Union Workers Research Articles

Culture workers against big oil: the importance of labor education in fighting the climate crisis

This article argues for the importance of labor education in fighting the climate crisis, a vital form of education too often overlooked in the climate movement. Drawing on a case study of unionized culture workers in the United Kingdom, the article seeks to show the distinctive embedded nature of labor education. Success of labor education on the climate crisis hinges not so much on a particular pedagogy or curriculum in any one classroom setting, but on the ways in which a range of formal and informal educational actors and spaces work together across the labor and environmental movements, as part of a mobilizing project that seeks to link worker interests directly to the climate crisis, and identify actions that workers can take to address the crisis effectively. Labor education has a central role to play in ensuring a just transition in the move away from a fossil fuel based economy.

Indonesian Trade Unions' Strategic Response to Unilateral Employment Termination during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bekasi City/Regency

This article investigates the resistance efforts of the All Indonesia Chemical Energy and Mining Workers Union (SP KEP SPSI) Bekasi in advocating for changes in cases of unilateral employment termination (PHK) at PT. Matahari Alka during the 2021 Covid-19 pandemic. This research primarily focuses on the analysis of SP KEP SPSI Bekasi's strategies and their success in challenging unilateral layoffs at PT. Alka Sun. Employing a qualitative approach, along with interviews conducted with SP KEP Bekasi Branch and Work Unit administrators within the company, this study, guided by Calvin Mackenzie's interest group strategy theory and Douglas McAdam's social movements theory, generates significant insights. The resistance undertaken by SP KEP SPSI Bekasi was rooted in the company's violations against workers, including unilateral layoffs that diverged from collective work agreement (PKB) provisions, non-payment of wages, and the prohibition of union activities. SP KEP SPSI's strategy encompassed demonstrations, lobbying of relevant authorities, and dialogue-based negotiations. The success of SP KEP SPSI Bekasi's strategy was closely linked to factors such as solidarity, which served as a foundation for strengthening the organization during these mobilizations, the union's capacity to motivate its members, and the formation of alliances.

Unions and moral economies: An investigation into cultural pathways linking union decline to rising income inequality, 1983–2018

Declines in union density explain a considerable portion of rising US inequality among unionized and non-unionized workers. However, how union density regulates non-union wages is mainly speculative. I test the moral economy hypothesis that union density reduces inequality, in part, by fostering egalitarian wage norms that regulate compensation practices and redistributive policies. Variance function regressions suggest that wage norms may explain 12% of union density decline effects on rising within-group wage inequality between 1983 and 2018. Findings provide support for the moral economy perspective and an empirical foundation for the causal relationship between unions and inequality.

Comparative Study of Selected Nigerian and Indian Labour Practices and the Law

Abstract Labour practices include workplace routines like, the conditions of employment, remuneration, trade union, industrial relations, safety and welfare of workers, labour rights and responsibilities, etc. Labour relations are laced with both fair and unfair practices. This study examines the differences and similarities of labour practices in Nigerian and Indian industries, and how their respective courts interpreted their labour laws. The doctrinal research methodology involving systematic review of current legal propositions, cases, statutes, legislation, policies relating to labour practice in Nigeria and India was adopted. The study finds amongst others that both the Nigerian and Indian Labour industries are fraught with unfair labour practices and the rights of workers are the same, but India explicitly provides imprisonment for employer found guilty of unfair labour practices, and Nigerian labour legislation is silent on that. It concludes by recommending a review of Nigerian labour practice legal framework, reflecting some India’s advancement in labour practice.

‘If I Can, We Can’

Myrtle Witbooi, a pioneering leader of the domestic worker movement, died on January 16 in Cape Town at age 75. Under South Africa’s apartheid rule, she began to organise women in the garage of her employer and went on to become president of the first global union led by women. For 52 years she advocated for the rights of domestic workers, upholding her presidency in both South Africa’s national union of domestic workers and the International Domestic Workers Federation, throughout her struggle with a rare form of bone cancer. Ms. Witbooi’s experience as a domestic worker under apartheid guided her life on the front lines of both a national and global movement to recognise and protect women once considered ‘servants’ without rights. She fought for domestic workers’ first legal protections in South Africa’s democracy, which set basic conditions of employment and allowed over 100,000 women to receive maternity and unemployment insurance over the past twenty years.

