Labor’s Weight Beyond Its Numbers

[Excerpt] Beyond numbers, what unions are doing on the ground reflects their vitality. Unions are allying with new grass-roots support groups in creative public advocacy for workers\u27 rights generally, not just for their own members. Unions are also experimenting with new forms of social bargaining, using leverage such as pension fund investments and shareholder resolutions. They do this for their own organizational goals, but also for public goals such as transparent corporate governance and honest corporate accounting

Solidarity and Rights: Two to Tango: A Response to Joseph A. McCartin

[Excerpt] Thanks to Joseph McCartin for advancing this debate with an insightful critique of the workers’-rights-as-human-rights framework and for his generous treatment of the series of Human Rights Watch reports in which I had a hand. McCartin so fairly presents the human rights case, even while disagreeing with it, that it’s hard to respond without simply borrowing from his framing of my own views. But I’ll try

A World Without Work? [Review of the Books \u3ci\u3eThe End of Work\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eThe Jobless Future\u3c/i\u3e]

[Excerpt] These two books take different routes to the same conclusion: This Time It\u27s For Real. The end of work is now upon us, and the jobless future beckons. This was portended in the past--by the development of steam-powered machinery, then electrical power, then by mid-twentieth century automation reflected in numerically-controlled machine tools, and even by the first and second generations of computers--but never realized as new outlets for employment took shape. Those days are done now. Advanced computers and software are bringing into being what Jeremy Rifkin calls a near-workerless economy

Free Speech and Freedom of Association: Finding the Balance

[Excerpt] The fundamental right to freedom of association guarantees that workers are able to form and join trade unions free from any interference from employers and governments. This basic principle has been applied consistently by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for over 60 years. However, the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) is now attempting to undermine that principle by arguing, in the name of freedom of expression, that anti-union campaigns meant to discourage workers from forming or joining a union are consistent with international standards. They even go so far as to argue that anti-union campaigns may be an obligation of employers. To accomplish this, the IOE relies heavily on a contorted interpretation of a 2010 decision by the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) concerning Delta Airlines’ campaign to encourage workers to “shred” their union election ballots. Only by claiming that the Delta decision represents a radical departure from precedent can the IOE now argue the existence of an international right to wage anti-union campaigns worldwide. Indeed, the IOE had previously conceded that U.S.-style antiunion campaigns violate the right to freedom of association as established by the ILO. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) recognizes that employers and workers have a right to express themselves; however, that right is not unlimited. The limit must be drawn where interference with the right to association begins. The vitriolic anti-union campaigns waged by U.S.-based employers cross that line. The fact that aggressive anti-union campaigns are considered legal under the domestic labour law of a country does not override international standards. Indeed, labour laws like those found in the U.S. are outliers among nations, permitting anti-union speech that is illegal (and unthinkable) elsewhere when workers seek to form and join trade unions

Coming Home to Golf

[Excerpt] For a mainstream sports buff turning 40, golf takes on a new allure. Unexpected, even unwanted at first, a reawakened passion for the game has snuck up on me in the past year. After all, golfers excel with the best traits of those of us who have, been through the mill a bit: nerve, judgment, timing and consistency. When a fan turns 40, subtleness and elegance replace sheer force as the highest order of sporting skills

[Review of the Book \u3ci\u3eAdvancing Theory in Labour Law and Industrial Relations in a Global Context\u3c/i\u3e]

[Excerpt] The ideas and insights in Advancing Theory are an important contribution to the on-the-ground social justice movement challenging corporate rule in the global economy. It can even help rescue labor law and industrial relations as intellectual disciplines and career trajectories for a new generation of students and practitioners excited about thinking globally and acting locally

Breaking Ranks: On Military Spending, Unions Hear a Different Drummer

[Excerpt] What remains to be seen is whether the labor movement\u27s study of military spending will uncover the unions\u27 material self-interest in reducing it, and in conveying that interest to the membership. For besides its general damage to the economy, which is now recognized even by many conservatives, the big, endless military buildup also threatens to inflict fatal damage on the trade union movement and its individual unions—not just indirectly but directly and concretely, in the form of fewer members, fewer contracts, fewer organizing victories, and less political power for working people. In effect, the Reagan Administration\u27s plan to boost military spending in the 1980s is also a program for the structural dismantling of the trade union movement

NGO-Labor Union Tensions on the Ground

[Excerpt] There are serious tensions between NGOs and trade unions, two major advocates of workers’ rights, that underlie any discussion of workplace codes of conduct. The tensions stem from questions of legitimacy that bedevil both communities. Trade unionists see themselves as representing stable organizations with dues-paying members. They have a ready answer to the question “Whom do you represent?” The situation for NGOs is far more complex. No single organization speaks authoritatively for the NGO community. Unlike union leaders, NGO activists are not elected. Some NGOs are membership organizations funded by contributions from individuals. Payments are often sporadic and crisis-driven, in contrast to regular union dues. Other NGOs depend on government grants, wealthy individuals, foundations, and even corporate donations. Dependence on such sources tends to limit NGO activities to those that do not exceed the risks that the funders are willing to take, whereas unions are constrained only by the democratically determined wishes of their members

[Review of the Book \u3ci\u3eThe Promise and Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labor Standards in the Global Economy\u3c/i\u3e]

[Excerpt] In The Promise and Limits of Private Power, Richard Locke analyzes and evaluates private sector corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on working conditions in global supply chain factories. The book synthesizes findings from a multi-year project that has already generated several important articles on various aspects of supply chain labor dynamics. The book is structured around a strong central theme. Corporate codes of conduct and other private, voluntary steps indeed can have some positive effects on working conditions in supply chain factories, but results are mixed. They are not sufficient for sustained improvements. Public regulation through effectively enforced legal standards must be part of the equation. In sum, private voluntary regulation can best succeed when \u27layered\u27 on and interacting with public (state) regulation

Small Island With Big Rewards

[Excerpt] Each leg of a trip to Chappy, as residents know it, begins with a formidable bottleneck. First you must get to Cape Cod through the gantlet of traffic on U.S. Route 6 between the interstate highways and the Bourne Bridge. Then there is the regulated ferry service to Martha\u27s Vineyard, which requires late winter reservations for summer season car transport, thus limiting the volume of cars allowed on the main island