lUR □ EDITORIAL Editorial: responding to the financial crisis This takes can edition respond up the of question effectively International of to how the Union trade impacts unions Rights of takesup thequestionofhow tradeunions can respondeffectively to the impactsof austerity and budgetcutting thatgovernments worldwideare now imposingin an attempt to combattheseriouslong-term structural economicfailings ofcapitalism that weremadevisibleby theglobaleconomiccrisis.Therootsandnature ofthecrisisweretouchedon briefly by IUR in early2009(Vol. 17.1). Two yearslater andsome ofthefearspredicted byIUR'scontributors have been playedout in theformof spendingcuts, labourlawrevision, wage freezes, wage cuts,job cuts,and growing insecurity atwork. Our question,concerninghow unions can respond tothecrisis, really askstwoquitedistinct questions: firstly, whatsorts ofactions canunions take (thatmightbe effective?), and secondly, whatare theimplications of takingsuch action (such as civil or even criminal liabilities that might arise?). Thoughdistinct thesequestions arefirmly entwined: theanswer toone informs or even dictates thepossibleanswersto theother, for, ifa unionfacesseverelegalbarriers thencertaintypesofprotest maybecomeuntenable. Perhapsthe mostemblematic example of a form of protest thatengagestheseproblemsis theworkplaceoccupation,at once clearlyand directly tiedto theindustrial lifeoftheworkers' concerned thisform of protest nonetheless may see civiland criminal law invokedas itconstitutesa formof interference withthe property rights of thebusinessowners. NiallCullinane and Tony Dundon examinea recentspate of workplaceoccupationsin Irelandand examine how public sympathies undermined employer hostilities. The authors also assesshowtheefficacyofoccupation as a form ofprotest mayvary dependingon: thegoals oftheprotest; whether all oftheworkforce sharesimilar concerns; and on themoralsympathies ofthejudiciary, which appeartohavetempered thetreatment meted out bythecourts toworkers insomeofthesecases. In theUK tradeunionprotests aretightly regulatedby a complexlegalschemebased around theright ofemployers tosue unionsfordamages causedbyindustrial action. The UK system creates 'immunities'from these liabilitiesbut requires thatunionscomply withan increasingly complex systemof prerequisites in order to obtainthe immunities.The resultant 'right' (it wouldmoreaccurately be described as a highly circumscribed liberty) to take industrial action can further on be exercisedin situations conforming to a narrowly construed 'tradedispute' betweentheworker and his/her won employer. ICTUR Vice Presidents KeithEwingand John Hendyexaminehowthis framework evolvedand arguethatcurrent developments in law at the level of the European Convention of Human Rights mayhave createda legalenvironment in whichthisrestrictive framework maybe opento challenge,thus potentially layingthe groundworkfora right toparticipate instrikes aimedat challenginggovernmentpolicy affecting the socialand economicinterests ofworkers. Of course,the UK systemexistsin its own peculiar bubble,as NicolaCountouris reminds us when outlining theright to strike underItalian law. In Italy,Countouris explains,industrial actionisnotconfined totrade disputes ormatters of collective bargaining, and generalstrikes are generally accepted,and practiced, as a common toolin industrial relations. Italyis in 'a league of itsown' forreasonsthatare intimately connectedwiththecountry 's 20thCentury history, whichhe exploresinhiscontribution to IUR. A generalstrike againstcutsto thewelfarestate, Countouris believes,wouldeasilyfitintoa categoryofactionsthatarerecognised as lawful and protected underItalianlaw. AttheEuropeanlevelthedramatic implications ofjudicialdecisionsfrom theEuropeanCourt of Justice (ECJ)and theEuropeanCourtofHuman Rights (ECtHR)shouldnow be well knownto IUR'sreaders.From2007theViking case andits antecedents in the ECJwere seen as a fundamentalattackon the statusof social rights of workersas equivalentor even inferior to ecoNext issue of IUR Articles between 850and1,900 words should besentbyemail (mail@ictur.org) andaccompanied bya photograph andshort biographical note oftheauthor. Photographs illustrating thetheme ofarticles arealways welcome. Allitems must bewith usby15May2011if they are tobeconsidered for publication inthenext issueofIUR. Subscribe toIUR: tosubscribe, complete theboxbelow. I/we would like tosubscribe toInternational Union Rights andenclose£20/US$30/€25. Name/Organisation Address PostCode Four issues£20/US$30/€25. Cheques should bemadepayable to"IUR" andsentto:ICTUR, 177Abbeville Road, London SW49RL, UK INTERNATIONAL union rights Pa9e 2Volume 18lssue 1201 1 lUR □ EDITORIAL nomicliberties ofbusinesses.From2009a series of cases beginning withDemirsaw theECrtHR emphasise theimportance itgavetotradeunion rights anda broadening oftheCourt's interpretationof theaspectsof tradeunionrights thatit regarded as protectedunder the European Convention on HumanRights (ECHR). So we have a regionalsituation in whichfundamental tradeunionrights werealreadyin a stateoffluidity since2009. The global economiccrisishas added to the turbulence. The crisis has emboldened thebusinesslobbythathas in turnencouragedgovernments toopen a newfront atthedomestic level. Throughout Europe governments are on the offensive, drastically cutting wages and public sector staffing levels,whilesimultaneously pushingrapidchangestolabourlaw on areassuchas employment protection,rightsof temporary workers to acquirepermanent contracts, probationary periods,etc.CharlesWoolfson discusses how theseissueshave playedout in theBaltic region, and describes how unioncapacitiesand policerepression haveaffected thelabourmovement 's ability torespond. The Europeanregional tradeunionconfederation (ETUC) saysthatthe EuropeanCouncilis set to endorseproposals 'designed toexert downward pressure on wages, by limiting pay increasesto productivity and implicitly barring wagesfrom reflecting increases inprices'.Thispolicy, theETUCwarns, 'willsystemically redistribute incomefrom wagestoprofits ,dividends and bonuses',addingthatsuchan approach places the whole idea of a Social Europeinjeopardy. Movingto theUS we examinein twoarticles aspectsofthesocial,economicandpolitical situationsurrounding a recentspate of anti...