International Employment Relations Network List

(IERN-L)

A Miscellany of International Employment Relations News

Date

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Contents

UK: Ex-Woolworths staff win £68 million compensation

USA: Unions do not labor in vain in Wisconsin

USA: USW Oil Workers Set Stage to Bargain for Safe Refineries, Good Jobs

UK: DLR staff secure biggest sweetener yet for Olympics work

China: Apple's Chinese factories to be audited after violation of working

conditions

Saudi Arabia bans trade unions and violates all international labour standards

Croatia: T-Mobile Croatia workers strike over unfair plan to cut over 450 jobs

Canada: CAW and CEP to begin talks on new union

Title

In Brief

USA: Indiana Senate Passes RTW Despite Broad Public Opposition

UK: Having unions in the workplace ‘saves employers money’

Singapore: 13th month pay 'part of basic wage' in SIA case

Egyptian workers say no to anti-union Law 35 and old order

1

Publications

Days of Action: The legality of protest strikes against government cuts  

Global Employment Trends 2012

Calls for Papers

Special Issue IJHRM: Partnership, Collaboration and Mutual Gains 

Flexible Work Patterns Study Group Meeting at ILERA

Study Group #9 (Pay Systems), July 2, 2012 in Philadelphia at ILERA

Transnational industrial relations and the search for alternatives

Korean Journal of Industrial Relations

Conference , Seminars, Symposia

Critical Labour Studies 8th Symposium

28th AIRAANZ 2012 Conference

IFSAM 2012 Conference

16th World Congress of ILERA 2012

___________________________________________________________________________

UK: Ex-Woolworths staff wins £68 million compensation

IR/UK/Redundancy Procedures/Payments

Source: CIPD, 23 January 2012. Website/URL: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/01/ex-woolworths-staff-win-68-million-compensation.htm?wa_src=email&wa_pub=cipd&wa_crt=news_2&wa_cmp=pmdaily_230112

Thousands of former Woolworths staff have collectively won £67.8m in compensation after

an employment tribunal ruled that the administrators had failed to follow redundancy

2

procedures.

Nearly 30,000 people lost their jobs when the high street retailer went out of business in

November 2008 and administrators shut all the shops, offices and warehouses by January

2009.

However, shop workers’ union Usdaw brought a claim for a ‘protective award’ for

employees, through the government’s Redundancy Payments Office, after the administrator

did not fulfil their legal duty to consult with the union before making redundancies.

Last week, the tribunal awarded Usdaw members 60 days pay, capped at £400 gross pay a

week, which is the maximum amount payable for a case like this.

The taxpayer will pick up the tab for compensation as Woolworths was in administration

when the redundancies were made.

However, workers employed in a store where 20 or less redundancies were made will not be

eligible for the payout because of a legal precedent recognised by the tribunal.

A similar case involving workers made redundant when budget clothing chain Ethel Austin

went into administration in 2010 did not award compensation to people who worked in

premises where less than 20 redundancies were made.

The precedent means that about 3,000 workers from 180 of the 814 Woolworth sites “may

never receive compensation” according to Usdaw. The union said it plans to appeal the

decision.

John Gorle, Usdaw national officer said: “While the award is never going to fully compensate

people for losing their jobs, I’m sure our members will welcome the money and appreciate

the effort the union has made to secure the compensation for them.

“However, I’m once again bitterly disappointed that a tribunal has limited the scope of the

award. The fact that some of our members won’t be compensated simply because their store

had less than 20 employees is just plain wrong and shows the gaping loophole and injustice

of the current legislation.

"Nearly 30,000 employees were made redundant from Woolworths at the same time and for

the same reason, so to suggest 3,000 of them didn’t constitute a collective redundancy is a

nonsense.”

John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary added: “The UK's current interpretation of the law on

collective redundancies is both unfair and possibly a breach of the European Directive which

seeks to protect workers in large scale redundancy situations.”

In addition, the shop workers’ union has already made a separate and successful claim for its

members formerly employed by Woolworths in Northern Ireland. No employees in Northern

3

Ireland worked in stores with less than 20 staff, therefore everyone received compensation of

60 days pay.

An employer proposing collective redundancies is required to consult in advance with staff

representatives and the consultation must be completed before issuing dismissal notices.

