Trade Unions Research Articles

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.

Rally Round the Flag: a Degree of Provocation Is Allowed for Trade Unionists

Rally Round the Flag: a Degree of Provocation Is Allowed for Trade Unionists

Comparative analysis of the organization works of the psychological service of the system education of Ukraine and Israel

The article presents a comparative analysis of the work experience of the school psychological service of Israel and Ukraine in order to study the current experience in providing assistance to schoolchildren, especially in the context of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. Attention is focused on significant changes and transformations of the psychological service of the education system of Ukraine, which arose in the conditions of the war with the Russian Federation. The priority directions of the psychological service, its regulatory and legal support, content, purpose, functions of the psychological service employees of educational institutions (pre-school, general secondary, extra-curricular, specialized, professional (vocational-technical), vocational pre-university and higher) are disclosed. Normative, standard requirements for the professional qualification of psychologists in educational institutions in Ukraine and Israel are presented. The activity of the Association of Psychologists of Ukraine is characterized in comparison with the trade union Israeli Psychological Association. The study showed that Israel has a developed system of school psychology, experience of integration and interaction of the psychological and pedagogical service and educational institutions. Attention is focused on the work of the Council of Psychologists in Israel, which includes psychologists from various divisions of the Israel Psychological Association, universities and large employers (Ministry of Health, Education and Social Security). The biggest difference is the organization of the psychologist's systemic work in Israel, that is, work with the school as a system. A pedagogical psychologist does not belong integrally to the educational institution, but is administratively and professionally subordinated to external organizations. In Israel, the experience of providing psychological assistance to schoolchildren, their parents and school employees in the conditions of an ongoing armed conflict, shelling of cities, in the case of casualties among the civilian population, including children, has been developed.

The Christian Trade Union Movement in the Weimar Republic according to Apostolic Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli’s Assessments

This article focuses on the opinions of Eugenio Pacelli, the Apostolic Nuncio in Germany, regarding the German Christian labor movement in the 1920s. During the Weimar Republic, there were two types of organizations for Catholic workers: the interconfessional Christian Trade Unions and the Catholic Workers’ Associations. In his reports to Rome, Pacelli mainly emphasized the Church’s loss of contact with workers, as well as the spread of «misconceptions» regarding economic theory among them. In comparison to the Catholic Workers’ Associations, the Christian unions seemed more «moderate and reasonable» to the Nuncio, as he believed that the latter were more susceptible to radicalization.

FUQAROLIK SUD ISHLARINI YURITISHDA ADVOKAT ISHTIROKINING PROTSESSUAL JIHATLARI

This article highlights the role of the representative institution and the lawyer in civil proceedings in our country. The specifics of representation are described in terms of legal representation, contractual (voluntary) representation, representation of legal entities, representation of trade unions, and other public organizations. Thus, the lawyer has special rights of the plaintiff and the defendant: full or partial waiver of claims, change the basis or subject of the claim, increase or decrease the amount of the claim, recognition of the plaintiff’s claims, the conclusion of a settlement agreement. contract, to transfer authority to another person (entrust another person), to have the right to file an appeal against the decision (judgment) of the court, to issue a writ of execution for recovery, to receive the recovered property or money—the exact order of these actions is described in the article. The article analyzes the procedure for exercising the special powers of lawyers, provided by the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the application of the rules of civil procedural legislation on representation in courts.” Also, foreign experience, such as the practice of Düsseldorf and Munich, which are the rules of confidentiality of information in the procedural legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany, has been studied.

