Union Structure Research Articles

Trade Union Organizations of Kyrgyzstan in the 1920-1930s of the 20th Century

In connection with the formation of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in August 1927, a reorganization of the structure of trade unions was carried out: regional departments were transformed into republican ones, district ones - into canton ones. Trade unions of Kyrgyzstan, under the leadership of the Kyrgyz regional committee of the CPSU (b), fought for the implementation of the decisions of the XIV and XV congresses of the CPSU (b), sought to increase the creative activity of workers in the reconstruction of old and construction of new industrial enterprises, in the transformation of agriculture. At the II Congress of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, held in November 1926, it was decided to reorganize their work with the slogan “Facing production”, about attracting workers to actively participate in production management; special attention was paid to the training of national workers.

Class versus climate? Transformation conflicts in the automotive industry

ABSTRACT Major ecological threats such as climate change affect everyone, but do not level out social inequalities. The neglect of class in ecological politics means that measures against global warming often encounter social barriers and the social-ecological transformation becomes conflict-ridden. Based on in-depth empirical research at two German car manufacturers, the article shows how management and labour in a carbon industry deal with the transformation. With the help of concepts from class theory, the car plants analysed are described as class societies in miniature. They constitute social fields in which the transformation changes the rules of the game by which the company actors act. Company interest groups and trade union structures, as well as external veto players (climate movements, the far right) have a significant impact on conflict dynamics. In each case, it can be seen that institutionally contained class conflicts in co-determined companies are increasingly turning into social-ecological transformation conflicts. These are multi-level conflicts in which ownership-based decision-making power plays a central role. No ecological class is emerging beyond production. Instead, a transformation corporatism is asserting itself, which is coming up against class-specific limits in the decision-making monopoly over business models.

The Dynamics of Civil Society Organisations and Cooperative Societies around Cocoa Governance Based on North-South Cooperation in Côte d'Ivoire

The cocoa sector in Côte d'Ivoire has around 3,000 cooperatives, whose stated objective is to fight for an improvement in the living conditions of producers by acting for a better marketing price for their produce. Despite their large numbers, these cooperatives struggle to integrate and influence decision-making bodies so that the needs of producers can be taken into account. It is against this backdrop that two non-governmental organisations, INADES [ ], and INKOTA-Netzwerk, launched a collaborative initiative in 2019 involving international civil society organisations, human rights organisations and cooperatives, with a view to helping them build an advocacy framework to have a greater impact on decision-making in the sector through the establishment in 2020, of the "Ivorian platform for sustainable cocoa". And this desire to bring together agricultural cooperatives as well as the Ivorian civil society (south) and their partners (north) so that they can play their full part in the decision-making process within this sector has been the subject of a study. The results, findings, observations and information gathered as part of this research are set out in this article. The data was collected through documentary research and semi-directive interviews with Inades-Formation managers, civil society organisations that are members of the platform, cooperative group managers and trade union structure managers. In terms of results, the pooling of synergies between civil society organisations in the north and south, which began in 2020 under the slogan "Ivorian platform for sustainable cocoa", has led to the development and publication of an advocacy guide. This activity has also helped improve the administrative and economic organisation of cooperative structures. In addition, the information and capacity-building sessions carried out by international civil society organisations have enabled cooperatives to revitalise their influence in the process of political and ......

Political Mobilization of Farmers in India: A Case Study of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) in Punjab

Growing agrarian contradictions and peasant protests globally are seen as outcomes of the commercialization of agricultural production systems. The Indian Punjab is one such site that has also witnessed a high degree of agricultural commercialization, and farmers’ movements and protests are attributed to growing discontentment among peasantry due to the emergence of agrarian crises. This has led to massive farmers’ movements and protests through their unionization over time. These protests received global limelight during the introduction of three farm laws by the union government of India in 2020, which were repealed in 2021. This necessitates understanding the organizational structure and functioning of unions; their social composition, mobilization strategies and role of gender. This article examines the evolution and strategies of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan, ekta meaning united), which is the largest farmers’ union in Punjab and one of the largest in India. Using a mixed-method approach of research, which included interviewing union member farmers and agricultural workers through a semi-structured schedule and conducting focused group discussions with block presidents and executive committee members, the study finds that the unionization of farmers has accelerated the process of rural democratization. However, active persuasion of social reforms along with other agrarian issues in rural society by the unions is needed to bring social inclusiveness to make rural development process pro-poor and inclusive.

