Trade Union Democracy Research Articles

Trade Union Democracy, Members' Rights and the Law. By Patrick Elias and Keith Ewing. [London and New York. Mansell Publishing Ltd.1987. xi, 290 and (Bibliography) 13, (Tables of Cases) 4 and (Index) 10 pp. Hardback £32·00; paperback £16·00 net.

Trade Union Democracy, Members' Rights and the Law. By Patrick Elias and Keith Ewing. [London and New York. Mansell Publishing Ltd.1987. xi, 290 and (Bibliography) 13, (Tables of Cases) 4 and (Index) 10 pp. Hardback £32·00; paperback £16·00 net.

Judicial and Legislative Control of Trade Unions: Trade Union Democracy, Members’ Rights and the Law by Patrick Elias and Keith Ewing London: Mansell Publishing, 1987, xi + 290 + (bibliography and index) 27pp (paperback £16.00).

Judicial and Legislative Control of Trade Unions: Trade Union Democracy, Members’ Rights and the Law by Patrick Elias and Keith Ewing London: Mansell Publishing, 1987, xi + 290 + (bibliography and index) 27pp (paperback £16.00).

Les rapports internes entre le syndicat et ses membres en droit grec (La légalisation de la démocratie syndicale)

No one can doubt that trade unions are instruments of democracy in so far as they are genuinely representative of the wishes of the workforce. Thus we may suggest that democracy within trade unions legitimâtes the trade unions in a democracy. We are interested primarily in the following question : whose responsability is it to ensure democracy in the internal structures of trade unions ? Is it up to trade unions organisations themselves ? Or is it up to the law to establish and supervise trade unions democracy ? When the legislature does decide to intervene to impose democracy on the internal life of trade unions there arises a conflict between trade unions democracy and trade unions autonomy. The present article examines the role of the law in defining and protecting trade union democracy in Greece. The current legislation has as its central purpose the organisation of trade unions elections, the protection of the right to membership, the guarantee of equality between members. Although such legislation guarantees the democratic process in the internal affairs of the trade unions, it tends to restrain their freedom in adopting internal structures adequate to their specific purposes.

Comparative Politics - Ballots and Trade Union Democracy. By Roger Undy and Roderick Martin (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1984. 240p. $22.50).

The Thatcher government has pledged to bring in statutory provision for ballots in certain trade union elections and for the calling of industrial action. This book examines the current use of ballots in union elections and their effect on participation and leadership selection. Previous discussion of trade union ballots has been based upon unfounded assumptions, limited evidence and incorrect inference from American experience. This is the first analysis of the role of ballots in union elections and collective bargaining based on empirical research in Britain. The authors show how ballots are, at the moment, underused and only one of the ways in which unions consult their members. They also explore the circumstances likely to lead to balloting under current legislation and its consequences. The book provides a most detailed look at the history, current practice and future possibilities for the use of ballots in trade unions. It will inform both the industrial relations and legal practitioner and teacher, as well as those, on both sides of the industrial fence, seeking either to promote or ward off change in industrial union practice.

Trade union democracy and the labor party in New South Wales, 1880–1914

Trade union democracy and the labor party in New South Wales, 1880–1914

Book Reviews

Ballots and Trade Union Democracy: Roger Undy and Roderick Morton,Innovation and Management Control: Labour Relations at BL Cars: Paul Willman and Graham Winch,Dismissed: A Study of Unfair Dismissal and the Industrial Tribunal System: L. Dickens, M. Jones, B. Weekes and M. Hart.The Law of Unfair Dismissal (2nd Edition): Steven D. Anderman,Unions and Economic Crisis: Britain, West Germany and Sweden: P. Gourevitch, A. Martin, G. Ross, S. Bornstein, A. Markovits and C. Allen. Allen and UnwinSkilled Workers in the Class Structure: Roger Penn,Capitalism, Class Conflict and the New Middle Class: Robert Carter, Routledge and Kegan Paul,Managing Workforce Reduction: M. Cross (ed), Groom Helm,Redundancy in the 1980s: A. Gordon, Gower,Industrial Relations and the Law in the 1980s: Issues and Future Trends: Patricia Fosh and Craig R. Littler (eds),Fighting Closures: De‐industrialization and the Trade Unions 1979–83: Hugo Levie, Denis Gregory and Nick Lorentzen (Eds.)The Awkward Warrior, Frank Cousins: His Life and Times: Geoffrey Goodman,

