The case of the two-percent assessment and the question of union susceptibility

In 1934, the Chicago Mafia, or Outfit, arranged to have a mob associate, George Browne, elected as the national president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes (IATSE). Subsequently Outfit leaders used Browne to perpetrate a massive embezzlement scheme from this union. For 18 months IATSE members paid a two-percent assessment from their wages into a special fund. That money was later siphoned out in the form of cash payments that went mainly to Browne, a co-conspirator, and the Outfit. The amount taken would be equivalent to about twenty million dollars today. The episode previewed the schemes that organized crime groups later used to mulct union benefit funds from the Teamsters and other labor organizations in the post-World War II era. Such schemes depended upon the wide scale complacency of the leadership within the affected national unions. This article uses the history of IATSE’s two-percent assessment to analyze the reasons behind that complacency. In this way it addresses the question of why unions might be more susceptible to organized crime manipulation than other institutions.     

Does Authoritarianism Breed Corruption? Reconsidering the Relationship Between Authoritarian Governance and Corrupt Exchanges in Bureaucracies

This article advocates for ethnographic and historical study of the political roots of corruption. Focusing on informal economies of Belarusian universities, it reexamines two theoretical propositions about corruption in autocracies. The first proposition is that authoritarianism breeds bureaucratic corruption; the second is that autocrats grant disloyal subjects corruption opportunities in exchange for political compliance. Using qualitative data, the author finds that autocracies can generate favorable as well as unfavorable preconditions for bureaucratic corruption. The author argues that lenient autocratic governance, characterized by organizational decoupling, creates favorable conditions for bureaucratic corruption. In contrast, consolidated autocracy, defined by rigid organizational controls, is unfavorable to such corruption. The author also concludes that in autocracies, disloyal populations may be cut off from rather than granted opportunities for bureaucratic corruption. These findings suggest that the relationship between autocratic governance and corruption is more complex than current studies are able to reveal due to their methodological limitations.     

Enforcing compliance with international environmental agreements using a deposit-refund system

Whether nations are able to cooperatively manage shared resources through international environmental agreements (IEAs) depends on whether compliance with voluntary commitments can be enforced. Given that nations are sovereign enforcing compliance with IEAs cannot rely on the presence of a strong sanctioning body. Nonetheless, enforcement provisions must be effective in the sense that they will deter non-compliance and credible in the sense that they will actually be imposed. In this paper, we address the problem of enforcing compliance with IEAs by examining one promising mechanism—a deposit-refund system—that exhibits the necessary features for effective enforcement. We analyze a simple model to demonstrate the desirable properties of the mechanism and then consider the effects of imperfect monitoring, uncertainty, partial participation and reputation on the effectiveness of a deposit-refund system.     

Policing the industrial reserve army: An international study

Over the past three decades, the industrialized world has witnessed four resilient social trends: (1) the consistent erosion of union-membership; (2) an increase in income polarization and inequality; (3) a dramatic resurgence in popular protest; and (4) a steady rise in public and private policing employment. In this paper, we examine the relationship between these trends by theorizing and operationalizing the notion of the “industrial reserve army” and a series of related tenets in order to conduct an international (N = 45), empirical test of a nascent Marxian model of policing. By treating total policing employment as an empirical barometer of bourgeois insecurity we find that this insecurity is conditioned by two elements of Marxian political economy: (1) relative deprivation (income inequality) and (2) the rise of an industrial reserve army (manufacturing employment and unemployment). Second, while surplus value and labour militancy (strikes and lockouts per 100,000 population) rise along with union membership, the presence of higher rates of unionization appears to ameliorate the need for more policing in all but post-USSR countries. While unions assist in checking the immiseration of workers through labour actions, union membership is nonetheless inversely correlated to policing employment, giving credence to the Marxian idea that while unions help mitigate against the exploitation workers, they also act as “lieutenants of capital,” performing an essential policing function under capitalism.     

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE RISK AMONG VICTIMS OF YOUTH VIOLENCE: ARE EARLY UNIONS BAD,BENEFICIAL, OR BENIGN?

