During the Cold War, American labour organizations were at the centre of the battle for the hearts and minds of working people. At a time when trade unions were a substantial force in both American and European politics, the fiercely anti-communist American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) set a strong example for labour organizations overseas. The AFL–CIO cooperated closely with the US government on foreign policy and enjoyed an intimate, if sometimes strained, relationship with the CIA. The activities of its international staff, and especially the often secretive work of Jay Lovestone and Irving Brown—whose biographies read like characters plucked from a Le Carré novel—exerted a major influence on relationships in Europe and beyond.Having mastered the enormous volume of correspondence and other records generated by staffers Lovestone and Brown, Carew presents a lively and clear account of what has largely been an unknown dimension of the Cold War. In impressive detail, Carew maps the international programs of the AFL–CIO during the Cold War and its relations with labour organizations abroad, in addition to providing a summary of the labour situation of a dozen or more countries including Finland, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Greece, and India. American Labour’s Cold War Abroad reveals how the Cold War compelled trade unionists to reflect on the role of unions in a free society. Yet there was to be no meeting of minds on this, and at the end of the 1960s the AFL–CIO broke with the mainstream of the international labour movement to pursue its own crusade against communism.

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The Cold War produced in many countries a form of political repression and societal paranoia which often infected governmental and civic institutions. In the West, the driving catalyst for the phenomenon was anti-communism. While much has been written on the post-war American red scare commonly known as McCarthyism, the domestic British response to the ‘red menace’ during the early Cold War has until now received little attention. Anti-Communism in Britain During the Early Cold War is the first book to examine how British Cold War anti-communism transpired and manifested as McCarthyism raged across the Atlantic. Drawing from a wealth of archival material, this book demonstrates that while policymakers and politicians in Britain sought to differentiate their anti-communist initiatives from the ‘witch hunt hysteria’ occurring in the United States, they were often keen to conduct – albeit less publicly – their own hunts as well. Through analysing how domestic anti-communism exhibited itself in state policies, political rhetoric, party politics and the trade union movement, it argues that an overreaction to the communist threat occurred. In striking detail, this book describes a nation at war with a specific political ideology and its willingness to use a variety of measures to disrupt or eradicate its influence.

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In the next decades the working world will change fundamentally. What powers affect the labor market? What changes are to be expected? And what does that mean for those involved in labor politics? This conclusive report by the Commission "Work in the Future" – with members from the fields of science, businesses and unions as well as practitioners – presents a diagnosis of the current situation and provides a perspective of the future of work. Particularly, however, the commission offers food for thought on the question how society can master the fast changes so that work in the digital economy guarantees the participation in society and more than mere livelihood.

Die Arbeitswelt wird sich in den kommenden Jahrzehnten fundamental verändern. Welche Kräfte wirken auf dem Arbeitsmarkt? Mit welchen Veränderungen ist zu rechnen? Und was bedeutet dies für die arbeitsmarktpolitischen Akteure? Dieser Abschlussbericht der Kommission »Arbeit der Zukunft« – mit Mitgliedern aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, Wirtschaft und Gewerkschaften – liefert eine Diagnose der aktuellen Lage und gibt einen Ausblick auf die Zukunft der Arbeit. Vor allem aber liefert die Kommission Denkanstöße dafür, wie die Gesellschaft den rasanten Wandel so meistern kann, dass Arbeit in der digitalen Ökonomie soziale Teilhabe und mehr als die bloße Existenzsicherung garantiert.

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The flooding and subsequent closure of Scotland’s last deep coal mine in 2002 brought a centuries long saga to an end. Villages and towns across the densely populated Central Belt owe their existence to coal mining’s expansion during the nineteenth century and its maturation in the twentieth. Colliery closures and job losses were not just experienced in economic terms: they had profound implications for what it meant to be a worker, a Scot and a resident of an industrial settlement. Coal Country presents the first book-length account of deindustrialization in the Scottish coalfields. It draws on archival research using records from UK government, the nationalized coal industry and trade unions, as well as the words and memories of former miners, their wives and children that were collected in an extensive oral history project. Deindustrialization progressed as a slow but powerful march across the second half of the twentieth century. In this book, big changes in cultural identities are explained as the outcome of long-term economic developments. The oral testimonies bring to life transformations in gender relations and distinct generational workplaces experiences. This book argues that major alterations to the politics of class and nationhood have their origins in deindustrialization. The adverse effects of UK government policy, and centralization in the nationalized coal industry, encouraged miners and their trade union to voice their grievances in the language of Scottish national sovereignty. These efforts established a distinctive Scottish national coalfield community and laid the foundations for a devolved Scottish Parliament. Coal Country explains the deep roots of economic changes and their political reverberations, which continue to be felt as we debate another major change in energy sources during the 2020s.