The BMA and trade union democracy: new style council elections

Trade leaders must be answerable to their membership just as members of parliament are to their constituents. So the government decreed in the 1984 Trade Union Act that no member of a principal executive of a may vote in that body unless elected by members of the by secret ballot.1 This means that the BMA will have to make some constitutional changes if it is to continue to represent doctors and to do so within the law. Ironically it was an Act of parliament 150 years ago?the Poor Law Amendment Act?that launched the BMA on the road to unionism. In 1835 the three year old Provincial and Medical and Surgical Association?precursor of the BMA?set up the poor law committee with the aim of improving the intolerable working conditions of doctors employed under the amended poor law legislation. From that start through Lloyd George's national insurance legislation of 1911 and the introduction in 1948 of the National Health Service to the complexities of the 1984 Griffiths management reforms the BMA's trade union activities have steadily expanded. Today the BMA is a unique combination of professional organisation, union, and limited company. The association almost lost its functions in the early 1970s when a Conservative administration introduced legis? lation to control activities. The BMA did not fulfil the requirements for being included in the statutory register of unions that was to be set up. After unsuccessfully arguing that professional negotiating bodies such as the BMA and the Royal College of Nursing should not be excluded from the scope of the Act an initiative by the association persuaded the government to include such organisations in a special section of the proposed register.2 Thus the BMA was able to continue with its activities

