This text considers why there are such great international differences in the way employment relations are organized within the firm. Taking account of the growing evidence that international diversity is not being wiped out by "globalization", it sets out from the theory of the firm first developed by Coase and Simon and explains why firms and workers should use the employment relationship as the basis for their economic co-operation. The originality of the employment relationship lies in its flexibility. It gives managers the authority to organize work, but it also establishes limits on employees' obligations. The author argues that these limits are provided by four basic types of employment rule. Which one predominates in a given environment is the source of international diversity in employment relations. Drawing upon evidence from the US, Japan, France, Germany and Britain, the theory is extended to show why such diversity extends deep into key areas of human resource management, such as performance management, incentive pay and skill development. It also explains why the open-ended employment relationship continues to dominate work despite the growth of market-mediated work r

The story of a union organizer who found a second career in community organizing and helped a Jim Crow city become a better place. Ernest Thompson dedicated his life to organizing the powerless. This lively, illustrated personal narrative of his work shows the great contribution that people's coalitions can make to the struggle for equality and freedom. Thompson cut his teeth organizing one of the great industrial unions, the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, and brought his organizing skills and commitment to coalition building to Orange, New Jersey. He built a strong organization and skillfully led fights for school desegregation, black political representation, and strong government in a city he initially thought of as a "dirty Jim Crow town going nowhere." Thompson came to love the City of Orange and its caring citizens, seeing in its struggles a microcosm of America. This story of people's power is meant for all who struggle for human rights, economic opportunity, decent housing, effective education, and a chance for children to have a better life. Ernest Thompson (1906-1971) grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, on a farm that had been given to his family at the end of the Civil War. The family was very poor and oppressed by racist practices. Thompson was determined to get away and to obtain power. He migrated to Jersey City, where he became part of the union organizing movement that built the Congress of Industrial Unions (CIO). He became the first African American to hold a fulltime organizing position with his union, the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE). He eventually headed UE's innovative Fair Employment Practices program and fought for equal rights and pay for women and minority workers. Thompson also helped build the National Negro Labor Council, 1951-1956, and served as its director of organizing. In 1956, under the onslaught of the McCarthy era, UE was split in two, and Thompson lost his job. His wife, Margaret Thompson, brought the local school segregation to his attention. Ernie "Home" Thompson organized to desegregate the regional schools, building strong coalitions and political power for the black community that ultimately served all the people of Orange.

This edited collection introduces and explores the causes and consequences of precarious employment in Canada and across the world. After contextualizing employment precarity and its root causes, the authors illustrate how precarious employment is created amongst different populations and describe the accompanying social impacts on racialized immigrant women, those in the non-profit sector, temporary foreign workers and the children of Filipino immigrants.

Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire is the first in-depth look at the experiences of Puerto Rican migrant workers in continental U.S. agriculture in the twentieth century. The Farm Labor Program, established by the government of Puerto Rico in 1947, placed hundreds of thousands of migrant workers on U.S. farms and fostered the emergence of many stateside Puerto Rican communities. Ismael Garcia-Colon investigates the origins and development of this program and uncovers the unique challenges faced by its participants. A labor history and an ethnography, Colonial Migrants evokes the violence, fieldwork, food, lodging, surveillance, and coercion that these workers experienced on farms and conveys their hopes and struggles to overcome poverty. Island farmworkers encountered a unique form of prejudice and racism arising from their dual status as both U.S. citizens and as "foreign others," and their experiences were further shaped by evolving immigration policies. Despite these challenges, many Puerto Rican farmworkers ultimately chose to settle in rural U.S. communities, contributing to the production of food and the Latinization of the U.S. farm labor force.

In Inside China's Automobile Factories, Lu Zhang explores the current conditions, subjectivity, and collective actions of autoworkers in the world's largest and fastest-growing automobile manufacturing nation. Based on years of fieldwork and extensive interviews conducted at seven large auto factories in various regions of China, Zhang provides an inside look at the daily factory life of autoworkers and a deeper understanding of the roots of rising labor unrest in the auto industry. Combining original empirical data and sophisticated analysis that moves from the shop floor to national political economy and global industry dynamics, the book develops a multilayered framework for understanding how labor relations in the auto industry and broader social economy can be expected to develop in China in the coming decades.