Under UK law, the obligation to consult is currently limited to situations where 20 or more

employees will be made redundant at one establishment within a 90-day period.

. __________________________________________________________________________

USA: Unions do not labor in vain in Wisconsin

IR/USA/American Left

Source: The Guardian, 19 January 2012. Web/URL:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/19/unions-do-not-labor-in-

vain-in-wisconsin

Not surprisingly, all eyes in American politics are fixed on the Republican primary in South

Carolina. That is where the party is mulling one last chance to have a conservative fling

before marrying the more moderate Mitt Romney.

But in fact, some of the most dramatic and important events in US politics are happening a

long way from the Palmetto State up in the frozen woods and small towns of Wisconsin. Far

from showing a resurgent right wing typified by both the race-tinged rage of Newt Gingrich

and the corporate super-confidence of Romney, it actually reveals hope for the American left.

For Democrats in Wisconsin seem to have dramatically succeeded in their bid to subject

Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker to a recall election. This week, in a spectacle

of successful leftist organising, activist after activist marched past cheering crowds carrying

boxes full of signatures into the Government Accountability Board headquarters in Madison

demanding Walker be subjected to a fresh election.

The law required that they get 540,000 names; they presented more than 1 million signatures

(weighing 1.5 tons) – and, just to prove a point, also included enough to force a recall for four

Republican state senators and the lieutenant governor, too. To give a sense of the scale of the

effort and the resulting threat to Walker's grip on the state, the number of signatures now

collected against Walker is about a third of the total number of registered voters in the entire

state (3.3 million).

4

Nor is this just colourful local politics. Walker is a national hero for the Republican party,

especially among Tea Party supporters. Last year, Walker's ultimately successful fight to pass

a law hitting Wisconsin's public sector unions on collective bargaining rights became a

symbol of left v right struggle across America. Long before the Occupy movement sprang

into being, anti-Walker protesters camped out at the State Capitol in Madison for days on

end. Democratic state politicians even fled the state – risking arrest – to try to scupper the

controversial legislation.

Walker eventually got his new law passed, thereby becoming the darling of the American

right. Similar efforts to undermine unions popped up in Ohio and Indiana as local politicians

sought to emulate his successes. Walker was feted by the secretive billionaire industrialists,

Charles and David Koch, who fund many rightwing causes across the US and are betes noires

to many liberal Americans. Indeed, as the petitions were being delivered in Madison, Walker

was not there: he was enjoying his new-found national celebrity at a pricey New York

fundraiser, hosted by former AIG head Hank Greenberg.

But for Democrats, revenge is a dish best served late than never. According to the Milwaukee

Journal-Sentinel, there have only been two recalls of state governors in US history. The first

was in North Dakota in 1921 and the second was in California in 2003. In both cases, the

recalled governor lost.

Walker cannot be happy with the latest turn of events. He has options to delay an election. He

can challenge many of the signatures and, no doubt, some will be found to be false or

inadmissible. But half a million of them won't be. Even Walker is admitting that he now

knows he faces almost certainly a fresh ballot this year. He has learned that steamrolling an

ideologically-driven anti-union law through government in the dead of night carries a heavy

cost.

Like the initial passing of Walker's anti-union law, the success of the recall effort will also

have ramifications outside Wisconsin. Far from being a moment of triumph for the right and

a further nadir in the long decline in the power of organized labor in the US, the passage of

Walker's bill might actually have been a turning point.

Ohio voters have already rejected an anti-union law in their state in a referendum that was a

damaging blow to Republican Governor John Kasich. In Indiana, another effort to cut away

at local union rights in the state is roiling the state's politics, and Democrats are boycotting

some sessions of the legislature. A fierce fight beckons, and now, thanks to Walker's recall,

5

rightwing backers of the Indiana anti-union legislation will know that even if they get a law

passed, a fight for their political lives might only just be beginning.

As attention remains fixed on the fervent, fierce conservative-dominated contest in South

Carolina, careful observers of American politics should be keeping an eye on events

elsewhere. They are showing the American left – so often derided and so often ineffective –

can sometimes throw a pretty mean tea party of its own.

