This new history of British trade unionism offers the most concise and up-to-date account of 300 years of trade union development, from the earliest documented attempts at collective action by working people in the eighteenth century through to the very different world of 'New Unionism' and 'New Labour'.

Trade Unions and Workplace Training examines the changing role of trade unions in the provision of vocational education, workplace training and skill development. It reflects upon: the role that unions have played in the reform of vocational education and training systems; the nature of union involvement in consultative mechanisms at a national and industry level; the nature of union involvement in skill formation at the workplace; and the development of mechanisms for the articulation of employee voice in the design, delivery and assessment of vocational training. The book provides a collection of studies of Canada, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Norway by leading researchers in the field. Distinctive, accessible and original, all the chapters are written in a style that illustrates the relevance of academic debates and research data to practice and the book includes a number of the chapters written by trade union practitioners.

This book presents for the first time a careful selection of David Teece's most important writings on the theory of the firm and its implications for economic performance. After a biographical introduction which sheds new light on his research programme, the book focuses on key areas, including:- the nature of the firm and dynamic capabilities diversification and vertical integration internal organization and economic performance international scope, alliances and joint ventures The volume also includes an extensive introduction which provides a biographical insight into the development of the author's career and his continuing research into the areas the articles in this volume exlore. David Teece's style of writing is succinct and logical and the material presented in this volume, and its companion Strategy, Technology and Public Policy, will be of great interest to economists, managers, consultants and policy makers.

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This book examines countries that have tried, with varying degrees of success, to use legislative strategies to encourage and support collective bargaining, including Australia's Fair Work Act. It is the first major study of the operation and impact of the new collective bargaining framework introduced under the Fair Work Act, combining theoretical and practical perspectives. In addition, a number of comparative pieces provide rich insights into the Australian legislation's adaptation of concepts from overseas collective bargaining systems - including good faith bargaining, and majority employee support as the basis for establishing bargaining rights. Contributors to this volume are all leading labor law, industrial relations, and human resource management scholars from Australia, and from Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

Reflecting the increased attention to gender and women in the field of employment relations, there is now a growing international literature on women and trade unions. The interest in women as trade unionists arises partly from the fact that women comprise 40 percent of trade union membership in the USA and over 50 percent in the UK. Further, despite considerable overall union membership decline in both the UK and USA, more women than men are joining unions in both countries. Recognition of the importance of women to the survival and revival of trade union movements has in many cases produced an unprecedented commitment to equality and inclusion at the highest level. Yet the challenge is to ensure that this commitment is translated to action and improves the experience of women in their union and in their workplace. Gender and Leadership in Trade Unions explores and evaluates the similarities and differences in equality strategies pursued by unions in the US and the UK. It assesses the conditions experienced by women union members and how these impact on their leadership, both potential and actual. Women have made gains in both countries within union leadership and decision-making structures, however, climbing the ladder to leadership positions remains far from a smooth process. In the trade union context, women face multiple barriers that resonate with the barriers facing aspiring women leaders in other organizational contexts, including the gendered division of domestic work; the organization and nature of women's work; the organization and nature of trade union work and the masculine culture of trade unions. The discussion of women trade union leaders is situated more broadly within debates on governance, leadership and democracy within social justice activism.

Only by adopting a new style of high-performance union management can labor recover and revitalize itself, says Thomas A. Hannigan, a 40-year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. His book offers a practical, common sense understanding of how a successful management works and how it can be used in day-to-day union activities. For the first time, he links the nine basic union functions to the four basic management functions. Written specifically for union officers and upcoming leaders, the book provides them with a way to translate material customarily directed to business executives into language that labor people can understand and put to immediate use. The book also offers a potent alternative to today's slice and slash, centralize and downsize union style of management. In addition, it offers a blueprint for building new unions and making labor more effective, not only for its own benefit, but also for the benefit of American society. An important, readable, unique text for people at almost all levels of union administration and industrial relations. Students will be exposed to an entirely new dimension of the American labor movement.

Hannigan redefines unions to focus attention on the interests of workers in the workplace, and on the importance of providing a sense of community between members of unions, between unions and other unions, and between unions and government. He maintains that a style of democratic, participative management will breathe new life into unions, and that a better understanding of management responsibilities by union leaders is essential for labor's survival as an effective representative of workers in the new American workplace. High-performance union managers will be able to explore, develop and use new technologies, and to build strong, autonomous, democratic, value-based, and mission-driven locals. "Managing TomorroW's High-Performance Unions" includes innovative concepts such as the membership and leadership depth of participation models. It also proposes the creation of a new AFL-CIO executive board to lead organized labor into the 21st century, an institute for managing labor organizations, social research departments, lifetime membership, expanded membership bases, and the intense use of what Hannigan calls enabling technologies. He sees adminstrative and support centers as practical alternatives to union mergers.