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This open access book investigates the role of collective bargaining in the gig economy. Despite the variety of situations covered by the term “gig economy”, collective agreements for employees and non-employees are being concluded in various countries, either at company or at branch level. Offline workers such as riders, food deliverers, drivers or providers of cleaning services are slowly gaining access to the series of negotiated rights that, in the past, were only available to employees. The chapters analyse recent high-profile decisions including Uber in France’s Court de Cassation, Glovo in the Spanish Supreme Court, and Uber in the UK Supreme Court. They evaluate the bargaining agents in different Member States of the EU, to determine whether established actors are participating in the dynamics of the gig economy or if they are being substituted, totally or partially, by new agents. Interesting best practices are drawn from the comparison, also as regards the contents of collective bargaining, raising awareness in those countries that are being left behind in the dynamics of the gig economy. The book collects the results of the COGENS (VS/2019/0084) research project, funded by the European Union, that gathered scholars and stakeholders from 17 countries. It will be an invaluable resource for scholars, trade unionists and policy makers. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

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In October 2005, Jason Foster, then a staff member of the Alberta Federation of Labour, was holding a picket line outside Lakeside Packers in Brooks, Alberta with the members of local 401. It was a first contract strike. And although the employees of the meat-packing plant—many of whom were immigrants and refugees—had chosen an unlikely partner in the United Food and Commercial Workers local, the newly formed alliance allowed the workers to stand their ground for a three-week strike that ended in the defeat of the notoriously anti-union company, Tyson Foods. It was but one example of a wide range of industries and occupations that local 401 organized over the last twenty years. In this study of UFCW 401, Foster investigates a union that has had remarkable success organizing a group of workers that North American unions often struggle to reach: immigrants, women, and youth. By examining not only the actions and behaviour of the local’s leadership and its members but also the narrative that accompanied the renewal of the union, Foster shows that both were essential components to legitimizing the leadership’s exercise of power and its unconventional organizing forces.

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The ability to innovate is a valuable asset for the IT industry. Special knowledge, farsightedness, problem-solving skills, productive collaboration and the willingness to think and act independently play a major role. In particular, the study examines small and medium-sized enterprises, the special focus they have on vocational learning and how they approach questions of continuing training in practice.

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Welchen Platz nehmen die Kämpfe von Gewerkschaften und anderen sozialen Bewegungen in der kollektiven Erinnerung ein? Wie ist es um deren Errungenschaften bestellt? Was stärkt die Werte sozialer Demokratie in der Erinnerungskultur? Die Beiträger*innen des Bandes bieten erstmals ausführliche Einblicke in die Erinnerungsgeschichte sozialer Kämpfe und Auseinandersetzungen um Gleichheit, Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit. An wen oder an was erinnert wurde, erweist sich dabei immer auch als Machtfrage, als Kampf um Inklusion und Exklusion. Dieser Band stellt somit nicht nur einen ersten Schritt auf dem Weg zu einer Erinnerungsgeschichte sozialer Demokratie dar, sondern leistet auch einen Beitrag zur politischen Debatte der Gegenwart.

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An exemplary study about the work and power of unions in the young Federal Republic of Germany.

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An exemplary study about the work and power of unions in the young Federal Republic of Germany.

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By examining the evolution of industrial relations institutions in the emerging economies of Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Turkey, the authors in this book assess the contribution of these institutions to inclusive development. Industrial Relations in Emerging Economies uses real-world examples to assess the relevance of the conceptual frameworks used to examine employment relations. The chapters focus on the evolution of industrial relations institutions and the role that these have played in periods of economic and political transition. They demonstrate that rather than acting as a constraint on development, trade unions can contribute to stability, security and equity. The contribution of industrial relations institutions to inclusive development nonetheless remains the subject of debate, viewed by some as increasingly irrelevant to the vast numbers of workers in the informal economy. The authors here, however, reveal a continuing demand for independent collective interest representation in labour relations, whether in the informal economy or in rapidly industrializing districts. This book will prove an interesting and stimulating read for students, academics and researchers in the fields of human resources, industrial relations, sociology and labour economics in addition to trade union researchers and policy-makers.