___________________________________________________________________________

USA: USW Oil Workers Set Stage to Bargain for Safe Refineries, Good Jobs

IR/USA/ Oil Industry/Collective Bargaining/OH&S

Source: AFL-CIO (accessed 25 January 2012). Website/URL:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2012/01/23/usw-oil-workers-set-stage-to-bargain-for-safe-refineries-

good-jobs/

Patrick Young from United Steelworkers Strategic Campaigns sends us this.

Three years ago, members of the United Steelworkers (USW) went to the bargaining table

with the big oil companies to negotiate changes to health and safety programs at oil refineries

that would keep workers safe. Across the board, the industry said, “No.” They weren’t

interested in bargaining meaningful and enforceable improvements to refinery safety.

In the next three years, 18 oil workers died on the job, dozens of others suffered life-altering

injuries and countless others have likely suffered from chronic occupational diseases due to

work-related exposures. It’s become pretty apparent that health and safety in the oil sector is

out of control.

This month, the 30,000 members of the USW in the oil sector are returning to the bargaining

table with the oil industry. They’re not willing to let another 18 workers die on the job.

Oil workers are demanding some small changes that won’t cost the companies much at all,

but they’ll go a long way in keeping workers and refinery communities safe. They’re asking

for the right to stop unsafe work, safe staffing levels at refineries, union safety representatives

who will work with the company to find hazards and help the company eliminate or reduce

those hazards and that the companies properly inspect and maintain oil refineries and

equipment.

Union leaders and members know that to win these improvements at the bargaining table, we

need support from refinery communities and consumers.  So on Jan. 21, members of the

6

USW took to the streets across the country to visit gas stations to talk to drivers and

community members about safety issues in oil refineries.

Oil workers in 20 communities across the country visited more than 50 gas stations to talk

with consumers in refinery communities about issues that impact everyone.

“People need to buy gas, people need to sell gas,” said Gary Beevers, the USW’s

international vice president for oil bargaining.

Most of these gas stations are owned by small business owners, people in our

communities. We don’t want to hurt them, we want to get the word out about refinery safety

and the gas pump is a great place to talk to people about safety.

Workers joined actions in Texas, Louisiana, Utah, Illinois, Washington, California,

Pennsylvania and other areas across the country.

USW members also took their message directly to top management at the big oil

companies. USW Local 5, which represents refinery workers at the Chevron, Shell and

Tesoro refineries in the San Francisco Bay Area, held a rally at Chevron’s corporate

headquarters in San Ramon, Calif. They were joined by California state Sen. Loni Hancock

and members of the Richmond community—where Chevron’s Bay Area refinery is located.

Steelworkers emphasized that refinery safety isn’t just an issue that impacts only workers—

it’s an issue that affects the entire community. BK White, unit chairman at the Chevron

refinery in Richmond, said:

When these companies operate our refineries unsafely, everybody’s at risk—refinery workers

and our communities.  We know that a serious explosion at one of these facilities could

devastate an entire community.

Most union agreements between the big oil companies and the United Steelworkers are set to

expire at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 1. Over the next two weeks, USW members across the oil sector

will be working hard to bargain a fair agreement that will help to keep workers and their

community safe.

___________________________________________________________________________

UK: DLR staff secure biggest sweetener yet for Olympics work

IR/UK/Collective Agreements/London Olympics

7

Source: CIPD, 26 January 2012. Website/URL:

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/01/dlr-staff-secure-biggest-sweetener-

yet-for-olympics-work.htm?

wa_src=email&wa_pub=cipd&wa_crt=news_3&wa_cmp=pmdaily_260112

Staff on the Docklands Light Railway have “raised the bar” by securing the biggest Olympic

bonus yet for working during the London 2012 Games.

Employer Serco Docklands has agreed to pay an attendance bonus of £900 plus extra cash for

overtime, which the RMT said was worth up to £2,500 for employees across all grades

working throughout the event.

More than 500 workers will be paid the £900 attendance bonus at £100 per week over the

nine-week period, while staff who work overtime will get ‘time and three quarters’.

Under the deal, staff will be guaranteed a minimum of five hours of overtime a week, or 45

hours during the event.

The driverless train service is a vital part of the Olympics transport network transporting

visitors to the various venues including Stratford and Greenwich.

This deal is the latest in a string of generous transport staff incentives to discourage

unplanned absence. It tops the £1,800 that London Underground drivers can expect to earn

during the event, which was agreed last year.

