Trade unions in transformation

 -Trade Union-

However, trade unions are neither helpless nor passive! All trade unions do have power. Power comes in different forms and shapes. The concept of »power resources« distinguishes four types of power unions can draw from. The resolute collective action that mobilizes the associational power of workers is at the heart of labour agency. Labour power may also reside in its place in the production process, that is, unions may make use of their structural power to disrupt or withdraw labour. Thirdly, unions have power within institutional arrangements, including through labour laws and within tripartite bodies. Finally, unions can mobilize societal power by building alliances with social and political actors or by influencing public debate, for example when they successfully link their struggles to broader social norms and values.

References: full text

The role and challenges of Trade Unions in Post-Apartheid South Africa: the case of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union

 -Trade Union-

The role and challenges of Trade Unions in Post-Apartheid South Africa

The study also found that although the union has made significant gains in the workplace, it was still faced with many challenges. Some of the major issues mentioned include lack of transformation in certain sectors where the union organizes employees, casualization of jobs, outsourcing of services, deployment of union leaders outside the union, corruption in the workplace, threat posed by rival unions and many other issues.

The study concludes by arguing that the conditions are not yet conducive for trade unions to lead the struggle for a socialist transformation in South Africa. The researcher attributes this largely to the contradictions that continue to affect the alliance and the inability of unions to exert their influence in the alliance on major policy issues. The findings revealed that the alliance is characterized by the presence of two camps, whose goals and objectives are not the same. These divisions within the alliance work against any commitment that these leaders might have in the struggle. Finally, the study recommends that unions in South Africa will need to review their relationship with political parties if they are to realize their long term goals and objectives.

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What role for trade unions in future workplace relations?

 

Chris F. Wright, Research Fellow, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge

The role of trade unions has changed significantly over the past 30 years. Global competition, a growing trend in outsourcing, legal constraints, and employer sponsored forms of employee participation have combined in precipitating a significant fall in union membership and the coverage of collective bargaining. The coming decade promises to be equally challenging for the trade union movement. How they respond to the challenges and opportunities over the next few years will be crucial in determining their level of influence at work and beyond in the future. 

work and beyond in the future. looks at membership trends and examines how unions are shaping relations between workers and their employers in today’s workplaces, union responses to labour market fragmentation, and the strategies that unions are pursuing to revitalise membership and restore their influence in the workplace.

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Japanese trade unions and their future: Opportunities and challenges in an era of globalization

 -Trade Union-

Challenges to Japanese trade unions

In spite of significant changes in the economic environment, labour/management relations in Japan have not changed to any significant extent from the previous two decades. The basic characteristics of the company-based union, the seniority-based wage profile, the spring labour offensive that features annual wage talks early in the year, long-term employment and workforce adjustments organized primarily within the internal labour market all continue to this day. Any increase in labour disputes typical of a low-growth economy has not yet been observed. It can be said the Japanese trade union movement has made few changes in its traditional style and practice. One reason could be the fact that divisions in the post-war labour movement which persisted for years have at last been overcome and most unions have been consolidated into the 8-million strong Rengo. For the first time, trade unions have shaped themselves into a stable social force.

References: full text

Trade unions and the new challenges: One step forward and two steps backward

Trade union in India is a product of peculiarities of colonial period. The features of union movement were strengthened after Independence. The state-led industrialization model defined the role and place of unions and collective institutions. The state at once protected and regulated union movement. The social compact worked for the advantage of all the three actors. The institution of political unionism aided the working of the model. This model faced challenges and new developments took place even before the introduction of economic reforms in a big manner. The LPG model introduced new dimensions and challenges to the union movement. It struck at the roots of collective institutions. Unions had to reorganize its house, redefine its strategies and roles to sustain its position first and grow if possible. It demanded radical measures. The union movement experimented with a number of measures. But they are not sufficient. There sponse is painfully inadequate. The unions carry the old baggage and are rusty at times. They surely require rethinking and reform. 

Reference: click here

Industrial Disputes -

 

PERTIKAIAN INDUSTRI DAN TINDAKAN INDUSTRI

Pertikaian Industri S2 IRA

apa-apa pertikaian di antara majikan dengan pekerja yang berhubungan dengan pekerjaan atau bukan pekerjaan atausyarat-syarat pekerjaan atau peraturan kerja. Pertikaian disebabkan oleh :

1.Ketidakpuasan hati pekerja atau keputusan pengendalian grievance yang tidak adil

2.Perbezaan pendapat antara KS dan majikan terhadap terma dan syarat pekerjaan.

