Trade Union Representatives Research Articles

Struggles for co-determination: Anti-unionism, obstruction of works councils and employees’ counterstrategies in Germany

In recent years, there has been growing evidence in Germany of efforts by employers to obstruct works councils, trade unions and individual employees in the exercise of their participation rights. When such situations arise, the asymmetry of power intrinsic to the employment relationship will put the employee side at a structural disadvantage. Nonetheless, employees have strategic options to regain their legal rights to co-determination. The article examines, firstly, how employers obstruct works councils, trade union representation and collective bargaining. Secondly, it analyses the strategies and practices the employee side uses in response. Based on 28 case studies from various sectors and a total of 87 interviews, the study identifies two broad types of obstruction of co-determination by employers and six key dimensions that characterize employee resistance. The analysis of successful and failed conflicts points to a wide range of the diverse options available to employees.

Enhancing the Protection of Trade Union Representatives: an Analysis of Poland’s Compliance with ilo Conventions No. 87 and No. 135

Enhancing the Protection of Trade Union Representatives: an Analysis of Poland’s Compliance with ilo Conventions No. 87 and No. 135

Consideration of Labor Cases by Special Labor Courts as a Way to Optimize the Civil Process in the New Economic Policy Period

The article is devoted to the scientific development of the problem of consideration and resolution of labor cases by courts. The purpose of the work is to study the historical experience of considering and resolving labor cases in civil proceedings by special labor sessions of people’s courts during the New economic policy period on the basis of comparative historical and formal legal research methods, scientific principles of objectivity and historicism. The creation of special labor sessions of people’s courts was motivated by the need for those who resolved disputes to have special knowledge and skills to consider labor cases, and also correlated with the focus on accessibility of justice for workers and the course towards optimizing legal proceedings. The article traces changes in the normative regulation of the activities of labor sessions, identifies the role of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR in filling gaps in the law, and analyzes the problems of jurisdiction and jurisdiction of labor cases. Based on the analysis of judicial practice materials (primarily the rulings of the Civil Cassation Board of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR), the peculiarities of the civil process when considering labor disputes during the New economic policy period are revealed: in the subject composition (thus, representatives of trade unions could be representatives of their members), in matters of evidence and proof, due to the initiative of the court and the specifics of the cases.

Multilevel Analysis of Gender Equity Disclosure

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate gender equity, with the aim of analyse the impact of country, sector, and company characteristics on corporate gender equity disclosure. Theoretical Framework: The main concepts and theories that underpin the research are institutional theory with National Business System (NBS) approach. Method: We collected information on gender equity disclosure from 3,726 companies in 58 countries over a 10-year interval from the Thomson Reuters database. Than, we use hierarchical analysis to link the degree of disclosure obtained by companies with variables at the macro, medium, and micro levels. Results and Discussion: We found that the equity disclosure is particularly sensitive to company characteristics such as trade union representation, company size or board gender diversity. Country characteristics, such as enforcement capacity, pressure from unions, popular participation, and economic development positively affect gender equity disclosure. The sector does not present statistical significance to explain variations in gender disclosure. Research Implications: These findings show that theoretical aspects of National Business System and multilevel characteristics approaches do provide empirical support to explain gender equity and its disclosure and help to resolve gender issues Originality/Value: This research fills the gap resulting from the lack of multilevel analysis on gender equity disclosure and helps identify which level and characteristics prevail and have the greatest impact. Therefore, the results guide the intervention of different social spheres to promote gender equity.

Social systems for future manufacturing framework: An overarching view of people, organization and society

Drawing on insights from relevant scholarship in the areas of producing engineering, sociology of work and political economy, as well as a series of ‘webinars’ with R&D managers, production managers and trade union representatives conducted between 2021 and 22, we propose an interdisciplinary, multidimensional framework (‘social systems for future manufacturing’) as a means to better understand the shopfloor and societal implications of technological change in the context of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’. Our framework entails three distinct though interrelated levels of analysis (worker, manufacturing, as well as societal), all of which are necessary to engage with in order to understand the implications of digital transformation. We argue that the extent to which employee voice is institutionally embedded at societal level, will have an impact on the way in which new technology will be developed and implemented (namely in a labour-saving or labouraugmenting way). We also discuss relevant factors in terms of workforce skills development at individual and firm level, as well as in terms of national vocational training and development infrastructure, and how these are likely to determine industrial competitiveness in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. Theoretical and managerial implications around work organisation and workforce training are discussed.