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This volume collects 12 essays on various aspects of politics, economics and law in republican Italy from the end of the Second World War to the early 1990s. In the first section, covering the period of post-war reconstruction, the contributions deal with women members of the Constituent Assembly, the debate on economic planning, and the downsizing of the federal Europe project. The following essays deal with the southern question, E. Mattei, the preparation of tax reform, wage demands in the 1970s and 1980s, and the attempts by E. Tarantelli and F. Vicarelli to propose an income policy. Finally, a number of legal and economic institutions are examined, such as ISTAT, the numerous interministerial committees and the various independent authorities through which the issue of economic democracy in a market economy system has been addressed.

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Internationale Arbeitnehmerrechte gewinnen durch die voranschreitende Globalisierung weiter an Bedeutung. Basierend auf Fallstudien und Experteninterviews diskutieren die Autorinnen und Autoren die UN-Leitprinzipien für Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte. Dabei stellen sie Anknüpfungspunkte für Gewerkschaften und Betriebsräte heraus und zeigen Strategien, Beteiligungsmöglichkeiten und Instrumente für die Sicherung von Arbeitnehmerrechten in Unternehmen weltweit auf.
This book is made open access as part of the Knowledge Unlatched KU Open Services

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Internationale Arbeitnehmerrechte gewinnen durch die voranschreitende Globalisierung weiter an Bedeutung. Basierend auf Fallstudien und Experteninterviews diskutieren die Autorinnen und Autoren die UN-Leitprinzipien für Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte. Dabei stellen sie Anknüpfungspunkte für Gewerkschaften und Betriebsräte heraus und zeigen Strategien, Beteiligungsmöglichkeiten und Instrumente für die Sicherung von Arbeitnehmerrechten in Unternehmen weltweit auf.
This book is made open access as part of the Knowledge Unlatched KU Open Services

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The IG Metall has put the topic of working time on the agenda: for more self-determination for the employees. In this book, actors present the course and outcome of the 2018 collective bargaining round in the metalworking and electronics industries and take a look at key elements of trade union action. Justice, autonomy, solidarity and power are at the center. They see the collective bargaining round as a practical prelude to a future debate on the role of trade unions, participation and participation in a society in transition.

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Depois de um mítico encontro no Tejo com vários internacionalistas espanhóis, em 1872 José Fontana e Antero de Quental estiveram envolvidos na fundação de uma federação de associações de resistência que organizaram o primeiro surto grevista em Portugal - a então designada Associação Fraternidade Operária. Este livro nasceu da necessidade de fazer um balanço historiográfico pelos 150 anos da criação deste movimento e de retomar a nível historiográfico as sinergias ibéricas que estiveram presentes nos movimentos operários e populares do século XIX. Ele é o resultado de três encontros promovidos através de uma parceria entre o Instituto de História Contemporânea (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST), a Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, a Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Famalicão e a Câmara Municipal de Lagoa, no quadro do Programa de História na Esfera Pública do IHC.

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One of the main challenges in labour relations in Europe is the ongoing decentralisation of collective bargaining from national and sectoral levels to company levels. Decentralisation might be an answer to business needs in competitiveness and organisational flexibility. However, it risks erosion of collective bargaining structures, more inequality in employment conditions and fragmentation in trade unions’ powers. Based on recent qualitative research, this book shows high varieties across European countries and economic sectors in degrees, forms and impacts of decentralisation. The authors explore, in interdisciplinary and multi-level perspectives, continuity and change in regulating and practicing collective bargaining in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden. In cross-country comparisons, company case studies in manufacturing and retail show the divergent effects of national regimes and social partners’ power resources on trade unions’ strategies and influence in company bargaining.

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This volume focuses on describing the social dialogue system in organizations from an Human Resources Management perspective. Based on the NEIRE model for industrial relations, key factors are determined contributing to creative social dialogue in European organizations. Actual data from surveys and interviews from more than 700 CEO and HR managers in eleven European countries give insights in the experiences with and expectations of employers of social dialogue. The volume offers a comprehensive introduction to the historical context and current situation in social dialogue in these countries. This context helps to understand the current major challenges in each country when it comes to a vital social dialogue. Using good practices from many organizations, this book offers an agenda for innovative and cooperative social dialogue in organizations.