Youth violent victimization (YVV) is a risk factor for precocious exits from adolescence via early coresidential union formation. It remains unclear, however, whether these early unions 1) are associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, 2) interrupt victim continuity or victim–offender overlap through protective and prosocial bonds, or 3) are inconsequential. By using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 11,928; 18–34 years of age), we examine competing hypotheses for the effect of early union timing among victims of youth violence (n = 2,479)—differentiating across victimization only, perpetration only, and mutually combative relationships and considering variation by gender. The results from multinomial logistic regression models indicate that YVV increases the risk of IPV victimization in first unions, regardless of union timing; the null effect of timing indicates that delaying union formation would not reduce youth victims’ increased risk of continued victimization. Gender‐stratified analyses reveal that earlier unions can protect women against IPV perpetration, but this is partly the result of an increased risk of IPV victimization. The findings suggest that YVV has significant transformative consequences, leading to subsequent victimization by coresidential partners, and this association might be exacerbated among female victims who form early unions. We conclude by discussing directions for future research.     

Legal audits and investigations: a key component of healthcare corporate compliance programs

In today's complex legal environment, healthcare organizations are increasingly implementing voluntary compliance programs as a means of avoiding severe penalties for violations of the law. The Office of the Inspector General has identified legal audits and investigations as key components of effective compliance programs. The author demonstrates the applicability of legal audits and investigations to healthcare organizations by examining the audit and investigation process from beginning to end. The author also examines the role of attorneys in legal audits and investigations, and explains how information communicated from the healthcare organization to its attorneys can be protected from disclosure. As this Article indicates, the monetary and human resource costs of such compliance audits and investigations are insignificant when compared to the potential costs of defending a legal action or paying monetary penalties.     

The Boycott of the Law and the Law of the Boycott: Law, Labour, and Politics in British Columbia

This article uses a critical theoryllegal mobilization perspective to study the 1987–92 trade union boycott of the British Columbia labour law. The problems encountered establishing a total boycott–one that would eschew all contact with the state–and the subsequent modification of the parameters of the boycott through a selective reliance on the law offer an important case from which to learn more about the role of law and legal rights in highly regulated organizations and how collectives mobilize the law. The author argues that legal rights are important to unions because of their ability to mediate the complexity of labour relations through a decentralization of authority. At the same time, mobilization of the law for this purpose accentuates localized identities and unequal resources that operate in tension with a boycott ethos, necessitating a deliberative politics to legitimize the law. By exploring the tension between these two forms of mobilization around law–one to reduce complexity, another to legitimize broad collective norms–the author analyzes and draws some conclusions about the reproduction of social unionism in British Columbia.     

From Marx to Market: Lawyers,European Law,and the Contentious Transformation of the Port of Genoa

What happens when international courts are asked to tackle local political controversies and their judgments subsequently spark contentious resistance? In the European Union (EU), scholars have posited that the politicization of the often‐liberalizing rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) provokes Euroscepticism and noncompliance. In contrast, I argue that contentious politics may also produce permissive conditions for activist “Eurolawyers” to promote awareness of EU law and mobilize support for liberalization. To unpack this claim, I conduct an intensive case study of perhaps the most explosive controversy in Italy to generate litigation before the ECJ: The 1991 “Port of Genoa” case, where the public monopoly rights of a centuries‐old dockworkers' union were challenged. Leveraging interviews, court and newspaper records, public opinion data, and litigation statistics, I trace how—despite dockworkers' vigorous resistance—a pair of entrepreneurial lawyers liberalized Italy's largest port by combining strategic litigation with a public relations campaign to mobilize a compliance constituency. I conclude with insights the case study offers into the contemporary politics of transnational governance.     

How has the private sector reacted to the international standard against transnational bribery? Evidence from corporate anticorruption compliance programs in Argentina

In the last 20 years, the risks of bribing foreign public officials have greatly increased for multinational companies based in OECD countries and those listed on their stock markets. Generally, these risks can be mitigated through corporate compliance programs. Such compliance programs are directed at reducing bribery and other unethical behavior in the private sector. This paper assesses how the international standard against transnational bribery has impacted anticorruption compliance programs in Argentina. It first traces the origins and logics behind corporate anticorruption compliance. It later describes the international standard against transnational bribery and, in the light of information collected through 16 in-depth interviews and a survey conducted among 70 companies based in Argentina, it assesses how corporate anticorruption programs work in this country. After distinguishing between “paper”, “cheap-talk” ideal-type programs and sound, truly committed ideal-type policies, it suggests that anticorruption compliance in Argentina is placed closer to the former than the latter, and it offers possible reasons for such findings.     