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:AN INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. Second edition. By Dean Jaensch.WATERFRONT SYDNEY 1860–1920. By Graeme Aplin and John Storey.A CLASS APART: BUSINESSMEN AND AUSTRALIAN POLITICS 1960–1980. By Kosmas Tsokhas.GOVERNING THE METROPOLIS: POLITICS, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN A VICTORIAN CITY: Melbourne 1850–1891. By David Dunstan.KING'S MEN: Australia's Governors‐General from Hopetoun to Isaacs. By Christopher Cunneen.THE BITTER YEARS. Wollongong during the Great Depression. By Len Richardson.THE WAY WE WERE. Australian Popular Magazines 1856–1969. By Vane Lindesay.TERRITORIANS OR MOBILE AUSTRALIANS?: A Profile of the Urban Electorate. Edited by Dean Jaensch and Peter Loveday.THE LOBBYISTS: Using Them in Canberra. By Peter Sekuless.THE ANALYSIS OF POWER: A Realist Approach. By Geoffrey Debnam.A WOMAN'S PLACE: An Oral History of Working‐Class Women 1890–1940.GOOD AND MAD WOMEN: The Historical Construction of Feminity in Twentieth Century Australia. By Jill Julius Matthews.SEXISM, RACISM AND OPPRESSION: By Arthur Brittain and Mary Maynard.WORK AND POLITICS: The Division of Labor in Industry. By Charles F. Sabel.PROPERTY AND POLITICS, 1870–1914: Landownership, Law, Ideology and Urban Development in England. By Avner Offer.DEMOCRATIC THEORY AND PRACTICE. Edited by Graeme Duncan.RETHINKING SOCIALISM: A THEORY FOR A BETTER PRACTICE. By Gavin Kitching.THAT NOBLE SCIENCE OF POLITICS: A study in nineteenth‐century intellectual history. By Stefan Collini, Donald Winch & John Burrow.THE STATE IN SOCIALIST SOCIETY. Edited by Neil Harding.BALLOTS AND TRADE UNION DEMOCRACY. By Roger Undy and Roderick Martin.INTERNATIONAL LABOUR MIGRATION: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Commonwealth Papers, vol. 24. Edited by Shula Marks and Peter Richardson.INDUSTRIAL CRISIS: A comparative study of the state and industry. Edited by Kenneth Dyson and Stephen Wilks.FIRST FACTS OF AMERICAN LABOUR: A comprehensive collection of Labor firsts in the United States arranged by subject. Edited by Philip FonerTHE FUTURE OF THE LEFT. Edited by James Curran.A STUDY OF THE ENGLISH APOTHECARY FROM 1660 TO 1760. By Juanita G.L. Burnby.A GUIDE TO MARX'S CAPITAL. By Anthony Brewer.HERBERT MARCUSE AND THE CRISIS OF MARXISM. By Douglas Kellner.CIVIL LIBERTIES 1984. Edited by Peter Wallington.REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST DEVELOPMENT IN THE THIRD WORLD. Edited by Gordon White, Robin Murray and Christine White.THE SPIRIT OF SOLIDARITY. By Jozef Tischner.WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE AND SOCIAL POLITICS IN THE FRENCH THIRD REPUBLIC. By Steven C. Hause, with Anne R. Kenney.WOMEN WORKERS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR. Production and Patriarchy in Conflict. By Penny Summerfield.THE WALLED KINGDOM: A HISTORY OF CHINA FROM 2000 BC TO THE PRESENT. By Witold Rodzinski.OCCUPATION DIPLOMACY: BRITAIN, THE UNITED STATES, AND JAPAN 1945–1952. By Roger Buckley.PRIESTS ON TRIAL: Father Core and Father O'Brien caught in the crossfire between dictatorship and revolution. By Alfred W. McCoy.THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CHINA'S CHANGING RELATIONS WITH SOUTHEAST ASIA. By John Wong.BEFORE KAMPUCHEA: PRELUDES TO TRAGEDY. By Milton Osborne.AFGHANISTAN UNDER SOVIET DOMINATION, 1964–83. By Anthony Hyman.POLITICAL ECONOMY AND MONETARY MANAGEMENT: INDIA 1766–1914. By S. Ambirajan.THE NEXT AMERICAN FRONTIER. By Robert B. Reich.THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT, sixth edition. By Ernest S. Griffith.HISTORY OF THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: THE FORMATIVE YEARS, 1947–1950. By Steven L. Rearden.KING ZOG AND THE STRUGGLE FOR STABILITY IN ALBANIA. By Bernd Jürgen Fischer.THE CHANGE IN THE EUROPEAN BALANCE OF POWER, 1938–1939: THE PATH TO RUIN. By Williamson Murray.RICHELIEU AND OLIVARES. By J.H. Elliott.A GRAND ECOLE FOR THE GRANDS CORPS. The recruitment and training of the French administrative elite in the nineteenth century. By Thomas R. Osborne.AUSWANDERER, WANDERARBEITER, GASTARBEITER, BEVOLKERUNG ARBEITSMARKT UND WANDERUNG IN DEUTSCHLAND SEIT DER MITTE DES 19. JAHRHUNDERTS, 2 vols. Editor Klaus J. Bade.THE USSR AND THE MUSLIM WORLD. Edited by Yaacov Ro'i.THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE WESTERN ALLIANCE. Edited by Steven L. Spiegel.THE PAKISTAN ARMY. By Stephen P. Cohen.SOUTH AFRICA: PUBLIC POLICY PERSPECTIVES. Edited by Robert Schrire.UNDERSTANDING REVOLUTION IN SOUTH AFRICA. By Calvin A. Woodward.SELOUS SCOUTS: A PICTORIAL ACCOUNT. By Peter Stiff.THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION OF IRRADIATED FUEL Edited by John Surrey.

