Role Of Unions Research Articles

Unites Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations. Edited by Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury. [Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1988. xii + 287 pp. £27.50

Unites Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations. Edited by Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury. [Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1988. xii + 287 pp. £27.50

United Nations, divided world: the UN's roles in international relations

United Nations, divided world: the UN's roles in international relations

The Palestinians, the Uprising, and International Law

Journal Article The Palestinians, the Uprising, and International Law Get access ADAM ROBERTS ADAM ROBERTS Professor Roberts is Montague Burton Professor of International Relations and Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He co-edited Documents oü the Laws of War (OUP 1982) and was joint author of Academic Freedom under Israeli Military Occupation (WUS 1984). His most recent book is United Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations (OUP 1988) * This paper was presented at the Symposium at Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford, on ’The West Bank and Gaza Strip: The problems of the Palestinian Refugees and Non-Refugees‘, 8–10 July, 1988. It is a revised and enlarged version of an article which appeared in Arab Affairs , no. 6, London, Spring 1988 © Adam Roberts, 1988, 1989 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Refugee Studies, Volume 2, Issue 1, 1989, Pages 26–39, https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/2.1.26 Published: 01 January 1989

The Legitimate Opposition at Work: The Union's Role in Large Democratic Firms

The Legitimate Opposition at Work: The Union's Role in Large Democratic Firms

Another sterile annual ritual? The United Nations and Antarctica 1987

AbstractThe UN Secretary-General's third Report of September 1987 provided the background for the fifth annual round of the UN's consideration of the ‘Question of Antarctica’. The First Committee's discussions in November 1987 resulted in the adoption by large majorities of two further UN resolutions in favour of a moratorium on the Antarctic minerals regime negotiations, an enhanced UN role in the operations of the Antarctic Treaty System, and the exclusion of South Africa from Consultative Meetings. On the surface, the session might be dismissed as yet another ‘sterile annual UN ritual’, serving to confirm the international community's lack of consensus about the future management of Antarctica. In reality, the episode, suggesting that the UN/Antarctic relationship may be at the crossroads, offered several points of interest, including increased signs of strain within the Antarctic Treaty System consequent upon the South African issue, and a greater appreciation by the critics of the need to work for change within the framework of the existing Antarctic Treaty regime.

United Nations, divided world: the UN's role in international relations and The UN under attack

United Nations, divided world: the UN's role in international relations and The UN under attack

Advocacy and AGU

In May 1982, the AGU Council approved the following policy on the Union's role in advocacy on public issues.The American Geophysical Union is an association of scientists, scholars, and interested lay public for the purpose of advancing geophysical science. The Union shares a collateral sense of responsibility to assure that the results of geophysical research are made available to benefit all mankind. The Union encourages its members to exercise their individual sense of responsibility in addressing political and social issues. Should they choose to act collectively on such issues, other organizations exist for such purposes. The American Geophysical Union, as a society, should preserve its unique position as an objective source of analysis and commentary for the full spectrum of geophysical science.

A reanalysis of the relation between unionization and workplace safety.

Although in the United States it is generally believed that the presence of a union has little effect on workplace safety and health, there is a paucity of empirical evidence to support this perception. In this study, the author attempts to provide a preliminary quantitative basis on which the union's role in this area could be evaluated. Examination of the health and safety records of 26 industries over a 9-year period revealed that in some years, greater union coverage is associated with fewer serious on-the-job accidents. However, the average number of days lost from work due to injury was found to increase in direct relation to an increase in industry unionization. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Advocacy and AGU

In May 1982, the AGU Council approved the following policy on the Union's role in advocacy on public issues.The American Geophysical Union is an association of scientists, scholars, and interested lay public for the purpose of advancing geophysical science. The Union shares a collateral sense of responsibility to assure that the results of geophysical research are made available to benefit all mankind. The Union encourages its members to exercise their individual sense of responsibility in addressing political and social issues. Should they choose to act collectively on such issues, other organizations exist for such purposes. The American Geophysical Union, as a society, should preserve its unique position as an objective source of analysis and commentary for the full spectrum of geophysical science. Accordingly, the following policies should guide the American Geophysical Union's role as an advocate:

