Pensées européennes

On imaginerait mal l'Europe sans ses institutions. Plus de cinquante ans de construction européenne n'ont pourtant pas donné naissance aux États-Unis d'Europe escomptés par ses « pères fondateurs ». Ce petit livre aborde cinq sujets qui, d'une façon ou d'une autre, préoccupent les Églises en ce moment de l'histoire. Paradoxalement, leur contenu est très peu connu mais ils lient des questions de nature théorique à des questions relatives à l'identité européenne : le problème des fondements de l'Union européenne ; les valeurs européennes ; la démocratie européenne ; la justice sociale et le droit, et les frontières de l'Europe

The New CEC

In 2014 the Conference of European Churches celebrated a historic merger with the Church and Society Commission, bringing together two of the oldest and broadest ecumenical organisations in Europe. Now at this turning point, in the midst of an ever-changing Europe, CEC must articulate a new vision for its future. In a series of inspiring and relevant essays, leaders from the church and the world of European politics offer insight into what it means to be a Conference of European Churches in 21st century Europe

Importance of resources. Investigating activism at the workplace with the psychological Job Demands-Resources Model

status: publishe

Jongeren en vakbond

Vakbonden, enkel iets voor grijsaards? Aan de hand van een recente studie van het HIVA ‘waardenkader van de vakbond’ gaan we na hoe dat jongeren over de vakbond denken. Er bestaan veel vooroordelen die niet altijd stroken met de realiteit. En bereiken en betrekken de vakbonden jonge collega’s voldoende bij syndicale werking?status: publishe

The Belgian case: an outlier in union density and membership

Belgian union density is evolving more and more into an international outlier. Membership is not decreasing. No significant differences in union density exist by age or size of establishment. Membership is higher in the private than in the public sector. A first section of the paper will describe based on longitudinal data the growth of this outlier position. Belgian union density will be compared with the density of neighbouring countries and analysed according to certain background variables using Eurobarometer data for the 70s and 80s and European Social Survey data for the recent time. As such, the differences in trends will be established, pinpointing to the success of Belgian trade unions of involving certain occupational groups (professionals) and service sectors. A second part of the paper will develop a range of hypotheses to explain these outlier trends. First evidence will be presented from a range of sources to discuss and weigh these hypotheses. Referring to the union instrumentality framework theory of joining a union (Bamberger et al., 1999), two elements of explanation will be in particular stressed: • Belgian union dues are cheap compared to other countries, which has in particular an important effect in retaining difficult-to-reach groups (white collars, service sector, …). This price factor seems a forgotten issue in the scientific debate of joining unions. • As explanation for the higher Belgian union density several authors pinpoint to the element that Belgian unions are involved in a semi-Ghent system of employment insurance (see recently Van Rie et al., 2011). We will instead highlight the administrative involvement of the Belgian unions in a range of other benefits, not always related to unemployment. A final section of the paper will discuss these findings in light of the international debate on union joining and union revitalisation.status: publishe

The psychosocial risk factors of union activism at the workplace: investigating the industrial relations determinants. Role theory and practice of industrial relations: antecedents of union activists’ burnout

Union representatives at workplace level play a key intermediating role in a performing collective industrial relations system. Recent calls within the ‘union renewal’ literature have been made to re-examine this strand of literature. In relation to this central function of activism the paper illustrate that it is not only important to look how one becomes an active union member at the workplace, but also how one remains an active union member. The first part of the proposed paper adopts for this purpose the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to the role of union representatives at the workplace. We established based on previous analysis a strong positive relation between role stressors like inter-role conflict and quantitative role overload on the one hand, and feelings of burnout on the other hand. Role ambiguity plays an indirect role. Secondly, it is especially support by the rank and file, which has a negative relation with burnout. Based on these findings we focus in the second part of the paper (only) on the antecedents of the role demands/stressors of a union representative function. Based on general role theory of work, we develop hypotheses on possible antecendents related to the industrial relations practice and context the union activists/representatives experience. Key in this regard seems to be what we could call a context or environment of ‘high-involvement’ industrial relations; A high, dense role of interest representation at the workplace and activism with a lot of influence and recognition by the employer and a strong cohesion and support within the union rank-and-file leads on the one hand to lower levels of role conflict and ambiguity, but on the other hand the risk of role overload increases. Radical union beliefs and formal mandates decrease in this situation role ambiguity. Union activists that have a stronger personal-instrumental incentive to take up the role have a higher probability of a different pattern of role stress. They experience more role conflicts and role ambiguity, but overload their union role less. In general the included antecedents were less helpful to explain possible role overload. The analysis is based on the results of a representative sample of 600 union representatives in industry from the biggest Belgian trade union.status: publishe

Engagement and burnout of union representatives: Investigating activism at the workplace with the Job Demands-Resources Model

Activism of workplace union representatives has been considered as an important element of an ‘organizing approach’ to union renewal. The present study adopts the job demands – resources (JD-R) model as the theoretical framework to examine how the accompanying role demands and resources influence the psychological state-of-activism of union representatives, through analyzing their relationship with burnout (exhaustion and cynicism) and engagement (vigor and dedication). Antecedents of burnout and engagement of Belgian union representatives in industry are investigated (N=610). Linear regression modeling using self-reports provide evidence for the central assumptions of the JD-R model. External demands of inter-role conflict and quantitative role overload determine burnout, but can be balanced with role resources, especially support and appreciation from the membership. Engagement of union representatives is facilitated/stimulated by the availability of resources at the workplace like time, security and influence and again social support. These resources play a less important role in situations of high internal role demands (ambiguity and complexity). The practical implications of these findings are discussed.status: publishe

Het genderperspectief in het sociaal overleg op sectorniveau. Een analyse van en voor het ACV-optreden

De ongelijkheid tussen vrouwen en mannen op de Belgische arbeidsmarkt is een hardnekkig gegeven. In dit rapport in, samenwerking met het ACV, vatten de basisindicatoren van deze ongelijkheid nogmaals kort samen. Vervolgens overlopen we kort hoe beleidsmatig wordt getracht deze ongelijkheden weg te werken. ‘Gendermainstreaming’ of integratie van de genderdimensie in elk soort beleid krijgt daarbij vandaag de hoofdaandacht. Na een kort overzicht van hoe deze strategie programmatorisch is vertaald door het ACV, wordt duidelijk gemaakt op welke wijze het sectorale CAO-overleg in deze ACV-strategie van gendermainstreaming een welbepaalde rol wordt toebedeeld. Het is deze rol die in dit rapport systematisch wordt geanalyseerd.nrpages: 87status: publishe