Trade union renewal and ‘organizing from below’ in Germany: Institutional constraints, strategic dilemmas and organizational tensions

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Nicklich ◽  
Markus Helfen
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Organizational Transformation ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Institutional Constraints ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
International Union ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Union Renewal

Organizing is widely discussed as a remedy for continued union decline. Originating in the liberal market industrial relations systems of the Anglo-Saxon world, the ‘organizing’ strategy is increasingly discussed in countries like Germany, traditionally known for consensual industrial relations and multi-employer collective bargaining. To study whether and how ‘organizing’ is translated in union organizations operating in a different institutional context, we study the link between organizational transformation and institutions in IG Metall in Germany, which was been influenced by the American Service Employees International Union (SEIU). We find a German variety of organizing rather than a mere copying of ‘best practice’: the union’s approach is based on institutional and organizational structures as a resource and constraint.

scholarly journals Organizational Contexts for Union Renewal

2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoung-Hee Yu
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Justice For Janitors ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Union Renewal

SummaryThis article seeks to identify organizational structures and processes that contribute to incorporating immigrant identities and fostering democratic participation in unions. Empirical analysis is based on ethnographic observations conducted in four local branches within the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of the USA that underwent the Justice for Janitors campaign. Despite the fact that all four local unions experienced external revitalization owing to the campaign, internal renewal was most successful in Los Angeles, least in Washington DC, and somewhat successful in Boston and Houston. For each of the cases, I examine the connection between external dimensions of revitalization—initial mobilizing efforts, bargaining power, and political power—and organizational contexts for renewal—formal and informal structures for participation, and the engagement of immigrant members in union activities. While the union revitalization literature has argued that internal union renewal facilitates external revitalization, how external revitalization affects sustained internal renewal has not yet been examined thoroughly. Most studies examining the relationship between internal and external revitalization have had a relatively narrow window of observation ending typically with successful union recognition; thus, we lacked an understanding of the dynamic relationship between internal and external revitalization over time. The present findings suggest that external revitalization can assist internal renewal. However, building a powerful union did not automatically guarantee democratic participation, and acquiring more economic power through the merging of local unions weakened representational structures. The present results confirm the importance of studying revitalization as a process instead of an outcome, an argument which has been advanced by scholars, yet rarely practiced.

Building North-South international union alliances: evidence from Mexico

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lévesque ◽  
Mélanie Dufour-Poirier
Keyword(s):  
Critical Condition ◽  
International Union ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Exchange Of Information ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
International Alliances ◽  
Union Renewal ◽  
The Imf

This article offers an overview of how Mexican unions get involved in international union alliances. It is intended to increase our understanding of the prospects for North-South union cooperation, as the ability to construct international alliances is at the heart of union responses to globalisation. Drawing on data gathered from seven Mexican unions affiliated to the International Metalworking Federation (IMF), the authors distinguish three patterns of union involvement: a localist/defensive pattern, which rests on a narrow conception of solidarity and on sporadic relations, rather limited in scope, with other unions affiliated to the IMF; a nationalist/offensive pattern characterised by a broader view of solidarity and by intense exchange of information with other IMF affiliates; and an internationalist/proactive pattern which rests on the community of interest between workers from different countries and on active cross-border coordination of action. A critical condition for cross-border alliances lies in the existence of several power resources. Without these resources a union cannot overcome the acute constraints that it faces. In conclusion, the authors discuss the prospect of union renewal and union empowerment through North-South international union alliances.

Redefining Motivation in Digital Transformation

2020 ◽  
pp. 141-173
Author(s):  
Václav Cejthamr
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Organizational Transformation ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Organizational Systems ◽  
Rapid Pace ◽  
Decentralized Management

The rapid pace of change and the rapid growth of technology, especially artificial intelligence, are accelerating the pace of organizational transformation in enterprises. Organizations must be able to respond appropriately. Hierarchical structures still dominate current organizational systems. One way to respond adequately to today's challenges is to introduce flat organizational structures that represent a specific decentralized management system. Flat organizational structures, represented mainly by holacracy, require other ways of motivating workers, mostly predominantly millennials. In addition, organizations can no longer count on employee loyalty. However, boss-less organizations that rely on self-management and self-control are not suitable for every employee, and the concept of self-management and the boss-less organization has to be further developed and adjusted. The solution can be to redesign a traditional hierarchical model of needs that should be adapted and targeted to the current needs of flat organization employees that no longer count on managers.