Communication constraints in the safety system on South African mines and implications for the exercise of the Right to Refuse Dangerous Work

The Mine Health and Safety Act No. 29 of 1996, as amended, embeds an occupational health and safety management system that facilitates communication between representatives of the state, capital, and labour. In underground mines, two communication loops between these role players serve to separate the production chain of command from the political tripartite relations. Worker-elected health and safety representatives are involved in both communication loops, but are severely constrained in escalating their occupational health and safety concerns to the legal-political level. This has a direct bearing on the exercise of the Right to Refuse Dangerous Work (RRDW). As previously reported, health and safety representatives were found to primarily consult their production supervisors in preference to their trade-union representatives. This follow-up article presents production supervisor perspectives on the RRDW. The study demonstrates how, for mineworkers, the two distinct communication subsystems constrain, rather than facilitate, implementation of the RRDW.

Predictability and transparency of working conditions for food delivery platform workers across selected EU countries

AbstractWhile prior research has demonstrated the poor and unpredictable working conditions and ambiguous working arrangements characteristic of platform‐based food delivery, we lack research on the question of how well these workers are informed about essential aspects of their work, including protection of their rights, working time and schedules, and earnings. Comprehensive and transparent information on working conditions at an early stage is indispensable if workers are to be able to make informed decisions on taking up work and, where relevant, investing in equipment and exercising rights linked to a specific job. Drawing on the multi‐dimensional job quality literature, this article focuses on digital labour platforms in the food delivery sector across four countries: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. We exploit firm‐level variations, including with regard to the types of work arrangements used and the application—or not—of collective agreements. We draw on information provided to riders during the application process prior to the start of employment, including via websites and FAQs, as well as scrutiny of contracts, service agreements and collective bargaining agreements, where relevant. This information is complemented with interviews with trade union representatives. Our findings point to the relationship between a firm's choice of employment status and form of contract, on one hand, and the predictability and transparency of information provided to workers, on the other. Differences and similarities in such information seem to be more strongly bound to firm‐level decisions than to the welfare and industrial relations regimes in which the platform companies operate.

When Gorillas Strike: Constitutional Protection of Non-Market-Institutions in Labor Law

Abstract The “wildcat strike” against the poor working conditions of the bike couriers of the delivery service Gorilla at the beginning of 2021 ended in numerous dismissals by the employer. The trade unions did not support the strike, so that participation in the work stoppage was deemed unlawful by the courts. Under German law, strikes are only permitted as a means of exerting pressure in collective bargaining. However, it must be asked whether, with the changes in forms of employment and the associated limits to trade union representation of interests, it is still justified to regard the right to strike exclusively as an appendage of collective bargaining autonomy. Not only the pressure of international law, but also Gunther Teubner’s concept of non-market institutions as necessarily resistant collective actors against economic profit pressures call for the further development of legal protection of collectivities. Alternative labor struggles for the often precarious conditions of increasing mobile, digitalized and transnational gainful employment would then have to be recognized under certain conditions.

Director for hire? Negotiating creativity and work in the Irish television sector

The television industry has deep-rooted neoliberal employment structures, and this article explores how the non-fiction television director negotiates this contingent working environment. Research has established that creative workers adapt themselves to the demands of a post-Fordist ‘gig economy’, characterised by casual, non-permanent work, with little security or accountability. However, relatively little is known about how non-fiction television directors respond to that context, especially in the Irish case. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 12 freelance television directors. Key findings note the layers of control wielded by broadcasters over the working life of the director. Identifying the negative effect of broadcasters’ dominance in the sector, they revealed a three-line whip of control through budget, creative direction, and a risk-averse approach to programming, which effectively constrained the directors and reduced their autonomy. The directors described how broadcasters’ control over budgets means that the sector is run at their command, a situation that is further aggravated by Ireland’s lack of trade union representation, stagnant pay rates and the absence of intellectual property rights accruing to directors’ work. Respondents proposed that their status was reduced from creative auteur to operational functionaries, reporting the negative impact of the industry work culture and practices on their self-esteem, because their creativity and work were undervalued. This article breaks new ground to explore directors’ responses to the conditions of the gig economy and link the alienation of labour to the loss of creativity in content. There was an acceptance by non-fiction directors of the status quo, which was seen as the ‘price’ of a non-routine life, with the freedom to indulge the passion and the pleasure inherent to making television. Moreover, respondents also revealed how they maintained their creative identity despite their circumstances, through the pursuit of their own work and through the support of peers. Crucially, respondents argued for a repositioning of the television director to reflect their status and role in the origination and creation of novel content, and proposed such recognition might better serve the television viewer.