In addition to encouraging attendance, staff will also be expected to be more flexible in their

shift patterns and be willing to work overtime when required.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: "This is a truly groundbreaking deal, raising the bar

in the industry and putting £2500 in our members pockets as a reward for the extra workload

and pressure they will carry throughout the Olympic and Paralympic period.”

David Stretch, Serco Docklands managing director, said: "I'm pleased we have been able to

discuss and agree a fair deal with the RMT.

"It means we can finalise working arrangements for all our employees who will help deliver

our enhanced services this summer and welcome an extra 2.28 million passengers on to the

DLR network".

Last year, bus and tube drivers and Network Rail workers all secured a £500 one-off bonus

for working during the Olympic period through union negotiations.

The 3,500 drivers at London Underground can potentially earn £1,800 because they also

negotiated increased pay rates for overtime.

8

More recently London Overground signed up to the £500 bonus for staff working the entire

Games period, with additional ‘time and a quarter’ for completing a shift.

The employer will also use ‘volunteers’ from its back office functions to boost frontline staff

numbers.

However, negotiations over bonuses for non-driver staff working for LU during the Games

are ongoing.

 The RMT rejected the latest bonus offer of £100 plus £15 extra per shift as “derisory” and

are calling for a better deal to recognise the extra workload.

The elusive no-strike deal that Olympic organisers will have hoped to secure has not been an

explicit part of any deal.

___________________________________________________________________________

China: Apple's Chinese factories to be audited after violation of working

conditions

IR/ER/China/ Working Conditions

Source: The Guardian 24 January 2012. Website/URL:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/24/apple-factories-china-independent-audit

The man's hand is twisted into a claw, crushed, he says by a metal press at the Foxconn

factory in Shenzhen, where Apple's luxury electronics are assembled. He is looking at an

iPad – he has never seen one switched on. His mangled hand strokes the screen, bringing it to

life.

Back at the factory, where the buildings are swathed in nets after 12 workers committed

suicides in a single year, a young girl emerges from the gates. Her job is to clean the iPhone

screens before they are packaged. She says she is 13.

These are a few of the many shattering images in performer Mike Daisey's account of his

2010 visit to China. After hearing about the Foxconn suicides, he determined to meet

members of Apple's largest subcontracted workforce.

What he discovered ultimately led to the firm's announcement this month that it would throw

open its factories to independent auditing by the Fair Labor Association (FLA). A non-profit

group founded in 1999 after sweatshop scandals, it already audits Nike, Adidas and H&M.

Apple is its first tech industry member.

9

"In high tech to date there hasn't been anything like external independent assessment, which

is what makes Apple's decision such big news," says FLA president Auret van Heerden.

Apple has been auditing itself since 2007. Working hours are a major issue. In China, 12 and

16 hour shifts are common. In 2008, 82% of factories violated Apple's limits – a 60 hour

week with no less than one day off. By 2011, the number was 68%. In 2008, half violated

wages codes by deducting salary as a disciplinary measure, or not providing pay slips. The

figure was 30% last year.

Apple has ordered retribution. Factories discovered employing children must return the

youngsters to their families, fund their education and continue to pay their factory wage too.

Employers have been made to reimburse wage deductions and settle unpaid overtime.

But six active and 13 historical cases of underage labour were discovered at five factories last

year. Mandatory pregnancy tests were imposed at 24 Apple facilities.

When Daisey visited, he found worker dormitories where people slept in bunks stacked five

or six high, so closely there was no room to sit. There were cameras in the rooms, in the

corridors.

He found workers whose hands shook uncontrollably by their late 20s because of repeating

the same motions at the same production line post, year after year.

The FLA visited China at Apple's request on a test project in 2010, following the Foxconn

suicides. Van Heerden describes what he found: "The whole campus has got excellent

facilities. The problem is that [it] still doesn't touch the human being inside. You are at a

work station all day – you can't talk to anyone else.

"Then you go back to your dorm and you might not know anyone there either, they might not

even speak the same dialect. You are in a situation where you might go days without

anything resembling human contact."

He seems to suggest that in China at least, the problem is less about basic human rights and

more about HR.