Struggle and health. Sociability and literacy in the “150 hours” courses in Turin

Throughout the years of the reforms, Turin’s political and trade union organizations succeeded in collecting and combining the requests coming from people’s workplace and everyday’s life to develop new models of social governance of schools and social services. All this was realized by reversing the responses given to social discomfort and suffering through a re-appropriation of spaces and a growing participation of citizens in all the social choices. This contribution aims at reconstructing the initiatives and experience of the courses of the so-called “150 hours school” in the years 1974-1978: in this period, the training on prevention on women’s health was carried out in middle schools and in university seminars, and it was open to male and female workers. These training started a process of awareness, active citizenship and representation that – from the collegial bodies of the schools to the newly born local councils, up to the factory councils – brought into question and “in motion” parents, school staff and new residents and 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 Role Of Trade Unions In Health Protection And Provision Of Safe Working Conditions For Medical Workers Part 2. Health care Workers' Trade Union Activities

Introduction. Healthcare workers are an important part of national healthcare systems ensuring its sustainability. Thus, it is necessary to introduce state mechanisms aimed at protecting their health and ensuring safe working conditions. Moreover, protection of rights and interests of healthcare workers is a matter of social justice. International and national public organizations and especially trade unions of healthcare workers play an important role in dealing with these issues. The purpose of the study is to consider examples of trade union activities on health protection and provision of safe working conditions in a number of countries upon the data on health issues that experience medical specialists as well as factors influencing these issues. Materials and methods. A content analysis of the official Internet pages of trade union organizations and their reporting documents for 2015-2024 was performed. Also, such methods as analysis, synthesis, secondary analysis and systematization of data were used. Results. Around the world, healthcare workers face occupational risks of infectious diseases, and are constantly exposed to various types of biological and non-biological hazards due to their working conditions, which are considered unsafe. Even cases of ill-treatment, threats, attacks or insults during the performance of professional duties are documented. Therefore, protection of health and safety of medical professionals, as well as their social and labor rights and interests is one of the main areas of trade unions as public organizations created on the initiative of healthcare workers.

Comparing Exposure to Psychosocial Risks: Face-to-Face Work vs. Telework.

In recent years, substantial changes have occurred in the work organization and arrangements. One of the main ones has been the popularization of teleworking among non-manual workers. This paper aims to assess the exposure of psychosocial risks among non-manual Spanish wage-earners, depending on the working modality (mainly telework, combining teleworking with onsite work, or onsite work). Based on an online survey conducted between April and May 2021, a cross-sectional study was carried out among n=11,519 members ofa trade union where Psychosocial Risks (PSR) were measured through COPSOQ Questionnaire Scales. All analyses were performed stratifying by sex. Women who combine telework and face-to-face work (aPR: 1.21; 95%CI 1.07-1.37) and men who mainly telework (aPR: 1.26; 95%CI 1.11-1.43) and that combine (aPR: 1.27; 95%CI 1.11-1.45) are more exposed to quantitative demands than men and women who do not telework. On the other hand, women who telework, either entirely (aPR: 0.89; 95%CI 0.82-0.97) or combining (aPR: 0.89; 95%CI 0.81-0.98), are less exposed to emotional demands than women who do not telework, and the same occurs among men who mainly telework (aPR: 0.84; 95%CI 0.76-0.92). Telework and horizontal or vertical social support are not associated, except for supervisor support among males, nor with work-life conflict. Except for quantitative demands, employees who combine telework and face-to-face work are less exposed to psychosocial risks than those who mainly telework or work face-to-face only. More studies with a gender and class perspective are needed in this area.

Trade unions and the gender wage gap: evidence from China

ABSTRACT While it is assumed that trade unions may influence the gender wage gap, evidence is scarce on this issue. This study investigates the issue in China using national longitudinal survey data from 2010 to 2020. The results reveal that the union wage premium is greater for women than for men. Furthermore, the union wage premium is more beneficial for women in the public sector compared to the private sector. The gender disparity in endowment return effect among non-union members is the primary factor contributing to the formation of the gender wage gap in both public and private sectors, with the effect being more pronounced in the public sector. Additionally, the gender disparity in unionism reduces the gender wage gap in the public sector while widening the wage gap in the private sector.

