This case study analyses the development of tripartite social dialogue in Rwanda. It is discovered that the insistence of true unions has led to the flourishing of social dialogue, especially tripartite, in Rwanda. This has led to increases in working conditions and salary for construction workers in the region.
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This study uses New Zealand collective agreements to assess the relationship between productivity and agreements. They find that collective bargaining does have a positive impact on wage markup, but that this does not necessary correlate with increases in profitability. However, evidence over 20 years does suggest that the erosion of collective bargaining leads to an increase in the gap between organisational productivity and wage markup.
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This study analyses the difference between firm-level and sector-level collective bargaining agreements, using Belgium as a basis. It argues that firm-level agreements do more to raise wage levels past productivity increases, without affecting the organisation’s overall profitability. It suggests that firm-level agreements more strongly raise wages without affecting profitability, but have shorter reaching effects than sector-level agreements.
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This study uses the case study of the Confédération Démocratique du Travail (CDT) negotiated with Domaines Brahim Zniber Diana Holding Group in 2015 in Morocco to analyse the effect of collective bargaining on women and how the inclusion of women can alter the outcomes of the agreement. It concludes that collective bargaining agreements greatly impacts gender equality and benefits all workers by raising wages as well as facilitating broader social dialogue between workers, unions, employers and governments. An important takeaway is that the employer was supportive of the agreement throughout the process, and that even impactful agreements can be done amicably.
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This work details how social partners have incorporated inclusive growth into collective bargaining and how this has affected economic recovery in Spain after the financial crises in the early 2010’s. It combines desk research and fieldwork to assess this. It concludes that different social partners have different aims and successes in the inclusion of social growth, and that these differences need to be surpassed to move forward in the development of social inclusion and collective bargaining.
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This work assess the impact of tripartite wage bargaining over time. Different models from different states are compared to one another to assess the most effective method for wage moderation and wage dispersion. The study demonstrates that government involvement leads to an overall modest increase in both metrics, but differences in different bargaining institutions leads to varying effects.
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Social dialogue during the economic crisis: The impact of industrial relations reforms on collective bargaining in the manufacturing sector (incorporating social dialogue in manufacturing during the sovereign debt crisis).
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The recent centralization of European economic governance raises the question of parallel developments in European social policy. On the basis of an examination of the case of the European social dialogue, the propensity of ‘spill-over’ theories to explain developments in the social sphere is considered. The following three potential future trajectories for the dialogue are reviewed: the possibility of the dialogue (1) becoming broader and more redistributive, (2) becoming a means of European Union (EU)-level wage control or (3) remaining in its current form. It is concluded that the status quo is likely to endure and that such a development threatens the integrity of spill-over theories and raises the issue of the dialogue’s utility to European trade unions.
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The case studies in this research describe how two RSPO-certified palm oil companies structurally violate the labour rights of their workers. In both cases, workers are forced to work unpaid overtime in order to reach unrealistic production targets. Furthermore, these targets have motivated workers to bring their wives and children to work, thus giving rise to child labour. Other rights violations found in the field research included union busting, workers never receiving employment contracts, inadequate PPE provision and inadequate medical services. Thus, many workers’ rights violations were found that breach the RSPO standard, international law, Indonesian law, or all of the above.
This report provides a brief discussion of the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Indonesia, in an attempt to showcase some of the pitfalls that hamper this process. Two of these are uncertainty over whether Indonesia has a monist or a dualist legal system, and organisational and political issues with developing the country’s National Action Plan. The lack of implementation and enforcement of the UNGPs in Indonesia are illustrated by the company case studies, and the company’s violations of rights enshrined in UN conventions, such as children’s right not to work.
Furthermore, the international standing and reputation of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is discussed. Dutch companies that use palm oil in their products have joined the RSPO in an attempt to make their palm oil supply chains more sustainable and to ensure that the palm oil they buy has taken place free of labour rights violations and environmental degradation, among other criteria. NGO reports show that, at least on an incidental basis, the RSPO certifies palm oil produced by companies that commit exactly the types of human rights and environmental violations that motivated the creation of the RSPO.
Although further research would be needed to underwrite such a sweeping statement about the RSPO, the case studies presented in this report show that RSPO certification is not necessarily an assurance of sustainable palm production, and thus give cause for scepticism towards the initiative. Companies should therefore not depend solely on certification, but should undertake their own supply chain due diligence to ensure their business partners do not commit labour and human rights violations, so that they can safeguard their own compliance with the UNGPs.
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Millions of workers in different countries and in different times have sought to organize into unions. Whether or not a government’s laws facilitate organizing, there has been widespread demand by individuals for labor unions– as an expression of their freedom of association. In spite of higher costs that may be related to unions, workers have fought for the right to organize to tilt the balance of power from employers to workers, to provide due process procedures, and to ensure that workers earn an adequate living to support a family. Unions do not form out of thin air; they arise when individuals decide to come together to collectively address market inefficiencies and social problems.
These private actions of individuals make it clear that unions have some place in benefiting the economy. While the costs of unions are often brought up, politicians and the voting public must also consider the benefits of unions. This Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) Economic Commentary investigates how unions can increase economic efficiency. The report outlines ten examples of unions positively improving the economy for the better:
1. Union workers earn higher wages and increase consumer demand;
2. Unions reduce socially inefficient levels of income inequality;
3. Union workers receive less government assistance;
4. Union workers contribute more in income taxes;
5. Unions increase productivity in construction, manufacturing, and education;
6. Unions reduce employee turnover rates;
7. Unions fight against child labor and for public education;
8. Unions fight against all forms of discrimination;
9. Unions collectively bargain toward efficient contracts; and
10. Unions fight against the “monopsony” power of owners, especially in sports.
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