International human rights for mentally ill persons: the Ontario experience

This article is part of a working project which assesses Ontario's mental health legislation and practice vis-à-vis international human rights standards. The paper focuses on procedural safeguards provided by the major international human rights instruments in the field of mental health law such as the UN Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness (MI Principles) and the European Convention on Human Rights as interpreted by the European Human Rights Court. In analysing Ontario's compliance with international standards, the paper will explore some problems arising from the implementation of the legislation with which the author is familiar with from his experience as counsel for the Consent and Capacity Board. The paper aims to generate discussion for potential reforms in domestic legal systems and to provide a methodology to be used as a tool to assess similar mental health legislation in other local contexts.     

Organisational restructuring/downsizing, OHS regulation and worker health and wellbeing

A growing body of international evidence indicates that downsizing and related forms of organisational restructuring are having profound adverse effects on worker safety, health and wellbeing. In particular, evidence links downsizing to poorer mental health outcomes, including bullying and other forms of occupational violence. In Australia federal, state and territory occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation imposes obligations on employers who make changes to the workplace or work processes to identify hazards, undertake risk assessment, consult with employee representatives and take appropriate steps to manage any significant hazards that are identified, including psychosocial hazards. This study shows that while Australian regulators are aware of the problems posed by downsizing they have made only modest efforts to pursue compliance with legislative duties, producing some guidance material that refers to restructuring and workloads and launching a small number of prosecutions. At the same time, there is an increased willingness to address staffing levels and other impacts of downsizing (like working in isolation). Employer and union responses were also examined. The article concludes by identifying a number of initiatives that would enable regulators, unions and employers to address the problems posed by downsizing more effectively.     

The Fight to Globalize Labor: Understanding the Role of Activists in the Spread of International Norms

International relations scholars have traditionally focused on state-centered accounts of international legal norm development between nations while sociolegal scholars have focused on Weberian notions of occupational authority. This study advances a constructivist sociolegal approach emphasizing activist action as playing a unique role in shaping international norms. Specifically, this study investigates labor activists' intervention in U.S. bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) to examine why labor activists chose to initiate FTA disputes as a social movement tactic and how strategic interaction with international legal systems has helped them institutionalize and proliferate the International Labor Organizations' core labor standards. Through semi-structured interviews with legal, union, and government officials, alongside a content analysis of cases filed under the U.S. FTA system, this study shows the role activists played in advancing “globalized” standards in international law. This study finds that activists spread norms through a gradual mechanism of accretion, which focuses on the creation of standards and international legal standing over the individual outcomes of any given case.     

The role of managerial self-efficacy in corporate compliance with the law

Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory is proposed as an alternative theoretical framework from which to view the role of managerial cognitions in determining corporate compliance with the law. A first test is made of the usefulness of the construct of managerial self-efficacy in predicting compliance. Data were drawn from interviews with 410 chief executives of small organizations. The predictive utility of self-efficacy is tested with three compliance measures: a self-assessed compliance measure. a government-assessed compliance measure taken at the same time as the self-efficacy measure, and a government-assessed compliance measure taken after a 2-year time lapse. After taking into account a number of significant background variables and making a distinction between self-efficacy beliefs and control beliefs, self-efficacy was found to be significantly related to compliance in all cases. The implications of these results for the regulatory process are discussed.This project has enjoyed the funding support of the Australian Department of Health, Housing and Community Services, the Australian Research Council, the American Bar Foundation, and the Australian National University. The author is indebted to her colleagues on the Nursing Home Regulation in Action Project-John Braithwaite, Valerie Braithwaite, Diane Gibson, Miriam Landau, and Toni Makkai.     

Symptoms of corruption and union denial

Labor Racketeering is often the result of collusion between employers and employee representatives in which in exchange for something of value the employee representative ignores his obligation to union members. Given the limited investigative resources of unions, proving the receipt of a bribe is most often beyond their ability. However, the artifacts of racketeering such as inexplicable substandard contracts or lax contract enforcement remain evident. The harm to the members remains the same. As a consequence, in disciplining union employees, unions should sanction them for involvement in the creation of these artifacts as if bribes were proven. Charles A. Carberry is the Chief Investigator for the Independent Review Board (IRB), the body that pursuant to the Civil RICO settlement between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and the government investigates corruption and supervisors resulting disciplinary actions against union members. The views expressed herein are Mr. Carberry’s and not necessarily those of the IRB.     

