Reimbursement offsets for medical care or services. Final rule

This document amends the regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) concerning the reimbursement of medical care and services delivered to veterans for nonservice-connected conditions. This rule applies in situations where third-party payers are required to reimburse VA for costs related to care provided by VA to a veteran covered under the third-party payer's plan. This final rule adds a new section barring offsets by third-party payers and requires that third-party payers submit a request for a refund for claims when there is an alleged overpayment.     

REFLECTIONS ON EU INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW: AN INTROSPECTIVE VIEW

This article presents three main arguments: First, shared competence exists between the national and supranational levels within the European Union (EU) because EU Member States do not trust the European Commission in the external relations law of the EU. Second, the EU will have greater bargaining power in international negotiations if it speaks in a single voice. Within the EU-27, we have compatible values, overlapping interests, shared goals, as well as economic, social and political ties. Therefore, there is a presumption of collective action in the EU’s external relations. However, EU Member States disagree on many issues before they start negotiations, while trying to define a mission together as partners of the European project. Third, Member States confer specific negotiating powers on the EU only when it is in their own national interest to have a common European position on international negotiations.     

Technology transfer negotiations: Determinants of MNEs' bargaining power

Technology is, perhaps, the most desirable attribute of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to the less developed countries (LDCs) and constitutes their primary source of bargaining power. Similarly, the attractiveness of a market to the MNEs constitutes LDCs' principal source of negotiating strength in dealing with MNEs on such matters as the conditions for investment and technology transfer. What is unclear is how these independent variables are most successfully utilized. The aim of this paper is to identify and examine the bargaining power variables and their level of influence in technology transfer negotiations. The result shows that though technology is always a source of negotiating strength to MNEs, locational attractiveness may not always be a significant source of bargaining power to LDCs in all negotiations with multinational enterprises.     

Regulating hospital labor costs: a case study in the politics of state rate commissions

With the advent of various attempts to control hospital costs by direct state regulation, labor input costs have become a target of particular attention. This focus is due in part to the unique discretion administrators can exercise over labor factors, and in part to the large absolute part of hospital resources devoted to labor costs, conservatively estimated to be about 55 percent of total budget. This paper examines the impact of state efforts in prospectively setting rates on collective bargaining outcomes in the hospital sector. Specifically, bargaining in New York, Maryland and Connecticut is examined. The paper concludes that government attempts at controlling costs have, in all cases, required the regulatory bodies to consciously exert influence on the collective bargaining process. Further, while such attempts seem to be within the paradigm of multilateral bargaining, there are significant distinguishing features in the role hospital regulatory bodies play in the bargaining process. These variations from the multilateral paradigm may impede the long run ability of rate review efforts to control bargaining outcomes with respect to wages.     

论我国罢工立法与罢工转型的关系

我国现实型罢工具有劳资性罢工与政治性罢工混合、权利争议罢工与利益争议罢工混合、群体性罢工、谈判前罢工、非法罢工等特点。鉴于现实型罢工的诸多弊端和罢工在市场经济中的不可避免性,应当积极推动现实型罢工转向目标型罢工,即分别采取措施,促使混合型罢工转向劳资性罢工和利益争议罢工、群体性罢工转向团体性罢工、谈判前罢工转向谈判中罢工。此种转型亦即对现实型罢工的预防。与罢工转型同步且引导罢工转型的罢工立法,其策略要点有:罢工立法的样本以目标型罢工为主;灵活处理集体合同立法与罢工立法的关系;妥当安排集体(群体)劳动争议调解、仲裁立法与罢工立法的关系;坚持罢工保障与罢工规制并重。     

Seeking common ground: a history of labor and Blue Cross.

In recent years, voluntary health insurance costs have become a major source of friction in labor-management negotiations. What was once a "fringe" has led to job actions, strikes, and intensive bargaining. We examine the history of labor's participation in New York Blue Cross from the 1930s to the recent past and show that labor's participation in the plan was crucial to Blue Cross's success in the plan's early decades. By the late 1950s, serious tensions developed over rate increases and the participation of labor in Blue Cross governance. Ultimately, the issue was one of the control over what was provided by the plans and who would pay for the costs of care. We posit that labor was never able to achieve an important role in the control of the third-party payer, and in the antilabor environment of the 1980s this proved detrimental to labor's interests.     

加拿大集体谈判法律制度研究

经过60余载的发展,加拿大的集体谈判制度日趋完善,在维护产业和平中发挥了重要的作用。加拿大集体谈判制度围绕谈判主体资格的确定、谈判过程的规制、谈判僵局的处理以及谈判的监管机制进行构建,在充分尊重谈判双方自主性的前提下,也重视发挥政府的调控作用,以确保集体谈判被控制在法治的框架内。随着集体谈判制度的发展,加拿大劳资关系中的合作、磋商、沟通逐渐成为一种常态,劳动者的磋商权逐渐获得承认。     

What Space for Unions on the Floor of Rights? Trade Unions and the Enforcement of Statutory Individual Employment Rights

The recent development of statutory individual employment rightsalters the balance between legal regulation and collective bargaining.Union influence in the workplace has declined and workers aremore reliant on individualised procedures culminating in claimsto employment tribunals. There is potential, though, for unionsto play a role in enforcing statutory employment rights, todemonstrate the efficacy of representation to potential membersand to augment collective bargaining agenda. Union engagementwith the law is explored in this article through detailed casestudies conducted in two unions. Findings highlight sustainedcommitment to strategic legal challenges, but also some substantialobstacles to the broader use of the law to mobilise workersand potential members.     

