Union Collaboration Research Articles

MEANWELL: Meaningful work as a source of well-being : Research and development project description

MEANWELL project was implemented by the Department of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä and funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund (project number 210129). The project developed an operating model to support meaningful work and well-being for organizations and work life and career counseling professionals with their clients. The operating model was also applied to trade unions and educational programs. The operating model was based on 1) a model of sustainable careers, 2) an integrative multilevel framework of factors fostering meaningful work, 3) a four-dimensional conceptualization of meaningful work, and 4) a vocational meaning and fulfillment fit perspective. The MEANWELL operating model was built on two foundations - the work well-being survey and facilitative working methods. The work well-being survey provided up-to-date and target group-specific information, guiding the development work. The Vocational Meaning and Fulfillment Survey method, a central component of the survey, offered respondents a profile of how well their work expectations were met in their current jobs across seven dimensions. The facilitative working methods, incorporating principles of solution-focused coaching, dialogical counseling, as well as mindfulness, acceptance, and value-based methods, were designed to be practical and functional in real-world settings. The MEANWELL operating model was implemented in three modes. The first mode, organizational development, included two development days for the entire personnel and, in between these, a supervisor coaching series (3 x 2 h), a team coaching series (6 x 1.5 h) for the supervisors and employees, and a development/goal discussion between the supervisor-employee pairs. The second mode, work life and career counseling, included VMFS method training for professionals (4 h), after which the method was used as a part of their client work with individuals or groups. Clients responded to the work well-being survey before counseling with their professional and received their VMF profile. The third mode, trade unions and educational programs, included answering the work well-being survey, getting a personal VMF profile, and participating in a workshop or webinar (1-4 h). Intervention fidelity and adherence were followed in all the modes with predetermined criteria. Research data was collected with cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys, as well as focus group and individual interviews. There were 515 participants in organizational development, 1066 in work life and career counseling, 2463 in trade union collaboration, and 673 in educational workshops.

Constructing solidarity through social justice in education: from collaboration and conflict to amalgamation between Swedish teacher unions

ABSTRACT Trade union collaboration on issues of social justice connects workers to each other and to their wider communities and is therefore considered a strategy of union renewal. Prior to their amalgamation on 1 January 2023, Lärarförbundet (Swedish Teachers’ Union) and Lärarnas Riksförbund (National Union of Teachers in Sweden) collaborated intermittently to challenge educational injustices in the highly segregated Swedish school market. Through documentary research, with dialogue as method, this case study explores the policies and politics of this inter-union collaboration. Using ‘framing’ and ‘intermediation’ as conceptual lenses, we argue that the two unions collaborated predominantly, but to varying degrees, on bargaining, political, and professional issues. However, these joint actions were conducted in the context of declining union membership, competitive national recruitment agendas, and the rise of grassroots teacher-led ‘rebellion’ groups campaigning for public education. External solidarity in organising was therefore limited by inter-organisational and intra-professional differentiation and both unions’ orientation towards a service model of unionism. Future research might explore the complexity of intra-union collaboration in the newly amalgamated Sveriges Lärare and the extent to which regional branch activism and broader alliances with social movements could promote a more democratic organising agenda.

Exploring Mentorship in Union and Non-Union Occupational Safety and Health Training Programs

Few studies have explored mentorship's value in occupational safety and health (OSH) training that focuses on worker empowerment in blue-collar occupations. Through a university and union collaboration, we examined mentorship programs as a promising enhancement to ongoing OSH training to foster worker leadership development in organizations focused on worker empowerment. Union-based worker-trainers from 11 large manufacturing facilities across the United States and worker-trainers affiliated with 11 Latinx Worker Centers in the New York City area were interviewed. Rapid Evaluation and Assessment Methods informed study design. The themes that emerged, reflecting the value of mentorship in OSH training, were: characterizing the elements of mentoring, how mentorship can improve OSH training, and recommended practices for designing a program across two different work settings. We conceptualize the goals of mentorship within a broader social ecological framework, that is, to support OSH learning so workers will advocate for broader safety and health changes with credibility and a feeling of empowerment.

