The Mine at Wittenoom: Blue Asbestos,Labour and Occupational Disease

Australia and South Africa are the only countries to have mined crocidolite or blue asbestos. Crocidolite was mined at Wittenoom in Western Australia from 1944 until 1966. Although production levels were modest, Wittenoom has become the site of Australia's worst occupational health disaster. The labour regimes in South Africa and Wittenoom were very different and yet the rates of occupational disease were probably similar. The hazards facing miners arose from the nature of the labour process, the technologies of production and the limitations of state regulation.     

A successful union in an era of decline: interrogating the growth of the Service Employees International Union, 1980-1995

ABSTRACT

Between 1980 and 1995, while John Sweeney was president, the membership of the Service Employees International Union rose from around 600,000 to over 1.1 million. It continued to increase after 1995, making the SEIU the largest and fastest-growing union in the country. This growth was remarkable because it occurred at a terrible time for unions, one where the overwhelming emphasis – in both the media and academic scholarship – was on labor’s decline. While scholars have noted the SEIU’s growth, there has been little sustained analysis of how it was achieved. Existing accounts also posit growth largely as a reflection of the union’s organizing prowess. Drawing on the SEIU’s papers and interviews, this article argues that the union’s growth under Sweeney did reflect its commitment to organizing. At the same time, the article makes a fresh contribution by showing that the SEIU also grew because of lesser-known factors, including the affiliation of independent unions and legislative advances in public sector rights. The SEIU also benefited from operating in a growing sector of the economy, where low-paid workers needed unions. These conclusions are developed through analysis of “flagship” drives at Beverly Nursing homes, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and the high-profile “Justice for Janitors” campaign.     

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.     

“智慧工会”的特征、问题与对策研究

“智慧工会”不仅是党和国家信息化建设的重要组成部分,也是工会自身发展的内在要求。“智 慧工会”必须具备高度智能化、高度信息化、深度融合性和服务普惠性等特点。目前,“智慧工会”建设还存 在着思想认识不到位、专业人才缺乏、内容不充分、功能设置不人性化、资源缺乏有效整合和“以职工为中心” 的服务宗旨体现不突出等问题。要从统一思想、凝聚共识,做好顶层设计、加强系统规划,突出服务的宗旨和 整合资源、实现共享等方面着手,推动“智慧工会”建设健康发展。     

中非工会差异及中资企业在非应对劳资矛盾的行为逻辑 —— 基于对坦桑尼亚的调研

在"中非合作论坛"、"一带一路"倡议的推动下,越来越多的中资企业进入非洲。随着企业在非洲的经营活动的日趋活跃,企业面临的劳资问题也不断增加。然而大多数在非的企业管理者在处理劳资矛盾时,并没有正确评估当地工会的角色与作用,也没有积极处理场域内的劳资矛盾,这不但给企业带来经济损失,也对国家形象造成了影响。本文以坦桑尼亚为例,通过调研分析,认为造成在非中资企业处理工会问题不力的根源是中非工会的差异,包括两国工会的本质、制度安排、日常活动差异等。面对中方管理者的工会经验缺失,一些立足于长远发展的企业已经开始尝试与当地工会合作,并以其在中国的工会经验为切入点,通过表彰先进、节日慰问等形式来培养员工中对中国友好的代表,通过他们的带动作用团结凝聚工人,尽管这些做法起到了一定的团结作用,但因这些措施具有临时性、随机性等特征,并不能持续发挥作用。     

Productivity,craftwork and flexibility: the Mobil agreements

ABSTRACT

Using original documents, this paper describes and analyses the case study of one of the productivity bargaining agreements from a leading exponent of productivity bargaining, Mobil’s Coryton Refinery. As well as being important in the UK oil industry these agreements spread throughout the economy. They resulted in major concessions by the unions to relax inter-craft and craft-production trade boundaries and to changes in work methods. These are illustrated in detail and placed in context. Such changes were heralded as ‘new look industrial relations’ and as such were based on a conception of joint regulation. However, other interpretations are possible, and these are then explored and discussed.     

基层工会选举的民主政治意义

基层工会民主选举工作具有重要的民主政治意义,它直接为基层政治民主建设奠定深厚的群众基础。基层工会民主选举,既能在职工群众中普及民主知识,提高民主素质,又能锻炼提高职工群众的民主能力,并对经济发展、社会稳定起到直接的作用,有利于我国民主政治建设健康有序地发展。     

新时代中国工会学理论创新需要厘清的基本概念：工人阶级和中国工会

厘清基本概念是学科研究的重要基础。深化新时代中国工会学理论研究和创新,必须深入马克思主义理论源头,结合中国革命、建设和改革的发展历程以及《中国工会章程》的历史演变,科学把握“工人阶级”和“中国工会”这两个基本概念。在马克思和恩格斯的语境中,工人阶级是主要靠劳动收入获得生活资料来源的社会阶级,承担着自身解放和人类解放的历史使命。中国工会作为党领导下的职工群众组织,把党的中心任务作为中国工人运动的主题和方向。基于这两个基本概念,围绕“什么是工人阶级、什么是工会”“什么是中国工人阶级,什么是中国工会”“中国工会干什么”“中国工会怎样干”“中国工会如何发展”这五个问题,推进工会学话语体系和学科体系建设,是新时代工会学研究的重要路径选择。     