The McDonald's Corporation is not only the largest system-wide sales service in the world, it is a phenomenon in its own right, and is now recognized as the most famous brand in the world. By providing a detailed analysis of the extent to which the McDonald's Corporation adapts or imposes its labour relations policies in Europe, this volume represents a real life case study revealing the interaction between a global multi-national enterprise and the regulatory systems of a number of different European countries. Key features include:

* an overview of the McDonald's Corporation's development and structure
* an analysis of its corporate culture and the issues of franchising
* an examination of key union strategies, including systems of co-determination, consultation and collective-bargaining
* a chapter dealing specifically with European legislation, in particular the McDonald's European Works Council
The author systematically analyzes the conflict between the McDonald's Corporation and the industrial relations systems of the European countries within which it operates, and exposes this conflict as an 'unequal struggle' between economic liberalism and collectivism.

The International Workingmen's Association was the prototype of all organizations of the Labor movement and the 150th anniversary of its birth (1864-2014) offers an important opportunity to rediscover its history and learn from its legacy. The International helped workers to grasp that the emancipation of labour could not be won in a single country but was a global objective. It also spread an awareness in their ranks that they had to achieve the goal themselves, through their own capacity for organization, rather than by delegating it to some other force; and that it was essential to overcome the capitalist system itself, since improvements within it, though necessary to pursue, would not eliminate exploitation and social injustice. This book reconsider the main issues broached or advanced by the International - such as labor rights, critiques of capitalism and the search for international solidarity - in light of present-day concerns. With the recent crisis of capitalism, that has sharpened more than before the division between capital and labor, the political legacy of the organization founded in London in 1864 has regained profound relevance, and its lessons are today more timely than ever. This book was published as a special issue of Socialism and Democracy.

The trade union movement internationally is finding itself peripheralized by a series of mutually-reinforcing processes: the on-going world economic crisis; the uneven transition from an industrial to an information and service capitalism; the aggressive policies of neo-liberalism; the collapse of Communism and Radical Nationalism; the decline of the globalization that undermines the nation-state to which union hopes have long been pinned. The editors argue that this crisis provides an opportunity for labor to recover or reinvent itself.

An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library. The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, the first national movement of the American working class, began in Philadelphia in 1869. Millions of Americans, white and black, men and women, became Knights between that date and 1917. But the Knights also spread beyond the borders of the United States and even beyond North America. Knights Across the Atlantic tells for the first time the full story of the Knights of Labor in Britain and Ireland, where they operated between 1883 and the end of the century. British and Irish Knights drew on the resources of their vast Order to establish a chain of branches through England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland that numbered more than 10,000 members at its peak. They drew on the fraternal ritual, industrial tactics, organisational models, and political concerns of their American Order and interpreted them in British and Irish conditions. They faced many of the same enemies, including hostile employers and rival trade unions. Unlike their American counterparts they organised only a handful of women at most. But British and Irish Knights left a profound imprint on subsequent British labour history. They helped inspire the British "New Unionists" of the 1890s. They influenced the movement for working-class politics, independent of Liberals and Conservatives alike, that soon led to the British Labour Party. Knights Across the Atlantic brings all these themes together. It provides new insights into relationships between class and gender, and places the Knights of Labor squarely at the heart of British and Irish as well as American history at the end of the nineteenth century.

This book discusses the transformation of labour movements and trade unionism in post-liberalised India. It looks at emerging collectivism, both in formal and informal sectors, and relates it to changing political and industrial relations. Bringing together studies of resistance, struggles and new forms of negotiations from different industries -agriculture, fisheries, brick kiln, plantations, IT, domestic workers, shipbreakers, sex workers, and miners -this book exposes the myths, realities and challenges that the present generation of workers in India face and struggle with. With contributions from leading thinkers in the field, the work deepens the understanding of the current Indian labour spaces, possibilities for contestations and articulations from below. The volume will be useful to students and researchers of labour studies, economics, sociology, development studies and public policy. It will be an invaluable resource to those engaged with industrial relations, trade unions, human rights, social exclusion as well as labour organisations and research institutions.