Retiree health and welfare benefits: controversy over their duration

As the cost of providing health-care benefits skyrockets, employers have begun to reduce or even to terminate health-care and life insurance benefits for retirees, often with little awareness of the possible repercussions. Retiree groups and unions have countered these actions with claims based on such theories as the "status benefits" argument--that retirement benefits should be viewed as earned compensation for years of service--or the "vested rights" view--that retirement rights may not be altered without the pensioner's consent. Crucial to these conflicts are the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. Case law indicates that employers can never feel themselves fully protected even if the agreement contains provisions explicitly stating the benefits' scope and duration. The authors demonstrate this point in their review of recent retiree benefits cases. They then explore in detail the problem of contract and document ambiguity, and offer guidelines for ascertaining intent. They conclude with a discussion of strategies for litigating retiree benefits cases.     

The influence of collective bargaining on large police agency salaries: 1990–2000

Collective bargaining between police management and unions is an important process that determines many aspects of police work, particularly the monetary benefits for line officers like salary and fringe benefits. Working with limited budgets, police administrators who engage in collective bargaining are obligated to negotiate with union representatives over wage benefits while attempting to maintain adequate financial resources toward other police operations. Though students of policing learn that police unions try very hard to increase economic reward for their members there is limited research on the effectiveness of their efforts. Since economic benefits are the primary focus of police unions, it is important; therefore, to evaluate the impact that collective bargaining has on salaries earned by police personnel. This study examines this issue by combining four waves of the Law Enforcement Management and Administration Statistics for the period 1990–2000. Pooled time series analyses reveal that large organizations that engaged in collective bargaining had higher minimum wages for officers during the period. As predicted, collective bargaining did not affect minimum chief’s salaries.     

Fairness in Bargaining

This paper uses historical and contemporary philosophical discussions of fairness to present a structural approach to the definition of fairness. After establishing a set of standards (not a specific definition), we assess the impact of fairness in negotiations and bargaining. Our analysis concludes that truly fair behavior is absent in bargaining and negotiations. Instead, behaviors that have been called just can also be characterized as self-interested. Our review suggests that the term fairness has been used rather loosely, as a convenient label or as a more palatable alternative to self-interested explanations for an individual's choices. For reasons of both parsimony and accuracy, we recommend that the self-interest of the actors be carefully considered before calling their bargaining behavior fair.     

The prospects for multifacility bargaining units in the health-care industry.

The 1974 amendments of the National Labor Relations Act expanded regulation of the health-care industry. Subsequently, as health-care providers have diversified their institutions, the scope of employees' bargaining units has become a confusing issue in labor relations. In the following article, the author reviews relevant post-1974 cases and examines apparently conflicting presumptions about the appropriateness of single- and multifacility bargaining units. The author predicts that, in view of the new "disparity-in-interests" standard for determining units, the future interplay of policies, presumptions, and the new standard will favor multifacility bargaining units--if labor and management appreciate their respective opportunities.     

我国集体协商制度实证主义建构的法哲学反思

我国集体协商制度之所以未能实现和谐劳动关系的规制功能,主要原因之一,在于其制度建构的实证主义哲学观使实现集体行动合法化、体现劳资自治的"争议权"在制度构造上缺乏合法地位。虽然"争议权"的行使可能引发法的正当性与安定性之间的矛盾,但是,基于自然法的理论分析,"争议权"的行使与维持劳动关系稳定的目标并不冲突。在追求劳动关系正义的基本宗旨下,通过拓宽集体交涉的法律途径可实现争议权在实证法上的合法地位。     

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993--Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor. Interim final rule; request for comments

This document contains interim regulations implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 called ("FMLA" or "the Act"). The Act is effective on August 5, 1993, six months from the date of its enactment. Where a collective bargaining agreement is in effect on August 5, 1993, the Act is effective when the collective bargaining agreement terminates or February 5, 1994, whichever is earlier. The purpose of these regulations is to set forth the requirements of Title I and Title IV of the Act. Title I applies to covered private employers and public agencies (except for most of the Federal Government, which is governed by Title II). Title IV of the Act primarily concerns the relationship between FMLA and other laws, as well as collective bargaining agreements and other employer plans and programs.     

The impact of environmental interest groups in international negotiations: Do ENGOs induce stronger environmental commitments?