The USSR and Asia in 1986: Gorbachev's New Initiatives

The succession of Mikhail Gorbachev to the leadership of the Soviet Union has prompted significant new initiatives in Soviet foreign policy, with Asia a particular focus of this activism. Virtually every state in the Asian-Pacific region-from China to Kiribati-has been the object of Soviet overtures for improved relations. These overtures reflect not only new attention and a fresh approach to developments in Asia; they are also part of a concerted and ambitious effort to overcome Moscow's political isolation and economic marginality in this vital and dynamic region, to regain the diplomatic initiative, and to win breathing space for domestic revitalization. Gorbachev's foreign policy strategy is a direct outgrowth of his domestic priorities. Indeed, the two are more closely entwined at this juncture than at any previous time in postwar Soviet history. Economic reform is not only the key to domestic revitalization, in Gorbachev's view; it is essential to sustain the Soviet Union's international role. As Gorbachev himself described this linkage, the success of efforts at internal reform will determine whether or not the Soviet Union will enter the twenty-first century in a manner worthy of a great power. To gain the time necessary to consolidate his power and to carry out his program of economic modernization, Gorbachev urgently needs a respite from external pressures. The key challenge he confronts is to win the time and political support needed to carry out the necessary retrenchment without jeopardizing the major strategic and political gains of the 1970s-and his own position with them. With this objective in mind, he has sought to revive the atrophied instruments of Soviet diplomacy to convey an image of moderation and goodneighborliness, and of a willingness to seek political settlements to out-

Antarctica at the United Nations, 1985: the end of consensus?

ABSTRACTThe question of Antarctica was discussed at the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 for the third successive year. While the content of the debates differed little from that of previous years, the discussions resulted in the adoption, by large majorities, of three resolutions in favour of an expanded and up-dated UN Study on Antarctica, the provision of information for the UN on the Antarctic minerals regime negotiations, and the exclusion of South Africa from the Antarctic Treaty System. The Antarctic Treaty powers, favouring no real UN role in Antarctica, stressed the need to maintain the present arrangements and did not participate in the UN votes on the three resolutions. The apparent breakdown of the consensus approach that was characteristic of 1983 and 1984 raises a question for the future; will 1986 witness bridge-building or continuing divisions on the most appropriate way to manage Antarctica in the future?

Race, Gender, Class Consciousness and Union Support: An Analysis of Southern Textile Workers

This paper examines race and gender differences in class consciousness and union support among a random sample of textile workers in a small North Carolina city. Class consciousness is treated as an ordinal variable consisting of class verbalization, class action orientation, and endorsement of egalitarian change. Union support denotes a recognition of the union's instrumental role in improving work and working conditions. The analysis reveals that blacks are significantly more class conscious and pro-union than whites. On the other hand, males and females tend to share similar levels of class consciousness and union support. Comparisons by race, within gender and by gender, within race, are provided for finer distinctions and extended discussion. A multiple classification analysis reveals that racial differences persist and that gender differences remain unimportant when the covariates of age, job dissatisfaction, education, income, and skill are considered.

Work Place Democracy and Quality of Work Life: Problems and Prospects

The concept of increasing the participation of workers in decisions affecting their work lives is appearing more often on the labor-management agenda. The reasons for management interest include the need for (1) increasing productivity and quality; (2) increasing the quality of work life for the new worker, who is more educated, with a good work ethic but alienated and unmotivated under current management practice; and (3) meeting foreign competition. Problems may arise for firms involved in forms of participation such as quality circles and quality of work life programs, when management aims of a streamlined work force and control of worker innovations clash with the workers' expectations of work place democracy inherent in such programs. A dilemma is posed for unions when the new forms of participation undermine the union, or maintain or create so-called union-free environments. Many unions are now playing a more active role in these programs. More aggressive approaches to bargaining on work environment and other issues reflect movement by some unions to a more proactive philosophy of the union's role in participation-enhancing strategies.

NEGOTIATING QUALITY OF WORKLIFE, PRODUCTIVITY AND TRADITIONAL ISSUES: UNION MEMBERS’PREFERRED ROLES OF THEIR UNION

Recognizing the importance of the union in successfully implementing quality of worklife programs, numerous commentators have called for union‐management collaborative programs. In response to these pleas, recent studies have addressed union activists’perceptions of their unions’roles in negotiating quality of worklife as well as other issues. Although important, these studies have focused on the union leadership and have generally failed to consider the rank and file union members' views. The primary objective of the present study was to examine union members’preferred roles of their union in negotiating quality of worklife, productivity, and traditional bargaining issues. A second purpose was to explore the correlates of their views concerning the union's role in dealing with these issues. Using data collected from 171 members of a railroad, union, the results showed that members’ support for union involvement tended to vary depending upon the type of issue in question. They strongly preferred collective bargaining when dealing with traditional union concerns and joint union‐management efforts when quality of worklife issues were involved. In predicting preferred union‐management cooperation, the importance of the individual predictors varied across the types of negotiation issues. However, attitudinal measures were generally found to be more important in explaining members’preferences than demographic or union participation measures. The results are discussed in terms of implications for implementing joint union‐management programs.

