Category

Social dialogue

Apr 20
0

The emergence of institutionalised social dialogue in South Africa

By | Social dialogue

Abstract

This paper looks at the conceptual framework of social dialogue, investment in social capital and some international definitions of social dialogue as background to developments in this sphere in South Africa. Social dialogue is viewed as a mechanism for problem‐solving and reducing transaction costs. The paper considers the ramifications of the 1979 Wiehahn Report on labour relations, as well as the nature of social dialogue in the apartheid era and its workplace origins. Institutionally, the stepping stones to the emergence of the NEF and Nedlac are discussed, together with some of the issues involved in, and formal outcomes of, Nedlac over the past eleven years in public policy choices. It closes with an evaluation of institutionalised social dialogue in South Africa and its future.

“With the transition to non‐racial democracy in 1994, it became the task of an ANC‐led government to attempt to resolve the economic contradictions that apartheid had created. To achieve this requires massive economic and social changes, great programmes of investment and structural change. It is necessary to create the vital human capital needed at every level, from rudimentary literacy to the highest ranks of science and technology; to overcome enormous deficiencies in all forms of social infrastructure, including housing, schools, health, and transport; to return land to the black population and restore ravaged rural areas; to expand black ownership of mining, industry, commerce, and finance; and to diminish enormous inequalities in income and wealth. The new regime has made a promising start, but South Africa’s past will exert a powerful influence on its present and future for a long time to come, and these huge tasks will not be swiftly or easily accomplished.”Charles Feinstein (2005).

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Apr 20
0

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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Apr 20
0

Nonstandard Employment Relations and Implications for Decent Work Deficits in Nigeria

By | Case-study, Social dialogue

Abstract

Nonstandard employment relations have become very common in most work Organisations in Nigeria. However, the implications of this form of employment relations as regards the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) decent work agenda are rarely investigated by the industrial and work sociologists. Conceptualizing nonstandard work within the context of casual, contract and outsourced work, the paper contends that this form of employment relations has been exacerbated by the growing incidence of youth unemployment in Nigeria. Using neoliberalism as a theoretical framework, the paper further contended that most work organisations in Nigeria are using this mode of employment to reduce labour cost so as to increase profit in line with the rule of free market economy at the expense of the improvised workers in violation of extant labour law. The paper argues that with this mode of employment relations, there are serious infractions and deficits of decent work in Nigeria.

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Apr 20
0

Unions and Productivity, Financial Performance and Investment: International Evidence

By | Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Social dialogue, UK, United States

Abstract

If the presence of a union in a workplace or firm raises the pay level, unless productivity rises correspondingly, financial performance is likely to be worse. If the product market is uncompetitive this might imply a simple transfer from capital to labour with no efficiency effects, but is probably more likely to lead to lower investment rates and economic senescence. Therefore the impact of unions on productivity, financial performance and investment is extremely important. This paper distils evidence on such effects from six countries: USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Japan and Australia. It is not possible to use theory to predict unambiguously any union effect on productivity because unions can both enhance and detract from the productivity performance of the workplace or firm. The evidence indicates that, in the USA, workplaces with both high performance work systems and union recognition have higher labour productivity than other workplaces. In the UK previous negative links between unions and labour productivity have been eroded by greater competition and more emphasis on ”partnership” in industrial relations but there is a lingering negative effect of multi-unionism, just as there is in Australia. In Germany the weight of the evidence suggests that the information, consultation and voice role of works councils enhances labour productivity particularly in larger firms. In Japan unions also tend to raise labour productivity via the longer job tenures in union workplaces which makes it more attractive to invest in human capital and through the unpaid personnel manager role played by full-time enterprise union officials in the workplace. Unions will reduce profits if they raise pay and/or lower productivity. The evidence is pretty clear cut: the bulk of studies show that profits or financial performance is inferior in unionised workplaces, firms and sectors than in their non-union counterparts. But the world may be changing. A recent study of small USA entrepreneurial firms found a positive association between unions and profits and in the UK the outlawing of the closed shop, coupled with a lower incidence of multi-unionism has contributed to greater union-management cooperation such that recent studies find no association between unions and profits. North American and German evidence suggests that unionisation reduces investment by around one fifth compared with the investment rate in a non-union workplace. In both Canada and the USA this effect is even felt at low levels of unionisation. The UK evidence is mixed: the most thorough study also finds that union recognition depresses investment, but this adverse effect is offset as density rises. The exception is Japan where union recognition goes hand-in-hand with greater capital intensity.

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Apr 20
0

Tripartite Bargaining and its Impact on Stabilisation Policy in Central and Eastern Europe

By | Case-study, Social dialogue

Abstract

In this paper we examine the impact of self-imposed governmental constraints (by tripartite arrangements) and the timing of reforms (window of opportunity) on the successful implementation of large-scale reforms (fiscal stabilisation policy) in seven Central and Eastern European Countries. By analysing different sources and conducting interviews with experts and members of the tripartite councils, we consider the impact of tripartite structures on the government decision-making process in Bulgaria, Estonia, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. Our findings indicate that the early and continuously stabilising countries secured their policy-making by factors other than tripartite bargaining. In those countries that took a second, later approach to fiscal stabilisation, with a more confrontational style and stronger trade unions, tripartite bargaining proved to be a successful instrument.

