On the Lack of Trade Union Power in Kenya

Le but de l'article précédent est de mettre au point un schéma permettant de préciser les différents facteurs qui déterminent un syndicat à décider de recourir à l'arbitrage pendant la durée d'une convention collective. L'objet de ce schéma est l'analyse des répercussions probables de changements qui seraient destinés à accélérer le processus de l'arbitrage, à en réduire le coût pour les syndicats et à faciliter le recours à la médiation avant l'arbitrage. L'auteur discute des conséquences de ces changements du point de vue de la direction, des syndicats et de l'État.L'article s'applique d'abord à l'Ontario, mais il vaut aussi pour les autres provinces canadiennes et plusieurs États Américains, car l'arbitrage exécutoire, en tant que stade ultime de la procédure de griefs, est obligatoire partout au Canada, sauf en Saskatchewan. On retrouve également un régime similaire dans la plupart des conventions collectives outre-frontière.Cette généralisation de l'arbitrage exécutoire ne signifie pas qu'il soit exempt de critiques. On estime que les délais sont beaucoup trop longs, que l'enquête est conduite d'une manière beaucoup trop formelle, que les décisions sont trop souvent sujettes à révision par les cours civiles, que l'obligation pour les syndicats d'avoir généralement à en défrayer la moitié du coût empêche les plus faibles d'y recourir suffisamment.Ceux qui désirent le maintien du régime actuel estiment qu'il est possible pour les intéressés de l'améliorer en établissant, à l'intérieur des conventions, leur propre système d'arbitrage. Ils considèrent aussi que toute tentative pour en réduire le coût se traduira par la multiplication des griefs déférés à des tiers.L'auteur signale que, sous le présent régime, le syndicat, suivant les circonstances, a un triple choix: soumettre le grief à l'arbitrage, réserver la question pour règlement à la prochaine ronde de négociations ou, tout simplement, l'abandonner. Ce triple choix dépend de la situation de force dans laquelle se trouve le syndicat au moment du grief. Si le grief n'est pas abandonné, le syndicat pourra demander l'arbitrage, ce qui peut inciter la direction à le régler. Si la direction ne bouge pas et si l'on est à la veille d'entreprendre de nouvelles négociations, il se peut que le syndicat préfère tenter de trouver une solution au moment des conventions collectives.L'auteur passe ensuite à l'analyse de la conception que les arbitres se font de leur rôle, les uns s'en tenant à l'interprétation stricte de la convention; d'autres, beaucoup moins nombreux, cherchant à jouer si possible le rôle d'un médiateur. D'une façon générale, l'arbitrage est généralement considéré comme un procès, les parties présentant une argumentation, s'appuyant sur une jurisprudence et citant des témoins.La nature des griefs est aussi fort variée. Les uns portent sur des questions de fait précises; d'autres viennent s'insérer dans le processus même des négociations collectives. Il est rare que l'on soit en présence de conflits de droit pur. On est la plupart du temps en présence d'un conflit de droit auquel viennent s'ajouter des questions d'intérêts.Il arrive également que l'on se trouve en présence de pseudo-conflits, c'est-à-dire que les conflits sont inexistants, les parties ne se comprenant pas ou faisant mine de ne pas se comprendre.En effet, les rapports entre des contractants assujettis à une convention collective sont de plusieurs types. Les uns sont en opposition marquée cherchant à sedétruire ou à s'affaiblir l'un et l'autre. D'autres adoptent une attitude d'agression mutuelle, mais l'un accepte l'existence légitime de l'autre. D'autres encore cherchent à s'accommoder: ils ne vont pas jusqu'à travailler à se démolir, mais ne prêtent aucune assistance, gardant des rapports courtois de stricte neutralité. Enfin, il y a ceux qui marchent la main dans la main en parfaite collusion.L'existence de ces climats variés exerce, cela va de soi, une influence sur le type des conflits qui se produisent, sur la façon dont ils sont perçus et aussi sur les modes de règlements de griefs qu'on recherche.À partir des observations précédentes, l'auteur simplifie les choses en estimant qu'il s'installe généralement deux types de climats: les uns, bons, où l'on s'efforce de coopérer, de s'accommoder; les autres, mauvais, où l'on se défie sans cesse mutuellement.Dans le premier cas, il y a peu de pseudo-conflits, puisque ceux-ci ont tendance à se résoudre entre les parties, c'est-à-dire que les problèmes se règlent aux divers stades de la procédure des griefs. Au contraire, si le climat de l'entreprise est mauvais, il y a de fortes chances que le mécanisme mis en place pour le règlement des griefs fonctionnera mal, le syndicat devant choisir l'arbitrage, retenir le grief en vue de son règlement au moment de la négociation collective ou se résigner à le laisser tomber.C'est ici qu'intervient le choix de la méthode à suivre. Par exemple, on sait que la procédure de règlement des griefs précède le recours à l'arbitrage. La décision du syndicat sera alors influencée par le moment où se soulève un grief. Si l'on est à la veille d'entamer de nouvelles négociations et que l'on sait que les délais seront longs avant d'obtenir une décision, le syndicat cherchera à régler le différend par le biais de la négociation collective, d'où l'on peut déduire que des considérations de temps jouent un rôle important dans la décision de porter ou non un grief à l'arbitrage. L'autre aspect, qui entre en ligne de compte, a trait aux gains que l'on peut obtenir. Parfois, quand il s'agit de problèmes relatifs aux salaires, il est possible d'évaluer les avantages qu'on pourra tirer d'une victoire, mais quand il s'agit des droits d'un individu, il est bien plus difficile de trouver une unité de mesure. Le syndicat tient également compte des dépenses qu'il aura à effectuer au cours d'un arbitrage comparativement aux gains qu'il escompte obtenir par la décision et également au risque qu'il court de ne pas avoir gain de cause.Le schéma précédent permet d'étudier plusieurs possibilités de modifier les lois suivant lesquelles le système d'arbitrage avec décision exécutoire peut fonctionner. Ce schéma implique que, là où les relations sont bonnes, la plupart des griefs ne se rendront pas à l'arbitrage. C'est pourquoi les adversaires de la modification du régime estiment que rendre l'arbitrage plus facile d'accès, c'est inviter les parties à ne pas faire tous les efforts voulus pour régler directement les conflits, mais on peut se demander aussi si un régime d'arbitrage moins dispendieux, moins long, moins formaliste ne serait pas un bon moyen de faciliter les négociations collectives.La réduction du coût de l'arbitrage, de sa durée et de son formalisme aurait pour effet de débarrasser la négociation collective de nombreuses questions qui conduisent souvent à des impasses mais, cela accroîtrait le volume des griefs et forcerait aussi le syndicat à poursuivre des griefs qui ne sont pas sérieux.L'auteur conclut son étude en disant que, étant donné le rôle important que joue l'arbitrage dans les relations de travail, il faudrait pousser plus loin les recherches dans ce domaine pour mieux connaître d'abord le fonctionnement du processus d'arbitrage et ensuite pour mieux comprendre les facteurs qui poussent les syndicats à y recourir, ce à quoi l'on peut arriver par l'étude plus poussée de la formation et du cheminement de beaucoup de griefs