Labor, Democracy, and the Postcolonial State: Spaces of Union Organizing and the Duppy State in Britain and Trinidad

This article examines the democratic political praxes and contestations developed by trade unions in relations with the postcolonial state in both the Global North and South. Our work is informed by the scholarship of Richard Iton on the postcolonial duppy state and notions of the colonial past haunting the postcolonial present through the rearticulation of racialized, imperial labor regimes and relations in a postcolonial context. We engage with Trinidad’s Oilfields Workers Trade Union and the British National Union of Seamen to explore how this “haunting” was both contested and modulated by the labor activism of unions in both the former colony and metropole during the period of mid-twentieth-century decolonization. Empirically, we show how unionized workers sought to expand and entrench democratic cultures in opposition to the continued racialization of labor and the uneven power relations existent between labor, the state, and capital. This article responds to recent calls in labor geography to broaden the sites and subjects of study beyond workers in the Global North and introduces a study of the postcolonial state to claims to democratic politics in labor–state relations.

The union difference: Experiences of five-star hotel workers in Cambodia during COVID-19

This article examines unions’ role in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on hotel workers in Siem Reap, Cambodia's most popular tourist destination. The article analyses the experiences of unionised and non-unionised hotel workers before and during the pandemic, drawing on data collected from one non-unionised and three unionised hotels. Data was collected through in-depth qualitative interviews with management, workers, workplace union officials, as well as with national federation leaders and government officials. Our analysis of that data revealed that unionised hotel workers received far better support from their employers and the government than non-unionised hotel workers, and that their unions played an important role in securing these benefits. This suggests that, in the absence of union power, international reputation was not enough to protect workers during COVID-19.

Manuals and Reference Books for Typographers of the Late XIX – Early XX Centuries

A brief description of publications for employees of printing houses is presented: reference books, calendars, which made it possible for typographers to learn the basic rules of typing, historical information on the printing business, as well as the addresses of printing houses in St. Petersburg. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of publications devoted to the printing business, from which information can be gleaned about ancient book-making technologies. In almost every publication, you can get bibliographic information about both printing manuals and small brochures intended for students. The authors shared their long experience of work in printing houses, thus helping the successors to avoid mistakes and perform works efficiently. Publications became necessary as reference and information materials, especially for owners of printing establishments, because from them it was possible to learn about factory legislation, insurance laws and customs tariff. After 1918, the governing bodies changed, so the directories contained information about the main state management bodies for the press and publishing houses of the Supreme Economic Council (Supreme Council of the National Economy) and for Petrograd, the structure of the Union of Workers of Printing Production, etc. There are no modern studies on the information support of the process of printing books in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The purpose of this article is to generalize information about reference literature aimed at typography workers of that period.

A “Local” Is Not Local

Have you ever considered the nomenclature of labor organizations? Almost already, a union is described as a Local 123 of the XYZ. It sounds good for an employee. “If I have a problem, I'll call the Local” is a common refrain among unionized workers. However, how local is a Local really?

When a Striker Says, “I'm Ready to Work”

In the not‐so‐distant past, strikes tended to be a tool of unionized workers either frustrated at the bargaining table or wishing to protest unfair labor practices. In recent years, strikes have become more commonplace at union‐free employers that are the subject of union organizing. Strikes have been a way for employees to combat perceived unfair labor practices by employers during organizing efforts. The problem for union‐free employers facing such tactics is one of knowledge. Lacking experience in dealing with strikes among unionized workforces, during organizing campaigns union‐free employers oftentimes have little knowledge to draw on when addressing striking workers—including the rights to their jobs. Many such employers frequently fail to fully understand the rights of striking employees to their jobs.

How did theCOVID‐19 pandemic affect men's and women's returns to unionization?

AbstractUsing data from the Current Population Survey for the period 2015 to 2021, I study union‐nonunion differences in employment, wages and other terms and conditions before and after the COVID‐19 pandemic. Analyses are run separately for men and women. I find that, compared to non‐union workers, union workers were better able to retain employment, less likely to do telework, and more likely to receive pay for the hours they did not work during the pandemic. These patterns were more evident for female workers.