The rapid pace of industrial restructuring and the emergence of new employment policies have focused attention on the role of employers in determining the quantity and quality of employment. This book draws on important new data from the ESRC's Social Change and Economic Life Initiative to test, modify, and challenge much of the current academic literature on the determinants of employer policy and how these influence employment structures and individual employment opportunities. The book begins with an authoritative synthesis of the influential debates on labour market segmentation, flexibility, post-Fordism, deskilling, the gendering of work, and the `new' industrial relations. Ten substantive chapters then extend these debates in several directions. The contributors make significant progress on three fronts: BL They suggest that the determinants of employer policy are both complex and strongly related to product market conditions. BL They find that employee attitudes and perceptions are critical to the implementation and effectiveness of employer policy. BL They explore the interdependency between internal employment policies and external labour market conditions and begin to develop an integrated approach to internal and external labour markets. Contributors: Brendan Burchell, Jane Elliott, Duncan Gallie, Anne Gasteen, Bob Morris, Roger Penn, Michael Rose, Jill Rubery, John Sewell, Jim Smyth, Michael White, Frank Wilkinson

A text that quantifies and provides new or improved actuarial notation for long recognized pension cost concepts and procedures and, in certain areas, develops new insights and techniques. With the exception of the first few chapters, the text is a virtual rewrite of the first edition of 1977. Among the major additions are chapters on statutory funding requirements, pension accounting, funding policy analysis, asset allocation, and retiree health benefits.

This comparative study uses Barrington Moore's notion of `suppressed historical alternatives' to reassess theories of industrial conflict, class organization, and state intervention. It explores the origins of organizational differences in the emergence of labour movements and the employer counter-attack, emphasizing the strength of Sweden's neglected craft unions and the forgotten attempts by British unions to build Swedish style national federations. It examines the strong tendencies towards state control in Sweden and repeated British efforts to establish joint central regulation, which have been similarly overlooked. Unfashionable institutionalist explorations of the Swedish labour peace are defended but it is also argued that the Swedish system of regulation was self-undermining. The book analyses the failure of corporatist integration in both countries and the ensuing struggle between left and right alternatives. The attempt to bring about economic and industrial democracy in Sweden, the decline of the British unions, and current tendencies towards a neo-liberal convergence, are all discussed.

In this work, an attempt has been made to present the precise and up to date information about the topics covered in a very simple and logical manner. Adequate number of tables and exhibits have been incorporated in various chapters to make the book more interesting for the readers.

The state of European integration is a contested issue raising many important questions: what is the impact of enlargement on the social standards in old and new EU Member States? Will public sector employment relations suffer from governments' attempts to make their national economies more competitive? What are the prospects for a European Social Model? What influence can governments, employers and trade unions have on industrial relations that are changing with the European integration process? These are the issues that this book addresses on the basis of solid empirical evidence. The authors are expert researchers from Western and Eastern Europe, and their work comes at a timely moment for scientific and political audiences. This book presents an evidence-based assessment of the impact of EU enlargement on industrial relations and social standards in old and new EU Member States. It combines chapters which give an overview of the process of enlargement/integration and comparative socio-economic data at EU and national level, with chapters that present an in-depth analysis of the impact of European integration on national industrial relations. These in-depth analyses cover both a number of old EU Member States in Western Europe and new Member States in Central and Eastern Europe. The book combines supranational European, Western and Eastern perspectives on the impact of European integration. A combination of solid empirical data and critical theoretically informed analyses, Industrial Relations in the New Europe will be of great interest to researchers and students in various fields, including industrial relations, public sector employment relations, European Studies, socio-economic studies and political science.

This book examines the working of the Munition of War Acts 1915-1917, during the First World War. The munitions code, parts of which remained in force until 1921, appeared at first to constitute a radical break with the pre-war voluntarist system of industrial relations. It aimed to prevent strikes by law, it imposed wage controls and tighter factory discipline and discouraged munitions workers from leaving their jobs. Munitions tribunals were established to enforce the law. Using, among other sources, the evidence offered by the tribunal proceedings under the Acts, the author suggests that a policy of strict enforcement of the law was transformed to one of sensitive conflict management, involving trade unionists, employers, and the tribunal judges. The identification of complex working-class attitudes to the wartime state accounts largely for the creation of this modus vivendi, despite the controversial nature of the legislation. This book, though dealing with events which arose during wartime in an atmosphere of militarism, radicalism as well as patriotism, inflation and full employment, may nevertheless offer glimpses of insight to analysts of modern industrial relations.