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Apr 20
0

Labor Unrest and the Quality of Production: Evidence from the Construction Equipment Resale Market

By | Case-study, Social dialogue, United States

Abstract

This paper examines the construction equipment resale market to assess whether equipment produced by the world’s largest manufacturer of construction machinery, Caterpillar, experienced lower product quality in facilities that underwent contract disputes during the 1990’s. Analysis of auction data reveals that resale market participants significantly discounted machines produced in these dispute-affected facilities. Additionally, pieces of equipment produced in facilities undergoing unrest were resold more often, received worse appraisal reports, and had lower list prices. Taken together, the evidence supports the hypothesis that workmanship at dispute-affected facilities declined, and that the resulting impact on the economic quality of the equipment produced was significant. The dispute was associated with at least $400 million in lost service flows due to inferior quality equipment alone.

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Apr 20
0

Working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment sector: Social dialogue and compliance

By | Bangladesh, Case-study, Social dialogue

Abstract

The Bangladeshi garment sector is a leading garment manufacturing industry in the world that has been growing constantly during the last decades. Today the garment sector represent the 80% of the national export and counts USD 19 billions revenues; these numbers describe the sector as the most important manufacturing industry in Bangladesh. The numbers are also outstanding when it comes to number of workers employed, about five millions, and number of factories about five thousands of different sizes. The cheap labour cost attracted many international brands that chose the Bangladeshi factories to produce their products for the European and US markets that take up to the 60% and 20% of the total export. Despite the impressive numbers presented, the level of working conditions cannot be described with the same positive attitude. In fact to an increasing level of profit and continuous expansion, the new wealth has not been equally distributed and workers are employed in factories that too often can be categorised as sweatshops. The working conditions do not allow a decent level of living for garment workers that are exploited and forced to meet exhausting production quota for very little level of wage and very low social security. The situation is even more worsened by the very low power that unions have and their limited activities that cannot ensure a proper protection of workers’ rights. In this thesis project we used the literature to understand the current status quo of the working conditions in the garment sector and to identify the major factors that influence, impact and contribute in making the labour standards low. We used the interviewing methodology to gather facts and opinions of the current system and to organize the information and draw the status of the system. Afterwards we analysed the findings using cultural and economic indicators and the design of recommendation that could contribute in improving the working conditions’ level. Through the literature review and the interviews we defined the working conditions as: wage, job security, safety, discrimination, harassment and freedom of association; through the analysis we could acknowledge that workers are clearly exploited and the conditions are far to comply with the International Labour Standards defined by the international organizations. In the specific we analysed how two factors, compliance and social dialogue impact on the working conditions; the result shows the very low law enforcement level and little practice of a dialogue among government, business associations and workers, where the latter has almost no power; we can conclude that they significantly contribute to keep the working conditions low. Finally we provided recommendations to improve the working conditions and distribute the benefits among workers, employers and government, guaranteeing the sectorial long-term expansion and the significant benefits for global buyers.

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Apr 19
0

Union effects on performance and employment relations: Evidence from China

By | China, Social dialogue

Abstract

This paper empirically studies union effects on the performance of, and employment relations in, China’s private enterprises. The study finds a positive and statistically significant union effect on labor productivity, but not on profitability. It further finds that unions lead to better employee benefits and increased contract signing in employment. These findings suggest that, in the era of transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, unions in China’s private enterprises do promote workers’ interests as unions do in other economies. And they do that without abandoning their traditional role of harmonizing employment relations, as required by the Party.

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Apr 19
0

Developmental Relevance of Social Dialogue in Ghana

By | Ghana, Social dialogue

TUDCN has undertaken three national case studies in Ghana, Indonesia and Uruguay to analyse social dialogue within the countries in its various forms, with particular focus on the formalisation of these dialogues at different administrative levels and its contribution to development. The studies are authored by national trade union specialists and include examples of good practice as well as of limitations of the different contexts.

The Ghana case study puts forward the role of institutionalised social dialogue in increasing the minimum wage. It also highlights how other forms of social dialogue, including consultations and discussions, have contributed to the elaboration of the Poverty Reduction Strategy; of national employment, youth and social protection policies; and to the inclusion of social partners on the governing boards of public institutions.

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Apr 19
0

Strikes, Scabs, and Tread Separations: Labor Strife and the Production of Defective Bridgestone/Firestone Tires

By | Social dialogue, United States

Abstract

This paper provides a case study of the effect of labor relations on product quality. We consider whether a long, contentious strike and the hiring of replacement workers at Bridgestone/Firestone’s Decatur, Illinois, plant in the mid-1990s contributed to the production of defective tires. Using several independent data sources and looking before and after the strike and across plants, we find that labor strife at the Decatur plant closely coincided with lower product quality. Monthly data suggest that defects were particularly high around the time concessions were demanded and when large numbers of replacement workers and returning strikers worked side by side.

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