Labour Organization Research Articles

Organization of Poor Minors Labor by Charity Societies in the Mid-Nineteenth Century. A Poznan Case

One of the means of help offered by the 19th century charity societies was finding employment for the poorest. Among their beneficiaries were also children, whose work was a substantial contribution to the finances of their families. The age limit in this case was 14 – above that age children from the poor families were sent to work (girls most often to service, and boys – to apprenticeship). Attempts were made to send them to recommended houses or craftsmen. One of the organizations which helped children to find employment was the Polish Ladies Charity Society in Poznan founded in 1845, whose activists conducted detailed interviews of families requesting help. The goal of the text is to analyze the situation of the poor minors who worked in Poznan. The source base for the following research were two Card Indexes: the alphabetic Card Index of proteges of the Polish Ladies Charity Society with Celestyna Działyńska’s hand notes regarding grants, and the Card Index of proteges of the TDDP, which was organized by districts and led by women reporting to Działyńska, auxiliary reports and private notes of the founder of the Society, Celestyna działyńska, were included. In the following qualitative and quantitative methods were used, combined with the case study approach. The members of the Poznań Charitable Societies, which functioned in the Middle of 19th century, not only organized workplaces for the minor, but also took care of their education and wellbeing. They paid special attention to the role of a child in their family and checked the circumstances when a child, if of an appropriate age for employment, didn’t go to work. In the large families, when the oldest children established their own households, the younger children could still work and contribute to the family’s finances.

ТРУДОВІ ПРАВА ЗАСУДЖЕНИХ: СУЧАСНИЙ СТАН, ПРОБЛЕМИ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РОЗВИТКУ

The article examines the current state, problems and prospects for the development of labor rights of convicts. It is noted that in Ukrainian legislation, the work of convicts is recognized as “the right to participate in labor activity”, and the theory and practice of penitentiary science considers the work of convicts as an effective correctional factor, positive labor activity for the development of the convict’s personality, a means of resocialization and management of convicts, etc. The list of international and national NPAs in the field of legal regulation of the labor of convicts has been determined, including departments, and the main principles of convict labor organization (voluntariness, fair pay, social protection, rehabilitation focus and professional training). The existing problems in the field of the realization of the labor rights of convicts are noted, in particular, the low level of wages, limited employment opportunities for convicts, the imperfection of social insurance mechanisms and the lack of a systematic approach to training, the low level of active participation of non-governmental organizations in the processes of control over working conditions and the protection of rights are noted convicts, which significantly complicates the realization of the right to work by convicts, creates obstacles to compliance with safety standards and non-discriminatory access to work.It is emphasized that the key aspects aimed at ensuring the rights of convicts, improving their working conditions, and promoting their resocialization are: raising the level of wages, developing and implementing state vocational training programs for convicts, improving legislation in the field of social protection of convicts, introducing independent control mechanisms on working conditions and safety at workplaces in correctional institutions, expansion of employment opportunities for convicts, development of post-release support programs for adaptation and integration into the labor market. Key words: labor rights, work, work of convicts, convictions, labor relations, employment, labor activity, institution of execution of punishment, correctional colony, corrections, resocialization, State Criminal Enforcement Service of Ukraine.

Taphonomy and labour at the Indus Valley site of Harappa (3700–1300 BC)

The emergence of early cities required new agricultural practices and archaeobotanical crop-processing models have been used to investigate the social and economic organisation of urban ‘consumer’ and non-urban ‘producer’ sites. Archaeobotanical work on the Indus Valley has previously identified various interpretations of labour and subsistence practices. Here, the authors analyse a large archaeobotanical assemblage from Harappa, Pakistan (3700–1300 BC), questioning some of the assumptions of traditional crop-processing models. The ubiquity of small weed seeds, typically removed during the early stages of crop processing, is argued to result from dung burning. This additional taphonomic consideration adds nuance to the understanding of Harappa's labour organisation and food supply with implications for crop-processing models in other contexts.