Foxconn has much to learn about human resources, judging by a recent comment from the

chair of its parent company, Hon Hai Precision Industry. Terry Gou told an end of year party,

at which the director of Tapei Zoo was asked to share his management techniques: "Hon Hai

has a workforce of over one million and as human being are also animals, to manage one

million animals gives me a headache".

10

Managing its supply chain will for now remain one of Apple's biggest headaches.

___________________________________________________________________________

Saudi Arabia bans trade unions and violates all international labour

standards

IR/Saudi Arabia/Labour Standards

Source: ITUC, 25 January 2012. Website/URL: http://www.ituc-csi.org/saudi-arabia-bans-

trade-unions-and.html

A new report from the International Trade Union Confederation on workers’ rights in Saudi

Arabia has uncovered alarming levels of child labour, discrimination and forced labour.

The report, due to be delivered to the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) review of the Gulf

Kingdom’s trade policies on 25th January, found that Saudi Arabia is in violation of all core

labour standards.

The General Secretary of the ITUC, said there is not a single trade union in Saudi Arabia, as

the law does not allow them to exist.

“Employees are only allowed to organise so-called “workers’ committees” which must

include the participation of the government and the employer. Unions, collective bargaining,

strikes, even public demonstrations are banned.

“Despite the strike ban, some unauthorized strikes do take place, In October last year, 16

Chinese workers were arrested for participating in a strike involving at least 100 Chinese

workers in a rail construction project. The strikers demanded a salary increase and improved

working and living conditions.

The report also found the law also openly discriminates against women, and in many cases

women needed permission from their “guardian” in order to be employed. Women who do

work earn 84% less than men in similar roles.

However, it is the country’s 8.3 million migrant workers, especially the 1.5 million female

domestic servants, who bear the brunt of abuses, with many working in slavery like

conditions. The maids predominantly come from Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Earlier this month a Nepalese maid was finally released, after being held hostage for 21

months by her Saudi employer. The woman was imprisoned, fed only one slice of bread a day

and tortured after she tried to run away.

11

“Thousands of migrant workers are the victims of torture, work long hours, live in confined

conditions and, in general, are deprived of their basic freedoms. The Saudi authorities have

repeatedly failed to address the issue and redress extreme abuses which remain unpunished.

The WTO General Council Review of Trade Policies in Saudi Arabia will take place in

Geneva 25 and 27 January. The WTO has made commitments to observe internationally core

labour standards.

___________________________________________________________________________

Croatia: T-Mobile Croatia workers strike over unfair plan to cut over 450

jobs

IR/Croatia/anti-unionism at T-Mobile

Source: UN1, 24 January 2012. Website/URL:

http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/uni.nsf/pages/homepageEn?

Opendocument&exURL=http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/

vwLkpByIdHome/91DEEE9ABFB19B95C125798F0042A8C0?OpenDocument

Croatian workers at T-Mobile Croatia are on strike today in protest over the company’s plan to

cut unionized employees without proper negotiation with the union.

While the company plans to cut full-time, regular unionised workers, it has a rising number of

temporary and student workers on its payroll. UNI is supporting the Croatian workers and their

union, HST Croatian Telekom Workers (HST), in their demand that the company employs

regular workers under decent conditions and respects social dialogue and collective bargaining

rights.

More than 1500 workers demonstrated in Zagreb today, marching to the German Embassy

where they delivered a letter asking the German government to intervene to end Deutsche

Telekom’s double standard on labour rights and then ending with a rally at T-Mobile Croatia’s

headquarters.

UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings wrote to T-Mobile Croatia’s parent company Deutsche

Telekom calling on CEO Rene Obermann to intervene to ensure Croatian management respect

social dialogue and collective bargaining processes.

“The company remains highly profitable in Croatia and a better balance of interests between

management and the union needs to be struck to preserve jobs,” Jennings said in his letter to

Obermann. “At this time, when Europe is facing an economic crisis, cutting good paying union

12

jobs runs contrary to the best interest of Deutsche Telekom as it will further perpetuate the

economic crisis.”

Since Deutsche Telekom entered the market in Croatia in 2000, the workforce has been reduced

from a peak of more than 11,000 down to fewer than 6,000. With the further demands by

company management, employment levels could soon fall to under 5,000.