GBM-ILM: Grey-Box Modeling Based on Incremental Learning and Mechanism for Unmanned Surface Vehicles

Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have garnered significant attention across various application fields. A sufficiently accurate kinetic model is essential for achieving high-performance navigation and control of USVs. However, time-varying unobservable internal states and external disturbances pose challenges in accurately modeling the USV’s kinetics, and existing methods face difficulties in accurately estimating unknown time-varying disturbances online while ensuring precise mechanism modeling. To address this issue, a novel grey-box modeling method based on incremental learning and mechanisms (GBM-ILM) is proposed. Its union structure combines the advantages of both incremental learning networks and physical mechanisms for estimating the USV’s full kinetics. Depending on the linear parameter-varying (LPV) mechanism, it not only adheres to physical laws but also calculates the unstructured model errors. An incremental learning network is implemented to continuously refine model errors, by accounting for the USV’s time-varying characteristics and iteratively updating the network parameters and structures to adapt to different USV states and environmental disturbances. To validate this method, we developed the ‘Salmon’ USV and conducted identification experiments in a lake. Compared to tests of other state-of-the-art methods, our method has better adaptability, with 46.34%, 14.86%, and 6.87% accuracy improvements when estimating the USV’s forward, turning, and sideslip dynamic model, respectively.

УЧАСТИЕ ПРОФСОЮЗНЫХ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЙ ПЕТРОГРАДА В РЕШЕНИИ ТОПЛИВНОГО КРИЗИСА В 1919 Г.

The article analyses the reasons for the unsuccessful efforts of Petrograd trade union organizations in solving the fuel problem in the summer of 1919. The fuel crisis that began in Russia during the First World War, reached catastrophic proportions starting from the turn of 1918-1919. The availability of a huge resource base was offset by the technical decay of the communications system, labour shortages and institutional chaos. In Petrograd, the fuel crisis coincided with a crisis in the supply of raw materials to industry and food to the population. The situation created preconditions for the emergence of contradictions between the city administration, party authorities and trade union structures. These contradictions were aggravated by the actions of the city authorities in the sphere of distribution of food and basic necessities, as they actually ignored the role of trade unions and co-operatives created by them in this sphere. The city authorities took the role of the trade unions into account but were unable to secure influence in the trade unions. As a result, the city administration regarded the trade unions as a rival whose initiatives were to be supported only moderately. This was particularly evident when the unions attempted to organize units of workers to work in logging and rafting.

Strategies to encourage women workers to sign up and remain in trade unions

For more than a decade, researchers have been interested in the study of trade unions across the world, including Malaysia. Although trade unions have been in this country, but there have been a number of withdrawals of women’s membership in the past few years, from 2018 to 2021. The objective of the study is to discuss why women refuse to join trade unions, the reasons behind it, and how to encourage women to join and stay in trade unions. To highlight, this study discussed several factors that explain why women still refuse to join trade unions in the first subtopic. In the discussion, it was stated about gender inequality, work culture, different ideologies, low awareness, anti-union sentiments and work imbalance. Meanwhile, the second subtopic explained and justified the reasons women leave the union, including factors such as leadership, personal and family factors, insufficient facilities and support, working factors, dues factors and union structure. In the third part, this research discussed multiple strategies that can be implemented to encourage women to join and stay in trade unions. Many roles need to be played together as a whole body, regardless of the organization itself, to enforce the participation of women in trade unions. Thus, this research suggests providing societal and economic support for women, paying attention to the structure of the organization, developing a supportive and positive work environment, developing a women’s empowerment campaign and promoting equality policies in trade unions. Overall, future research needs to be explored to stay in trend and relevant to current developments and situations in trade unions.