Look at Detroit: The United Auto Workers and the Battle to Organize Volkswagen in Chattanooga

ABSTRACT

On February 14, 2014, workers at Volkswagen’s new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted 712 to 626 against being represented by the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW). The result capped one of the most high-profile organizing campaigns of recent years, with most media accounts anticipating a UAW victory, especially as VW had declared that it would not oppose the union. The VW election is also now attracting scholarly interest, with accounts stressing the role of external opposition – especially from conservative politicians and lobby groups – along with the UAW’s over-reliance on partnerships with German actors. Providing a detailed analysis of the campaign, this article recognizes the importance of these factors, but also argues that an important role was played by the UAW’s strong association with the domestic automakers, and especially with Detroit, their historic base. Citing the fact that foreign automakers had expanded since the 1980s while the domestics had contracted, opponents effectively linked the UAW with economic decline. These arguments swayed many workers. Placing the VW story within the broader struggle of the UAW to organize a foreign-owned auto plant, the article also stresses structural obstacles, especially the location of Greenfield plants in areas of low union density.     

非公有制企业集体协商 ：问题、困境与对策

在我国劳动关系集体化转向的背景下,集体协商与集体谈判的区别、非公企业集体协商的适用范围、工会组织的角色与作用是推进非公有制企业集体协商亟待思考的深层次问题。当前,我国非公企业集体协商工作面临的主要困境是集体协商尚未成为非公企业劳资双方的强制性法定义务、集体协商尚未成为非公企业工会的核心工作、非公企业工会主席尚未在集体协商中发挥出关键性的作用以及各类主体在非公企业集体协商中所承担的角色亟待厘清。为进一步完善我国非公企业集体协商制度,在观念层面,应正确理解集体协商的实质性内涵及其重要作用;在工会层面,必须切实发挥非公企业工会的关键作用和各级总工会的领导作用：在立法层面,可以在条件成熟时制订修订相关法律法规。     

探索理顺集团公司与子公司的工会关系和经费关系

在企业改制过程中 ,新组建的集团公司工会与下属子公司工会的关系及工会经费拨缴问题出现了许多新情况、新问题。因此 ,工会的组织体制和运行机制也必须相应改革。要坚持工会组织的性质不变 ,集团公司工会与子公司工会的隶属关系不变 ,及“把握共性 ,体现个性”的原则。     

An early attempt at labor regulation in the Global South: the Argentine Ley Nacional del Trabajo of 1904 and the response of working-class organizations

ABSTRACT

In the first months of 1904, in a context of intense labor unrest, the Argentine executive branch presented to Congress a bill that became known as the ‘National Labor Law’ (Ley Nacional del Trabajo). It comprised a very extensive set of rules designed to regulate the labor market, the labor process and workers’ organizations. By that time, Argentina had a growing capitalist economy, a young and radical labor movement and no labor regulations whatsoever – in this context, the bill was the first attempt of regulating the relations between capital and labor and, not surprisingly, it sparked an important debate. Although it never became a law, the bill became an iconic reference in the history of labor regulations in Argentina. This article introduces the main characteristics of the proposed bill and focuses on the reactions that working-class organizations developed toward it. While anarchist-oriented groups and unions made clear its complete rejection toward an initiative that was seen as another intervention of an authoritarian state, the Socialist Party found itself in a much more complicated position. This article addresses these debates and tensions in order to better understand the reactions of working-class organizations with regard to the first attempt of labor regulation made by the Argentine state.     

European law as a lever for female workers at the national level: Belgium and the Equal Pay Directive of 1975

‘Equal pay for equal work’ is a longstanding feminist claim. In this regard, the 1975 Equal Pay Directive of the European Economic Community has generated momentum for women at the national level. Based on the Belgian case, we explain how national actors – and more specifically trade unions and their women’s committees – have used European law to foster wage equality. Despite the existence of binding norms since the 1950s, this principle of equal pay has been poorly applied. The implementation of the directive in the Belgian neo-corporatist institutional framework has given trade unions the possibility to secure an extensive interpretation of the directive’s general provisions. The assumption driving this paper is that this directive has generated momentum for change – though this is not a synonym of ‘a miracle solution’ – in Belgium regarding wage equality. More fundamentally, this study is about the intertwining of European and national laws and the way in which European norms can offer instrumental opportunities to national actors to impact their domestic polity and policies, here on social and gender matters.     