3. Perbezaan pendapat dan interpretasi terhadap CA atau award.

4. Award atau CA yang tidak dilaksanakan.

Geran Pembangunan Kesatuan Sekerja 2016

 Hanya 9 buah kesatuan telah berjaya menerima geran tersebut, antaranya:

KESATUAN KAKITANGAN LEMBAGA KEMAJUAN TANAH PERSEKUTUAN (FELDA) SABAH, 
KESATUAN KAKITANGAN LEMBAGA PERTUBUHAN PELADANG SABAH, 
KESATUAN PEKERJA-PEKERJA HOTEL DAN RESTORAN SABAH,
KESATUAN PEKERJA-PEKERJA SESB SDN.BHD. SABAH,
KESATUAN KETUA PEMBANTU TADBIR SEKOLAH SABAH, 
KESATUAN PEKERJA-PEKERJA TELEKOM SABAH, 
KESATUAN PEKERJA-PEKERJA SECURICOR SDN BHD, 
SABAH COMMERCIAL EMPLOYEES UNION DAN 
KESATUAN KAKITANGAN JABATAN CETAK KERAJAAN SABAH.

sumber:

https://www.facebook.com/Jabatan-Hal-Ehwal-Kesatuan-Sekerja-Sabah-216243761883800/

Processes of Decision Making in a Trade-Union Branch

 Whether the loci of power are to be found within the rank and file membership or the branch leadership in a British trade union are investigated by focussing upon the decision-making processes attendant upon four decisions. Comparison of the processes characterizing different decisions reveals significant shifts in the loci of power within the branch structure. Some decisions are shown to favour more bureaucratic handling with minimal membership participation, while others tend to draw authority away from the branch leadership. Tendencies to bureaucratic elitism are shown to be inhibited by (a) the leadership's dependence upon membership support for the implementation of many decisions, and (b) ambiguities and tensions in the formal organizational structure which are revealed under conditions of extreme pressure. Attention is also paid to the theoretical issue of whether decision type can be seen to affect organizational structure, or vice versa.

Reference:click here

CUEPACS SABAH

 Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Servises

KONGRES KESATUAN PEKERJA-PEKERJA DI DALAM PERKHIDMATAN AWAM.

Kesatuan ini dianggotai oleh beberapa kesatuan sekerja di Sabah. Antaranya ialah:

1) Kesatuan Perkhidmatan Perubatan Sabah (Sabah Medical Services Union).
2) Kesatuan Sekerja Kastam diRaja Sabah (KESKES)
3) Kesatuan Penolong Pegawai Kesihatan Persekitaran Sabah (KPPKPS)
4) Kesatuan Juruteknik JKR Sabah.
5) Kesatuan Pekerja pekerja Jabatan Air Sabah.
6) Kesatuan Pekerja pekerja Jabatan Pertanian Sabah.
7) Kesatuan Guru Guru Kerajaan Negeri Sabah (KGKS).
8) Kesatuan Pekerja pekerja Keretapi Negeri Sabah.

Union Voice 

Finally there are two important institutional considerations that have been raised

by our discussion. First, there is the apparent sea change in the effect of British unions on

economic outcomes (including macro outcomes). If the U.S. union voice literature was

christened in optimism, the opposite is true of the corresponding British research. Over

time, however, the disadvantages of British unionism have dissipated – some would say

have even disappeared. It is conventional to attribute this favorable development in large

part to legislative changes that attacked union immunities or legal privileges. These

changes were accompanied by increased competition, both domestic and international.

The suggestion is that institutional change/adversity and competition may be the

handmaiden of innovations in union effects. Second, there is some evidence from

Germany that it may be possible partly to decouple production from distribution issues at

the workplace given an appropriate structure of collective bargaining, here the dual

system of industrial relations. At issue of course is the portability of institutions if not

economic forces

 Union Power

Undoubtedly, unions and parties have greatly contributed to strengthening labour vis-à-vis

capital in many situations. But the conceptualisation of the PRA has the problematic

consequence that any strategy of unions and parties where stated aims are achieved can be

declared a successful exercise of workers’ power – no matter what the effects are of this strategy

on workers as a class. Sectionalism and collusion with management or with pro-business

governments on the side of unions as well as accommodating strategies on the side of labour

parties have delivered, in certain cases, some benefits for the rank-and-file of the organisations in

question. However, they usually have extremely divisive effects on workers in society as a whole,

thus weakening the overall position of labour. Furthermore, unions – in particular in countries in

the Global South with huge informal sectors – often struggle to reach beyond very narrow

constituencies. In these settings, union strategies may be geared to a small minority of workers

and obstruct working-class formation in the sense of a process in which the collective agency of

workers as a class and an antagonist of capital is strengthened. Finally, there is the persistent issue

of union and party-political corruption, which contributes greatly to turning workers away from