A Revised Role for Trade Unions as Designed by New Labour: The Representation Pyramid and 'Partnership'

A key objective of British unions is to develop their representative role so as to establish their relevance to the workforce and thereby reverse the overall decline in trade union membership. To many, the legislative reforms undertaken by New Labour since 1999 offer some hope that this can be achieved. These reforms seem to provide a pyramid of representation, whereby trade unions can establish their relevance when they 'accompany' individual employees in grievance and disciplinary proceedings, and when they act as recipients of information and consultation. By attracting members in this fashion, there would seem to be the promise that unions can reascend to the position of recognized and effective parties in collective bargaining. However, this paper suggests that a barrier to the achievement of this objective is the particular conception of 'partnership' adopted by New Labour, which deviates from that of the TUC. This 'partnership' is essentially individualistic in character, procedural in form, and unitary in specification. These characteristics are reflected in the relevant statutory and regulatory provisions and are therefore likely to inhibit the progression of a trade union to recognition in collective bargaining.     

Imperatives for the enforceability of collective agreements in Nigera

This article examines the rationale behind the non-enforcement of collective agreements in Nigeria, theories propounded for the enforceability of collective agreements, and the need for courts in Nigeria to adopt a more liberal approach towards enforcement. This article argues that contrary to the position of the law in Nigeria that collective agreements are not enforceable, this parties, especially trade union leaders, academics and notable oil companies in Nigeria such as Shell, Chevron, etc. do intend to enter into legal relations whenever a collective agreement is arrived at and this is the reason why there is less industrial unrest in the private sector of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. This article argues that multinational oil companies honour collective agreements entered into with their trade unions because they see such agreements as intended to create legal relations. It is the Nigerian government and its agencies that have failed to honour collective agreements freely entered into with trade unions, despite the time and resources that have been expended to arrive at such collective agreements. This article argues that collective agreements do not fall within the purview of social or domestic arrangements, but business transactions. This article takes a look at the position of collective agreements in other jurisdictions such as the USA, Great Britain, South Africa and The Netherlands, and urges the court in Nigeria to expound the law relating to collective agreement since there are several legislations in Nigeria touching on collective agreements which the courts can expound.     

ADOLESCENT VIOLENT VICTIMIZATION AND PRECOCIOUS UNION FORMATION*

This article bridges scholarship in criminology and family sociology by extending arguments about “precocious exits” from adolescence to consider early union formation as a salient outcome of violent victimization for youths. Research indicates that early union formation is associated with several negative outcomes; yet the absence of attention to union formation as a consequence of violent victimization is noteworthy. We address this gap by drawing on life course theory and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effect of violent victimization (“street” violence) on the timing of first coresidential union formation—differentiating between marriage and cohabitation—in young adulthood. Estimates from Cox proportional hazard models show that adolescent victims of street violence experience higher rates of first union formation, especially marriage, early in the transition to adulthood; however, this effect declines with age, as such unions become more normative. Importantly, the effect of violent victimization on first union timing is robust to controls for nonviolent delinquency, substance abuse, and violent perpetration. We conclude by discussing directions for future research on the association between violent victimization and coresidential unions with an eye toward the implications of such early union formation for desistance.     

Party Control in a Committee-Based Legislature? The Case of the European Parliament

Does a strong committee system reduce the ability of political parties to dominate a parliament? This article seeks to answer this question in the case of the European Parliament (EP). Specifically, the article assesses the extent to which party leaders control their committee members in the EP. On the basis of interviews with Members of the European Parliament, the article analyses: (1) the extent to which EP party group leaders control committee assignment and (2) how much influence they have over the direction of committee activities, specifically through group co-ordinators. The results show that national delegation leaderships are increasingly involved in directing the committee assignment process and that group co-ordinators, in some cases, are able to control committee business in the EP.     

The self-selection of democracies into treaty design: insights from international environmental agreements

Generally, democratic regime type is positively associated with participating in international environmental agreements. In this context, this study focuses on the legal nature of an agreement, which is linked to audience costs primarily at the domestic level that occur in case of non-compliance and are felt especially by democracies. Eventually, more legalized (“hard-law”) treaties make compliance potentially more challenging and as democratic leaders may anticipate the corresponding audience costs, the likelihood that democracies select themselves into such treaties decreases. The empirical implication of our theory is that environmental agreements with a larger share of democratic members are less likely to be characterized by hard law. Results from quantitative analyses strongly support our argument, shed new light on the relationship between participation in international agreements and the form of government, and also have implications for the “words-deeds” debate in international environmental policy-making.