Role Of Unions Research Articles

The Soviet Union in World Trade

At Moscow on June 29 President Nixon joined with Soviet leader Brezhnev in signing a ten-year pact. Building upon the three-year commercial agreement of October, 1972, between the two countries, the pact proposed the further promotion of Soviet-American comrfierce by providing a framework for the discovery of new economic opportunities and the fostering of trade activities, including cooperation by American and Soviet organizations in joint enterprises.In assessing the prospects of Soviet-American trade relations, it is essential to consider carefully the world economic situation, the Soviet Union's role as a world trader, and also the stance of the United States vis-à-vis the contemplated commerce.

The UN role: Tinbergen and Jackson Reports

Development Policy ReviewVolume A4, Issue 1 p. 22-26 The UN role: Tinbergen and Jackson Reports First published: November 1970 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7679.1970.tb00389.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat VolumeA4, Issue1November 1970Pages 22-26 RelatedInformation

Sources of the Brezhnev Doctrine of Limited Sovereignty and Intervention

1. Claim to the Right of Intervention in the Defence of Socialism: The Brezhnev Doctrine asserts the Soviet Union's right to intervene in the internal affairs of the states comprising the Socialist Bloc. The source of this Doctrine is Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko's declaration at the June 27, 1968, session of the Supreme Soviet, when he announced that the Socialist commonwealth would not tolerate the withdrawal of any of its constituent parts, should it be attempted.This statement formed the basis of what is called the “Brezhnev Doctrine”, as formulated in an article appearing in Pravda on September 26, 1968. The Doctrine is designed to affirm the “limited sovereignty” of every Socialist State and to justify the military intervention of members of the Warsaw Pact in Czechoslovakia.The Pravda article asserted that Czechoslovakia's self-determination impaired the essential interests of the Socialist commonwealth and required the “Soviet Union and the other Socialist countries…to take actions…in the fulfillment of their international obligations towards the Czechoslovak nation and in the defence of their Socialist achievements”.The Soviet Union's special role within the Socialist commonwealth and its right to intervene in its name was justified as follows:

Secretariat

Annual Report of the Secretary-General: Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold reviewed the UN role in world affairs in the introduction to his twelfth annual report, covering the period from June 16, 1956, to June 15, 1957. Stating that during the period under review the UN had been confronted with some of the most difficult situations it had been called upon to meet since 1945, Mr. Hammarskjold first reviewed UN activities with respect to the Palestine question, the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), the Suez Canal, and the Hungarian question. He stated that UNEF had been important as a pre-condition for the maintenance of quiet in the area of its deployment, and that the governments' attitudes underlying the development of peace in that area had been encouraging, but that at the same time there had been few, if any, signs of further progress. The Secretary-General felt that the UN could help by lending its influence, its presence, and the processes of diplomacy, as well as by providing an objective judgment of the rights and interests involved. Its primary obligations with respect to the Palestine question consisted of working toward a restoration of the Armistice Agreements and of helping the Palestine refugees. The Secretary-General reported that UNEF would be thoroughly studied, should the UN wish to build an agreed stand-by plan for a UN peace force that could be activated on short notice in future emergencies to serve in similar ways. He noted the services of the UNEF Advisory Committee established by the General Assembly and recommended in the execution of future mandates of this kind the appointment of similar “select committees”.

The Union Shop Authorization Referendum

The trade union may be thought of as an organizational entity with an existence separate and apart from the members who give it life. From a legal point of view, federal legislation has recognized the union as a sufficient entity which can sue or be sued in a court of law; sociologically, the union may be thought of as an institution with its own survival requirements, one of which is to command the loyalty of its members who may regard the maintenance of the organized groups as an end in and of itself. The basic purpose of the union, however, is to act as a collective bargaining agent in determining wages and working conditions under which each individual worker performs his daily tasks. The union, therefore, must also be a political government where constituents elect representatives to act for them in the name of the organization. As with any other type of representative government, union officials may be responsive to the will of the group, or they may be dishonest, venal and interested only in their own advancement, or alternatively, their concern may be primarily with the institution of the union itself, at their own or the members' expense. All three interests may, of course, coincide and a particular course of action might be beneficial to membership, satisfy the ego-drives of the leadership, and forward the cause of the union. It is not difficult, however, to construct circumstances where the interests of workers, officials and the institution of the union diverge. Increasingly in recent years, interest has grown in the union's role as collective bargaining agent and questions have been raised about whether union officials have been placing personal or institutional interests above those of the membership. Specifically, inquiries have been raised about strikes in both the SmithConnally' and Taft-Hartley Acts.2 The war-time Smith-Connally Act provided for a thirty-day cooling-off period at the end of which time workers were asked to vote on whether or not they wished to authorize a walk-out. Under the TaftHartley Act, the President is authorized to seek an eighty-day injunction to postpone a strike which would tend to imperil national health or safety.3 While the injunction is in effect, employees vote on whether to accept the employer's last offer. A negative vote allows the union to pursue the strike at the end of the injunction's term. In early 1954, President Eisenhower asked Congress to extend strike authorization votes to all industries covered by the federal statute.4 He spoke of the im-