Although there is a substantial amount of research that studies how environmental interest groups/non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) influence international environmental negotiations, both the theoretical work and the empirical evidence were not yet able to answer comprehensively if this makes it more likely that states, in turn, commit to stronger environmental agreements. This article seeks to contribute to clarifying this. First, the authors argue that a higher degree of ENGO access to official negotiations and a larger number of ENGOs actively participating during bargaining processes can facilitate outcomes of environmental negotiations. The authors then analyze quantitative data on international environmental regimes and their members’ commitment levels from 1946 to 1998 and obtain robust support for their claims. However, the rationale on the introduced explanatory factors also implies that the impact of ENGO access on states’ commitment levels should vary conditional on the number of ENGOs actively participating. The paper finds evidence for such an interaction, although the results go against our expectations.     

论工资集体协商中的政府责任

工资集体协商中政府责任担当的合法性依据何在，具有怎样的法律属性和内容，边界在哪里，运作原则是什么，这一系列法理追问在当下国内学术研讨中尚未得到充分回应。从本体意义上讲，工资集体协商过程中私人利益与公共利益、个人利益与社会利益、社会利益与公共利益的二元分化、冲突与平衡，为政府责任担当提供了法理基础；从内在属性上看，通过工资集体协商表现出来的集体缔约权具有消极权利和积极权利的双重属性，与此相对应的政府责任便具有消极责任与积极责任的双重内容；从契约自由的历史演进来看，作为工资集体协商结果的集体合同可以被认为是对普通劳动合同完成否定之否定后的产物，政府的介入在二次否定中发挥了必要的创新功能，但必须严格限定在契约自由的法权要求范围内；从实现路径上看，政府在工资集体协商中的责任担当应当遵循比例原则，在有为与无为、目的与手段、成本与效益、刚性与弹性的二元架构中具体展开。     

Africa in the global climate change negotiations

The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) has become a much more significant bargaining coalition in the global climate change negotiations. It has been participating more proactively and on a much more significant scale, and, as a result, it has had a greater impact on bargaining outcomes, notably in Nairobi, Copenhagen and Durban. Yet, at present, the group remains poorly understood by both scholars and policymakers. Compared to other groups in the climate negotiations, such as the Group of 77 and Alliance of Small Island States, it has received relatively little attention. This paper fills this gap by tracking the evolution of the AGN over the course of the climate change negotiations. In the early years after the Earth Summit, it shows that the AGN faced tremendous difficulties pursing regional objectives effectively, largely due to a number of “internal” barriers to participation, which compounded the structural barriers that the continent faced by making it difficult to use “low-power” negotiating strategies such as coalition building, agenda-setting and persuasion. However, in recent years, the group has become much more proactive as a result of greater access to material, ideational and institutional resources. These have relieved, somewhat, the internal barriers that the group faced, making it possible for the AGN to negotiate much more confidently and effectively than before.     

The Debate over Police Reform: Examining Minority Support for Citizen Oversight and Resistance by Police Unions

Researchers have argued that the creation of citizen oversight often involves debate between those that support its use and the police which do not. Police unions, for example, have a long history of objecting to the creation of oversight, especially during collective bargaining. Minority demands for police reform, on the other hand, can lend support for its implementation, especially after a highly publicized case of misconduct between the police and minority citizens. Using a retrospective approach, this study examined the extent to which these opposing forces influenced the existence of oversight. Findings suggest that departments that engage in collective bargaining were no more likely to use an oversight agency than departments that did not engage in collective bargaining. Cities with large percentages of African Americans, however, were more likely to have an existing oversight agency.     

The power of legislative hot air: Informal rules and the enlargement debate in the European parliament

Integration theorists disagree over the extent to which the European Parliament can substantially influence policy‐making processes in the absence of formal agenda‐setting power. This article discusses the impact the European Parliament had on the current enlargement negotiations. Although the legislature does not yet possess the means to alter the stance of the European Council, it has tried to reverse the status quo through the use of its informal bargaining power. We argue based on a principal‐agent framework of analysis that the effectiveness of this strategy is largely a consequence of the ability to speak with one voice. The article evaluates various mechanisms to help the European Parliament build a unified position. It refutes socialisation and specialisation theories, showing that party group pressure towards a unified position overrode national concerns and constituted a necessary precondition in the development of an integrationist attitude. A statistical analysis of the pre‐bargaining positions inside the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee largely confirms the insights from qualitative interviews with participants and observers.     

Procedural Justice in Negotiation: Procedural Fairness, Outcome Acceptance, and Integrative Potential

Two correlational studies test the hypothesis that procedural justice, or fairness of process, plays a role in acceptance of agreements reached through bilateral negotiation. Both studies test the relationship between the fairness of the process used to resolve a dispute, objective monetary outcomes, subjective assessments of outcome favorability, and subjective assessments of outcome fairness. Additionally, the second study tests the hypothesis that negotiations characterized by greater procedural justice result in more potential for integrative bargaining. The results suggest that procedural justice encourages the acceptance of negotiated agreements, as well as leading to the opportunity for increased integrative bargaining.