Digital Transformation of Enterprises and Labor Force Structure Upgrading: Research Progress and Prospect

The transformation of the enterprise digital economy has had a profound effect on the employment of the labor force. Although extant document has discussed the digital economy, there is still a large space for deep analysis and theoretical framework construction of the impact of the digital Economy in Workforce Transformation. This research will look at the intrinsic impact of the digital economy on labor transfer or distribution. Digital capital complements a highly skilled labor force and promotes the upgrading of enterprise labor skill structure; digital transformation mainly affects three aspects: adopting new digital technology, optimizing labor organization form and adjusting business model. Changes of labor force in all respects as a result of the digitalization of business. In the background of the popularization of digital technology, the demand for low-skilled labor rises in the market, which promotes the upgrade of a commodity economy and the pursuit of a higher level of life; Digital transformation promotes the upgrading of enterprise labor skill structure, and different development regions and sizes have distinct differences in labor substitution. The effects of the digital transition can positively affect the innovation of the business model. Based on digitalization, The labor market's iterative renewal will have a decisive impact on the improvement of technology levels and the changing labor force structures.

Diagnostic ecologies: Medical standards, tinkering, and worker health in Turkey

AbstractIn Turkey's occupational health system, doctors must use the International Labor Organization's (ILO) standards to classify the chest radiographs of workers at risk of lung diseases caused by dust exposure. Yet these standards do not provide a uniformity of care within the tripartite structure of the occupational health system, which divides disease surveillance, disease diagnosis, and worker compensation into distinct silos. This division often produces ambiguity and unpredictable outcomes for occupational disease claims. The traffic of diagnostic decisions among workplaces and medico‐legal institutions—what I refer to as diagnostic ecologies—shapes medical knowledge. The tripartite organization of the occupational health system in Turkey makes the evaluation of chest radiographs a space where professional expertise and professional ethics are constantly negotiated. A focus on diagnostic ecologies illustrates how disease ontology is distributed across the occupational health system's components.

Small and medium-sized enterprises: A tool for socioeconomic development

Small and medium-sized enterprises are universally recognized as critical catalysts for socioeconomic development. Therefore, this study explores the empirical relationship between SMEs and economic growth, job creation, income generation, and poverty reduction. Through a cross-sectional research design, data was gathered via a questionnaire from 130 participants, including SMEs owners, operators, and young entrepreneurs who received training from entrepreneurship training programs such as the Next Economy program by SIMAD-Innovation Lab and the Start-Improve Your Business (SIYB) Training program by the International Labor Organization (ILO), as well as the entrepreneurship training program provided by Jamhuriya Incubation Centre (JIC). The study employed partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses through SmartPLS (v.4.0.9.5). The study found that SMEs significantly contribute to economic growth, job creation, income generation, and poverty reduction. The findings provide significant implications for governments, international organizations, financial institutions, and policymakers, emphasizing integrating SMEs development initiatives into national development plans to improve social and economic development.

Investing in the care services sectors for employment generation and gender-inclusive growth: the case of Turkey

Abstract The care crisis intersects with economic, social, and refugee crises, necessitating focused attention to bolster care infrastructure and address the multifaceted challenges. Women bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic work, exacerbating gender inequalities in labor markets and education. This paper applies the International Labour Organization–UN Women (2021) policy tool to Turkish data, estimating coverage gaps in education and healthcare, associated costs, and employment generation potential in the care sectors and related sectors. We identify a coverage gap in education affecting 5.8 million children. The required investment to address this gap is estimated at 2.28 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In all, 303,000 healthcare workers are needed, requiring an investment of 1.23 percent of GDP. These investments have the potential to generate 1.740 million direct and 152,000 indirect jobs. This would result in a substantial 6.7 percent increase in total employment. Considering the current gender composition, women are expected to fill 65 percent of these jobs, leading to a 14 percent improvement in female employment. Incorporating 3.7 million Syrian refugees, Turkey’s investment cost rises to 3.74 percent of GDP, creating 1.878 million new direct jobs – an 8 percent boost over the non-inclusive scenario. Prioritizing public investments in care services promises to promote gender equality, human development, and inclusive economic growth.