Synergy between government and non-governmental organizations in health: WHO and the Union collaboration in tuberculosis control

Synergy between government and non-governmental organizations in health: WHO and the Union collaboration in tuberculosis control

A Comparative Study: Micro-Hydro Power Management Model in Rural and Isolated Area

Micro-Hydro Power (MHP) is a solution to the need for renewable energy in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0. Its environmentally friendly effect has become a consideration for many people to consider implementing it in their respective places. One of the critical points to realize this is a sustainable MHP management model. This paper discusses the assessment of the MHP management model for electrification in rural areas in Indonesia. There are two objects in this research: Kunci Putih MHP in Jatirunggo Village, Semarang Regency, and the Mbakuhau MHP in Kamanggih Village, East Sumba Regency. This research aims to assess the management model of the Kunci Putih MHP and Mbakuhau MHP from the social-managerial, economic, and technical aspects. This study uses descriptive qualitative methods with gap analysis techniques. The results show that the two locations have different challenges based on three aspects that have been recognizing in international standards. The private sector manages Kunci Putih MHP with a National scale installation operated by the company directly. In contrast, Mbakuhau MHP manages by a credit union collaboration with National Electricity East Sumba. Kunci Putih MHP is driven by the private sector through auction and is responsible for maintenance, project engineering, repair, and equipment maintenance. Mbakuhau MHP can be successful in community-based management because IBEKA (Pro-Poor Public-Private Partnership) gave the community training during construction. The community provides technical training in leadership because Mbakuhau MHP is an electrification solution for isolated villages so that management is better carried out by the community. Therefore, the two cases cannot significantly be compared because they are different in power and scale.

Propuesta de un modelo de análisis de estrategias de colaboración sindical transfronteriza

El objetivo de la presente investigación es analizar la eficacia de la colaboración sindical transfronteriza para enfrentar los efectos adversos de la globalización sobre las condiciones laborales. La metodología utilizada es la comparada, con casos de América del Norte y la Unión Europea. En un primer nivel de análisis, los casos se dividieron en cuatro tipologías y en un segundo se construyeron dos categorías, la intensidad y eficacia de la colaboración, con variables de graduación al interior de cada categoría. El valor del estudio reside en la nueva propuesta de modelo de análisis y la cantidad de casos revisados, pero una limitación es su carácter exploratorio. Se encontró que la colaboración sindical transfronteriza resulta una estrategia eficaz para enfrentar los efectos adversos de la globalización sobre las condiciones laborales, en diversos grados dependiendo de la institucionalización y frecuencia de colaboración.

Delivering lower carbon urban transport choices: European ambition meets the reality of institutional (mis)alignment

Reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector has become a critical imperative for public policy as our understanding of the impacts of the mobility system on the environment has developed. This paper contrasts policy development in three cities (Aberdeen, Bremen and Malmö) that collaborated as part of a European Union knowledge exchange programme designed to share innovative approaches to carbon reduction in the transport sector. We identify a number of critical aspects of governance, including the approach to policy formulation and implementation, and the status of consensus and cohesion, as key determinants of transport outcomes. We conclude that the degree of institutional alignment evident in each city’s governance network is crucial in explaining their appetite for the pursuit of low carbon policies, and in turn the real potential for policy transfer to occur as envisaged by European Union collaboration frameworks.

Design and Fabrication of a Special Purpose Winding Machine for ELM Control Coils of JET

Under the India-European Union collaboration, the Institute for Plasma Research had successfully completed an engineering initiative aimed at developing a “special purpose winding machine” (SPWM) appropriate for winding 1:1 prototype edge-localized mode (ELM) coils of the Joint European Torus (JET). The typical 1:1 prototype ELM coil winding pack is composed of eight layers of 6.35-mm square cross-section CuCrZr conductors being wound in a saddle configuration having eight turns per layer with strict tolerance requirements. Such an SPWM has been designed and developed with Indian industry complying with the complex shape and tolerance requirements of the ELM coils. The SPWM developed is primarily composed of a feeding conductor spool with appropriate tensioning mechanisms, straightening and shaping units, cleaning unit, insulation unit, press forming units and rotating turn table mandrel, and rotation and synchronization arrangements with electrical control and feedback elements. The SWPM has been successfully demonstrated with winding for both types of 1:1 prototype ELM control coils of JET within a tolerance of ±3 mm. The design consideration for SPWM, critical subsystems of SPWM and their operation principle, winding methodology, and application articulated arm coordinate measuring machine for inspection of winding pack have been discussed in this paper.

Twenty-five years of European Union collaboration in ANCA-associated vasculitis research.

This special edition reviews the progress in understanding of systemic vasculitis associated with autoantibodies to neutrophil cytoplasmic antigens (ANCA). European research groups have contributed to this research including the original observations of the association between ANCA and vasculitis. Areas of interest include classification and epidemiology, genetics and pathogenesis, disease assessment, histology and long-term outcomes. Clinical trials conducted by the European Vasculitis Study group have helped to define the current standard of care for the treatment of patients with vasculitis and provided a platform for the investigation of newer therapies. The prognosis of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis has improved over this period as a result of facilitated diagnosis and development of consensus, evidence-based, treatment recommendations. The ANCA story represents an example of the power of a biomarker in influencing a disease area, inspiring research and providing physicians with better tools to treat patients with these disorders.