Richard B. Freeman and James L. Medoff's now classic 1984 book What Do Unions Do? stimulated an enormous theoretical and empirical literature on the economic impact of trade unions. Trade unions continue to be a significant feature of many labor markets, particularly in developing countries, and issues of labor market regulations and labor institutions remain critically important to researchers and policy makers. The relations between unions and management can range between cooperation and conflict; unions have powerful offsetting wage and non-wage effects that economists and other social scientists have long debated. Do the benefits of unionism exceed the costs to the economy and society writ large, or do the costs exceed the benefits? The Economics of Trade Unions offers the first comprehensive review, analysis and evaluation of the empirical literature on the microeconomic effects of trade unions using the tools of meta-regression analysis to identify and quantify the economic impact of trade unions, as well as to correct research design faults, the effects of selection bias and model misspecification. This volume makes use of a unique dataset of hundreds of empirical studies and their reported estimates of the microeconomic impact of trade unions. Written by three authors who have been at the forefront of this research field (including the co-author of the original volume, What Do Unions Do?), this book offers an overview of a subject that is of huge importance to scholars of labor economics, industrial and employee relations, and human resource management, as well as those with an interest in meta-analysis.

Examining the experiences of leadership among trade unionists in a range of unions and labor movements around the world, this volume addresses perspectives of women and men from a range of identities such as race/ethnicity, sexuality, and age. It analyses existing models of leadership in various political organizational forms, especially trade unions, but also including business and management approaches, leadership forms which arise from fields such as community, pedagogy, and the third sector. This book analyzes and critiques concepts, expectations, and experiences of union leaders and leadership in labor organizations, while comparing gender and cultural perspectives. Contributors to the volume draw on empirical research to identify key ideas, beliefs and experiences which are critical to achieving change, setting up resistance, and transforming the inertia of traditionalism.

The number of studies discussing the labour relationship under industrial capitalism is overwhelming, but the literature on labour and its concrete, day-today shop-floor practices is much less abundant. How and by whom workers were supervised is one of the neglected aspects in the history of labour relations. After an insightful introductory chapter discussing the different forms of supervision in the United States, Britain, France and Germany before the First World War, the case studies in this volume focus on foremen: vital, but largely unstudied figures in the history of factory life, labour relations and management. Illustrating the multiple faces of the foreman, the contributors examine the artisanal sector, textiles, mining, printing, engineering, heavy manufacturing and car industries in Western Europe and show that the foreman was a multifaceted character who possessed technical expertise in addition to educational and organizational qualities. This comprehensive volume is further enhanced by comparisons with practices of supervision in Russia, Japan, China and India.

"At the Point of Production", a compilation of contributions to "New Solutions Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health Policy", locates workers' health and safety problems in the broad political economy. It argues that without a deep understanding of the social/political/economic context of particular industries or workplaces, we cannot fully grasp the process of recognition and control of industrial hazards. The contributors report on a series of case studies, all of which used the 'point of production' framework to investigate particular problems or industries.The focus of the first section is on globalization, the impact of privatization on the health and safety of workers and communities in Brazil and Mexico. The next section addresses environmental issues: the unintended effects of environmental regulation on workers, the situation of hazardous waste workers and emergency responders, the implementation of toxics use reduction, and the role of workers in pollution prevention. In the third section the contributors explore the intersection of labor relations with gender relations at the point of production. A final chapter deals with some of the practical issues involved in conducting occupational health research in the contested terrain of the workplace.

Much of the debate on the future of work has focused on responses to technological trends in the Global North, with little evidence on how these trends are impacting work and workers in the Global South. Drawing on a rich selection of ethnographic studies of precarious work in Africa, this innovative book discusses how globalisation and digitalisation are drivers for structural change and examines their implications for labour. Bringing together global labour studies and inequality studies, it explores the role of digital technology in new business models, and ways in which digitalisation can be harnessed for counter mobilisation by the new worker.

Immigration has been a contentious issue for decades, but in the twenty-first century it has moved to center stage, propelled by an immigrant threat narrative that blames foreign-born workers, and especially the undocumented, for the collapsing living standards of American workers. According to that narrative, if immigration were summarily curtailed, border security established, and ""illegal aliens"" removed, the American Dream would be restored. In this book, Ruth Milkman demonstrates that immigration is not the cause of economic precarity and growing inequality, as Trump and other promoters of the immigrant threat narrative claim. Rather, the influx of low-wage immigrants since the 1970s was a consequence of concerted employer efforts to weaken labor unions, along with neoliberal policies fostering outsourcing, deregulation, and skyrocketing inequality. These dynamics have remained largely invisible to the public. The justifiable anger of US-born workers whose jobs have been eliminated or degraded has been tragically misdirected, with even some liberal voices recently advocating immigration restriction. This provocative book argues that progressives should instead challenge right-wing populism, redirecting workers' anger toward employers and political elites, demanding upgraded jobs for foreign-born and US-born workers alike, along with public policies to reduce inequality.

