Tag

Unions

Workplace social dialogue in Myanmar: Experiences and lessons learned

By | Myanmar

Summary

When establishing in Myanmar, Fairwear erected a social dialogue institution to aid workers in the factories they sourced from. The institution set up helplines for issues and branches to assist unions and workers in engaging in dialogue with employers either through legal action or when legal action has failed. The results of this institution and recommendations for moving forward, either through the institution or internally, in these factories are provided.

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Rebalance: Trade unions’ strategies and good practices to promote work-life balance

By | Case-study, Social dialogue

Summary

This study analyses the effectiveness of trade-unions based on their effect on work-life balance in ten EU member states. This is done through a set of metrics: paternity leave, parental leave, flexible work arrangements, long-term care, economic incentives, childcare and other measures. While it highlights the general effectiveness of these measures it warns that they are the first to be dropped in a crisis. Further recommendations for good practice are also given.

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Power to the People: How stronger unions can deliver economic justice

By | UK

Summary

This is a discussion paper covering the benefits of social dialogue, trade unions and collective bargaining. Using the UK as the basis for the analysis, six key benefits are comprehensively discussed: Trade unions and collective bargaining are good for workers and good for the economy; Workers who could most benefit from union membership are least likely to join and membership is set to decline further still; Public policy has contributed to the decline of trade unions, so public policy must be part of the solution; Government should promote a renaissance of collective bargaining to improve wages and working conditions; Trade unions should be supported to recruit members and to innovate; Trade unions should be seen as social partners in industrial strategy and for the managed acceleration of automation.

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Good practices in collective bargaining: A compilation of case studies from Pakistan

By | Case-study, Pakistan

Summary

This is a collection of case studies of collective bargaining agreements from Pakistan. It was arranged through interviews with key stakeholders in the state and factory visits to gauge the level of implementation. The study compares the case studies to highlight seven key points of good practice that can be used as a model for other collective bargaining institutions to promote effectiveness and cordial relations.

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The effects of unions on productivity: Evidence from large coffee producers in Guatemala

By | Social dialogue

Abstract

The general perception of unions in the Guatemalan business community has been that they have a negative effect on firms. Although this is a strong statement, there are very few studies of unionization in Guatemala, and most of them are only descriptive. This paper provides an econometric analysis of the impact of unions on productivity in Guatemala, specifically on the production of coffee. Although union density is low, we conclude from the empirical analysis that there is evidence that unions when present have a negative effect on the productivity of
large coffee plantations.

We use different estimations of a production function and the effect of unions on productivity. The first uses a union dummy and other independent variables, such as a capital proxy, the proportion of administrative and permanent workers, land per worker, total workers, farm elevation above sea level and a union dummy. The second uses these same equations, but with interaction terms between the original variables and the union dummy.

The results show that these other variables, when significant, had a positive effect on productivity. The only is total workers, which could be
indicating that diseconomies of scale are present. As for the interaction terms, when a union is present, the productivity of variables such as land per worker and height is reduced significantly. Also, it seems that capital has a larger effect on unionized farms productivity than on non-unionized farms. The presence of permanent workers on farms, both in unionized and non-unionized settings, has a negative effect on productivity.

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Collective bargaining: a tool for industrial harmony in Ghanaian industrial settings

By | Ghana, Social dialogue

Collective bargaining has been recognised in almost all industrial settings as the most civilised way of resolving industrial conflicts and disagreements. The main objective of this paper is to determine the extent to which collective bargaining can effectively minimise industrial conflicts in Ghana, with particular reference to the brewery industry in Ghana. It is a means of helping to foster cordial management-labour relationships towards industrial harmony. The study was carried out with a focus on Ghana Breweries Ltd. The results of the study show that collective bargaining is a powerful and effective tool that can be used to minimise industrial conflicts and disagreements in industrial establishments. It is therefore recommended that employers should encourage the formation of trade unions to promote collective bargaining. It is further recommended that both management and labour should recognise collective bargaining as an effective tool for resolving conflicts and disagreements at the workplace.

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Violence @ work: A guide for SMEs to prevent violence in the workplace

By | Guide, Social dialogue

CNV International and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency present a new publication Violence @ work, a guide to prevent violence in the workplace.

The factsheet aims to support preventing and eliminating violence. It informs about characteristics of violence in the workplace, as well as its causes and effects. The guide provides tips to tackle and discourage violence at work in effective ways.

By sharing workplace initiatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), brands, unions and other key players, this guide explains how companies can contribute to the elimination of violence at work in their international supply chain. It helps SME’s to take steps to create a positive working environment where violence will not be tolerated.

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The Impact of Union-Management Cooperation on Productivity and Employment

By | Social dialogue

This study examines the effects of union-management cooperative programs on productivity and employment. The author collected productivity and employment data for each of nine manufacturing plants at monthly time intervals over a period of four to five years—from two years before to at least two years after the introduction of the cooperative program. Regression analysis of these time-series data is supplemented by qualitative data from personal interviews and relevant records. The results show that after introduction of the cooperative programs, productivity increased in six of the eight firms in which it could be measured and employment remained stable in eight of the nine firms.

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Trade unions and social dialogue: Current situation and outlook

By | Case-study, Hungary, Nepal, Social dialogue, South Korea, United States

What is it that accounts for the relatively recent infatuation with the term “social dialogue”? This is the question posed by the contributors Ozaki and Rueda-Catry, and also tackled by all the others from their respective standpoints as trade union leaders in confederations active at the national, regional and world levels and as specialists with an interest in labour relations issues.

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