Resilience of rural micro-businesses in an adverse entrepreneurial environment: adapting to the energy crisis

PurposeThis study aims to examine the potential adaptability and resilience of rural micro-businesses within a business environment affected by successive crises, specifically drawing conclusions on crisis management, while simultaneously highlighting enterprises’ capabilities in managing the current energy crisis, basis the experiences and best practices that they themselves have gained previously.Design/methodology/approachConvenience sampling was applied, effectively identifying 18 micro-entrepreneurs in rural Greece. Subsequently, qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews.FindingsRural micro-businesses have shown adaptability and resilience to both economic and health crises through financial support received and interventions implemented. However, different crises’ types carry different business risks. The energy crisis has led to business operation’s energy costs and raw material prices multiplying exponentially. Additionally, they received limited financial support causing them to respond to the energy crisis though concrete defensive strategies and innovative interventions.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should examine local bodies and trade unions’ perception on the energy crisis’ impact towards rural entrepreneurship.Practical implicationsThe findings are useful to Greek and European policy-makers and rural micro-entrepreneurs as the experience of dealing with several previous crises can be a useful tool when dealing with current and future crises.Originality/valueThis paper adds to international literature on rural micro-businesses resilience, operating in crisis mode. Additionally, it constitutes novel research exclusively focused on the new challenges faced by rural micro-businesses during the recent energy crisis.

Correction to: Trade unions and the partisan preferences of their members: Sweden 1986–2021

Correction to: Trade unions and the partisan preferences of their members: Sweden 1986–2021

Totalitarianism in the Work of Simone Weil: Insights from an Early Confrontation

Simone Adolphine Weil initially saw herself as a Marxist and anarchist and became involved in revolutionary-syndicalist trade unions before increasingly becoming their early and extremely sharp critic. From 1933 onward, she distanced herself more and more from the syndicalist movement in terms of content, and at the same time she was increasingly skeptical of its politics. She saw in the syndicalists, socialists and communists no more accurate knowledge of society than in the conservatives or fascists. This led her very early on to the concept of totalitarianism, which appeared in her philosophy and only became widespread in Western societies after World War II, when Weil was already dead. Although Weil's concept of totalitarianism has been referred to in various essays, it has not yet been researched in her complete works. This article attempts for the first time to capture the concept of totalitarianism in Simone Weil's work, which was ahead of its time, and at the same time to group it systematically. The reader will thus be able to trace it in the various writings and recognize for the first time in how many different variations it found its way into Weil's oeuvre.

Struggle, Exit, “Resilience”—or How Precarious Workers Cope with Late Neoliberalism. Individual and Collective Agency of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Spain

Abstract This article inquires the individual and collective agency of female migrant domestic workers in Spain. I use fieldwork conducted between 2013 and 2023 to examine the interplay between the migrant workers’ individual coping strategies, the claims-making strategies of the domestic workers’ trade union Sindihogar, and the structures they operate within and attempt to challenge. Drawing on contemporary research about precarious workers’ movements, I aim to explore to what extent this social movement union has the potential to reduce the power of structural constraints and increase the power of agency. Implicit is a broader, more provocative question: To what extent is substantial change possible within the current political-economic order, here defined as late neoliberalism? I found that while the movement’s community-building approach may empower activists at an individual level, there are significant structural barriers to its potential to accomplish change in terms of better job conditions for this highly precarious workforce. In addition, I suggest that an increasing focus on precarious workers’ “resilience” risks undermining narratives of structural transformation.

The Effects of Trade Unions on Labour Market Outcomes

This paper explored the effects of trade unions on labour market outcomes. A trade union is any organisation of employees established to improve the conditions of employment of its members through the process of collective bargaining. The findings of the study revealed trade unions therefore attempt to improve the terms and conditions of employment of their members by the employer through the process of collective bargaining. Collective bargaining has become a determinant of production and labour costs. Between employers and employees in the competitive market, it aids in the distribution of added value. For employees, collective bargaining is a key factor for their income and sustainability on a dynamic labour market. Among employees, collective bargaining aids expressing solidarity through the ‘wage floors’ applying to different groups of workers at a given bargaining level. Hence, the ability of countries, especially developing countries like Nigeria, to be able to compete in the global marketplace depends to a reasonable extent, on their ability to transform industrial relations policies involving trade unions and collective bargaining so that they not only promote flexibility in the workplace but equally encourage the formation and effective use of human resources.