Book Reviews : Ballots and Trade Union Democracy

Book Reviews : Ballots and Trade Union Democracy

Trade Union Democracy

“The Trade Union Act is a major advance for the cause of union democracy” said the Secretary of State for Employment. Indeed it is, and no one can question the validity of this statement. It must be pointed out at the outset however, that, in advancing the cause of union democracy, the Trade Union Act, 1984 which is the third stage of the government's industrial legislation, has a twofold effect upon trade unions. First, it interferes indirectly with the internal affairs of the union. Second, it provides the means by which the trade union movement as a whole could be both strengthened and weakened. Both these will become apparent as the various sections of the Act are discussed.

Trade Union Democracy and Northern Ireland—A Note

Trade Union Democracy and Northern Ireland—A Note

Trade Union Democracy: Election of Trade Union Officers

Trade Union Democracy: Election of Trade Union Officers

Book Reviews

Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Ballots and Trade Union Democracy . By ROGER UNDY and RODERICK MARTIN . [ Oxford : Basil Blackwell . 1984 . 240 pp. Hardback, £19.50.] BOB HEPPLE BOB HEPPLE *Editorial Note: Bob Hepple was Chairman of the S.S.R.C. Panel on the Monitoring of Labour Legislation which commissioned the research on which this book is based. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Industrial Law Journal, Volume 13, Issue 1, 1984, Pages 265–266, https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/13.1.265 Published: 01 June 1984

Sources of Legitimate Power in Polyarchic Trade Union Government

The Webbs1 described how the growth of trade union membership resulted in a necessary change of administrative methods from that of the small group to that of bureaucracy, accompanied by an equally necessary change in democratic procedures from primitive democracy to representative democracy. Not only the Webbs but also Michels2 and others interpreted these trends as signalling the decline of trade union democracy and the growth in its place of trade union oligarchy. It is within this tradition that the debate on trade union government has been pursued. Work by Lipset et aP and by Allen4 tended to reinforce the view that trade unions would be oligarchic in all but exceptional circumstances. Later work has highlighted the considerable constraints on the 'iron law of oligarchy' in trade unions. Martin5 has suggested a framework for analyzing union democracy which stresses the constraints upon leaders to tolerate factions while Edelstein et al 6 have developed an elaborate electoral model of democracy which focuses on the success, rather than just existence, of opposition within unions. However, the debate between Martin and Edelstein seems to be a remarkably sterile one. One may agree with Martin that trade union government proceeds by a process of loose coalitions and soundings of opinion rather than by the either/or dichotomy of electoral closeness, but equally one may take Edelstein's point that factions can exist for years without success and this may make little contribution to democracy. As Cook7 suggests, the constraints on oligarchy are numerous and the attempt to account for democracy primarily in terms of one constraint or another is likely to be fruitless. The argument of this paper is that the failings of the democracy debate go deeper than the problem of identifying adequate measures of democracy or oligarchy. The difficulties stem from a model of government which emphasizes a dichotomy between a leadership and a membership. This model has been retained even in more recent work such as that of Child et a/,8 Hemingway,9 and Undy,10 which has otherwise avoided the limitations of a single measure of democracy. Most trade unions consist of a hierarchical structure of collectivities such as shop stewards' organizations, local or regional committees, trade groups and national executives. Activists are distributed throughout the union hierarchy and the simple dichotomy between leadership and rank and file is no longer tenable since a leadership of sorts occurs within each collectivity. Rather than oligarchic or democratic, this form of government may more aptly be referred to as polyarchic. This paper outlines the main features of a polyarchic process of government and attempts to identify the means whereby internal conflicts in trade unions are resolved. In so doing, a model of union government is proposed which takes some exploratory first steps away from the more usual model based on the democracy/oligarchy dichotomy.