Foreign Direct Investment from China, India and South Africa in Sub-Saharan Africa: A New or Old Phenomenon?

The burgeoning literature on outward foreign direct investment from emerging markets has largely focused on analysing the motives of investors as reported by parent companies. This paper, instead, focuses on firm-level investments originating from China, India or South Africa in fifteen host countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The analysis is based on a sub-set of firms drawn from the overall sample of 1,216 foreign-owned firms participating in the UNIDO Africa Foreign Investor Survey, carried out in 2005. The sample of investments originating from China, India and South Africa is analysed in terms of firm characteristics, past and forecast performance in SSA over three years and management?s perception of ongoing business conditions. Comparisons are made with foreign investors from the North. The paper concludes that while investors in SSA from the three countries are primarily using their investment to target specific markets, they are largely operating in different sub-sectors. While there appear to be specific features that firms from a given country of origin share, there are no obvious operating-level features they all share apart from market seeking.South-South FDI, market-seeking, sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, South Africa

The Proton-Proton Reaction, Solar Neutrinos, and a Relativistic Field Theoretic Model of the Deuteron

In a series of recent papers, Ivanov et al. and Oberhummer et al. have calculated the rate for the $p + p \to d + e^+ + \nu_e$ reaction with a zero-range four-fermion effective interaction and find a result 2.9 times higher than the standard value calculated from non-relativistic potential theory. Their procedure is shown to give a wrong answer because their assumed interaction disagrees with low-energy $pp$ scattering data.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX (uses elsart.sty) to appear in Nuclear Physics