Undoubtedly, unions and parties have greatly contributed to strengthening labour vis-à-vis

capital in many situations. But the conceptualisation of the PRA has the problematic

consequence that any strategy of unions and parties where stated aims are achieved can be

declared a successful exercise of workers’ power – no matter what the effects are of this strategy

on workers as a class. Sectionalism and collusion with management or with pro-business

governments on the side of unions as well as accommodating strategies on the side of labour

parties have delivered, in certain cases, some benefits for the rank-and-file of the organisations in

question. However, they usually have extremely divisive effects on workers in society as a whole,

thus weakening the overall position of labour. Furthermore, unions – in particular in countries in

the Global South with huge informal sectors – often struggle to reach beyond very narrow

constituencies. In these settings, union strategies may be geared to a small minority of workers

and obstruct working-class formation in the sense of a process in which the collective agency of

workers as a class and an antagonist of capital is strengthened. Finally, there is the persistent issue

of union and party-political corruption, which contributes greatly to turning workers away from

Undoubtedly, unions and parties have greatly contributed to strengthening labour vis-à-vis

capital in many situations. But the conceptualisation of the PRA has the problematic

consequence that any strategy of unions and parties where stated aims are achieved can be

declared a successful exercise of workers’ power – no matter what the effects are of this strategy

on workers as a class. Sectionalism and collusion with management or with pro-business

governments on the side of unions as well as accommodating strategies on the side of labour

parties have delivered, in certain cases, some benefits for the rank-and-file of the organisations in

question. However, they usually have extremely divisive effects on workers in society as a whole,

thus weakening the overall position of labour. Furthermore, unions – in particular in countries in

the Global South with huge informal sectors – often struggle to reach beyond very narrow

constituencies. In these settings, union strategies may be geared to a small minority of workers

and obstruct working-class formation in the sense of a process in which the collective agency of

workers as a class and an antagonist of capital is strengthened. Finally, there is the persistent issue

of union and party-political corruption, which contributes greatly to turning workers away from

 

The Issue of Union Power

The issue of union power never seems to be far from the centre of political debate and, indeed, during the last year, its prominence would seem to be more marked than usual. For example, the Social Contract and the Concordat between the previous Labour Government and the TUC have been used as illustrations of the way in which union power was influencing and, to a large extent, determining national policy over a wide range of subjects. The familiar cartoon of James Callaghan asking the advice of Jack Jones and Moss Evans bore witness to this. Similarly, industrial democracy—principally the idea of workers on the Board—has been regarded by many industrialists as a basic attack upon the traditions of private enterprise and a way in which trade unions will infiltrate the decision‐making processes within companies

Reference: Marchington, M. (1979). The issue of Union Power. Employee Relations, Vol, 1 No 4. pp 9-7.

 Union- The state of workplace union reps organisation in Britain today

Finally we can consider the potential for rebuilding the strength of workplace union reps’ organisation. In 2007 a National Shop Stewards Network was initiated by the RMT with the aim of attempting to revitalise the unions at the grassroots and building a fighting trade union movement. Lively national conferences of hundreds of workplace reps/activists, and a number of regional meetings, have been held, and there has been limited support generated for disputes. But the problem such an initiative has faced is that unlike the massive expansion of the shop stewards’ movement in the 1970s which was based on rising trade union struggle and political radicalisation, the current relatively low level of strike activity inevitably places a material limitation on what can be achieved. Thus the two crucial basic, albeit often ignored, ingredients for the rebuilding of a strong workplace union reps’ movement are struggle and politics.