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Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and other private governance instruments (e.g., Fair Trade, Forest Stewardship Council, Fair Wear Foundation, GLOBALGAP) are increasingly regulating global production processes and economic activities. VSS verify the compliance of products or production processes with sustainability standards. The importance of voluntary sustainability standards is now widely recognized. After being operational for more than two decades, they have established themselves as private governance instruments. This recognition is also exemplified by their integration in public regulatory approaches. Governments and international organizations are partnering with voluntary sustainability standards to pursue sustainable development policies. We witness the integration of VSS in the regulatory approaches of local and national governments in countries around the world, the integration of VSS in trade policies, the emergence of public–private initiatives to govern global supply chains, and the inclusion of private initiatives in experimentalist governance regimes. This Special Issue seeks to bring together research on the interface between private and public governance. We welcome contributions which analyze specific case studies on the emergence and development of these private–public interactions, the design of public–private governance, the effectiveness of these governance arrangements, and critical perspectives on the possibilities and limitations of such public–private forms of governance. We welcome multi-disciplinary perspectives including contributions from economics, political science, law, sociology, geography, and anthropology. Papers selected for this Special Issue are subject to a peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

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An impressive biography marked by political struggle and persecution, spanning from the German Empire to the Federal Republic. Siegfried Aufhäuser is regarded as the most prominent figure in the independent white-collar workers’ movement. He was directly involved, often in a prominent role, in pivotal political events in 20th-century German history. For instance, during the revolution of 1918–19, when a central committee of workers’ councils was formed under his leadership, or in the call for a general strike against the Kapp Putsch. As a member of the Reichstag and a leading trade union representative, he also participated passionately in the debates on possible defensive measures during the so-called ‘Prussian Coup’ and on the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor. In May 1933, Siegfried Aufhäuser was forced to flee the German Reich. After periods in exile in Paris, Prague, London and New York, he returned to West Berlin in 1951. His perspective as a left-wing Social Democrat, a political exile and a Jewish returnee bears witness to the diverse trajectories of German democracy and the Jewish history of the labour movement. Christian Zech traces the various facets of Siegfried Aufhäuser’s political life, thereby opening up new perspectives on the trade union organisation of white-collar workers, the history of social democracy and approaches to the democratisation of the economy.

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From the late nineteenth century on, and throughout the twentieth century, more or less sizeable segments of the labour and trade union movement repeatedly engaged in a range of mobilizations that went beyond the legal framework and claimed diverse forms of "radical" and violent direct action, in various political contexts and in the name of different perspectives and ideologies. This multilingual and multidisciplinary collective work addresses several such experiences and several case studies of intense social conflicts that challenged the established order in the Americas as well as in Europe. Our aim is to contribute to a global history of contemporary trade unionism, and particularly to renewing the historiography of direct action on both sides of the Atlantic.

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In the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, German trade unions maintained social funds for their members. This "union-owned social insurance" provided millions of workers with additional benefits beyond the state social insurance system in cases of unemployment, illness, old age, or retirement. Supporting members financially became a central task of the trade unions. From a historical perspective, this development reveals much about how the self-conception of trade unions evolved and continues to change today. The history also illustrates how the concept of "solidarity"—a key political guiding principle to this day—was institutionally reinforced through the support system.

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The purpose of this book is to identify changes in industrial relations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, with particular emphasis on the area of representative employee participation. The structure of the work was subordinated to the implementation of the above objective. Chapter 1 discusses the most important stages of the process of creating a European dimension of industrial relations and presents the main models of industrial relations existing in Europe. An analysis of selected components of labor relations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) before and several years after accession to the EU was also carried out. Chapter 2 is devoted to the two main forms of representative employee participation in the CEE countries. The first part of this chapter presents the difficult process of "formation" of works councils in Central and Eastern Europe and the principles of operation of these institutions of employee participation. The next part of the chapter, based on the results of research conducted as part of the NCN project, presents the main sources of weakness of works councils in Polish enterprises. The last part of this chapter focuses on discussing employee representation in corporate governance bodies, both at the national and European level. Chapter 3 of the book analyzes the impact of the following three phenomena on industrial relations: globalization, the 2008 economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