Converting the United States and United Kingdom defence sector to civil production: The views of defence workers

AbstractThere are many social, environmental, and economic reasons for converting from defence manufacturing to civil production. Importantly, such a transformation could support more peace in the world while still ensuring the secure jobs that the defence sector has historically provided. The views of defence workers on such a transition are important to understanding how this change could effectively and equitably occur. To capture some of these views, the research project on which this paper is based involved interviewing 58 former and current defence sector workers in the United States and the United Kingdom and convening key leadership focus groups which included their trade union representatives. Though these workers' opinions were not entirely polarized and some interviewees had mixed and nuanced views, they loosely fell into three categories (a) opposed to defence diversification, (b) supportive of defence diversification, and (c) supportive in principle but thought that it would be unlikely to happen. The (a) category of defence workers primarily based their view on the idea that the defence sector is necessary for security and a feeling of pride in supporting this endeavor. The (b) category views were built on the perceived harm of the sector, the potential ‘peace dividend’ that would arise from transition, and feelings of guilt about working in the sector. The (c) group of workers identified the profit motive, worker attachment to defence jobs, technological issues, and the economic and political power of the defence companies as the key barriers to change. Proposals for effectively converting included economic incentives, government regulation, and organizing trade unions to push for change. A unified view was that workers want to be involved in discussions about these issues in their workplace and unions.

The labour process and workers’ rights at Mercado Libre: hiding exploitation through regulation in the digital economy

E-commerce platforms such as, most famously, Amazon use digitalised production systems in their warehouses. In this article we examine how such digitalised systems impact upon the labour process, the organisation of work and working condition in the warehouse of Mercado Libre in Argentina, the largest e-commerce platform there and in Latin America. In many respects, this case is aligned with the evidence emerging from similar studies on Amazon. The ubiquitous combination of algorithmic management with discretionary human management has limited the sphere of workers’ autonomy and spaces of resistance, increased control to virtually any productive or unproductive time spent by workers in the warehouse and imposed stressful working conditions on workers, often with negative implications for health and safety. These conditions of exploitation common to digitalised workplaces have, however, been strengthened by the company’s hiring strategy, based extensively on labour broking, on the high turnover of a young workforce, and the strategic use of the existing institutional regulatory framework and formal trade union representation to buffer management from workers’ complaints. In this sense it is not regulation as such that is the key to better working conditions in the digitalised labour process but rather how that regulatory framework is effectively used and contested by workers’ struggles on the ground to get concessions.

Challenging the formality bias: The organization of informal work, working relations, and collective agency in Kenya and Tanzania

AbstractMotivationFormal social protection systems, such as health insurance and representation, are often biased in favour of formal workers, thereby excluding most of the world's working population who make a living in the informal economy.PurposeThe article extends existing critiques of formality bias by investigating the reality of work for people in the informal economy in Kenya and Tanzania and analysing related social protection challenges. Specifically, we look at: (1) the governance of work; (2) the organization of work relations; and (3) collective agency. In terms of social protection, we focus on formal and informal forms of social insurance and representation.Methods and approachWe draw on interview and survey data from people working in micro trading, transport, and construction in Nairobi and Kisumu in Kenya, and Dar es Salaam and Dodoma in Tanzania. A total of 1,462 workers were surveyed and 24 focus group discussions were held with such workers. Interviews were conducted with 120 key informants: leaders and members of informal workers' associations in the three sectors, as well as representatives of authorities, trade unions, and business associations. Data were collected from June 2018 to December 2019.FindingsFormal social insurance and representation do not fit the real experience of most people working in the informal economy. They have been modelled on and designed to support workers in formal standard employment relations. At the same time, informal workers' associations play important roles in meeting—albeit inadequately—the social insurance and representational needs of their members.Policy implicationsMeaningful engagement with the reality of work and collective agency in the informal economy is necessary to inform more appropriate policies and measures to provide informal workers with appropriate social protection measures, particularly social insurance and representation. Their reality should not have to conform to an inadequate model; rather, the model should fit their reality.