UNI, along with German union ver.di, US union CWA and the International Trade Union

Confederation have been calling on the Deutsche Telekom to respect worker and union rights

globally in their We Expect Better campaign.

UNI and the We Expect Better campaign members stand in solidarity with HST.

 

________________________________________________________________________

Canada: CAW and CEP to begin talks on new union

IR/Canada/Union Structure

Source: UNI, 26 January 2012. Website/URL:

http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/uni.nsf/pages/homepageEn?

OpenDocument&exURL=http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/

vwLkpByIdHome/391D85AD8C5A7519C1257991004EBE88?OpenDocument

The executive boards of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and

Paperworkers unions have unanimously approved a process to explore the possibility of

creating a new Canadian union

Leaders of the two unions have held preliminary discussions for several weeks, reviewing

the current labour relations climate and the challenges facing organized labour, and

considering whether the formation of a new Canadian union would help the movement to

address those challenges.  Now those discussions have been formally endorsed by the

elected National Executive Boards of both unions.  At separate meetings within the last

week, the two boards unanimously approved a “Process Protocol” document.  This

document sets out the terms of reference and a timeline for union representatives to explore

13

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issues related to the formation of a new union.

“Events like the lockout at Caterpillar have made it increasingly obvious that Canadian

workers need a stronger, more active, and more innovative labour movement to defend

them,” says Ken Lewenza, CAW national president.  “Our movement cannot afford a

‘business-as-usual’ approach in light of the attacks we face from both business and

government.  We need to combine our resources, and use them more effectively, if we are

to protect Canadian jobs and push for greater equality in this incredibly hostile economic

environment.”

"Our goal is to create a new, Canadian union," says Dave Coles, president of the CEP. “We

are examining every aspect of our work as trade unions, from organizing to bargaining to

political activism. We are working to create a stronger union movement and a better future

for workers.”

Under the Process Protocol, a representative committee will work over coming months to

investigate specific issues related to a new union (including dues and finances,

representative structures, and regional issues).  It will issue a report on whether a new union

is feasible and desirable in time for the upcoming conventions of both unions (August 2012

for the CAW, and October 2012 for the CEP). 

Both unions pledged a high degree of transparency concerning the work of the Process

Committee, including the establishment of a joint website devoted to the project.

___________________________________________________________________________

In Brief

USA: Indiana Senate Passes RTW Despite Broad Public Opposition

IR/ER/USA

Source: AFL-CIO (accessed 25 January, 2012) Website/URL: http://blog.aflcio.org/2012/01/24/indiana-senate-passes-rtw-despite-broad-public-opposition/

14

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Despite overwhelming opposition throughout Indiana to the so-called right to work

(RTW) bill, the state Senate yesterday passed its version of the bill by 28-22, while House

Speaker Brian Bosma continued to use strong-arm tactics to force RTW down Hoosiers’

throats.

___________________________________________________________________________

UK: Having unions in the workplace ‘saves employers money’

IR/ER/UK

Source: CIPD, 25 January 2012. Web/URL: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/01/having-unions-in-the-workplace-saves-employers-money.htm?wa_src=email&wa_pub=cipd&wa_crt=news_4&wa_cmp=pmdaily_240112

Recognising unions in the workplace brings employers benefits that outweigh the costs associated with giving representatives time off for their duties, a report published by the TUC has suggested.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Singapore: 13th month pay 'part of basic wage' in SIA case

IR/ER/Singapore/Bonus Payments

Source: Straits Times Newsletter, 25 January 2012. Web/URL:

http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_759032.html

The 13th month annual wage supplement is part of basic pay, an English court has ruled, in a

case involving Singapore Airlines and a consultant firm.

___________________________________________________________________________

Egyptian workers say no to anti-union Law 35 and old order

IR/Egypt/anti-unionism

Source: UNI, 25 January 2012. Web/URL:

http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/uni.nsf/pages/homepageEn?