European Banking Union structures and dynamics

European Banking Union structures and dynamics

Dynamics of unionism in the platform economy: the case of the food delivery sector in Bologna, Italy

AbstractIt is a characteristic of platform capitalism that struggles to re-embed digital platform work within institutionalised forms of employment have been set in motion by new labour actors (i.e. self-organised, grassroots unions). Contrary to the view that these new actors signify the decades-long decline of traditional unions, evidence increasingly highlights their continued relevance to the labour–capital relations of platform capitalism. We argue that dynamic interactions between ‘old’ and ‘new’ labour actors in platform capitalism are influenced by national union traditions that emerge more vividly when struggles to re-embed labour relations require the transition to more institutionalised forms of labour resistance. We develop this argument based on a longitudinal qualitative study of labour struggles in the food delivery sector in the city of Bologna, Italy. We pay particular attention to the dynamics of intra-labour actor relations that have unfolded in the sector across different temporally based events of contention in the city. As we illustrate, synergies between the two were prompted by the self-organised workers’ need to rely on partners with an ‘official’ status when re-embedding procedures required; yet, collaboration was also favoured by what we describe as a ‘posture of respect’ developed by the traditional union vis-à-vis the self-organised informal union, particularly with regard to their quest for autonomy from traditional union structures. We interpret this approach of the established labour actor in line with its traditional orientation as ‘class’ actor, whose actions look beyond the membership so as to expand solidarity to all workers, including in new productive (platform) sectors.

Russia’s military conflict against Ukraine and its impact on the European Union’s wealth. Can good governance counteract the effects of the war?

Russia’s war against Ukraine, which originated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, is undoubtedly one of the defining events of this current period, expected to exert a significant impact on the entire world’s economies. This study aims to determine whether the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has a significant impact on European Union (EU) Member States, particularly on the economic output of the EU countries, in the post-pandemic context. Difference-in-difference methodology alongside panel data econometric techniques are used to study the relationship between the effects of war, reflected in the deepening energy crisis, inflation, limited trade relations, restructuring of governmental expenditures, and the migrant crisis, together with economic freedom and governance quality as elements of neoliberal doctrine, and the economic wealth of EU Member States for the 1995–2021 period. In light of current research, the results prove that war has a significant impact on the economic output of the European Union structure, especially for the EU countries that rely the most on Russia’s energy imports. Using the difference in difference analysis, the impact of war on gdp_cap is evaluated as a drop in economic output of −405.08 euros per capita in the considered European countries. Applying panel regression analysis, defense and military expenditures, inflation, lack of trade openness, and increased levels of energy dependence negatively impact economic growth in the EU economies. In addition, this study provides essential information for public officials in order to prepare the EU economy for the recovery from war shocks in the forthcoming period, taking into account the study’s policy recommendations regarding energy reliance, restructuring public expenditure, prioritizing investment, and improving governance quality.

Indagine sulle origini della paelex: una riflessione ragionata su un ruolo dai profili giuridici sfumati

Abstract Ferdinando Zuccotti in his latest volume analyzed with peculiar accuracy and scientific care, with which he has always conducted his research, the evolution of the concept of paelex typical of archaic Rome as an element for reconsidering new itineraries of investigation without preconceptions on the elements and structure of marriage in dating times. The Author through the lexically ambiguous figure of the paelex, has offered the wedge to open a new perspective and rereading the roman marriage system through the axiom that the ius Quiritium did not contemplate it as the engaged were civilly legitimate spouses consequently to the conventio in manum. From this openness derives the need to review the very structure of conjugal unions in archaic Rome, in the effort to focus with analysis and synthesis on a period on which the sources are particularly scarce, almost non-existent.