Unions as insurance: Workplace unionization and workers' outcomes during COVID‐19

AbstractWe investigate to what extent workplace unionization protects workers from external shocks by preventing involuntary job separations. Using the COVID‐19 pandemic as a plausibly exogenous shock hitting the whole economy, we compare workers who worked in unionized and non‐unionized workplaces directly before the pandemic in a difference‐in‐differences framework. We find that unionized workers were substantially more likely to remain working for their pre‐COVID employer and to be in employment. This greater employment stability was not traded off against lower working hours or labor income.

Climate Change: An Issue That Should Be Part of Workers’ Information and Training Duties Envisaged by EU Directives on Occupational Health and Safety

The impact of climate change on the physical environment, ecosystems, and human societies is increasingly recognized as the most important global challenge. Climate change may alter, among others, the thermal environment, the occurrence of extreme weather events, and the human exposure to physical, chemical, and biological pollutants, thus affecting human health with several potential outcomes. The impact of climate change on occupational health and safety has been receiving increasing attention in last years. In the European Union, the health and safety of workers is under the rule of Directive 89/391 and its daughters. In a changing climate, compliance with all requirements of the existing EU regulation entails an additional effort to implement preventive and protective measures. A central role in workers’ health protection is played by proper workers’ information and training, which is partly in charge of the occupational physicians. This paper provides a basic proposal on topics related to climate change to update workers’ information and training and to integrate the curricula of occupational physicians. Importantly, suitable information and training may contribute to promoting workers’ health and to implement adaptation measures, which are part of the individual, societal, and global responses to climate change.

Disentangling public opposition to Chinese FDI: trade unions, patient capital, and members’ preferences over FDI inflows

I examine whether union membership affects individual foreign direct investment (FDI) preferences in ways that vary across investors’ country of origin. I argue that the country of FDI origin will bear upon how union members assess FDI, because it provides cues about what the economic prospects of (unionized) workers will look like under different foreign investors. I argue that the salient attribute of foreign investors is whether they originate from a country that is an important form of patient or impatient capital. Compared with non-members, members will be more supportive of FDI from countries embodying patient than impatient capital. Specifically, I expect the (positive) gap in support between FDI from patient and FDI from impatient capital countries to increase with union membership. Conversely, I expect the (positive) gap in support between FDI from impatient versus patient capital countries to decrease with membership. Evidence from original Swiss survey data corroborates my argument. Respondents were asked to evaluate FDI from China and Europe (entities embodying patient capital) and from the United States (a country embodying impatient capital). The results show that the gap in enthusiasm for European FDI versus American FDI increases with union membership, while the gap in enthusiasm for American FDI versus Chinese FDI decreases with membership. Complementary qualitative analysis of reports, documents, and testimonies by trade unions in continental Europe show that their views are in sync with those of their members, suggesting that unions shape their members’ FDI preferences. The findings have important implications for the politics of backlash against economic globalization.

Perils, promises and perspectives: nuclear weapons, atomic energy and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions in the early Cold War

ABSTRACT In the 1950s and 1960s, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) protested nuclear weapons testing, called for nuclear and conventional disarmament, and simultaneously embraced the promises of atomic energy. The ICFTU also, particularly through its atomic energy committee, pressed the United Nations (UN), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for stronger worker protections and union input at atomic energy sites. Such efforts revealed how a non-governmental organization (NGO) attempted to shape international narratives and standards regarding nuclear weapons and atomic energy, revealing a complex approach to the use of the atom.