Tipping the Scales for Labour in Ireland? Collective Bargaining and the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Murphy ◽  
Thomas Turner
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Social Partnership ◽  
Non Union ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Missed Opportunity

Abstract Trade union density in Ireland has followed a similar pattern of decline to that of other Anglo-Saxon economies in recent decades. However, two factors make Ireland distinctive within this classification of countries, firstly the system of national social partnership that prevailed from 1987 to 2008, and secondly, the absence of a statutory route to union recognition. In this paper, we examine the extent to which a new piece of legislation, the Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015, provides unions with a route to securing bargaining rights for workers and extends collective bargaining rights generally. We conclude that the Act represents a missed opportunity to offer mechanisms to secure rights for unions and their members capable of delivering collective bargaining to the non-union sector. We situate the paper within debates concerning the role of labour law in supporting workers rights to collective bargaining.

scholarly journals Foreword: sustainability in agrifood chains and networks

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-97
Author(s):  
Arnout Fischer ◽  
P.J. Beers ◽  
J.C.M. van Trijp ◽  
Evert Jacobsen ◽  
Hans Mommaas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Sustainable Products ◽  
Central Elements ◽  
Image Creation ◽  
Successful Innovation

To feed this and the next generations, sustainable development is considered the only viable future for agriculture. The successful implementation of sustainable development has remained an elusive goal in agriculture. Innovation initiatives in agriculture, such as TransForum in the Netherlands, have tried to provide best practice to start such innovations in agrifood chains and networks. In its 6 year existence, between 2004 and 2010, Transforum has been an intermediary between knowledge institutes, entrepreneurs, NGO's and governmental organisations. This has resulted in several successful innovation initiatives in Dutch agriculture and a wealth of knowledge on organising networks and chains for sustainable innovation. TransForum has operated from its vision that metropolitan agriculture is the way forward for sustainable development in the Dutch agriculture sector and posited 4 central elements of successful innovation: (1) shared image creation; (2) relevant inventions for sustainability; (3) dealing with institutional context; and (4) the creation of market directed chains for sustainable products (Fischer et al., 2012; Veldkamp et al., 2009).

scholarly journals Contribution of the aging to the dicrease in the rate of economic activity: Quantification with the decomposition method

2018 ◽  
pp. 525-535
Author(s):  
Vera Gligorijevic ◽  
Petar Vasic
Keyword(s):  
Economic Activity ◽  
Decomposition Method ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Rate Effects ◽  
Behavioural Factors ◽  
Activity Quantification

To explain the causes of the recent decrease in economic activity in Serbia and ascertain the extent to which population aging has contributed to this phenomenon, this paper uses the decomposition method to quantify two different kinds of effects: composite and direct. Direct effects or rate effects occur due to changes in the population?s behaviour, typically brought on by a changed cultural or institutional context or changes in the state of the labour market. Composite effects represent purely demographic effects, arising due to age re-composition of the population. This paper uses census data and the Prithwis Das Gupta decomposition method - widely accepted as best practice for this type of research. The results have shown that behavioural factors were twice as important as demographic factors in explaining the decrease in the rate of economic activity seen in the most recent inter-censal period.

My Enemy's Enemy Is My Friend

2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Steve Payne
Keyword(s):  
Political Action ◽  
Labor Union ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Political Education ◽  
International Union ◽  
Industrial Countries ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Union Organizer ◽  
Left Movement ◽  
Holding Back

Like many other leftists working in labor or community organizations, I have long struggled to understand the role I can play in building a larger left movement. I have spent nearly a decade organizing for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and have only recently caught a glimpse of what a vibrant and popular leftist practice could look like.&hellp; In this analysis, I take inspiration from Antonio Gramsci's ideas. He described a "war of position"&mdash;a protracted revolutionary effort to create an anti-capitalist hegemony&mdash;as a methodology for anti-capitalists in advanced industrial countries. Counter-hegemony is a process, built by concrete effort both through political education and political action. As a labor union organizer, I have become quite skilled at political action, but not at political education.&hellp;One alignment of organizations in Minnesota&mdash;Minnesotans for a Fair Economy (MFE)&mdash;has the potential to be part of such a counter-hegemonic process. On a day-to-day basis, member organizations of MFE organize people to confront their bosses and banks, as well as the corporations holding back their communities. On a sporadic basis, the member organizations come together to create a new narrative of what kind of a world we want.&hellp; It was in a MFE "week of action" that I first began to understand how the process of creating a counter-hegemony might play out in practice.<p class="mrlink"><p class="mrpurchaselink"><a href="http://monthlyreview.org/index/volume-67-number-1" title="Vol. 67, No. 1: May 2015" target="_self">Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the <em>Monthly Review</em> website.</a></p>

scholarly journals The Interaction of Production, Distribution and Rule-Making Systems in Industrial Relations

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyo Soo Lee
Keyword(s):  
System Theory ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Performance Levels ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Rule Making

This paper proposes to see industrial relations as a synthesis of production, distribution, and rule-making Systems (PDR Systems) rather than to regard these three Systems as independent forces. This PDR System theory focuses on the actors' strategic choices for the PDR Systems, that is, subsystems of industrial relations System, and their interaction mechanisms. The contents and interactions of the PDR Systems determine the performance levels of the organization, i.e., productivity, flexibility, innovation, fairness, and satisfaction. This model can be used to analyze nonunion workplaces as well as unionized settings by embracing collective bargaining as a subsystem of the rule-making System. The general framework of the model is illustrated by using data from a Korean automobile company, which is particularly well suited for this purpose since it reflects different combinations of different PDR practices over its history. This model demonstrates that the best practice of future industrial relations will be established by the PDR Systems in which the creative humanware is maximized and actors spontaneously cooperate.

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