A Systems Approach to Identify and Explain Family Forest Owners’ Technical Options. The Link with Labor Organization, Decision-Making Styles and Timber Sales

A Systems Approach to Identify and Explain Family Forest Owners’ Technical Options. The Link with Labor Organization, Decision-Making Styles and Timber Sales

Constructivist Perspective: Analyzing the Social Dialogue of the International Labour Organization in Promoting a Just Transition for Garment Workers in Bangladesh

To address the dual challenges of climate change and decent work for workers in Bangladesh, and to avoid the high risk of unemployment during the transition, the International Labour Organization is actively promoting a just transition in Bangladesh to ensure that workers' rights are protected during the transition to a green economy. The question raised in this paper is how to analyze the motivation of the International Labour Organization in promoting the just transformation of garment workers in Bangladesh from a constructivist perspective. To address this issue, this paper uses constructivism as a guiding framework to analyze the International Labour Organization's behavior policy. Constructivism emphasizes that actors in international affairs are influenced by immaterial factors, such as international norms, identity and reputation. At the same time, this paper uses literature analysis to review and integrate the International Labour Organization 's policy reports over the past decade. The findings suggest that the International Labour Organization, driven by its role as a global protector of Labour rights and its guidelines for just transition, uses social dialogue in Bangladesh to protect workers' rights while setting global priorities for just transition. This approach also encourages other countries to build people-centered policy frameworks in their own green transitions.

The Wrestler and His World: Precarious Workers, Post-Truth Politics, and Inauthentic Activism

In this article, I explore attempts to organize a precarious workforce in a setting that is always-already post-truth: professional wrestling. I focus in particular on a nascent, bottom-up unionization effort in the UK that foregrounds the rights of wrestlers who perform for low wages, in unsafe environments, and in the absence of both the state and traditional trade unions. I show that while many wrestlers agree with this movement’s diagnosis of problematic working conditions, there is also widespread skepticism about activists’ motivations, with many wrestlers suggesting that the organization may be telling a self-interested story about work, rather than engaging in a form of work. I argue that wrestlers’ permanent questioning emerges at the intersection of the self-appreciating, entrepreneurial subject and the post-truth, zany situation and conclude that wrestling affords insight into labor organization under employment conditions emblematic of a contemporary post-truth neoliberalism.

Truck driver relative pay and motor carrier safety performance

Abstract The United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently incorporated driver pay into its guidelines on the promotion of safe and decent work in road transport. ILO guideline 73 states that ‘the remuneration of … CMV [commercial motor vehicle] drivers should be sustainable and take into consideration the attractiveness and sustainability of the industry’. In the spirit of this, we explore the relationship between truck drivers’ relative income and intrastate motor carrier safety performance. We utilise the United States (US) Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage data for heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver median annual incomes and the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates of median household incomes to construct county level relative income ratios for truck drivers. This information is merged with public safety data to analyse the relationship between truck drivers’ relative pay and motor carrier safety performance. We find that, all else constant, carriers located in counties where driver earnings are relatively high tend to experience fewer crashes. This provides evidence that safety performance is better when driver pay is more attractive in the truck driver labour market and, consequently, validates the ILO’s assertion under guideline 73.

The trajectory of a transnational right to land norm

Abstract In conflicts around land usage, vulnerable groups are often threatened by dispossession of their land. Governance structures that protect both individual and collective land rights are thus necessary. To counter such risks, social movements engaged towards the establishment of a right to land norm in transnational governance. Building on literature on norm emergence, this paper exemplifies the involvement of activists in the creation process of two transnational regulations that address land: The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1989 and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations in 2012. Both documents emerged in response to increasing global awareness of each specific issue. In the case of ILO 169, rising awareness of social inequality and discrimination of indigenous peoples and in the case of the VGGT the rapidly growing global land market. The paper reflects on the importance of timing, engagement, and discourse in creating norms and embedding them in global governance.