The North‐South Dialogue: the Report of the Brandt Commission1

Summary The Brandt Report makes out an unanswerable case for pursuing common interests in social justice, peace and economic development, and for the urgency of redistributing incomes towards the developing countries. But it fails to give due recognition to the role of trade unions, which have wide support in many developing countries. Democratic trade unionism and democratic development itself are inseparable. The Report should have, for example, urged the worldwide removal of restrictions on trade unions and encouraged the adoption of fair labour standards at the national, if not international, level.Resume Le dialogue Nord‐Sud: rapport de la Commission BrandtLe rapport Brandt prouve irréfutablement qu'il convient de poursuivre nos objectifs communs en matière de justice sociale, de paix et de développement économique et démontre l'urgence d'une redistribution des revenus en faveur des pays en développement. Mais il ne fait pas une place suffisante au rôle des syndicats, qui jouissent d'un soutien très important dans de nombreux PVD. Le syndicalisme démocratique et le développement démocratique vont de pair. Le rapport devrait inciter à la suppression dans tous les pays des entraves au syndicalisme et à l'adoption de mesures adéquates en faveur des travailleurs au niveau national sinon international.Resumen El diálogo de norte a sur: el Informe de la Comisión BrandtEl Informe Brandt presenta un caso incontestable para perseguir los objetivos comunes de la justicia social, la paz y el desarrollo económico y para realzar la urgencia de la redistribución de la riqueza hacia los países en vías de desarrollo. Pero deja de reconocer como es debido la función de los sindicatos, que cuentan con amplio apoyo en numerosos países en vías de desarrollo. El sindicalismo democrático y el desarrollo democrático en sí son inseparables. El Informe debiera haber insistido, por ejemplo, en la eliminación mundial de las restricciones sindicales y apoyado la adopción de normas laborales justas a nivel nacional, si no internacional.

A Decision-Making Approach to Trade Union Democracy

The issue of trade union democracy has attracted popular and academic attention for many years in Britain and the U.S.A.. It has been seen to entail important implications for both the society at large and for trade union members in particular. In Britain, at the turn of the century, the Webbs were involved in a painstaking investigation into aspects of union government, and they have since been followed by a number of researchers including Allen, Roberts, and Edelstein and Warner. And in the U.S.A. considerable interest has been demonstrated in the relationship of union members and leaders at the local, national and international level, as observed in studies conducted by Barbash, Brooks, Cook, Sayles and Strauss, and Seidman, among others. But there has been a bare minimum of research along these lines in Australia, and it is hoped that 'work in progress' will begin the process of redressing this imbalance. Such work should be of especial value in Australia where so little has been documented on trade union operations.

Book reviews : Torture and Resistance in Iran: memories of the woman guerrilla A. Dehghani, Translated and published by THE IRAN COMMITTEE (London, 1976). £1.30 Iran: the Shah's empire of repression Committee Against Repression in Iran, (London, CARI, 1976). 39pp. price 30p Workers of Iran: repression and the fight for democratic trade unions By T. JALIL, (London, 1976). Campaign for

Book reviews : Torture and Resistance in Iran: memories of the woman guerrilla A. Dehghani, Translated and published by THE IRAN COMMITTEE (London, 1976). £1.30 Iran: the Shah's empire of repression Committee Against Repression in Iran, (London, CARI, 1976). 39pp. price 30p Workers of Iran: repression and the fight for democratic trade unions By T. JALIL, (London, 1976). Campaign for

The Participatory Dimension of Trade Union Democracy: A Comparative Sociological View

Political scientists and sociologists trying to understand union politics have concentrated on formal constitutional provisions, elections, officer turnover, and the existence of structured groups within the unions as indicators of trade union democracy. A consequence of this approach has been the emergence of theories which have little wider applicability beyond the empirical situation to which they are tailored. While most scholars have assumed that membership participation is essential to democratic union organization, they have failed to develop a theory based explicitly on this. This paper, drawing from material on trade unions in South India, suggests that a theory of trade union democracy based on membership participation in union affairs offers promise of a comparative approach.

Workers of Iran: Repression and the Fight for Democratic Trade Unions.

Workers of Iran: Repression and the Fight for Democratic Trade Unions.

Communists and Trade Union Democracy

Communists and Trade Union Democracy