UN Elites: Perspectives on Peace

This article addresses two relatively neglected issues in the field of peace research: (1) attitudes of system managers toward peace (defined as the absence of war); and (2) the relative importance of several socialization factors in determining those attitudes. Using interview data from a sample of UN elites, we describe the priority they accord peace, their preferred targets of peace (global vs. national or regional beneficiaries), policies they favor to realize peace, and preferred fora/procedures for negotiating policy. Then, we compare the impact of generational membership, North-South differences, and UN roles on respondent support for peace and propensity to favor policy change. Descriptive data reveal that peace is less important to these elites than economic welfare and social justice. This ordering, which is consonant with UN agenda trends, suggests spotty attention to peace initiatives in the future coupled with potential discrepancies in resource allocation between high and low political areas. In addition, peace is valued largely by globalminded elites, implying potential gaps between global schemes to end war and use of violence by nationalistic elites to attain preferred ends. Finally, while little disagreement exists concerning the importance of UN negotiation to attain peace, there is considerable disagreement over appropriate policy direction for the future. These aggregate tendencies are clarified by results of hypothesis tests showing level of development the best predictor of peace support and generational membership important to policy preferences. Explanatory findings, which tend to counter conventional socialization wisdom, implicate a North-South dimension in prepolicy debates, with DC affiliates favoring higher peace prioritization. However, in debates over policy, cohort differences, particularly the disproportionately change-oriented views of older elites, could have impact on outcomes. Thus, results of both analytic modes suggest important cognitive and socialization impediments to peace which may require reconciliation before policy progress can be made.

Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process.

Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process.

Eurocommunism in Asia: The Communist Party of Japan and the Soviet Union

EUROCOMMUNISM HAS POSED a number of problems for Soviet policymakers in recent years. In the international communist movement, these parties have increasingly challenged Soviet organizational leadership. On the theoretical plane, their heterodox ideological innovations have challenged the Soviet Union's role as the arbiter of orthodoxy. On the diplomatic plane, their gains have complicated Soviet efforts to foster good state-to-state relations in order to promote trade and technological exchange. In addition, their foreign policy positions have often brought them into conflict with Soviet goals. The Soviet reaction to this challenge has been ambivalent and complex, sometimes highly critical and at other times more tolerant. There have been variations over time in the Soviet treatment of each party. Differences have also been observed in the Soviet response to various Eurocommunist parties with a more critical attitude being adopted toward some than toward others. Some of the vacillations and ambiguity in the Soviet reaction have been attributed to differences among the top Soviet leaders.1 Western analysts have also discerned differences of opinion among Soviet middle-level theorists regarding Eurocommunist ideological innovations.2 The treatment accorded a particular party is likely influenced by a number of factors including the extent of the party's challenge in the areas of ideology and foreign policy, its attitude toward the Soviet Union and China, its prestige in the international communist movement, its importance in its own country (as reflected by its current influence and future prospects), Soviet objectives in that country and

Soviet Marxism and Zionism

Today there exist two principal trends in the proliferation of literature on the Soviet policy towards the Middle East conflict and the various parties involved. One group of writers is primarily concerned with Soviet Realpolitik, arguing that the Soviet Union is exploiting the Arab-Israeli dispute to implement an expedient policy designed to gain a foothold in the Arab world, an economically and geostrategically important region to which the Soviet Union otherwise would hardly have had access. Like Walter Laqueur or Oleg M. Smolansky, such analysts concentrate on the Soviet Union's role as a great power and analyse Soviet policy towards Zionist Israel simply within the framework of great-power rivalry in the post-war international balance of power system.1 The second trend is geared to evoking and publicizing the problem, which is said to still exist in the Soviet Union in much the same way as it existed under the anti-Semitic Tsarist regimes. These writers are invariably committed to the Zionist cause; their writings advocate to the Western world the free migration of Soviet Jews to Israel.2 By the same token the Soviet policy towards Israel is presented as a mere extension of Soviet policy towards its Jewish minority, both being explained in terms of the ageold problem of anti-Semitism. Both approaches pay little attention to the theoretical-ideological basis that underlies the Soviet decision-making process. Writers of the first group seem

The Union's Role in Occupational Health

The Union's Role in Occupational Health

The Meatworkers' Health Clinic: Some Relevant Aspects of a Trade Union Enterprise

The future of Australia's first and only trade union health clinic is in doubt. The clinic, established by the Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union (Victorian Branch) in 1964, has undergone significant changes in function over time and may be purchased by an organization independent of the Meatworkers' Union. If this occurs future development could take the form of a community health centre or a health maintenance organization.The purpose of this paper, however, is not to predict the likely future of the clinic but to document its origins, objectives and development, and to examine the A.M.I.E.U.'s performance in one of the more controversial aspects of the labour movement—involvement in business enterprises. Specifically, the reader's attention is directed to the union's role as an employer, the venture's standing within the union movement and its impact on the Meatworkers' Union.1. Other examples of this philosophy include attempts in the 1920s to establish union butchers' shops and schemes to pr...