Legal regulation of the status of a teacher in international acts and legislation of foreign countries

The article is devoted to the analysis of the legislative regulation of the status of a teacher in various legal systems and international law. In particular, universal and regional specialized acts in the field of fixing the status of a teacher and his social guarantees, as well as the features of such regulation in some foreign legal systems are considered. The author in his scientific study analyzes the international acts of the United Nations, the International Labor Organization, UNESCO in the field of registration of the teacher's status. Particular attention is paid to the countries whose education systems occupy leading positions in the ranking of countries: Finland, China. The Finnish education system occupies a leading position in terms of the level of school education, the experience of which is analyzed by the world educational community as a “Finnish phenomenon”. A scientific study of the teacher's status was carried out using data from international ratings, such as the Global Teacher Status Index, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). The author focuses on the activities of independent professional associations for the protection of teachers' rights in foreign countries and their role in strengthening the status, providing social guarantees, and protecting rights. A critical analysis of the principles of the activities of the Kazakhstan Branch Trade Union of Educational and Scientific Workers for compliance with its generally accepted standards of the International Trade Union Confederation has been carried out. The article assesses the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the status of a teacher” from the position of compliance not only with international law standards, but also with the requirements of modernity

Textual Analysis of Hegemony Discourse Construction PT. PLN in the Perspective of Norman Fairclough Critical Discourse Analysis

The state's monopoly (hegemony) over the management of natural resources, especially in the electricity sector in the mid-late 2020s, is threatened by the passing of the Job Creation Law by President Jokowi, which aims to increase economic growth through foreign investment. The Job Creation Law allows investors to invest capital in Indonesian companies, including State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN). The ratification of the Job Creation Bill was rejected by employees and workers of state-owned companies because they were deemed not to be on the side of the people. As a result, demonstrations emerged demanding that the ratification of this bill be cancelled, including by BUMN employees and workers in the electricity sector. This article discusses state monopoly (hegemony) through PT. PLN in the news of union and labor demonstrations in the electricity sector in the news “Serikat Pekerja PLN Sebut Omnibus Law Ancam Perusahaan Listrik Nasional” (PLN Workers Union Says Omnibus Law Threatens National Electricity Company) uses Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis, and reveals the ideology hiding behind the text "PT's concern. PLN towards the people who are suspected of being oppressed if PT's monopoly rights. PLN in the electricity sector is revoked.” Metaphors and other terms are used in the text to obscure the main intention, namely perpetuating PT PLN's hegemony over national electricity management. In other words, the text commodifies society to maintain PT PLN's hegemony over the electricity sector.

Joint Employer Update

In a recent union election, an affiliate of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) unanimously won the right to represent certain technology employees of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. The names of the parties may not immediately resonate, but the CWA affiliate is Alphabet Workers Union. In turn, Cognizant Technology Solutions is a staffing agency for Alphabet Inc., which is the parent company for Google, and which was ruled by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director to be a joint employer with Cognizant. The union win is a step forward to a new joint employer standard that holds putative joint employers liable for bargaining obligations and unfair labor practices.

The False Promise of Unionization to Next‐Generation Managers

Baby boomer and Gen X managers, by and large, need no introduction to the risks of unionization. Such executives and supervisors, having entered the management ranks in the twentieth century, had knowledge or directly heard stories of the pitfalls and risks associated with running a business in a unionized work environment. However, as private‐sector unionization and union power waned at the end of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty‐first, what perspective has the next generation of managers adopted? Where do managers in the millennial and even Gen Z age groups gain knowledge of unions, apart from more experienced colleagues and (of course) Management Report? Amid the Information Age, the obvious answer is the internet.

(De)unionization, trade, unemployment, and wage differentials

AbstractThis research examines the interaction of (de)unionization and trade liberalization in shaping firm productivity, market structure, trade flows, unemployment, and functional distribution (changes in the wage difference and labor income share). It introduces unemployment to the Melitz‐Ottaviano model by considering unionism in the differentiated manufacturing sector and searching frictions in the homogeneous service sector. It shows that unionization has a selection‐softening effect, leading to a non‐monotonic relationship between unionization and the number of firms and unemployment. With international trade, a unilateral increase in the degree of unionization in one country gives rise to a selection‐softening effect for domestic‐only firms and a selection‐toughening effect for exporting firms in this country, resulting in unemployment being more likely to increase relative to autarky. If openness to trade is relatively low (high), then the average wage difference for this country compared to its trading partner country rises (declines). Trade liberalization does not necessarily reduce unemployment, and depends on the relative degree of unionization between the two trading countries. In sharp contrast to the conventional notion, de‐unionization can increase, rather than decrease, the labor income share of unionized workers, provided that openness to trade is sufficiently high.