Platform work and traditional employee protection: The need for alternative legal approaches

Paid work via digital platforms (so-called crowd work and gig work) is gaining in importance in Europe. Platform workers often suffer poor working conditions. Most platform companies treat crowd and gig workers as self-employed or independent contractors and, thus, normally protective labour laws do not apply. In response, initiatives have been taken through case law and legislation to extend the reach of the traditional employmentship to platform work. For example, the German Federal Labour Court ( Bundesarbeitsgericht) reclassified and treated platform workers as employees in high-profile rulings, which are discussed in more detail below. The recently adopted EU Directive on Platform Work enshrines a legal presumption of employment for platform workers. Regulations have also recently been introduced in EU Member States that subsume platform workers under the concept of employee. However, as argued in this article, legal and judicial initiatives aimed at extending the employee status often have limits given the market dynamics and de facto adaptation and circumvention strategies used by platform businesses. Moreover, traditional labour law protection does not always seem to be suitable for tackling the complexities and peculiarities of the various types of platforms. The following theses therefore seem worth discussing: 1. Extending employee status to platform work appears promising if this is already anchored in the socio-economic reality and if a consensus can be reached between the social partners in this regard. An existing example is the Spanish riders’ law, which pursues a sectoral approach and was supported not only by trade union organisations but also by employers’ associations. 2. In addition, the creation of a substantial core of social rights for platform workers, irrespective of employment status, should be strongly focused and legally brought forward. The long-standing scholarly discussion about alternative regulatory approaches to forms of work in the legal grey area between dependent employment and self-employment should be revived and made fruitful for the new phenomenon of digital work platforms. 3. Thirdly, self-regulatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by platform companies to improve working conditions should be encouraged by legislators and policymakers. As will be shown later in this article, a wide range of CSR efforts by the platforms already exist. In order to counter the risk of window dressing, the platform business operators’ own initiatives should be made effective through appropriate flanking legal measures and public pressure.

Gendered Migration in India: Exploring the Challenges and Human Rights Issues Faced by Female Migrant Workers in Perumbavoor, Ernakulam District, Kerala

Most studies on inter-state migrant workers in Kerala focus on male migrants arriving in the state. Kerala began to receive migrant workers in 1950. There has been a significant shift in it since 1990. From the 1960s to the 1990s, migrant workers came to Kerala from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. During those times, women came to Kerala along with men. After the 1990s, migration from Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, and Haryana gained momentum. Many women have moved to Kerala since 2000, as opposed to male migrants from 1990 to 2000. Many human rights issues face migrant women in Kerala, including their workplaces, lifestyles, job searches, and travel. The consequences of not getting significant health interventions and being harassed at work are not well known in society. A study of migrant women begins in the public space, where they are not considered citizens but as objects of utility. My research revealed 516,000 migrant women in Kerala, based on a government document obtained through RTI. There are 25000 female migrant workers among them. It is estimated that around 34 lakh migrant workers work in Kerala, according to the Kerala Planning Board's 2021 report. Out of that, 20% of women work in many workplaces and enterprises in Kerala. According to surveys and a government assessment, Kerala's Ernakulam district has the highest concentration of migrant women workers. The female migrant workers in the Perumbavoor one of the cities of the Ernakulam district are the subject of this study. Female workers who work in plywood, bricks, baji, tailoring, pan shops, plastic manufacturing, textile manufacturing, and other industrial units are the subject of this study. Female migrant workers are personally met and interviewed during fieldwork to obtain data. For this study, qualitative ethnographic research methodology is employed. The findings of this study suggest the government's policy-making for social welfare, social security, job security, the prevention of sexual violence, and making sure that female migrants in Kerala receive equal pay for equal work. This study is being conducted with the human rights of women migrant workers in Kerala foremost in mind. Information is being directly collected from migrant women workers, labour department health department government representatives, trade union members, NGO representatives, etc.