The employment effects of collective wage bargaining

This study examines the wage and employment effects of Italian collective wage bargaining. It analyzes monthly data on the population of private-sector employees, matched with the information on contractual pay levels set by industry-wide agreements, which were bargained by the representatives of trade unions and employers at the national level. The research design exploited the generalized wage growth induced by changes in the contractual pay levels, whose timing and size differ across collective agreements. The specification adopted compared the outcomes of interest within sectors and geographical locations, and among workers subject to different collective contracts. The study results show that contractual wage growth raised the actual pay levels and had significant negative effects on employment. These employment effects were broadly consistent with the Hicks–Marshall laws and with several hypotheses of traditional centralized wage bargaining models.

Social dialogue quality and workers’ health as perceived by Belgian trade union representatives during the COVID-19 pandemic

Union representatives were surveyed throughout Belgium between August and December 2021 through an online questionnaire ( N = 469) to assess the relationship between trade union representatives’ perception of social dialogue quality and change in workers’ physical and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a modified Poisson regression for binary outcomes controlling for company characteristics, pre-pandemic self-reported health and pandemic-related measures. A total of 30.1% of the sample reported the social dialogue quality has deteriorated during the pandemic. Relative risks (RRs) of poor physical and mental health when social dialogue has worsened are 1.49 (95%CI (95% confidence interval) = 1.03; 2.15) and 1.38 (95%CI = 1.09; 1.74). Controlling for pandemic-related measures slightly reduces the risk of both poor mental (RR = 1.25; 95%CI = 0.84; 1.87) and physical health (RR = 1.18; 95%CI = 0.94; 1.49). Although based on self-reported variables, the study shows an association between poor social dialogue quality and health and underlines the need to look at company-level collective negotiation.

Mobilizing the Rights of Migrant Workers: Swedish Trade Unions’ Engagement with Law and the Courts

ABSTRACT Migrant workers, both regular and irregular, are at particular risk of having their rights violated. At the same time, there has been an absence of support for exploited immigrant workers from Swedish authorities and civil society. Lately, a number of trade unions and semi-union organisations in Sweden have developed methods to mobilize the rights of migrant workers experiencing exploitation on the Swedish labour market. This article investigates strategies utilized by trade unions to mobilize migrant workers’ rights by engaging with the law and the courts. It draws on qualitative interviews with trade union representatives and court judgements from the Labour Court and other civil courts. We identify legal practices that range from immediate legal assistance and everyday negotiations with employers to litigation in court. We show how the practical, aspirational, and creative engagement of a small group of trade union representatives with the law and courts has generated a new form for mobilizing the rights of migrant workers in the Swedish context. This form of legal mobilization is both instrumental and political, driven by the rhetoric of class struggle and a belief in the rights of migrant workers.

Short‐term fix or remedy for market failure? Immigration policy as a distinct source of skills

AbstractThis article analyses the role of immigration policy as a distinct source of skills supply in liberal market economies. It draws upon interviews with representatives of employer associations and trade unions in the Australian construction and hospitality industries to identify how labour market actors make sense of the function of immigration policy. Rather than ‘complementing’ or ‘undermining’ training and other domestic labour market institutions, as is often assumed, immigration policy can serve to remedy the systemic failures of these institutions to supply skills in the short term. However, overreliance on immigration can disincentivise reform of the labour market institutions necessary to generate adequate skills supply in the long term. The findings suggest the need to reconceptualise the function of immigration policy in terms of its distinct rather than equivalent functions to labour market institutions.

Health and safety challenges in medical entities and the powers of the social labor inspector: Lessons related to the COVID-19 outbreak in the context of internal control of employee health and safety

Employees in the medical profession in a situation where the life of a patient is at risk cannot refrain from working due to unsafe working conditions. Therefore, enforcing the right to safe and hygienic working conditions is particularly important so that employees can provide health care services without additional burdens. The purpose of the study is to determine how the social labour inspector can respond to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) hazards and whether the current powers of the social labor inspectorate as the employer's internal OHS control body are sufficient. The study conducted a regulatory analysis and used relevant literature, including recent studies on law enforcement. In addition, a questionnaire survey was conducted among trade union representatives of medical professionals on the evaluation of social labour inspector activities and OHS hazards during the COVID-19 epidemic period. In this period characterized by many OHS risks in medical entities, the difficulties faced by employers in carrying out their duty to protect the health of their employees became apparent. The system of internal control with the participation of the social labour inspection in this context needs changes, due to the fact that it is used in an inefficient manner. The reasons for this are primarily incomplete legal regulations. The legislator should guarantee the social labour inspector the right to use both methods of rewarding the employer as an incentive for the proper performance of duties and measures to deter violations of the law. Despite the fact that Polish labour law guarantees mechanisms for OHS control by the social labour inspector, it would be appropriate to expand the catalog of measures used by him to effectively motivate employers to protect worker health. This study is a prelude to a broader discussion of OHS monitoring in the context of OHS hazards occurring in healthcare entities. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2023;74(4):301-16.