"An eloquent and essential correction to contemporary discussions of the American working class."-The Nation From the ongoing issues of poverty, health, housing, and employment to the recent upsurge of lethal police-community relations, the black working class stands at the center of perceptions of social and racial conflict today. Journalists and public policy analysts often discuss the black poor as "consumers" rather than "producers," as "takers" rather than "givers," and as "liabilities" instead of "assets." In his engrossing history, Workers on Arrival, Joe William Trotter, Jr., refutes these perceptions by charting the black working class's vast contributions to the making of America. Covering the last four hundred years since Africans were first brought to Virginia in 1619, Trotter traces the complicated journey of black workers from the transatlantic slave trade to the demise of the industrial order in the twenty-first century. At the center of this compelling, fast-paced narrative are the actual experiences of these African American men and women. A dynamic and vital history of remarkable contributions despite repeated setbacks, Workers on Arrival expands our understanding of America's economic and industrial growth, its cities, ideas, and institutions, and the real challenges confronting black urban communities today.

Higher employment, economic growth and innovation are fundamental objectives of modern economies. One effective means of attaining these goals is the development of successful entrepreneurs, and this book aims to provide a deeper, research-based understanding of the factors influencing successful entrepreneurship. Mirjam van Praag compares and contrasts the economic theory of entrepreneurship with determinants of successful entrepreneurship derived from empirical evidence, in an attempt to discover what makes for an accomplished entrepreneur. The author's state-of-the-art historical, theoretical and empirical research on successful entrepreneurship - all from an explicit economic perspective - comprehensively addresses questions such as: 'What are the factors that influence individuals' decisions to start a business venture as opposed to working as an employee?' and 'What are the individual characteristics that make one successful as an entrepreneur?' thereby supporting or dispelling various existing myths. Individual factors contributing to the success of entrepreneurs that are considered include, amongst others, human capital, financial capital and psychological traits. The importance of such factors for the various phases of entrepreneurship, including start-up, delivery and performance is also measured. Providing recommendations that aim to promote successful entrepreneurship, this unique book will be of great importance to a wide-ranging audience, including academics with an interest in economics, social science and business studies. Policymakers, capital suppliers, business consultants and trainers and, of course, potential entrepreneurs themselves will also find the book invaluable.

This third edition of Building a Better World offers a comprehensive introductory overview of Canada's labour movement. The book includes an analysis of why workers form unions; assesses their organization and democratic potential; examines issues related to collective bargaining, grievances and strike activity; charts the historical development of labour unions; and describes the gains unions have achieved for their members and all working people.

Wallace N. Atherton is concerned with a single but very important facet of the behavior of labor unions--the ways in which their bargaining objectives are determined. He begins by reviewing the existing literature and briefly sketches the conceptual structure of the union. The analysis starts with a theory whose form and substance are close to existing theories, and then is altered by adding unfamiliar elements. An eclectic "economic" model is built with two provisional assumptions: complete internal homogeneity of preferences about bargaining objectives, and perfect knowledge and foresight of everything relevant to the attainment of these objectives. The main innovation at this stage is the inclusion of anticipated strike length as a variable which affects union preferences of goals to be pursued. In Chapter IV the first provisional assumption is dropped and the model becomes "politico-economic." Allowance is made for diversity of goals within the union and for the leaderships' concern to stay in office. The theory is then restated in axiomatic terms, enabling the author to dispense with the second assumption, that of the union's perfect knowledge and foresight. The theory is now adapted to deal with a union faced with probabilities rather than certainties, and additional adaptations deal with the effect of internal threats to the leaders' control of the organization. Originally published in 1973. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In order to describe how the elites in two political systems grappled with the potentially explosive influx of foreign labor, Gary Freeman analyzes and compares the ways in which the British and the French governments responded to immigration and racial conflict over a thirty-year period during the post-war era. In addition to comparing the policy records of the two countries, the author focuses on the process by which political and social phenomena become defined as public problems and how alternative responses to these problems are generated. His broader aim is to provide a standpoint from which to evaluate the more general problem-solving capability of the political systems under consideration. Professor Freeman finds that by 1975 both Britain and France had instituted tightly controlled, racially discriminatory, temporary contract-labor systems. Despite this basic similarity, however, he notes three distinctions between the two cases: while the French attempted to adapt immigration to their economic needs, the British failed to seize this opportunity; while the British moved toward an elaborate race relations structure, the French relied on criminal law and the economic self-interest of the worker to prevent outbreaks of racial violence; and the British were much more affected than the French by fears of immigration and racial conflict. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Humanity is on the verge of its darkest hour- or its greatest momentThe consequences of the technological revolution are about to hit hard: unemployment will spike as new technologies replace labour in the manufacturing, service, and professional sectors of an economy that is already struggling. The end of work as we know it will hit at the worst moment imaginable: as capitalism fosters permanent stagnation, when the labour market is in decrepit shape, with declining wages, expanding poverty, and scorching inequality. Only the dramatic democratization of our economy can address the existential challenges we now face. Yet, the US political process is so dominated by billionaires and corporate special interests, by corruption and monopoly, that it stymies not just democracy but progress.The great challenge of these times is to ensure that the tremendous benefits of technological progress are employed to serve the whole of humanity, rather than to enrich the wealthy few. Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols argue that the United States needs a new economy in which revolutionary technologies are applied to effectively address environmental and social problems and used to rejuvenate and extend democratic institutions. Based on intense reporting, rich historical analysis, and deep understanding of the technological and social changes that are unfolding, they propose a bold strategy for democratizing our digital destiny,before it's too late- and unleashing the real power of the Internet, and of humanity.