Policy Instruments to Improve Foreign Workforce’s Position and Social Sustainability of the Agriculture in Italy

Agricultural employment in advanced economies has been suggestively described as a “short and step” pyramid with only limited opportunities for workers to climb to higher positions, especially when they belong to the most vulnerable categories, such as migrants. The presence of poor jobs and living conditions for temporary agricultural workers reported by mass media, trade unions, NGOs, and international observers contrasts dramatically with the idea of a modern and thriving sector, as the Italian agricultural sector should be, and it represents a challenge for the social concerns that have been alongside environmental ones in the definition of sustainability since the Brundtland Report released in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Even mechanisation does not necessarily facilitate better working conditions. In fact, where the workforce is largely replaced by machineries, the remaining opportunities for paid workers are mainly for unskilled, physically demanding, and seasonal jobs. This has brought about the so-called “paradox of prosperity”, where the gap between farm and nonfarm workers in economically advanced countries has widened in terms of wages, benefits, and prospects for upward mobility. This in turn triggers a vicious circle with a structural lack of available workforce for the sector, which has been increasingly provided by migrants with very little bargaining power. On the other hand, the adoption of new technologies and digitalisation in agriculture is leading to an increasing demand for skilled workers, which often remains uncovered because of the low conditions offered. Against this background, the aim of our work is twofold. First, we characterise the role of the foreign workforce in relation to the structural changes in Italian agriculture and considering territorial differences. Second, we examine the main policy instruments to facilitate recruitment and tackle undeclared work and more specifically the Quality Agricultural Work Network (Rete del lavoro agricolo di qualità) launched in Italy in 2016 to tackle undeclared work and exploitative labour. We do so by conducting a literature review and semi-structured qualitative interviews with 16 farmers in Italy carried out in 2022 within the project Rural Social ACT funded by the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (2021–2027). The results show that even though foreign workers are a key resource for agriculture in Italy, there remain severe recruitment issues and segregation in low-skilled and precarious jobs. Overall, it is necessary to improve the awareness of the key role of work in agriculture and to strengthen the effectiveness of tools to enhance the visibility of compliant farms. So far (January 2024), only 6600 farms have joined the Quality Agricultural Work Network, with an overall modest enthusiasm from the farmers interviewed about its current effectiveness. Other instruments are explored such as employee sharing contracts, and there clearly emerges a need for public support of professional training through the Common Agricultural Policy to improve both the bargaining power of foreign workers and the productivity of the sector.

Development History and Role of The Vietnam Trade Union Organization

Over more than 90 years of formation and development, the Vietnam Trade Union has grown in all aspects and made worthy contributions to the great victories of the revolution, contributing to building the Vietnamese working class into an increasingly powerful force. The trade union organization has been consolidated and developed, with the number of union members and grassroots trade unions growing rapidly, and the cadre team developing both in quantity and quality. The union has expanded its activities to the non-state economic sector; increasingly effective coordination with various levels of government, organizations, and employers has been achieved, better fulfilling its tasks of representing, caring for, and protecting the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of workers, promptly addressing pressing issues, and contributing to the establishment of harmonious, stable, and progressive labor relations in enterprises. This study summarizes the birth circumstances of the Vietnamese working class and the Red Union - the precursor of today's Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; the role of the Vietnam Trade Union in the revolutionary process; and the urgent task for society to enhance the role of the trade union organization.

Self-organization of the dental community in Saint Petersburg (historical essay)

In Saint Petersburg, starting from 1883 and over the next 140 years, various professional dental public organizations (societies, trade unions, associations) were created and functioned, analyzing the activities of which one can find a certain similarity in the tasks they solve. Despite the specific conditions of a particular historical era, almost all of them actively performed essentially the same functions related to the organization of scientific communication of dental specialists, protection of their rights, regulation of dental practice, and development of professional education and social design in the healthcare sector. Turning to the retrospective of the self-organization of the dental community enables establishing historical continuity between the modern association of dentists and first societies of dentists, to feel the connection of times and understand that people who devoted their lives to the dental specialty and make up this community are united today by the same values that have always united them, regardless of the change in social formations.