The many faces of strikes : attitudes towards industrial action by labour, management and human resources

Strikes provide a current, fresh but also a seldom-addressed issue to study from economic sciences perspective. This study provides to filling this research gap by trying to identify attitudes towards strikes that can be found inside organizations. The research problem this study then sets out to answer is: “What kinds of attitudes exist inside organizations towards industrial actions and how attitudes vary between labour, management and human resources?” This study has been planned with a view to test how qualitative attitudinal research, as a method, is suited to studying a phenomenon such as strike. At the heart of this research approach lies an assumption linked to rhetoric social psychology, that attitude is a phenomenon that can be identified in argumentation. For this research 10 semi-structured interviews in 4 organizations were conducted utilizing statements and pictures as stimulants for discussion. The material was transcribed and analysed following the two levels, categorical and interpretive, demanded by the chosen method. Altogether five attitudes were discovered; three of them negative, one indifferent and one positive by nature. The negative attitudes of unfairness, failure and personification towards strikes represented the side of strikes that was perhaps the most anticipated, portraying the contradictions between employees and employer. The attitude of ordinariness, which portrayed indifference, and the positive attitude of change however, were more unanticipated findings. They reflect shared understanding and trust between conflict parties. The utilization of qualitative attitudinal approach to study strikes was deemed successful. The results of this study support prior literature on workplace conflicts for example in regards of the definition of conflict and typologies conflicts. In addition the multifaceted nature of strikes can be perceived as one statement supported by this study. It arises in the nature of the attitudes, the diversity of discussion themes during the interviews as well as in the extent of possible theories to apply.

Ammattiliittojen rakenteen sekä muiden instituutioiden vaikutus kansalliseen kilpailukykyyn

This thesis examines the impact of structural characteristics of wage bargaining and unemployment insurance system of trade and labour unions and governmental institutions on national competitiveness. In addition, the effect currency union has on these factors is evaluated. The analysis is conducted on 17 EU- and ETA-countries through panel data regression. The results indicate that able governmental institutions enhance national competitiveness significantly and without exceptions. The competitive benefits of wage bargaining peak when wages are negotiated decentralized, above all when the country is a member of the Eurozone. This can be explained with the reduced capability of Eurozone governments to conduct efficient income policies in coordinated wage bargaining structure, since it lacks the means to exploit monetary policies which are exercised by a politically independent central bank.

Manufacturing real wages in Mexico

In this paper we analyse the recent evolution and determinants of real wages in Mexico’s manufacturing sector, using theories based on the assumption of imperfect competition both in the product and in the labour markets, especially wage-bargain theory, insider-outsider and mark-up models. We show evidence that the Mexican labour market does not behave as a traditional competitive market. The proposed explanation for this fact is that some workers benefit from advantages when compared with others, so that they can get a greater share of the proceedings of the productive process. Also, we find that changes in the degree of competition in the market for output influence the behaviour of real wages.

Evaluating the wage differential between public and private sectors in Brazil

This paper uses a rotating panel of households to analyze wage differentials between public and private sectors in Brazil. Focusing on the transition of individuals between jobs available in the public and private sectors and controlling for individual time invariant characteristics, we find evidence of small wage differentials in favor of the public sector.

Exchange rate pass-through inflation and wage differentials in late-industrializing economies: the Mexican case

This paper investigates exchange rate pass-through inflation, and the wage bargaining process, in a developing economy in which firms' market power is largely dependent on technical progress embodied in imported intermediates and capital goods. It develops a heterodox model of income distribution, based on theoretical contributions from Latin American structuralists, labor market segmentationists and post-Keynesian writers, and it presents supportive empirical evidence from the Mexican economy.

Germany's socio-economic model and the Euro crisis

Germany's socio-economic model, the "social market economy", was established in West Germany after World War II and extended to the unified Germany in 1990. During a prolonged recession after the adoption of the Euro in 1998, major reforms (Agenda 2010) were introduced which many consider as the key of Germany's recent success. The reforms had mixed results: employment increased but has consisted to a large extent of precarious low-wage jobs. Growth depended on export surpluses based on an internal real devaluation (low unit labour costs) which make Germany vulnerable to global recessions as in 2009. Overall inequality increased substantially.

From protest to powerlessness : a Marxist analysis of the Ontario NDP /

Using Marxist state theory as an analytical framework, this thesis explains the problems faced by the Ontario New Democratic Party government (1990-1995) in implementing a social democratic agenda. Not only was the government constrained in its ability to implement progressive policy, but it was also pushed to implement a Social Contract (involving legislated wage cuts to public sector employees) that alienated the party's base of support, making it more difficult for the party to organize in the future. Although this study relies predominantly on a reinterpretation of existing research on the topic, some primary research is used in the analysis, including interviews with members of the labour movement and former MPPs and analysis of the news media's treatment of the party/ government. Historical and class analytical perspectives are used to explain the evolution of the ONDP's structure and policies, as well as to assess the relative strength of the working class and its ability to support a social democratic political agenda. It was found that the ONDP' s unwillingness to develop a long term plan for social democracy, and its inability to act as a mass party or to build a strong working class movement, made it more difficult for the party to succeed when it formed the government. Moreover, the class nature of the capitalist state, along with pressure exerted by a well mobilized capitalist class, worked to limit the government' s options.