Growth and Persistence of Large Business Groups in India

The international business literature is belatedly recognizing the significance of large family-controlled business groups in emerging markets. Most research has focused on analyzing the impact of concentrations of private wealth on economic development in home countries using panel data. This paper examines the growth and persistence of business groups since 1951 in one country – India. Since Independence, the government has attempted to operate an economic policy framework that had, amongst its prime objectives, the curbing of the tendency of business groups to concentrate economic power. As their growth was seen as synonymous with concentration of wealth, business groups became obvious candidates for regulation. Various policy instruments were introduced, such as the Industries (Development and Regulation) (IDR) Act 1951 and the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act 1969, with the aim of erecting barriers to their growth. In 1991, economic reform ushered in the removal of the legislative barriers to business group growth. The analysis in this paper concludes that large business groups expanded their share of wealth between 1951 and 1969, but this growth was arrested between 1970 and 1990, and since 1991, it has dwindled. The pre-eminent position of Tata and Birla, as the two largest business groups, remained unchallenged from 1951 until the emergence of the Reliance Group in the late 1990s. However, there has been frequent change in the relative positions of other groups in and out of the Top-20. After economic liberalisation accelerated from 1991, there was significant change in the ranks of business groups in the Top-20. Existing smaller groups or newly emerging groups, particularly in the IT and telecommunications sectors, have replaced many of the previously dominant older groups. This is interpreted as indicating the central role of entrepreneurship in combination with technological innovation, and the opening up of the Indian economy to international competition, in disturbing established business hierarchies in India. More generally, policy intervention appears to have been less effective in breaking up concentrations of economic power in India than economic liberalization and increased competition

Theology and the ethics of sex: A study of patristic and medieval writings

This thesis investigates the influence that patristic and medieval theology exerted upon the ethics of sex. We deal first with Tertullian, who argued that a new dispensation of the Holy Spirit required Christians to submit their wills to a discipline in which severe restrictions were placed on sexual relations. Athough Tertullian claimed that these restrictions were implicit in the New Testament, he also sought to justify them by means of metaphysical dualism which opposed the duties of the spirit to those of the flesh. However, the frequency with which he refers to a decline in catholic morality indicates that an important factor in his conception of Christian obligation was anxiety about the preservation of Christian identity in a social environment that was becoming lees hostile to the church. This helps to explain why Cyprian, Ambrose, and Jerome accepted his account of spirituality, even thought they denied that every member of the church had to practise the discipline it involved. The early writings of Augustine reveal that a neo-Platonic conception of moral excellence can allow for a moderate enjoyment of temporal goods, including those that the church associated with marriage. Through experience and theological reflection, however, Augustine began to appreciate the sinfulness of man and the importance of divine grace. When the Pelagians challenged his teaching, then, he was prompted to elaborate a doctrine of original sin which cast aspersion on the sexual desire of man. His theological insights led him to qualify some of the views that others expressed on the subject of chastity but he was able to assure the anxious monks that his conception of divine grace did not conflict with their conception of Christian identity. The monastic version of the Christian life developed from the protest which ascetics had been making against the moral laxity of the church. This confirms our view that patristic and early medieval ethics was designed largely to cope with a crisis of confidence in Christian identity. The monasteries provided the early medieval church with its leadership and so successive generations of the faithful had the ascetic pattern of virtue impressed upon them. An improvement in social conditions led theologians of the High Middle Ages to express new confidence in human reason and greater interest in the temporal prospects of man. Anselm of Canterbury developed a theory of the atonement in which the monastic conceptions of divine justice and human obedience were extended and room was made for an appreciation of the dynamics of historical existence. Hence he found no fault in marriage. Nevertheless, he maintained the superiority of celibacy, partly because the loyalty that celibates gave to the church was an important factor in the power that it wielded over medieval society. The premium that Peter Abelard placed upon human reason led him to challenge many traditional doctrines and practical abuses of the church but it also led him to attack the sensual nature of man. Although he denied that sexual pleasure was intrinsically sinful, then, he went so far as to claim that marriage was an obstacle to salvation. Hugh of St. Victor accepted the Augustinian account of the human predicament but his sacramental view of the world enabled him to discern something of value in marital love. The responsibility that ecclesiastical courts were assuming for matrimonial affairs also gave Hugh the opportunity to emphasize the freedom with which a couple should choose to enter into a relationship of mutual love. The cautions approval that some theologians were now giving to marital sex could not avert the romantic protest against this aspect of Christian ethics. However superficial or idealistic courtly lyrics and romances may have been, they emphatically rejected the theological estimates of woman and sexual love. The thesis concludes with an analysis of the ethical system of Thomas Aquinas. With his knowledge of Aristotle, Thomas was able to appreciate the order that reason could discern in, and impose upon, the world. His doctrine of natural law affirmed both the power of human reason and the goals of social life. However, respect for the authority of the church led him to maintain the traditional view of Christian perfection. Since he also confused the status of medieval woman with natural law and made room for the Augustinian doctrine of original sin, his account of marriage was not as favourable as it might have been. From this analysis we conclude that theological principles did help to determine to patristic and medieval ethics of sex but that the most important factors were sociological

