Employee Unions Research Articles

The Labor Board Crew: Remaking Worker-Employer Relations from Pearl Harbor to the Reagan Era

The Labor Board Crew: Remaking Worker-Employer Relations from Pearl Harbor to the Reagan Era

Impact of union practices on labor relations in China: Institutional trust as a moderator.

The particularities of Chinese union practices in the private sector and their impacts on the labor relations climate have raised much controversy. This paper presents the findings of a study that analyzed data from 926 enterprises in Chongqing, China, through the lens of institutional trust. The study was designed to examine the influence of union practices on the labor relations climate at the enterprise level. Particular attention was paid to the possible moderator effect that both employee and management trust in unions had on the labor relations climate. We found that employee–union trust positively moderated the impact of union practice on the labor relations climate. However, if management–union trust exceeded employee–union trust, management–union trust weakened the moderator effect of employee–union trust. In other words, management–union trust negatively moderated employee–union trust. This article is organized as follows. In section “Introduction,” we introduce the institutions Chinese unions operate in, especially regarding disputes over the effects on the labor relations climate. In section ‘Theory and hypotheses,” we review the literature and develop the hypotheses. In section “Materials and methods”, we describe the data and method, and in section “Results,” we present the results of the model. Finally, in section “Discussion,” we discuss the implications for China’s union development and note the limitations of the study.

A Construct Validity Study for the Union Intolerance Scale: Convergent-Discriminant Validity and Concurrent Criterion-Related Validity

Stemming from union intolerance as a psychological construct, defined as sustained hatred by nonunion employees when unions are perceived to encourage intolerable vices in employees and, notably, in union employees, we sought to broaden the empirical basis to claim scale validity for the union intolerance scale. In doing so, we targeted two forms of construct validity: convergent-discriminant validity and concurrent criterion-related validity. Based on survey data drawn from a sample of American nonunion employees (N = 162), we found supportive correlational evidence for both forms. In reference to convergent validity, the scores yielded by the intolerance scale showed expected convergence with the scores yielded by measures of general intolerance of stigmatized groups and union reliance. In reference to discriminant validity, the scores yielded by the intolerance scale showed expected divergence with the scores yielded by a measure of self-reported negative social emotions linked to vices. As for concurrent validity, the scores yielded by the intolerance scale were associated with the scores yielded by a measure of support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (the PRO Act), a proposed labor law passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, in which employees indicated whether they will or will not urge their two State Senators to cast a vote in favor of the Act when it is brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Included are discussion points about why the scale can be suggested as valid and how scale validity can be extended.

Assessment of the Contributions of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (Nulge) to Conflict Resolution in Ibaji Local Government Area, Kogi State. Nigeria

Assessment of the Contributions of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (Nulge) to Conflict Resolution in Ibaji Local Government Area, Kogi State. Nigeria

Endogenizing Discretion in Disclosures

A firm’s publicly available information reflects ex ante committed information releases and ex post discretionary disclosures. In a setting wherein a firm’s CEO is concerned with stock market valuation and confrontations with the employee union, this paper endogenizes when the CEO retains ex post disclosure discretion and when the CEO curtails discretion, opting instead to ex ante commit to not gathering information or publicly disclosing information. The underlying economic forces entail a trade-off between the time-inconsistency problem (the CEO’s ex post preferences can diverge from the CEO’s ex ante goals) and how silence (absence of information) under the ex ante and ex post paths is valued differentially by the union. In effect, silence under different systems “speaks” differently, and this influences both the labor union’s incentives to engage in bargaining with the firm and the stock market’s pricing of the firm’s equity.This paper was accepted by Ranjani Krishnan, accounting.