Reference: click here

Understanding Union Power: Resources and Capabilities for Renewing Union Capacity

Power is at the core of current debates over the future of trade unionism. This article provides a framework to assess the power resources and strategic capabilities central to union capacity building. We identify four key power resources: internal solidarity; network embeddedness; narrative resources that frame understandings and union actions; and infrastructural resources (material, human, processes, policies and programmes). Resources alone are not enough; unions must also be capable of using them. We identify four strategic capabilities: intermediating between contending interests to foster collaborative action and to activate networks; framing; articulating actions over time and space; and learning. Much experimentation and research on the interactions between these resources and capabilities in particular contexts is required to advance our understanding of the renewal of union power

Click here: full text

The consequences of trade union power erosion

 TRADE UNION - 

The micro- and macroeconomic effects of the declining power of trade unions have been hotly debated by economists and policymakers. Nevertheless, the empirical evidence shows that the impact of the decline on economic aggregates and firm performance is not an overwhelming cause for concern. However, the association of declining union power with rising earnings inequality and a loss of direct communication between workers and firms is potentially more worrisome. This in turn raises the questions of how supportive contemporary unionism is of wage solidarity, and whether the depiction of the nonunion workplace as an authoritarian “bleak house” is more caricature than reality

Full Report:click here

As can be seen from the table, the proportions differ across countries. For instance, in Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Sweden, unions lost most members because of disappearing jobs in industry. The opposite is true for most other countries. In Australia and Canada, unions declined in industry despite job growth. In the United States, union decline is hardly the result of fewer jobs in industry, but rather the result of the de-unionization of industry. Restructuring within manufacturing (from heavy to light industry, for instance) and the relocation of factories to Southern states with ‘right-to-work’ legislation, which prohibits employers from collecting union dues for workers under collective agreements, appear to have played a bigger role than the decline of manufacturing jobs.

Reference: full text

TRADE UNIONS IN THE BALANCE

 Decline of jobs or unions?

How much of union decline is caused by the disappearance of highly unionized jobs in industry (mining, manufacturing, utilities and construction) and how much is the result of fewer workers joining the unions? To answer that question, we must take a counterfactual approach and estimate the number of union members manufacturing and mining would have had in 2016 if union density rates had stayed the same since 1980. Table 2 shows this for 18 of the advanced industrial OECD member countries for which we have the necessary longitudinal membership and employment data. Over a period of nearly four decades, the unions in these countries, taken together, lost 20 million members in industry (column 2, last row), of which one third (6.7 million, 33 per cent) due to disappearing jobs (column 3) and two-thirds (13.3 million, 67 per cent) due to fewer members (in the jobs that remained) (column 4), for instance because fewer young workers in industrial jobs join the unions

As can be seen from the table, the proportions differ across countries. For instance, in Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Sweden, unions lost most members because of disappearing jobs in industry. The opposite is true for most other countries. In Australia and Canada, unions declined in industry despite job growth. In the United States, union decline is hardly the result of fewer jobs in industry, but rather the result of the de-unionization of industry. Restructuring within manufacturing (from heavy to light industry, for instance) and the relocation of factories to Southern states with ‘right-to-work’ legislation, which prohibits employers from collecting union dues for workers under collective agreements, appear to have played a bigger role than the decline of manufacturing jobs. 

Full text: click here

A trade union priority

New technology. 

Technological innovation alone poses an immense challenge. Trade unions have always encouraged transfer of technology to promote employment and capacity building. At the same time, however, they have drawn attention to its negative effects, especially where it is introduced with little regard for social and environmental impacts. A massive increase in musculoskeletal disorders is evidence of an unsustainable approach to technology, as are the threats to farmers and communities posed by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and biotechnology, especially in developing countries where the most disastrous effects are likely

Reference: click here

HAK PEKERJA

 Hak Pekerja Perbincangan konsep 'hak pekerja' banyak berganamg kepada takrif yang diberikan oleh ILO iaitu, hak berpersatuan, hak berorganisasi dan menjalankan perundingan bersama, mengharamkan segala bentuk kerja secara paksaan, had umur minimum bagi pekerja kanak-kanak, dan mewujudkan keadaan kerja yang berpatutan, termasuk menetapkan kadarupah yang minimum, menetapkan jam bekerja maksimum, memastikan keselematan di tempat kerja dan memberikan perhatian kepada keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerja. Tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa, piawai ILO ini perlu dipatuhi oleh semua negara. Konsep 'hak pekerja' yang telah digariskan oleh Pertubuhan Buruh Antarabangsa atau International Labour Organisation (ILO) terkandung dalam Konvensyen ILO Bilangan 87 dan Konvensyen ILO Bilangan 98. Kedua-dua konvensyen berkenaan menjadi teras kepada sistem perhubungan perusahaan. Konvensyen 87 yang dipersetujui sejak tahun 1948 adalah yang berkaitan dengan kebebasan berpersatuan, dan perlindungan hak berorganisasi. Dalam Konvensyen ILO 87. 

TEKS PENUH: TEKAN SINI