Collaborative meta-profile development to harmonise mechanical engineering education in Africa

<p>This paper describes the contribution of the Tuning Methodology toward harmonisation of undergraduate mechanical engineering programmes in Africa. This methodology is an interactive process in which academics develop high quality curricula and learning standards for students through the identification of generic and subject specific competences in consultation with employers, students, graduates, peers and other stakeholders involved in Mechanical Engineering higher education. The current Tuning process involves academics in 11 universities drawn from across Africa. The aim is to collaboratively contribute to revitalizing and reforming Mechanical Engineering higher education in Africa to make it more responsive to Africa’s developmental needs. The results so far show that such a project is not only highly feasible but also holds promise for establishing compatible academic structures and reference standards across Africa, which would facilitate student and staff mobility as well as enhance cooperation not only among African academic institutions, but also between African institutions and those in the rest of the world. Eighteen generic competences and nineteen mechanical engineering-specific competences are developed, analysed and synergised to form a meta-profile that will inform the next phase of the project, which is the actual curriculum development. This activity is part of “Tuning Africa” project, which is funded through European Union-African Union collaboration.<em> </em></p>

Investing in health: A wake up call to leaders

In the current context of reaching budget deficit targets that is pushed by the European Union, this article looks at the impacts on health systems. With new legislation on economic governance, for the first time, the European Union has a bigger role in health systems at national level. The article explores the role for stakeholders, provides examples of successful European Union collaboration and upcoming initiatives in economic governance. The article makes the economic case used by health advocates to the importance of considering health expenditure as an investment and considers the role for health systems in society.

Documenting disappearing spaces: Erasure and remembrance in two high school closures.

As school closures are on the rise across the nation, it becomes important to study these disappearing spaces. We frame the recent rash of school closings and their impact on communities through the concept of erasure, which we see as the uprooting of a particular space to make room for innovation. In this article, we consider such examples of erasure, ghosts of institutional memory, and remembrance in disappearing or reconstituted sites: specifically, 2 high schools. We discuss commonalities and differences in the ways in which these concepts manifest across these 2 sites, the first taking place in the Northeast in the mid-1990s as reflective of community-led activism and teacher union collaboration and the second in the Midwest 10 years into federal and state school accountability reform efforts, where school closure is one of several interventions for schools struggling academically. Both sites were informed by methods that have participatory elements, an action orientation, and a deeply critical and historical lens. Influenced by Apfelbaum’s (2000) discussion of the obligation of remembrance and Fullilove’s (2004) reflection on “root shock” in urban renewal processes, we understand erasure as a deeply psychological response to failure and conflict. We conclude by reexamining the notion of productive conflict as a necessary element in educational change.

Capacity and Solidarity: Foundational Elements in the Unionization Strategy for Immigrant Day Labourers

AbstractRecent scholarship has been reasonably optimistic about unionization as a mechanism of labour justice for immigrant workers in casual and contingent work. This optimism rests on two assumptions: (1) that unions have the capacity to absorb immigrant workers in nonstandard work and (2) that casual, immigrant labourers enjoy the kind of solidarity that underpins collective action. This paper examines these assumptions critically through a case study of construction unions and Latino immigrant day labourers in Denver, Colorado and Baltimore, Maryland. I use participant observation and in‐depth interviews with nine labour unions, 19 Latino immigrant day labourers, and two (non‐union) day labour organizing projects in the cities to examine questions of capacity and solidarity. I find that the existing foundations for unionizing day labourers may be weak in certain cities and communities. Union capacity is undermined by structural fragmentation and specialization in market segments that are inaccessible to day labourers. Strategically, in an age of de‐unionization, unions also face pressures to “add value” for employers by sorting the workforce into high quality and low quality categories. Locals indicate day labourers would likely fall into the latter category, thus precluding membership. The foundations for solidarity are similarly weakened in the cases studied. Culturally, day labourers in Denver and Baltimore emphasize self‐reliance and material well‐being over collective action and the pursuit of justice. To work toward unionization, organizers should be prepared to confront deficits of capacity and solidarity in other cities as well, especially those where homelessness is prevalent among day labourers, where immigrant populations are newly arrived, or where local union cultures are unreformed. I suggest that union collaboration, a cooperative type of occupational unionism, and commitments to training day labourers may help boost union capacity to absorb day labourers, while the creative use of material incentives should figure prominently in organizing strategies.