Hybrid Democracies of the Western Balkans

The governance models of Western Balkan states are now based on a liberal democracy and the development of an open and free economy. In the early 2000s, the European Union was very active in the Western Balkans, strongly promoting democratic values for good governance and strengthening the implementation of the rule of law, democratizing state institutions, with the aim of creating a legal order to protect and respect human rights. Despite the engagement of European Union structures, it is now evident that in some countries of the Western Balkans, there are tendencies towards an authoritarian model of the state, away from a functional system for effective governance. The reasons are mainly due to internal factors and circumstances of the region. The international factor has consistently criticized these governance models being created in some Western Balkan countries, which take the form of hybrid democracies. This form of governance has already established its own status quo and is an approach that is resistant to change, both by international factors and by domestic governmental/political structures. The integration of Western Balkan states into Euro-Atlantic institutions, especially the European Union, remains the main topic of discussion for key leaders, not only within the region but also among the main leaders of the European Union member countries. Integration is a complex process that requires mutual cooperation. On the one hand, serious commitment is required from Western Balkan countries to meet the conditionality criteria, and on the other hand, the European Union must be willing to undertake concrete initiatives for their inclusion. These initiatives may also require reforms within the structures of the European Union. Diplomatically, initially, traditional bilateral relations were seen as the most reliable alternative to achieve Euro-Atlantic integration, which the Western Balkan countries aspire to so much. Despite numerous efforts, the Western Balkan countries now feel "fatigued" from the long wait, resulting from difficult conditions and technicalities. The governance of the region's countries is under constant pressure from bureaucracy and the weakness in decision-making of European Union institutions, as well as from the constraints and conditions applied over the years. This situation has led to an "internal upheaval" both within the political class and the civil society of Western Balkan countries. High-ranking political leaders of some Western Balkan countries have now taken joint political initiatives with regional significance. Based on the various developments in a complex region such as the Western Balkans, this paper aims to present the implications that may arise in the Euro-Atlantic integration process from the involvement of actors with different geo-strategic interests.
 
 
 Received: 05 May 2022 / Accepted: 16 May 2023 / Published: 20 May 2023

Cross-Movement Strike Actions: Works Council and Communist Groups at the Bremer Vulkan Shipyard in the 1970s

Abstract Beginning in the early 1970s, various communist groups decided to become active at the Bremer Vulkan shipyard. The article shows that they did not immediately go for confrontation to older trade union structures but were willing to change the movement from within. With the support of a wildcat strike at the shipyard in 1973, the New Left raised the question of alternatives. As a result, the Social Democratic works council chairman resigned because of a lack of support from his colleagues, and in 1974 some communists were elected to the works council. I argue that there was no division into old and new but rather a diverse field of actors: a disparate group of workers with different occupational status, and political approaches; works councils and shop stewards with close ties to Bremen’s Social Democracy; and various communist groups that pursued very different policies and goals, sometimes joined forces, but basically fought each other—especially in conflicts—rather than taking joint action.

Differences in Skill Requirements Between Jobs Held by Immigrant and Native Women Across Five European Destinations

We examine whether the requirements of analytical skills and physical strength in jobs held by immigrant women in five major European destinations (France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) converge to those of jobs of native-born women in their first ten years in the destination country. To this aim, we combine data from the European Labour Force Survey (2005–2015) of immigrant women arriving in these five countries and information about skill requirements from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). At arrival, migrants in Spain and France use much less analytical skills, but for the period before the Great Recession, that gap closes relatively fast over time compared to other destinations, particularly in the low end of the skill distribution. Physical strength requirements of immigrant’s jobs increase over time and the gaps open in countries where immigrants depart from relatively more strength-intense jobs, while they close in Spain where immigrants use less strength than natives at arrival. Our estimates are also robust to selection into employment both at the average and across the skill distribution using recent techniques. Since the Labour Force Survey does not have information on wages, we use wage information from the European Union Structure of Earnings Survey to proxy average immigrant-native wage gaps implied by our estimated skill gaps by country.

Vale in Mozambique: Creator and destroyer of jobs, livelihoods and communities

Millennial mining projects like Vale's coal mines in Mozambique operate within the logic of the new imperialism, driven not by states and politicians in search of territorial control but by restless corporations in quest of short and long-term profits. The mining discourse cloaks this logic with fulsome promises of jobs and local development and making African commodity suppliers into significant players on global platforms. This case study looks at the efforts of those actually employed by Odebrecht, and later Vale – and their global labour partners - to use the inherited union structures to protect themselves from Vale management's arbitrary power. It then examines the civil society initiatives that emerged in response to livelihoods destroyed by Vale's massive footprint not only in and around the extraction site in Moatize but also along road, rail and sea links to transport Mozambique's coal onto global commodity markets.Both those impacted by Vale through loss of land and livelihoods and those directly employed by Vale had to contend with the overly intimate relationship between Vale and their government. in the, by now, classic neoliberal reversal of roles, The Maputo government over the years virtually abdicated its role in defence of workers, communities and the environment, ceding to Vale the right to govern in Tete. Trade unionists from Brazil and Canada making regular visits to Tete for mining health and safety training seminars found themselves as front-line observers.