Sulfur isotope and trace element systematics of zoned pyrite crystals from the El Indio Au-Cu-Ag deposit, Chile

We present a comparative study between early, massive pyrite preceding (Cu–Ag) sulfosalt mineralization in high-temperature feeder zones (‘early pyrite’) and late pyrite that formed during silicic alteration associated with Au deposition (‘late pyrite’) at the El Indio high-sulfidation Au–Ag–Cu deposit, Chile. We use coupled in situ sulfur isotope and trace element analyses to chronologically assess geochemical variations across growth zones in these pyrite crystals. Early pyrite that formed in high-temperature feeder zones shows intricate oscillatory zonation of Cu, with individual laminae containing up to 1.15 wt% Cu and trace Co, As, Bi, Ni, Zn, Se, Ag, Sb, Te, Au, Pb and Bi. Late pyrite formed after (Cu–Ag) sulfosalt mineralization. It contains up to 1.14 wt% As with trace Cu, Zn, Pb, V, Mn, Co, Ni, Ge, Se, Ag, Sb, Te, Pb and Bi, as well as colloform Cu-rich growth bands containing vugs toward the outer edges of some crystals. Plotting the trace element data in chronological order (i.e., from core to rim) revealed that Co and Ni were the only elements to consistently co-vary across growth zones. Other trace elements were coupled in specific growth zones, but did not consistently co-vary across any individual crystal. The δ34S of early pyrite crystals in high-temperature feeder zones range from −3.19 to 1.88 ‰ (±0.5 ‰), consistent with sublimation directly from a high-temperature magmatic vapor phase. Late pyrite crystals are distinctly more enriched in δ34S than early pyrite (δ34S = 0.05–4.77 ‰, ±0.5 ‰), as a consequence of deposition from a liquid phase at lower temperatures. It is unclear whether the late pyrite was deposited from a small volume of liquid condensate, or a larger volume of hydrothermal fluid. Both types of pyrite exhibit intracrystalline δ34S variation, with a range of up to 3.31 ‰ recorded in an early pyrite crystal and up to 4.48 ‰ in a late pyrite crystal. Variations in δ34Spyrite at El Indio did not correspond with changes in trace element geochemistry. The lack of correlation between trace elements and δ34S, as well as the abundance of microscale mineral inclusions and vugs in El Indio pyrite indicate that the trace element content of pyrite at El Indio is largely controlled by nanoscale, syn-depositional mineral inclusions. Co and Ni were the only elements partitioned within the crystal structure of pyrite. Cu-rich oscillatory zones in early pyrite likely formed by nanoscale inclusions of Cu-rich sulfosalts or chalcopyrite, evidence of deposition from a fluid cyclically saturated in ore metals. This process may be restricted to polymetallic high-sulfidation-like deposits

Electrical properties of pulsed UV laser irradiated amorphous carbon

Amorphous carbon films containing no hydrogen were irradiated with a pulsed UV laser in vacuum. Raman spectroscopy indicates an increase in the quantity of sp(2) clustering with the highest laser energy density and a commensurate reduction in resistivity. The reduction of resistivity is explained to be associated with thermally induced graphitization of amorphous carbon films. The high field transport is consistent with a Poole-Frenkel type transport mechanism via neutral trapping centers related to sp(2) sites which are activated under high fields. Decreasing the resistivity is an important feature for use of carbon as an electronic material. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.</p