Available for the first time in paperback, this book explores the role of trade unions as products of, and agents for, democracy. The crisis facing established democratic institutions in the advanced societies has been widely noted. In response, there has been increasing interest in the role of civil society actors, ranging from established socio-political collectives to new grassroots organisations. On the one hand, conventional wisdom holds that organised labour in the advanced societies has remained locked in a cycle of political marginalisation and decline. On the other hand, unions continue to represent a significant component of society within most industrialised countries. Indeed, in many cases, they have demonstrated a capacity for effective renewal and for co-ordinating their efforts with other civil society actors as part and parcel of the current groudswell of public opinion against the neo-liberal orthodoxy. The book brings together a distinguished panel of leading and emerging scholars in the field, and provides a critical assessment of the current role of unions in society, their capacity to impact on state policies in such a manner as to ensure greater accountability and fairness, and the nature and extent of internal representative democracy within the labour movement. This volume will be of interest to students and academics in the fields of industrial relations, critical management studies, political studies and sociology, as well as trade union and community activists. -- .

In this book, first published in 1975, the author examines the role of women in the workforce. Despite representing a rapidly increasing section of the workforce, why are women still overwhelmingly confined to unskilled jobs? Why do they hold such a tiny proportion of managerial and professional posts? In answering these vital questions Ross Davies shows how women's economic roles in pre-industrial society were modified and distorted by industrialisation; how this legacy of exploitation has affected contemporary attitudes among both men and women; and how the present situation should be seen and assessed in its proper perspective.

Unions in America provides a concise and current introduction to what America's labor unions do and why they do it. In this engaging text, author Gary Chaison portrays America's unions as complex, self-governing organizations that are struggling to regain their lost membership, bargaining power, and political influence. This accessible textbook offers an impartial overview of American unions that ranges from the struggle for recognition from employers in their earliest years to their present-day difficulties. Key Features: Provides a clear and unbiased view of unions, to present readers with an impartial perspective Offers readers a current assessment of unions with recent examples and descriptions of emerging or continuing trends in organizing, collective bargaining, and political action Provides a concise overview of unions that introduces readers to fundamental union activities without overwhelming them with too many details about alternative process, outcomes, and legal issues Covers a wide-range of important topics such as the evolution of unions; union structure and growth; union government and administration; the union as bargaining agent; union political activities; proposals for union revival, and insight on the future of unions Unions in America is an excellent text for undergraduate and graduate students studying unions and labor relations in a variety of fields including Industrial Relations, Human Resource Management, Economics, and Sociology. It will also be a valuable resource for workers, managers, or anyone else looking for a foundation for understanding the state of unions in America.

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are regarded by many as vital role players in improving the lives of the poor and bringing about social justice. This book includes contributions from NGO workers, academics and social movement activists in order to provide varying perspectives on what possible role NGOs can rightly play in popular struggles. Consequently, the book does not have a single message about what role NGOs ought to play in struggles for social justice, but rather invites careful reflection and critical discussion on their role both in South Africa and further afield.

First published in 1995, this book provides a readable survey of the three major forms of working-class self-help in nineteenth century England: the trade unions, the friendly societies and the co-operative movement. It is accessible to an introductory student readership as well as providing a critical appraisal of all types and forms of self-help available to the industrial working-class. Unlike former studies, the author examines trade unionism alongside friendly societies and the co-operative movement and shows how each developed in response to the challenge of industrialization and the demands of urban industrial life. The strengths and limitations of self-help approaches are assessed and wider issues of working-class culture and identity are examined. This book will be of interest to those studying the history of social welfare, class and industrial Britain.

This authoritative history offers a major assessment of British industrial relations between the outbreak of the Second World War and the advent of Margaret Thatcher's government in 1979.Written by a group of leading specialists, this outstanding book examines the role of the government, the unions and employers, the influence of social welfare considerations on industrial relations policies and the patterns of strikes. Case studies focus on industrial relations in the docks, the motor manufacturing industry and road haulage between 1945 and 1979. A History of British Industrial Relations, 1939-1979 is both an up-to-date survey and a substantial addition to the literature which includes several chapters based upon new research. As well as revealing the complexities of British industrial relations in these four decades, the book also includes consideration of the extent to which, if at all, problems of industrial relations adversely affected the performance of the British economy.