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A searing novel of social realism, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle follows the fortunes of Jurgis Rudkus, an immigrant who finds in the stockyards of turn-of-the-century Chicago a ruthless system that degrades and impoverishes him, and an industry whose filthy practices contaminate the meat it processes. From the stench of the killing-beds to the horrors of the fertilizer-works, the appalling conditions in which Jurgis works are described in intense detail by an author bent on social reform. So powerful was the book's message that it caught the eye of President Theodore Roosevelt and led to changes to the food hygiene laws. In his Introduction to this new edition, Russ Castronovo highlights the aesthetic concerns that were central to Sinclair's aspirations, examining the relationship between history and historical fiction, and between the documentary impulse and literary narrative. As he examines the book's disputed status as novel (it is propaganda or literature?), he reveals why Sinclair's message-driven fiction has relevance to literary and historical matters today, now more than a hundred years after the novel first appeared in print.

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This open access book constitutes an ethnographic mosaic which depicts the contextual complexities of the life and work of seafarers who are employed in the international merchant cargo fleet. The collection is based upon the observations and interviews of researchers in multiple disciplines. It is woven together to offer a richly detailed insight into the ways in which a complex global industry operates internationally. The book covers issues to do with career decisions and recruitment, gender, life and work on board multinational vessels, health and safety issues, the regulation of the industry, shipboard roles and role conflict, and the representation of workers. It will be of considerable interest to all students globally who are studying for professional seafaring qualifications, to graduate students studying for masters courses in ship and port management, and to welfare professionals and policy makers. It is of special interest to those connected to the shipping industry who specialize in issues relating to 'the human element' and will serve as a paradigm defining text in this area.

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This open access book discusses transnational trade union cooperation in Europe – its forms, focuses, conditions, and obstacles. It provides an overview of existing trade union cooperation and includes detailed analyses of two specific questions: the debates on statutory minimum wages and the Posting of Workers Directive. Drawing on empirical research, the authors take a comparative approach, considering national industrial relations regimes as well as individual sectors. With the ongoing processes of integration in Europe, it has become increasingly important for unions to cooperate with regard to employers and EU institutions. The authors illustrate the interconnections between national and European industrial relations, and explore the process of European integration in labour markets. Illustrating the potential for and difficulties involved in deepening trade union cooperation across Europe, this work is a vital read for trade unionists, researchers and students interested in European trade unionism and labour markets.

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Over a million people in the UK work in call centres, and the phrase has become synonymous with low-paid and high stress work, dictatorial supervisors and an enforced dearth of union organisation. However, rarely does the public have access to the true picture of what goes on in these institutions. For Working the Phones, Jamie Woodcock worked undercover in a call centre to gather insights into the everyday experiences of call centre workers. He shows how this work has become emblematic of the shift towards a post-industrial service economy, and all the issues that this produces, such as the destruction of a unionised work force, isolation and alienation, loss of agency and, ominously, the proliferation of surveillance and control which affects mental and physical well being of the workers.

*Shortlisted for the BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed Award for Ethnography 2017*

Print editions available from Pluto Press.

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Over a million people in the UK work in call centres, and the phrase has become synonymous with low-paid and high stress work, dictatorial supervisors and an enforced dearth of union organisation. However, rarely does the public have access to the true picture of what goes on in these institutions. For Working the Phones, Jamie Woodcock worked undercover in a call centre to gather insights into the everyday experiences of call centre workers. He shows how this work has become emblematic of the shift towards a post-industrial service economy, and all the issues that this produces, such as the destruction of a unionised work force, isolation and alienation, loss of agency and, ominously, the proliferation of surveillance and control which affects mental and physical well being of the workers.

*Shortlisted for the BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed Award for Ethnography 2017*

Print editions available from Pluto Press.

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Laborers have long since disappeared from the political stage – seemingly inevitably as a result of structural change. However, if one understands ‘laborers’ as a resource of social knowledge, actors such as trade unionists, filmmakers, and scholars come into view. In the 1970s and 1980s, they creatively used the potential of the ‘laborers’ only to give up this resource deliberately thereafter. What moved them to do so?

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