In 1978, when workers at a nearby phosphate refinery learned that the ore they processed was contaminated with radioactive dust, Karen Messing, then a new professor of molecular genetics, was called in to help. Unsure of what to do with her discovery that exposure to the radiation was harming the workers and their families, Messing contacted senior colleagues but they wouldn't help. Neither the refinery company nor the scientific community was interested in the scary results of her chromosome studies. Over the next decades Messing encountered many more cases of workers around the world-factory workers, cleaners, checkout clerks, bank tellers, food servers, nurses, teachers-suffering and in pain without any help from the very scientists and occupational health experts whose work was supposed to make their lives easier. Arguing that rules for scientific practice can make it hard to see what really makes workers sick, in Pain and Prejudice Messing tells the story of how she went from looking at test tubes to listening to workers.

As globally recognized arbitration experts, the authors of THE LABOR RELATIONS PROCESS bring nearly a century of combined experience with the labor movement, labor relations, and collective bargaining to this popular text. Packed with real-world examples and quotes from practitioners in the field, this 11th edition explores labor's history from inception to current and emerging trends, touching on government, white-collar, and international contexts to give you an unmatched perspective of the topics. Chapters include in-depth analyses of the relationship between management and labor, including key participants in the processes, and the rights and responsibilities of each. Labor agreements, collective bargaining, contract administration, arbitration, and many other critical issues and processes highlight the complex, exciting nature of organized labor, and introduce you to the wide variety of professional opportunities available to you today.

Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin, and Stephen Maher provide a newly updated and expanded primer for twenty-first century democratic socialists. The Socialist Challenge Today presents an essential historical, theoretical, and critical perspective for understanding the potential as well as the limits of three important recent phenomena: the Sanders electoral insurgency in the United States; the Syriza experience in Greece; and Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. The renowned coauthors compellingly convey the importance of developing strategic and practical capacities to democratically transform state structures so as to render them fit for realizing collective democracy, social equality, sustainable ecology, and human solidarity.

The democratic South Africa boasts some of the most advanced labor legislation in the world, allowing public service workers to enjoy trade union and collective bargaining rights for the first time in the country's history. These developments set the stage for public servants to bring their conditions of service into line with the industrial relations 'best practice' in the private sector.

The problem of addressing workers' demands and concerns about job security; transforming the state into a more effective agent of development; and redressing the legacies of discrimination and authoritarianism is likely to generate considerable conflict between workers and managers and between different groups of workers. Indeed, the mass action in the education, health and police sectors, which made international headlines in August 1999, demonstrated that labor-management strife in the public service is not a narrow industrial relations issue of interest to the parties alone. The outcomes of these conflicts will have crucial and long-lasting consequences for the transformation of the state as an institution, and therefore for the governments's ability to promote fiscal integrity, economic development and service delivery.

The chapters in this volume are based on critical assessments of contemporary developments in the public service drawn from original research by a range of contributors, including public servants, academics and independent researchers, all specialists in this field. The contributions thus combine depth of research and critical appraisal with privileged insight into recent policy developments.

Workers' rights are not defined by law or contract. Workers' rights are defined by struggle.

Gregg Shotwell's "Live Bait & Ammo" newsletter chronicled the outrages and absurdities of corporate managers, exposed union leaders who acted in "partnership" with employers, and sounded the alarm about the devastating effects of auto industry job losses and union concessions. "LB&A" fliers grew legs of their own, distributed by rank-and-file workers in auto plants across the United States and cited by industry analysts. This collection spans a decade of autoworker resistance--and it's a call to action for a new generation of workers coming of age in recession-wracked America.

The seven-month British national mining lockout of 1926 was one of the most important European industrial disputes of the twentieth century. It not only came to symbolize the defeat of the labor movement in the interwar years, but it also cast a long shadow over industrial relations in the mining industry and epitomized the predicament of British miners in the early decades of the century. "Industrial Politics" draws on new methodological perspectives that have emerged in recent labor studies in order to comprehensively survey this event at the national, local, and regional levels, and makes a significant contribution to the social and political history of the industrial working class.