Union Responses to Workplace COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates in Canada

This article explores union responses to workplace-based covid-19 vaccine mandates in Canada. Specifically, the authors examine the complex interplay of factors that drove unions to adopt their respective positions on vaccine mandates and to frame those positions in particular ways for the benefit of their members and the wider public. Interviews with key informants, along with analysis of documents and arbitration decisions, reveal a disjuncture between the discursive quality of certain unions’ positions and their actual positions. In particular, media framing of unions as either “for” or “against” vaccine mandates oversimplified or misrepresented the actual positions adopted. In response, the article introduces a typology of union positions that distinguishes between support for mandatory-vaccination policies and support for voluntary-vaccination policies and reveals that the vast majority of unions favoured the latter. The authors further reveal that workplace vaccine mandates were both internally divisive and disorienting for unions, given the central role labour organizations play in managing workplace disputes and representing the interests of workers, both individually and collectively.

The Role of Arbitration in Resolving Collective Labour Disputes: A Comparative Study of Public and Private Sectors

This paper aims at analysing how arbitration is used to solve collective labour relations by evaluating the application and results in both the public and the private sectors. This paper aims at assessing the effectiveness of arbitration as one of the ADR methods in dealing with disputes, in the two sectors. In the course of the study, the research compares arbitration with a view to identifying its effectiveness in sustaining industrial peace and reducing strikes. Employing a qualitative research design, data was collected from literature, case analyses and works from labour organisations. The results show that arbitration really works in both sectors, though the process is dependent on the legal and institutional frameworks. Arbitration is much more structured in the public sector because of legislation than it does in the private sector where flexibility results in swift outcomes. This paper concludes by identifying the policy significance of these findings for labour policy reform and exploring future research directions.

Nowhere else in the world? The Korean Safe Rates System in global context

Abstract The Korean ‘Safe Trucking Freight Rates System’ (‘Safe Rates System’) was an important effort to address road safety risks by regulating road transport supply chains. In effect between 2020 and 2022, the system set minimum standards for truck driver pay and placed obligations on road transport supply chain parties to comply with these standards. In this article, we explain how the system developed in response to the deregulation and restructuring of the road freight market in the late 1980s and 1990s. We also trace the influence on the system of regulatory development in Australia and debates at the International Labour Organization (ILO). In 2019, workers, employers, and government representatives at the ILO reached an agreement on the main principles of the Safe Rates regulatory model through the adoption of the Guidelines on the promotion of decent work and road safety in the transport sector. We use these principles to explain and evaluate the Korean system. We also summarise assessments of the system’s impact, arguing that the results of the few studies that exist, justify the continuation of the system. By locating Korean Safe Rates as part of a broader global trend, we respond to opponents’ claims that the system is without international precedent and make the system eligible for a global audience. In so doing, we seek to contribute to the ongoing debate about the reintroduction of Safe Rates in Korea and draw lessons from the Korean experience that may be used in other countries.

“Don't push!” experiences of obstetric violence in U.S. hospital settings

Obstetric violence is the institutional and interpersonal violation of women's rights during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Amid increasing recognition of the prevalence and consequences of obstetric violence, there has been growing attention to its cultural, organizational, and institutional features. In this article, I demonstrate how obstetric violence is a form of epistemic and structural violence that unfolds through interpersonal interactions, the organization of labor in medicalized birth, and institutional features of the hospital and obstetric environment. I draw on thirty in-depth interviews with women who recently gave birth in the Midwest, United States to understand how the authoritative knowledge of medical staff epistemically marginalizes pregnant and birthing women's embodied knowledge and how organizational and institutional features of the medicalized hospital environment facilitate obstetric violence. These findings contribute to our understanding of how less recognized and normalized forms of violence shape women's pregnancy and birthing experience, even for those with a high degree of intersectional privilege. I argue for increased person-centered childbirth guidelines that center embodied experiences and address features of the medicalized obstetric care environment that are not sufficiently evidence-based nor facilitate better outcomes for birthing people.