Exploring the Course and Causes: A Case Study on Navigating the Transition from Manual to Biometric-Fingerprint Attendance at a Sri Lankan State-owned Enterprises

Employee resistance to change at State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) is a visible phenomenon in both local and global contexts. Though it’s an expanding and significant area, it’s also heavily understudied, depicting both literature and empirical gaps in the said scope. Under a qualitative approach, a case study strategy has been used to explore change and employee resistance in the Healthway General Hospital (HGH). In the light of the context, this study emphasizes the reasons behind employee resistance to changes, opportunities, and recommendations for improving change implementation in the SOE set. This paper recommends establishing a comprehensive employee union, actively involving employee unions’ inputs in strategy formulation, and for the Sri Lankan government to intervene in establishing a separate human resources department in HGH hospital. These key findings will contribute to expanding literature while strengthening the understanding of the researchers and practitioners in the scope of change management in SOEs.

BUDAYA ORGANISASI DENGAN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PADA KARYAWAN CREDIT UNION (CU) PANCUR SOLIDARITAS KABUPATEN KETAPANG, KALIMANTAN BARAT

Employee engagement is an important factor in the company. This is because employee engagement can ensure the company's long-term growth and make the company profitable in an increasingly challenging business environment. In this study, the researcher wanted to examine organizational culture with employee engagement, for Pancur Solidaritas Credit Union (CU) employees. This study is a quantitative research, in this study using two measuring tools, namely: Organizational culture scale by Fey and Denison (2003) with a total of 36 items and UWES (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale) proposed by Schaufeli and Bakker (2003) with a total of 17 items. The study involved 65 employees of Pancur Solidaritas Credit Union (CU). Based on the results of the Pearson correlation calculation, the correlation coefficient (r) between organizational culture variables and employee engagement is 0.706 with a significance value of 0.000 (p <0.05), from these results indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between organizational culture and employee engagement. . The higher the organizational culture, the higher the employee engagement will be. The organizational culture of Pancur Solidaritas Credit Union (CU) employees is in the “very good” category and employee engagement of Pancur Solidaritas Credit Union (CU) employees is in the “high” category. The results of the assessment are based on the results of the "mean" calculation on a descriptive analysis of organizational culture and employee engagement. In addition, the effective contribution of organizational culture to employee engagement is 49.84%, while the rest is influenced by other factors of 50.16%. This means that organizational culture is not an absolute factor that affects employee engagement, but there are other factors that influence it. Further explanation of the results is discussed in this article.

Frustrated union workers plan brief strikes in Connecticut

Angry over stagnant wages and a lagging funding commitment from the state of Connecticut, union leaders representing mental health workers planned brief strikes in New London and Middletown, the Shoreline Times reported last month. Union employees at Sound Community Services in New London and Gilead Community Services in Middletown participated in the strikes, which the District 1199 Service Employees International Union confirmed would be limited to three days. Some of the participating employees said their salaries had not been increased in several years, while others said they cannot afford to carry health insurance. The employees also suggested that management in the organizations does not do enough to protect clinical staff from abusive patients. Mental health workers in Connecticut have asked state lawmakers to increase funding for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services by 8%, a move they say would allow for better wages and adequate staffing in the provider agencies. The CEO of Sound Community Services suggested last month that union proposals to create a pathway to salaries of $20 an hour are not realistic given the realities of state funding. “It would essentially put us out of business,” Gino DeMaio told the Shoreline Times. District 1199 union organizer Kindra Fontes‐May said, “Inflation, gas and rent go up every year, but wages in the mental health field have historically remained stagnant. The ability for workers to fight for more is key to raising standards across the state and lifting workers out of poverty.” Management and employees in the two organizations appear to agree that more support from the legislature would help to remedy the situation. However, union members are quick to point out that even in years of level‐funding from the state, management leaders have awarded themselves raises.