A crisis of social democracy : organized labour and the NDP in an era of neoliberalism

The NDP was founded out of the ashes of the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation to cooperate with the Canadian Labour Congress to become the 'political arm of organized labour' in Canada. The NDP has long claimed they are the party which represents the policy goals of organized labour in Canada: that the NDP alone will fight for trade union rights, and will fight for Canadian workers. Divergent Paths is an examination of the links between the labour movement and the ND P in an era ofneo-liberalism. Provincial NDP governments have become increasingly neoliberal in their ideological orientation, and have often proved to be no friend to the labour movement when they hold office. The Federal party has never held power, nor have they ever formed the Official Opposition. This thesis charts the progress of the federal NDP as they become more neoliberal from 1988 to 2006, and shows how this trend effects the links between the NDP and labour. Divergent Paths studies each federal election from 1988 to 2006, looking at the interactions between Labour and the NDP during these elections. Elections provide critical junctions to study discourse - party platforms, speeches, and other official documents can be used to examine discourse. Extensive newspaper searches were used to follow campaign events and policy speeches. Studying the party's discourse can be used to determine the ideological orientation of the party itself: the fact that the party's discourse has become neoliberal is a sure sign that the party itself is neoliberal. The NDP continues to drive towards the centre of the political spectrum in an attempt to gain multi-class support. The NDP seems more interested in gaining seats at any cost, rather then promoting the agenda of Labour. As the party attempts to open up to more multi-class support, Labour becomes increasingly marginalised in the party. A rift which arguably started well before the 1988 election was exacerbated during that election; labour encouraged the NDP to campaign solely on the issue of Free Trade, and the NDP did not. The 1993 election saw the rift between the two grow even further as the Federal NDP suffered major blowbacks from the actions of the Ontario NDP. The 1997 and 2000 elections saw the NDP make a deliberate move to the centre of the political spectrum which increasingly marginalised labour. In the 2004 election, Jack Layton made no attempt to move the party back to the left; and in 2006 the link between labour and the NDP was perhaps irreparably damaged when the CAW endorsed the Liberal party in a strategic voting strategy, and the CLC did not endorse the NDP. The NDP is no longer a reliable ally of organized labour. The Canadian labour movement must decide wether the NDP can be 'salvaged' or if the labour movement should end their alliance with the NDP and engage in a new political project.

Collective Labour Agreement between the Public Utilities Commission of the City of St. Catharines and Local 556, The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 1952

In 1952, Local 556 of The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers negotiated a contract with The Public Utilities Commission of the City of St. Catharines. The contract was to be in effect from July 1952 to September 1953. The document is unsigned.

Letter - William Lyon Mackenzie King (Deputy Minister of Labour) to The Niagara Power Company, 5 October 1903

A letter from William Lyon Mackenzie King to The Niagara Power Company in the year 1903. Mackenzie King is Deputy Minister of Labour for the Department of Labour Canada and in this letter he discusses issues with importing of men from the United States to Canada for employment. The letter warns of penalty if found guilty of unlawfully importing men for employment.

The Myth of Labour-Management Partnerships and the Risk to Labour: A CAMI Automotive Study

The purpose of this study is to examine and explore the level of risk that CAMI workers confront under their existing labour-management partnership arrangement. Risk is explored using two distinct categories, distributive and political. Distributive risk is expressed as tangibly substantive, reflecting the real terms and conditions of employment, and the changing social relations of production on the floor. The second type of risk is political and is concerned with the effects that labour-management partnerships have on the displacement of unions as legitimate agents of/for workers within the workplace. Data was collected using three methods; content analysis, cross-sectional survey and focus group interviews. The study revealed that CAMI workers are exposed to both distributive and political risk under their current LMP arrangement.

St. Catharines and District Labour Council fonds, 1957-1986

The St. Catharines and District Labour Council was founded in May 1957 by unionized workers from St. Catharines, Thorold, Merritton, Port Dalhousie and Grimsby. They sought to improve the social and economic welfare of workers; promote the organization of workers into unions for their mutual benefit, regardless of race, creed, colour, or national origin; encourage the sale of union-made goods and services; promote worker education; provide workers with a voice in politics; and safeguard the democratic nature of the labour movement. The Council, affiliated with both the Canadian Labour Congress and the Ontario Federation of Labour, was instrumental in assisting local workers with their labour disputes, including Canadian Pulp and Paper workers at Abitibi Provincial Paper in Thorold [1975-76], and Gallaher Paper [1999], workers at the St. Catharines Eaton’s store [1985], as well as smaller disputes such as that between the part-time secretarial staff and the Welland County Roman Catholic Separate School Board [1972] and workers of the Skyway Lumber Company [1972]. The Council also assisted the community at large by offering a Community Counseling Service [1971-1976] to help citizens with issues concerning various government agencies, social services and Acts, such as the Vacation Pay Act, Landlord and Tenant Act, Employment Standards Act, unemployment insurance claims and workman’s compensation claims. Other projects that the Council organized included an annual Education Institute [1958-1965] and the annual publication of Labour Review, a summary of the Council’s past year. The Labour Council continued to operate until 2010, when several local Labour Councils merged to form the Niagara Regional Labour Council.