Корпоративная культура университета: роль профсоюза

One of the important functions of personnel management at present is the management of corporate culture. The culturological approach in management allows you to combine all forces (resources) to achieve the goals of the organization, solving its tasks. This approach allows us to take into account the uniqueness of a particular company, to focus on the integration of all personnel in achieving the goals of the organization, the formation of loyalty, competencies, solidarity. Among the functions of the trade union noted in the documents of the organization, the organizational function, the organization of cultural mass, sports events, traditional professional holidays are presented. The role of management in the development of corporate culture is undeniable, at the same time, bipartisanship at the local level, as well as tripartism at other levels of social partnership presupposes the participation of employees (their trade union representatives) in the development of labor and other relations, in the improvement of corporate culture in the organization. The formation of values and norms, certain stereotypes of behavior occurs within the framework of the concept of social partnership in the organization. The role of the trade union as an organization uniting employees, as a participant in social partnership is in demand. This role is noted in the conducted research through the participation of the trade union in supporting traditions in the organization, participating in negotiations, discussing a Collective agreement, supporting staff in difficult situations (providing material, informational and legal assistance to trade union members and all employees of the organization) and other areas. The trade union participates in the management of corporate culture, which includes not only the management of the internal environment of the organization, but also the management of the image of the organization, its business reputation.

The nail in the coffin? Pandemic and social dialogue in Poland

PurposeIn the context of debates on the role of social partners in shaping anti-crisis policies, the article explores the developments of social dialogue in Poland following the outbreak of the pandemic. The central research question is whether the crisis has helped to revitalise social dialogue or has it further revealed its weaknesses that were apparent before it.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the combination of literature review and the analysis of primary data derived from 22 expert interviews with the representatives of trade unions, employers and ministries collected in 2020–2021 in four essential industries (education, health care, social care and logistics).FindingsThe analysis suggests that the pandemic led to reinforcement of “illusory corporatism” in Poland, deepened mistrust among social partners and triggered a shift to informal channels of influencing policymaking. The weakness of the social partners and the strong position of the right-wing populist government meant that fears of recession and a health crisis were insufficient to develop “crisis” corporatism. While business interests were represented better than labour in policymaking, limited labour-friendly outcomes have been achieved as a result of workers’ mobilisation and unilateral decisions of the government rather than tripartite social dialogue.Originality/valueBased on original empirical research, the article contributes to the discussion on the impact of the crisis on social dialogue under patchwork capitalism. It points to the role of strong governments and informality in circumventing tripartite structures and the importance of essential workers’ mobilisation in response to the lack of social dialogue.

Workplace investigations, the epistemic power of managerialism and the hollowing out of the Norwegian model of co-determination

Workplace investigations are increasingly being used in Norwegian workplaces in both public and private sectors to investigate allegations of misconduct, harassment, blameworthy conditions, and other breaches of the Norwegian Working Environment Act. Workplace investigations are often triggered by complaints submitted through internal organizational whistleblowing and ‘speak up’ systems. With the EU Whistleblower Directive, ISO 37002:2021 Whistleblowing Management Systems – Guidelines and the ISO/AWI TS 37008 Internal Investigations in Organizations under development, we witness further standardization of whistleblowing systems and investigative procedures within organizations. And yet, these systems have so far received little critical attention. Our in-depth qualitative analysis of 22 such cases within standard employment relationships, informed by extensive literature review, secondary data and case files, has revealed that workplace investigations escalated conflicts, negatively affecting whistleblowers, trade union representatives, safety representatives, and other critical and dissenting voices, and that these systems leave little room for trade union representatives, co-determination or collective approaches to conflict resolution. We argue that this cannot be merely attributed to botched or biased investigations that have failed to follow ‘best practice’ guidelines. Instead, these are by default inquisitorial processes: the employer funds the investigation, creates the mandate and acts as prosecutor, police and judge in one. We analyse these methods and their epistemic power in light of the increasing privatization and pluralization of policing within the context of regulatory capitalism and the ‘criminalization’ of compliance, arguing that such methods are an expression of larger phenomena that lead to the progressive hollowing out of co-determination and workplace democracy and justice, in Norway and likely elsewhere.