers in the preparation and application of social and economic measures.

The « Worker », EU Law, and Collective Bargaining

This article looks at the issue of how EU law has considered the notion of the « worker » in the context of debates on forms of work (including platform work), which challenge the traditional binary divide between « employee » and « self-employed ». In particular, the article assesses recent jurisprudence (of the EU Court, the Committee on Social Rights, and at national level) on the issue of collective bargaining rights for non-employees.

Filling the Void? A Critical Analysis of Competition Regulation of Collective Bargaining Amongst Non-employees

The rise of the gig economy, and the expansion of self-employment more generally, have magnified pre-existing concerns about how to address the risk of exploitation of non-employees, including franchisees, freelance journalists and owner-driver transport workers, amongst others. In a bid to fill relevant regulatory gaps, and correct destructive power imbalances, many are turning their attention to the power and potential of collective bargaining. At the same time, there is growing appreciation of how competition prohibitions against price-fixing may curb workers’ capacity to organize for decent wages and working conditions. There has been much discussion and debate about the need to expand existing labour exemptions from competition law in order to allow gig workers, and other vulnerable categories of selfemployed workers, to engage in lawful collective bargaining. Rather than fixating on questions of misclassification, however, this article considers a novel proposal emanating from the sphere of competition regulation in Australia. After extensive consultation and prolonged Parliamentary debate, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has adopted a class exemption which provides a broad legal immunity to eligible small businesses, including self-employed workers, wishing to engage in collective bargaining. The ACCC’s Determination to extend collective bargaining rights to small businesses – with effect from 3 June 2021 – represents a highly progressive approach and one worthy of greater attention and deeper analysis. To assess the regulatory value of this unique approach, we draw upon the International Labour Organization (ILO) standards relating to collective bargaining and freedom of association. In doing so, we critically assess the extent to which the ACCC’s approach offers a potential solution to resolving the tension between labour law and competition law when it comes to the regulation of self-employed workers. Somewhat surprisingly, we find that the class exemption largely complies with relevant ILO principles, despite the fact that it does little in terms of actively promoting or encouraging effective collective bargaining. For example, in line with ILO conceptions of voluntariness, the class exemption places virtually no restrictions on the scope, level or subject matter of the bargaining. Ultimately, however, we argue that if collective bargaining is to have any chance of filling the regulatory void which exists between labour law and competition law, it is critical that basic structures and supports are in place to facilitate meaningful bargaining: where collective activity is supported by trade union autonomy and the right to engage in strikes in support of bargaining demands and concluded agreements. Mercosur, Socio-Labour Declaration, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Regional Integration, Labour Rights, Regional Trade Blocs, Latin America, Global South

Undelivered: From the Great Postal Strike of 1970 to the Manufactured Crisis of the U.S. Postal Service

Undelivered: From the Great Postal Strike of 1970 to the Manufactured Crisis of the U.S. Postal Service

복수노조 하에서 중립유지의무와 공정대표의무의 관계에 관한 검토 - 부산고등법원 2018. 12. 13. 선고 2018나11667 판결을 소재로 -

It is very difficult to determine whether unfair labor practices are established around discrimination among unions in multiple union systems. This is due to the following circumstances: The first is that the conditions presented by the user apply in common to multiple unions, and to all members of these unions. That is, the working conditions (or the application of the working conditions) are neutral in the scale, propensity, and athletic lines of the trade unions that exist in plural. The user will attempt to present neutral conditions to create an appearance that intentionally does not discriminate against a union. Second, it is not easy to assess that the working conditions (or the application conditions of the working conditions) presented by the user are clearly unreasonable. It would be very difficult to assess it as unreasonable if it presents reasonable content in corporate management, for example, conditions such as cooperating in improving productivity or in cooperating in labor-management reconciliation as a precondition. Third, it is left to the union or its members to decide whether to accept these conditions. In other words, the disadvantage of not accepting is the result of the independent and free judgment of the union and its members.<BR> The logic previously used to determine whether such unfair labor practices are established is a duty to maintain neutrality. However, the violation of the obligation to maintain neutrality is controversial in that it is a law established in Japanese academia and precedent since it was presented in the ruling on the Nissan Motor case by the Supreme Court. In other words, Japan and South Korea guarantee three labor rights in the Constitution, including collective bargaining rights, but Korea adopts a single bargaining window system, and Japan adopts an individual bargaining system, so there is room for understanding that the neutral obligation can be applied to discrimination cases caused by unification of bargaining windows<BR> Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explain the relationship between the neutral maintenance obligation and the fair representative obligation under multiple unions. This paper confirmed that unfair labor practices and violations of fair representative obligations are not mutually exclusive because neutral maintenance obligations are homogeneous to fair representative obligations and violations of fair representative obligations cannot be declared to constitute unfair labor practices. If a employer uses collective bargaining as an opportunity to unfairly discriminate against a particular union and its members, the union and union members Unions and union members can receive relief through the fair representation duty system or through the unfair labor practice system for violation of the duty to maintain neutrality.

Corrigendum to: Collective Bargaining Rights and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida

Corrigendum to: Collective Bargaining Rights and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida

Do collective bargaining rights save lives? A rare event analysis of firefighter fatalities in the United States

AbstractRisk analysis research often focuses on regulation, assessment, and management rather than risk governance. This study contributes to the risk governance literature by analyzing the relationship between collective bargaining rights for firefighters and firefighter fatalities in the United States. Using state‐level data from 2009 through 2018, this analysis shows that states with duty‐to‐bargain rights for firefighters have fewer firefighter fatalities than those without duty‐to‐bargain rights. Further, this analysis shows that the benefit of duty‐to‐bargain rights dissipates in states with a high percentage of fully volunteer fire departments. This study concludes with a discussion of the implications for fire departments and public policy.