Negotiating ‘solidarity’ and internationalism: the response of Polish trade unions to migration

ABSTRACTIn the context of massive outward migration after Poland's accession to the EU in 2004, this article explores the possibilities for cross‐border collaboration by Polish trade unions. The findings are based on interviews with the two main trade union/trade union federations, Solidarity and Ogolnopolskie Porozumnie Związków Zawodowych: All‐Poland Alliance of Trade Unions, at national, regional and sectoral levels. Examining the issues and challenges faced by Polish trade unions in terms of loss of membership and social capital, the article also evaluates the significance of Poland's status as a country of some inward migration. It is argued that cross‐border trade union collaboration has become an even more urgent project as the economic crisis intensifies competition in the labour market and increases the potential for xenophobia.

Developing the agenda for European Union collaboration on non-communicable diseases research in Sub-Saharan Africa

BackgroundHealth research is increasing in Africa, but most resources are currently chanelled towards infectious diseases and health system development. While infectious diseases remain a heavy burden for some African countries, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for more than half of all deaths globally and WHO predicts 27% increase in NCDs in Africa over the next decade. We present findings of a European-Africa consultation on the research agenda for NCDs.MethodsA workshop was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, organized by the Network for the Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-European Union Science and Technology Cooperation (CAAST-Net). Drawing on initial presentations, a small expert group from academic, clinical, public-health and administrative positions considered research needs in Africa for cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.ResultsResearch in Africa can draw from different environmental and genetic characteristics to understand the causes of the disease, while economic and social factors are important in developing relevant strategies for prevention and treatment. The suggested research needs include better methods for description and recording, clinical studies, understanding cultural impacts, prevention strategies, and the integrated organisation of care. Specific fields proposed for research are listed.ConclusionsOur paper contributes to transparency in the process of priority-setting for health research in Africa. Although the European Union Seventh Framework Research Programme prioritises biomedical and clinical research, research for Africa should also address broader social and cultural research and intervention research for greatest impact. Research policy leaders in Africa must engage national governments and international agencies as well as service providers and research communities. None can act effectively alone. Bringing together the different stakeholders, and feeding the results through to the European Union research programme is a valuable contribution of CAAST-Net.

The impact of privatization and employee share ownership on employee commitment and citizen behaviour

Based on a survey of employees in a large telecommunications company, this article examines the means through which privatization, accompanied by an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP), impact on employee commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour. The findings show that although the ESOP has in some way moderated outcomes, privatization has had negative consequences for commitment. Despite this, 50 percent of respondents report an increased level of citizenship behaviour. In determining changes in employee commitment and behaviour, it was found that an important role is played by how employees perceive changes in conditions of employment, involvement in workplace decision-making and management—union collaboration.

Organizing the "Unorganized": Varieties of Transnational Trade Union Collaboration and Social Dialogue in Two Indian Cities

Organizing the "Unorganized": Varieties of Transnational Trade Union Collaboration and Social Dialogue in Two Indian Cities

Qualitative research and the politics of knowledge in an age of evidence: Developing a research-based practice of immanent critique

This paper offers an expository discussion of an approach to qualitative health research we call immanent critique. The central analytic move of immanent critique, as we have practiced it, is to explore how claims that are internal to authoritative discourse are experienced by those who have been excluded from their formulation. This paper contributes to the discussion of the politics of qualitative research methods in an age of evidence. We do so by responding to a recent call to move beyond the micro-politics of the qualitative research encounter to consider the overall political effects of qualitative research. We argue that the political effects of research are partly enabled by mundane practices internal to the research process. We explore how this is so by considering one formulation of immanent critique—a qualitative study of the introduction of continuous quality improvement in Ontario hospitals. We emphasize how practices internal to our research—trade union collaboration, our orientation to authoritative claims, and procedures for generating and representing health care workers' experiences—helped shape the political effects of our research. The latter include challenges to managerial claims about neo-liberal health reform and broadening the evidentiary terrain upon which interlocutors can participate in public debate about health care restructuring.

Building a Future Together

Why have not worker centers and building trades unions formed alliances to advance their common interests? Why do many construction unionists perceive worker centers as threats? Why do worker centers regard building trades' locals with suspicion? What can be done to promote communication and collaboration between worker centers and labor unions in the construction industry? This article examines the characteristics of both building trades unions and worker centers, analyzes opportunities for collaboration and conflict between the two kinds of organizations, discusses the impact of immigration on construction unionism, and describes two brief examples of building trades union and worker center collaboration.

China–European Union collaboration on science and technology

"China–European Union collaboration on science and technology." International Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering, 1(3), p. 93