Showdown at Nissan: the 1989 campaign to organize Nissan in Smyrna,Tennessee, and the rise of the transplant sector

In July 1989, workers at Nissan’s plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, voted 1622 to 711 against being represented by the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW). At the time, many reporters saw the well-publicized Nissan vote – dubbed a ‘showdown’ by the New York Times – as a defining moment in modern labor history. The election deserves further exploration, especially as it played a key role in establishing the non-union ‘transplant’ sector. UAW leaders blamed the Smyrna loss on Nissan’s anti-union tactics, while the company claimed that workers did not need a union because they were already well paid (although this was largely due to the UAW’s presence). This article is the first to provide a detailed analysis that draws on the union’s records of the campaign, as well as many other sources. While the factors cited publicly were important, the article demonstrates that there were additional reasons for the union’s defeat, including internal divisions, unanticipated staffing problems, and the logistical challenge of organizing such a big – and new – facility. Although Nissan workers had many grievances, the company also fostered loyalty by not laying off workers, and by expanding the plant. Finally, it secured a high level of community support, and drew off the conservative political climate of the era.     

主辅分离改制分流中工会作用的研究

主辅分离改制分流是关系广大职工切身利益和国有企业发展的重大举措,工会应在职工观念转变、组织起来切实维权、民主管理与民主监督以及实现改制工会的平稳过渡和工会建设方面发挥其积极作用,以确保分离改制工作的顺利完成。     

A Closer Look at Peer Discrimination,Ethnic Identity,and Psychological Well-being Among Urban Chinese American Sixth Graders

Recent research suggests that although ethnic discrimination may have negative consequences for psychological well-being among youth of Chinese descent as it does for other ethnic groups, ethnic identity beliefs may buffer against such effects. Data for this study were drawn from the Early Adolescent Cohort Study, an investigation of contextual influences on the social, emotional, and academic adjustment of youth in ethnically diverse New York City middle schools. The present study sample consists of Chinese American (n = 84) and African American (n = 119) sixth graders. Results suggest that Chinese American youths’ own positive affect toward their ethnic group (private regard) was positively associated with higher self-esteem. In addition, the more favorably Chinese American youth perceived that others view their group (public regard), the fewer depressive symptoms they reported. In addition, among Chinese American youth, more favorable public regard attenuated the negative relationship between peer ethnic discrimination and depressive symptoms. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the commonalities among ethnic and racial minority groups’ experiences of discrimination as well as the unique challenges that Chinese American youth face.

The Functions of Class at the Present Time: Including Taste,or Sex and Class as Culture

Gagnier provides an analytic account of current uses of gender, sex and sexuality, and of class as objective condition, role, identity, subjectivity, performance, product of cultural formation, pain and pleasure. She concludes that we shall do better today to take from the history of political economy a focus on the division of labour, the kinds of work people do, including women's unpaid labour at home, and the ways that work structures identity and subjectivity, than on more abstract class identity (e.g. wage-labourers and capitalists), and to see that both local and global divisions of labour or work patterns are along race and gender lines as much as along class lines. The introduction of consumption models of taste and status draws together both class and gender, for consumption and leisure, the realm for most wage-labourers of pleasure, is as significant in the formation of identity and subjectivity as work, production or pain. We should account for people's pleasures and desires as well as their pain and place in narrowly conceived 'productive' relations. Class is no less significant than it always was, but future work should disaggregate the concept along these lines, mindful of gender salience in the division of labour and the reproduction of class. And it should include critical analysis of the realms of taste, pleasure, consumption, leisure and status.     

Racial and Ethnic Minority High School Students' Perceptions of School Disciplinary Practices: A Look at Some Canadian Findings

This study examined perceptions of differential treatment relating to school disciplinary practices in a racially and ethnically diverse sample (Black, South Asian, Asian, White, and other racial/ethnic background) of high school students (N = 1870). Participants completed detailed individual questionnaires assessing general perceptions of school disciplinary practices and various aspects of the school environment. Results indicated that racial/ethnic minority students are much more likely than White students to perceive discrimination with respect to teacher treatment, school suspension, use of police by school authorities, and police treatment at school. Multivariate analyses revealed that such perceptions are particular strong for Black students. In addition, a number of other variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, age of immigration, and views of school climate also predicted students' perceptions of differential treatment toward members of their racial/ethnic group. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research are outlined.     

本轮中美贸易摩擦的进展、背景及其宏观经济影响

贸易战没有赢家，旷日持久的贸易战对双方经济都会造成极大冲击。中国经济具有充分的回旋 余地，并不惧怕所谓的贸易威胁，更不会屈从于贸易霸凌，以打促和、维护开放包容的国际贸易体系，反对贸 易保护主义的初衷会继续坚持。从稳定宏观经济和就业的角度出发，可以在扩大进口，积极推动国内经济结构 改革，坚持不懈的加强人力资本投资，积极推动国际机构改革等方面做出更大努力。