Cut Loose in the Caribbean: Neoliberalism and the Demise of the Commonwealth Sugar Trade

This article focuses on the way the Anglophone Caribbean succumbed to the overhaul of the European Union sugar trade and how these countries have attempted to restructure their economies in its wake. We show how the protagonists of reform gave a sense of inevitability to the demise of the Commonwealth trade system and conveyed (unrealistic) strategies for how this should be managed for the benefit of the Caribbean. In this way we detail the hegemony of neoliberalism in contemporary trade politics and the need for alternative strategies for rural development in the Caribbean region.     

A nexus between labour movement and labour movement: the Knights of Labor and the financial side of global labour history

The rise of global and transnational labour history has revolutionised the study of working-class movements and individuals and the global forces that shaped them. Some of the more mundane considerations of these movements, however, have so far been neglected in this rapidly growing field. One of the most important of these considerations was money, or in other words the financial affairs of transnational movements such as trade unions and political parties. This article is a call to write the financial side of global labour history. It focuses on a global working-class movement that is itself often neglected in the historical literature, the Knights of Labor, and their outposts in Britain and Ireland. It examines the history of the British and Irish Knights through the prism of their financial history, so far as we can reconstruct it from the scanty sources that are available. This article argues that their financial ties with the United States and a series of embezzlement cases became major causes of their decline and, ultimately, their dissolution. Finally, this article draws conclusions from the financial misadventures of the British and Irish Knights of Labor that are relevant to the study of other international working-class movements and to the writing of global labour history in general.     

从“争福利”到“谋福利”：中国工会福利工作的演变及创新

工会与福利之间具有先天的、主动的联系,工会与福利联系的结果就是工会福利,就是工会的福利工作。我国工会福利工作的演变历程呈现为争取福利、包揽福利、发放福利、谋取福利四个阶段。工会传统福利工作具有历史的和现实的意义,但也存在着以偏盖全、以点代面、越俎代庖等诸多问题,产生了不同层面的危害。今后工会福利工作的重点在于"谋福利",工会要更好地为职工谋福利,需要在思想上实现从发福利到谋福利的观念转变,在实践上搞清楚谋什么福利、为谁谋福利、怎样谋福利等关键问题。     

中日贸易的新发展、新变化及问题

新世纪以来,中日贸易规模进一步扩大,贸易商品结构也发生了新的变化。由于中国经济崛起而日本经济低迷,中国在日本对外贸易中的地位迅速提高,而日本在中国对外贸易中的地位却明显下降。中日贸易发展对中日两国经济都产生了积极的作用和影响,也存在一些不可忽视的问题,必须认真对待,尽快解决。     

以科学发展观为统领不断推进工会工作创新发展

中关村科技园区海淀园是中国第一个高新技术产业开发区，汇聚了15000多家高新技术企业。目前园区基层工会组织多是小而分散，工会会员呈高学历、高素质、高收入群体特点。工会工作按照传统的组织体系和工作方式难以有效运作。因此，园区各级工会必须适应形势，在基层建设和工作领域方面走向社会化、网络化和开放化，从实际出发，建立健全工会组织体系，以科学发展观为统领，以维权为重点，围绕园区的稳定和发展，发挥工会组织的积极作用。     

The Africa-China relationship: challenges and opportunities

The dramatic growth in the relationship between Africa and China is one of the great stories of the twenty-first century, part of the profound transformations taking place in the global political economy. It has been greeted with excitement, consternation, and confusion. To its cheerleaders, it represents the enduring partnership between Africa and China, spawned by the historical affinities of struggles against Western imperialism and humanistic aspirations for development. To its critics, it is reminiscent of European colonisation a century earlier, in which Africa serves as a cheap source of raw materials, a lucrative export market for Chinese manufactured goods, and an outlet for its surplus capital. Rather than a development partner, some see China as Africa's biggest development competitor, whose explosive growth and insatiable quest for global markets threatens Africa's industrialisation and competitiveness. This paper examines the factors behind the development of Africa-China relations, especially its economic magnitude, and the challenges and opportunities it offers both regions.     

论我国历史上对性交易的法律管制

我国法律对性交易的打击虽非常严厉,但性交易却屡禁不止,并愈演愈烈.可见,我国现行的严禁主义存在问题.纵观我国历史大多数时期,性交易是合法的,并且性交易合法时期往往是社会环境比较宽松的时期,也往往是历史上的“盛世”之时.而性交易非法时期也往往是法律环境比较苛刻、社会控制比较严厉的时期.这样的时期里对性交易的管制往往就是严刑峻法,通过这样的管制也往往造成统治者不愿意看到的结果,并且最终都会放开对性交易的管制.     

资本主义国家工会危机对中国工会的警示

目前资本主义国家工会正在遭遇重大危机,大部分资本主义国家的工会组织建制率出现了持续下降的趋势.与之相反,中国工会“一枝独秀”,工会组织建制率和职工入会率不断攀升.但是中国工会不能在数字面前盲目乐观、高枕无忧,应警惕资本主义国家工会危机,强化中国工会群众性基础.资本主义国家工会危机与其工会自身存在的问题密切相关,尤其是与其不断弱化的群众基础有直接关系.中国工人阶级呈现“国际重组”的队伍特征、中国工人阶级的“自觉、自为”意识逐渐觉醒、中国工人阶级组织化呈现多条途径,工人阶级出现的这些特征变化都要求中国工会强化群众性基础.扩大工会会员范围、切实履行工会维权职责、创新工会服务职工的活动内容是强化中国工会群众性基础的路径策略.     

“互联网 +”语境下工会服务职工的路径探析

探索"互联网+"语境下工会服务职工群众的路径有助于进一步明晰新业态、新关系下工会的工作机制和服务方式,增强组织凝聚力,实现工作创新突破,更好地开展服务。面对当前工会运用"互联网+"服务职工存在整体规划模糊、信息共享不足、数据价值发挥不够充分等问题,建立权威的、全国工会层面的工会移动互联网服务平台,可以实现信息互通、资源共享,促进社会合作,为职工提供更精准、更深层、更长远的服务。该平台应以移动互联网应用程序即App为主,侧重服务、互动、综合信息的分析与发布,其建设需要工会工作人员和技术人员共同深度参与、持续完善。     

关于天津港劳务员工管理工作的调研报告

天津港集团公司有劳务员工20938名，与正式员工实行管理上一样规范、素质上一样提高、政治上一样关心、权益上一样维护、生活上一样照顾。在港口不断发展和劳务员工队伍不断壮大形势下，其管理也存在一些问题，今后应在增强工会干部做好这方面工作自觉性、落实《集团公司工会加强劳务员工工会组织建设的管理办法（试行）》、建立劳务员工思想动态预警机制、增强劳务员工维权机制建设力度、加强对劳务员工的人文关怀等方面努力加以解决。