Do multilingual employees better adjust to work environment changes? Examining the case of a credit union during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeOrganizations have been challenged to identify antecedents to improved employee adjustment to the work environment changes that arose in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. This study aims to explore the effect of multilingualism on employee ability to adjust to workplace changes based on the concept that multilinguals have been found to switch between tasks more efficiently as compared to monolinguals.Design/methodology/approachApplying a sequential explanatory mixed methods research approach, quantitative performance evaluation data on 207 credit union employees is analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling to predict employee performance, and thematic analysis of qualitative data representing the adjustment narratives of six monolingual and six multilingual employees within the sample is conducted, corresponding to the period during which employees were adjusting to broad workplace changes after the onset of the global pandemic.FindingsThe results suggest greater predicted improvement in the performance of multilingual employees. Reliance on the task-switching ability associated with multilingualism is found to be the primary self-evaluative factor for successful change adjustment among multilingual employees.Practical implicationsIn light of work performance benefits identified in this study, organizations may consider multilingualism as a characteristic preceding better adjustment to organizational change, and not simply as a skill applicable to tasks requiring language proficiency, suggesting practical implications for human resource and organizational management.Originality/valueThis is the first sequential explanatory study focusing on the task-switching ability of multilinguals as an antecedent to change adjustment evidenced by improved work performance within an organizational context.

Analysis of the Mediation Role of Career Adaptability in the Effect of Retirement Planning for Attitude Formation of Retirement in Credit Union Employees West Kalimantan

This research aims to measure the mediating role of the variable of career adaptability in the relationship between retirement planning and attitudes toward retirement in West Kalimantan Credit Union employees. This research is a population research involving 415 respondents aged 40 years. The data was collected using a Google Form which was distributed to the contact number or email of the respondents and processed using the Multivariate Statistical Method, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), WarpPLS6 Approach. The analysis proves that the four hypotheses proposed can be accepted well, so the researcher concludes that retirement planning has a positive and significant effect on career adaptability, retirement planning has a positive and significant effect on attitudes towards retirement, career adaptability has a positive and significant effect on attitudes towards retirement. , career adaptability is a positive and significant mediating variable in the relationship between the influence of retirement planning on attitudes towards retirement.

Review: Betweener Autoethnographies: A Path towards Social Justice, by Marcelo Diversi and Claudio Moreira

Book Review| April 01 2022 Review: Betweener Autoethnographies: A Path towards Social Justice, by Marcelo Diversi and Claudio Moreira Marcelo Diversi and Claudio Moreira, Betweener Autoethnographies: A Path towards Social Justice. New York: Routledge, 2018. 140 pp. $44.95 (paperback, ISBN: 9781138560154), $140.00 (hardback, ISBN: 9781138560147), $22.48 (e-book, ISBN: 9780203711996) Craig Wood Craig Wood Queensland Teachers’ Union of Employees, cwood@qtu.asn.au Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Autoethnography (2022) 3 (2): 272–276. https://doi.org/10.1525/joae.2022.3.2.272 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Craig Wood; Review: Betweener Autoethnographies: A Path towards Social Justice, by Marcelo Diversi and Claudio Moreira. Journal of Autoethnography 1 April 2022; 3 (2): 272–276. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/joae.2022.3.2.272 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of Autoethnography Search Marcelo Diversi and Claudio Moreira’s Betweener Autoethnographies: A Path towards Social Justice is published by Routledge’s Qualitative Inquiry and Social Justice series. Betweener Autoethnographies is the authors’ second contribution to this series, and it advances their 2009 contribution, Betweener Talk: Decolonizing Knowledge Production, Pedagogy, and Praxis.1 Diversi and Moreira’s Betweener Talk was a co-constructed autoethnographic narrative that critically investigated colonialism and replication of hegemonic thinking in United States scholarship. Betweener Autoethnographies further develops their work as activist research in which Diversi and Moreira explore radical pedagogies that imagine transformation to more inclusive and socially just global futures. In Betweener Autoethnographies, Diversi and Moreira position their teacher and researcher work, their continued experiences of collaboration as immigrants working in United States, and their very friendship as acts of resistance to social divisions that manifest throughout the world. The Qualitative Inquiry and Social Justice series is edited by Norman Denzin... You do not currently have access to this content.