The Role of Labour Law in Enabling Mechanisms for Mitigating Military Conflicts. A Legal Model of Peace

The world is perpetually shaken by various forms of military conflicts, and these occurrences have consistently captured the attention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) due to their profound impact on far-reaching consequences on an international labour market. Our study aims to address potential strategies for mitigating risks arising from military conflicts. We firmly believe that labour law should be highly flexible and centered on neutralizing the ramifications of conflicts for states and citizens. Our research question guides the examination of labour law, using the ILO and Swiss labour law as cases, considering the location and scale of the military conflict. Existing literature on the development of the ILO’s legal and regulatory framework predominantly focuses on events, with limited attention given to analyzing the connections between them and lessons for the present. It is crucial to explore these connections to prevent the repetition of negative historical patterns and the compounding of problems. We express deep concern regarding the impact of military zones on the world of work. There is an imperative need for heightened attention to labour law response mechanisms. We strongly claim certain spheres of work must remain neutral concerning military conflicts. Labour law has long been engaged in formulating specific rules of conduct for employers and employees during the outbreak of armed conflicts. We contend labour law norms can serve as a means of promoting peace. In this regard, digital tools like the «Digitale Peer-Gruppen-Beratung» can prove instrumental in implementing pre-agreements among nations, employers, trade unions, and workers. By expanding functions from consultative to providing relocation of groups of workers due to the unscrupulous foreign policies of their countries we would contribute to a more peaceful world. This should be based on having pre-established agreements between nations regarding the fair and equitable distribution or temporary deployment of labour resources, particularly those crucial to the military and related industries of the conflicting parties. The concept of a strike merits consideration as a democratic tool, wherein workers relocate centralized because of disagreement with their country’s policies. It necessitates clarification to ensure non-interference in the internal affairs of nations and to consider industry-specific factors (e.g., continuous production cycles).

Addressing “Idealism Exploitation” Through Unionization: Causes and Outcomes of Nonprofit Worker Labor Organizing in the U.S.

Through in-depth interviews with nonprofit workers and full-time union organizers in the nonprofit sector, this qualitative study examines the causes, outcomes, and workers’ perceptions of the recent nonprofit worker unionization movement. We found that chronic low pay, substandard working conditions, and a concern for compromised services to clients were the impetus for workers’ labor organizing. Interviews revealed that existing unionization efforts yielded significant wins for workers. This shows that nonprofit organizations could figure out resources to reprioritize labor costs even though they face constraints by funders. Unionization also benefited nonprofit management, including favorable work policies applying to managers and reduced staff turnover. Previous literature suggests that the highly gendered and value-based labor dynamic in nonprofits is a barrier to labor organizing. We found that workers are reevaluating this sacrificing, “labor-of-love” logic and aligning workers’ rights with clients’ rights. This has transformed a barrier to a powerful facilitator for labor organizing.

Determining the effect levels of augmented decent work criteria in sustainable economic development with the fuzzy DEMATEL method

Creating decent work is among the priority issues for sustainable employment and development. This study aimed to determine the effect levels of the International Labour Organization (ILO) decent work criteria by augmenting nine indicators in the ILO manual to 12 criteria through a comprehensive literature review. Fuzzy DEMATEL, a multi-criteria decision-making method, has been preferred in this context. According to the analysis results of the study, the most heavily ranked criteria are ‘healthy workplace environment’, ‘decent working hours’ and ‘safe working conditions’ respectively, which contribute to the decent work concept. Further, ‘balance between work–family–personal life’ has been found the most affected criterion, while ‘education and training system’ has been the most affecting. Based on the findings, remedial and developing strategies are suggested on issues such as corporate culture, working hours regulation, safe working environment, subordinate–superior relations, social activities and regulations that take family life into account.

Inertia in transformed times: Work health and safety amid climate change

Climate change will impact work health and safety conditions at an unprecedented scale, and the effects are already being felt. The most significant consequences are for workers labouring in higher temperatures and heatwaves. Other dangers include increased air pollution, vector-borne diseases and solar ultraviolet radiation. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says climate change and WHS ‘needs to top our list of global priorities’, requiring national planning and action to ensure successful workplace adaptation to limit injuries and deaths. If this is correct, why is so little happening in Australia to plan for these current and emerging issues? This article considers the findings of key ILO and Australian Government reports and initiatives in 2023 and 2024 to assess what action experts argue is needed and how Australia stacks up.