The classical liberal version of labor law: Beware of coercion dressed up as liberty

Abstract In this Article, I contest on both theoretical and empirical grounds the progressive agenda, as represented by Hanoch Dagan, that seeks to advance the unionization movement in the name of individual autonomy and property. Theoretically, the Article shows that the common-law account of autonomy, which stresses freedom of action from external constraints involving the use or threat of force, provides the best analytical framework, one that undermines the modern progressive case for collective bargaining by workers. The negative account of autonomy applies to all persons; its correlative duties are simple. It applies regardless of the overall level or distribution of wealth. It is scalable from small to large societies. And it forces employers to respect the full range of material and psychological needs in order to recruit and retain their workers. In contrast, the modern progressive alternative imposes no clear correlative duties on employers. It has no obvious way to constrain the dominance of union forces. And its commands are sufficiently complex that they are often not understood by the workers whom they are intended to protect. Empirically, this Article shows that the institutional rigidity of union structures in dynamic markets fails; and it rejects the claim that individual workers are wedded to their current employer, given competitive forces that allow for rapid entry and exit. Given the long-term systematic advantages of the classical liberal model, it is no surprise that unions are generally in decline in major industrial societies.

Wilhelm II and the Power System of Germany at the End of 19th and to Begin of 20th Centuries

On the basis of a historiographical analysis, the authors of this article attempt to reflect on the thirty-year reign of German Emperor Wilhelm II, taking into account the historically shaped tendencies of power, ideology, social and political organisation, as well as the Emperor's own ideas of monarchy and state. The authors systematise historians' assessments of the concepts of “dual modernization”, the “regime of personal rule by the emperor” and “Wilhelminianism” as well as interpretations of the phenomenon of radicalisation of public opinion and the activities of political parties and popular associations. It is their shared opinion that the far-reaching constitutional guarantees and powers proclaimed and granted to the German public by the 1871 Constitution were in fact substantially circumscribed. The Reichstag, as a social and political institution of power, never really became the main actor in the legislative process with controlling powers over the executive. The German middle class failed to secure the “classical prerogatives of parliamentarianism” (Georg Iggers). The constitutionally enshrined preponderance of monarchical power was reinforced by the alliance of the princes with the agrarian elite, which continued to dominate both economically and politically, occupying key positions in both the bureaucracy and the army. Therefore, due to the comparatively late unification of the country, the preservation of medieval monarchical culture and structures of domination, social groups, associations, unions, political movements and parties became the subjects of modernisation changes during this period of time. The war unleashed by the German monarchy and its subsequent tragedy clearly showed the other side of national unity. All these developments are considered in the context of the transformation of the monarchy, but not in the direction of limiting the personal power of the ruler, but in the direction of the traditional view of it ("the alliance between throne and altar"), which predetermined the final disaster of the reign of Emperor Wilhelm II.

ROBUST BUDGETING IN INTERNATIONAL UNIONS

As international economic integration advances the issue of budgeting in inter(supra)national unions becomes more and more important. To ensure stable, effective and efficient functioning of the union its budgetary system should be designed based on a number of rules. In the article we analyze budgetary structures of current international unions and combine the revealed rules into six basic principles. We describe and substantiate these principles. In addition, some theoretical tools that could be applied in scientific validation of a supranational budgetary model are proposed.

Transformations in the Ownership Structure of Credit Unions: Banking Service Rates and the Expectations of Members and Directors

Transformations in the Ownership Structure of Credit Unions: Banking Service Rates and the Expectations of Members and Directors

Transformations in the Ownership Structure of Credit Unions: Banking Service Rates and the Expectations of Members and Directors

Transformations in the Ownership Structure of Credit Unions: Banking Service Rates and the Expectations of Members and Directors