Trade unions and hotel industry: Current trends

The subject of this article is to research the role of trade unions in the hotel industry in this century. Looking at trade union density across the Horeca sector in the EU27 plus Norway, it can be seen that overall density is relatively low (less than 15%), irrespective of the diversity within the Horeca sector in each country. Accordingly, the main objective of this article is to investigate the future of the trade unions in the hotel industry considering social and economic changes of the last few decades. It starts from four hypotheses, which refer to the attitudes of employees and union members towards the role of unions in the hotel industry and their power. The results of field research have served as primary data. The survey has been carried out among hotel employees (N=452) along the Adriatic coast in the summer season before the COVID-19 crises. In order to evaluate, formulate and present the findings, the following scientific methods have been applied: analysis and synthesis together with descriptive and inferential statistics.. The main finding of this paper points to the conclusion that employees who achieve high productivity do not have faith in the power of unions in the hotel industry. In terms of demographic variables, union employees above the age of 50 believe the least in the power of unions. These employees mostly point out that they are not adequately rewarded, that their superiors do not help them, and do not respect their working hours. The findings obtained may be significant for trade unions and their representatives to support them to form a new strategy that is necessary for unions to reach their goals.

Tailor-Made Training for Industrial Sector Employees

The paper deals with the topic of the further education of employees in the industrial sector. Even though Europe today has one of its most highly qualified cohorts of young graduates entering the labour market, approximately a quarter of European Union employees have significant professional skill deficits, their professional skills are much lower compared to those needed by an average worker to be fully proficient in their job. Companies must have employees who are able to quickly adapt to an ever-changing world market. That is why they need to invest in on-going employee training and development in order to both keep their employees and be successful. Academics from Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra have a long-term cooperation with the EATON company, a global leader in electrotechnical technologies. Within the framework of this cooperation, the university was asked by this company to assess courses which it offered to its own employees as well as employees of other companies from industrial production practices, and if appropriate to suggest an improved model of the tailor-made courses provided. The authors present a case study, the aim of which was to evaluate the effectiveness and the meeting of the objectives of the training carried out for the particular target groups of participants. They describe the methodology of the assessment carried out and the main findings resulting from it.

THE ROLE OF TRADE UNION IN ENSURING PRODUCTIVITY IN AN ORGANIZATION: A CASE OF GENERAL AGRICULTURAL WORKERS UNION (GAWU) IN GHANA

This work was carried out to assess the role of trade unions in ensuring productivity in an organization The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of Trade Union Congress in Ghana was considered as the target population of which one hundred members were interviewed. Questionnaires were used to solicit views from unionized employees selected for the study. Five union leaders identified under GAWU were also interviewed through face to face. The research assumed content analysis to evaluate how the union activities involving increasing co-operation and wellbeing among workers, Work for the progress employees, ensure punctuality to work and facilitate job security and reduce pressure. The result revealed that members were not enthused about the union’s role in ensuring punctuality to work, working for progress of employees and facilitating job security and reducing pressure. However members applauded the Union efforts in ensuring increased communication between the employer and the employees. The study suggested that there is a need for the Union to ensure that that workers play their roles as expected of them to ensure productivity in the organization. Workers should be motivated, that putting organizational interest first rather than personal interest is crucial to the sustainability of every organization

ОСОБЕННОСТИ РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ТРУДОВЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ НА МАЛЫХ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯХ

The problem of social and labor relations in small businesses is relevant due to many circumstances: the priority of small business development is associated with its significant impact on employment, improvement of the socio-economic situation, reduction of tension in the labor market by creating additional jobs. In addition, small businesses should become a reliable taxable base for budgets of all levels. The object of the study is a social partnership as a mechanism for coordinating the interests of employees and employers in small businesses. The subject of the research is the regulation and improvement of social and labor relations within the framework of social partnership in small enterprises. The aim of the article is to improve social and labor relations in small enterprises based on the development of the social partnership. Methods of statistical analysis, data from a questionnaire survey of various categories of small business workers, analysis of materials provided by the FNPR, regions of the Russian Federation, the Russian Professional Union of Employees of Innovative and Small Enterprises, Internet sources served as the methodological basis for the study. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of the provisions of the social partnership system in the field of regulation of social and labor relations in small enterprises, proposals for the development of small business, proposals for building a mechanism for protecting the interests of SE employees. Based on the results of the study, in order to strengthen guarantees in the field of labor, recommendations were formulated and substantiated for concluding regional agreements at the level of Russian regions that apply to small enterprises and provide for the creation of appropriate associations of employers. They can be used to improve social partnership in the field of regulation of social and labor relations in the activities of small enterprises, as well as find application as aids in the educational process. The materials obtained during the study can be used by state bodies, the government, employers and trade unions to solve the country's economic, social and labor problems. The author concludes that it is necessary to establish guarantees in the system of social partnership in terms of indicators related to the regulation and protection of wages, ensuring stable employment and comfortable working conditions, and continuous training of personnel. In order to increase the employer's interest in creating proper working conditions at small businesses, it is proposed that the authorities, as one of the parties to social partnership, develop a system of measures, including government orders, grants, training, and state assistance in labor protection to cover expenses.

Food safety vs health and safety

Food safety vs health and safety

Municipal OPEB Contributions: The Roles of Governance Structure, Fiscal, and Socioeconomic Factors During and After the Great Recession

Many governments offer other postemployment benefits (OPEB) to their employees, and discretionary contributions to OPEB plans are important to plan financial well-being. This paper reports a study of municipalities' actual annual contributions to their OPEB plans from fiscal year 2008 through 2015, a time span encompassing the Great Recession and subsequent gradual recovery. Giving effect to cities' governance structure (form of organization and extent of employee unionization) and certain fiscal and socioeconomic variables, we estimate a model of plan contributions normalized by the related actuarially required contributions. We find that Mayor-Council (MC) cities are associated with comparatively higher OPEB plan contributions relative to Council-Manager cities. We control for MC cities' discount rates to address the consequences of optimistic rate assumptions. The effect of unionization on contributions is evident directly, but unionization is not noteworthy when conditioned on form of government. This suggests that MC cities manage their OPEB plans in a fiscally accountable manner.

Lawfare and Security Labor: Subjectification and Subjugation of Police Workers in India

What labor rights do police workers have? How are they legally delimited? This article addresses these questions through a case study of government responses to attempts by police constables in post/colonial South Asia to express job-related grievances and establish employee unions. Drawing on ethnographic observations, interviews, and archival documents collected in India over fifteen years, the analysis demonstrates that, for more than a century, class warfare within police organizations has manifested in counter-insurgency “lawfare” between senior officials and subordinate personnel regarding whether and how the latter may collectively organize to transform their living and working conditions. It further shows how in this context law as a social field has worked to subjectify rank-and-file police as an ironically exploitable and expendable class of laborers who are always already suspect of rebelling against the state that they have sworn to serve. Through revelations of a long history of structural servitude compelling subaltern police in South Asia to do questionably legal types of labor, this study raises challenging questions about how police work has been conceived and practiced globally as “security labor” and how, moving forward, we must work to reimagine what police work is, what it can be, and what it ought to be.

Union Membership as a Moderator in the Relationship Between Living Wage, Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement

In many developing countries, lower-level employees are working in workplaces that pay them poverty wages. The need for workers to earn a living wage has long been argued, both within the trade union movement, employers and society, along with the link with job satisfaction and employee engagement. The present study aims to explore the relationship between living wage, job satisfaction and employee engagement, as well as union membership as a moderator in these relationships. A quantitative research approach was employed in this study, and Loess curves were used to graphically predict the relationship between study variables. There were significant relationships between a living wage, job satisfaction and employee engagement. The results indicated that the relationships between the variables were cubic and not linear. Union membership was the moderator in the relationship between living wages and employee involvement. Union membership moderated the cubic relationship between living wages and employee engagement. Union membership also moderated the cubic relationship between living wages and job satisfaction.

The Ordeal of the Jungle: Race and the Chicago Federation of Labor, 1903–1922

The Ordeal of the Jungle: Race and the Chicago Federation of Labor, 1903–1922