Abstract
Several of the articles in this issue of Economic and Industrial Democracy suggest that the new role of unions in various countries is stimulating research interest. The rise of temporary agencies, and issues relating to control and work are also covered.
The first article, by Andrew Stevens and Andrew Templeton, University of Regina, Canada, discusses the case of Canada in relation to back-to-work legislation in civil aviation, especially Air Canada. The results from the study indicate that despite the back-to-work legislation and the hostile attitude from the state, the attitude of the unions never changed.
In the second article, ‘Do gender and socioeconomic status matter when combining work and family: Could control at work and at home help? Results from the Whitehall II study’, by Helena Falkenberg, Stockholm University, Sweden, Petra Lindfors, Stockholm University, Sweden, Tarani Chandola, University of Manchester, UK, and Jenny A Head, University College London (UCL), UK, the authors discuss work and family in relation to gender and socioeconomic status. By using the Whitehall II study, they examined how gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were associated with work–family interference (WFI) and family–work interference (FWI), and how control at work and at home related to these two dimensions, in both directions. The authors found that the greatest risk for conflict between work and family was found for women with high socioeconomic status.
The third article, ‘How do local unions strategize about multinational corporations’ restructuring threats? Some insights from France’, by Mathieu Dupuis, Cornell University, USA, discusses various trade union strategies during a phase of restructuring of MNCs in France. The various strategies explored by the author are related to theories of power resources, but also relationships.
The article ‘Are strikes still a tool for union action? A qualitative investigation in the private sector in Quebec (Canada)’, by Marc-Antonin Hennebert, HEC, Montreal, Canada and the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT), and Marcel Faulkner, Quebec, Canada, investigates how Canadian union representatives perceive strikes. The results from the interviews conducted in private sector firms in Quebec suggest that both constraints regarding strikes, as well as the use of strikes, are seen as an important tool of union practice and action. The results are discussed in relation to the decreasing trend in strikes.
Patricia Todd, University of Western Australia Business School, Australia, Bradon Ellem, University of Sydney Business School, Australia, Caleb Goods, University of Western Australia Business School, Australia, Al Rainnie, University of New South Wales, Australia, and Leigh Smith, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia, discuss unions and mining in Australia in the article ‘Labour in global production networks: Workers and unions in mining engineering work’. The authors investigated the union’s action during a phase of economic downturn in the Australian mining industry. By emphasizing the role of labour in this kind of analytical context, the authors argue, various kinds of new patterns of power emerge. The results suggest that the union’s action in the mining companies studied became very limited due to the large influence of these companies.
The article ‘The resistible rise of the temporary employment industry in France’, by Paul Brook, University of Leicester, UK, and Christina Purcell, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, discusses the evolution of the temporary employment agency sector in France. The authors discuss the development of this sector since the 1960s in France in relation to the regulatory environment. The authors suggest that global market forces, neoliberalization, weak unions at the workplace and successful large firms in terms of policy, were important in establishing such firms in France.
The next article, ‘The role of physical space in labour–management cooperation: A microsociological study in Danish retail’, by Anna Ilsøe and Jonas Felbo-Kolding, both at FAOS, Copenhagen University, Denmark, discusses the retail trade and the interaction between employers and employees in the Danish context. The labour–management interaction was studied through the lens of four varieties of employee influence. The cooperation practices studied by the authors suggest that informal practices are especially interesting to study in terms of interaction between management and labour.
Abigail Marks, University of Sterling, UK, Shiona Chillas, University of St Andrews, UK, Laura Galloway, Heriot-Watt University, UK, and Gavin Maclean, Edinburgh Napier University, UK, discuss the ICT sector and the role of trade unions in the article ‘Confusion and collectivism in the ICT sector: Is FLOSS the answer?’ The authors suggest that since workers within the ICT sector join unions to a lesser degree, there is a need for a broader understanding of collectivism. The results show, according to the authors, that traditional collective processes are absent, and the dedication and participation in ICT communities suggest alternative paths in terms of collective processes.
Shinji Kojima, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan, discusses social movement activism in the article ‘Social movement unionism in contemporary Japan: Coalitions within and across political boundaries’. Social movement unionism has been popular in many countries when unions try to find new ways to revitalize the union movement. In Japan, however, the lack of civil society organizations has pressed the unions to start cooperating with each other, across federations, as well as some examples of civil society organizations. The author suggests that new initiatives might be able to vitalize the Japanese unions.
The article ‘Challenges and pitfalls for workplace unionism in a restructured public service’, by Cécile Guillaume, University of Roehampton, UK, and Gill Kirton, Queen Mary University of London, UK, discusses workplace unionism in the English public sector. The union resilience in the probation service in the UK was investigated in relation to a restructuring process. The authors suggest that the close relationship between the members of the union and the local reps was one important factor, together with the gender democratic tradition, in explaining the resilience of the union.
The final article in this issue, ‘A typology of contemporary employers’ organisations in the UK’, by Leon Gooberman, Marco Hauptmeier and Edmund Heery, all at Cardiff University, UK, discusses the differentiation and development of employer organizations in the UK, during a phase of decline of collective bargaining. The authors discuss various types of organizations in terms of their response to these new challenges. They conclude that employers’ organizations became more differentiated due to the new challenges.