OpenDocument&exURL=http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/

vwLkpByIdHome/62D23F327360FD74C12579900073832A?OpenDocument

UNI Global Union and its affiliates in Africa, Europe and all around the globe are standing

15

together with their Egyptian sisters and brothers. UNI, ITUC and the global union movement

say “yes” to organising rights and no to Law 35, which prohibits freedom of association.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Publications

UK

Days of Action: The legality of protest strikes against government cuts by Keith Ewing

and John Hendy QC

 

In this new publication from IER, Keith Ewing and John Hendy consider whether a Day of

Action called by the TUC and trade unions, taking place on a weekday and intended to

protest at the government’s cuts and austerity measures, could be lawful in the UK in the

light of recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. For further information

w ww.ier.org.uk

ILO

Global Employment Trends 2012

The annual Global Employment Trends (GET) reports provide the latest global and regional

estimates of employment and unemployment, employment by sector, vulnerable employment,

labour productivity and working poverty, while also analysing country-level issues and trends

in the labour market

___________________________________________________________________________

Calls for Papers

Special Issue IJHRM: Partnership, Collaboration and Mutual Gains, submission deadline 24 February 2012. Website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rijh

_________________________________________________________________

16

Flexible Work Patterns Study Group Meeting ILERA Congress Philadelphia USA

The Flexible Work Patterns Study Group will meet at the ILERA (formerly the IRRA) 16th

World Congress in Philadelphia USA on Monday, July 2, before the official opening of the

congress on July 3 2012. The  group covers all aspects of flexible work issues including

reduced hours work, remote working, shift work, flexible hours, compressed working week

and other flexible work arrangements. The aim is to bring together scholars working in this

area to network and discuss work in progress or recently completed.

Abstracts of papers to be presented at the study group are invited on any aspects of flexible

working and may be at the macro, organisational or individual level; theoretically based; or

on empirical research that is country, region, sector or organisation specific.

 Abstracts should be approximately 500 words and should include:

*       Paper title

*       Name(s) of authors, institutional affiliation and contact details

*       Aim

*        Theoretical/Research framework

*       Method

*       Findings

*       Discussion/Conclusion

Please send the abstract as a word file to; clare.kelliher@cranfield.ac.uk;

R.Croucher@mdx.ac.uk;  c.edwards@kingston.ac.uk ; by Friday 24th February 2012.

Authors selected to present at the Study Group will be notified by Monday 19th March 2012.

Coordinators : Professor Clare Kelliher, Cranfield School of Management

(clare.kelliher@cranfield.ac.uk); Professor Christine Edwards, Kingston University Business

School (c.edwards@kingston.ac.uk) and Professor Richard Croucher, Middlesex University

Business School (R.Croucher@mdx.ac.uk )

___________________________________________________________________________

Study Group #9 (Pay Systems), July 2, 2012 in Philadelphia at ILERA

If you are interested in making a presentation at Study Group #9, please send an email with the title and brief description to daniel.j.b.mitchell@anderson.ucla.edu.

___________________________________________________________________

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Transnational industrial relations and the search for alternatives

A workshop at Greenwich University May 31-June 1, 2012. Call for abstracts

Organizing committee: Ian Greer, Lefteris Kretsos, Pat McGurk, Graham Symon, Maria

Papanikou, Charles Umney, Wim Vanderkerckhove, Ulke Veersma

Please submit a 300-word abstract by 1 March 2012 to Lefteris Kretsos

(l.kretsos@greenwich.ac.uk).

___________________________________________________________________________

The Korean Journal of Industrial Relations (CALL FOR PAPERS) 

The Korean Journal of Industrial Relations (KJIR) is published by the Korean Industrial

Relations Association. The KJIR publishes scope of the journal includes all fields of

Industrial relations, both theoretical and empirical. The KJIR also publishes manuscripts

addressing international and comparative industrial relations. Recent articles published in the

KJIR dealt with industrial relations issues in the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, India, Japan, Africa,

and China.

The journal is published four times a year in March, June, September and December. Articles

can be in English or in Korean. Submitted papers should make an original contribution to

scholarship. Work that has been previously published or that is under submission for

publication elsewhere will not be considered.

There is no due date for the submission. We receive articles around a year.

Each year the best article will be selected among the articles that are published in the KJIR

and will be awarded with the prize scholarship of USD 5,000 (5 million Korean won).

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Conferences, Seminars, Symposia

Critical Labour Studies 8th Symposium 

Date:      18 & 19 February 2012

Venue:   Old Fire Station, University of Salford

 Panels

o        Privatisation and Trade Unions.

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o        Working Class Movement Library    (presentation & tour).

o        Casualisation and the academy.

o        Archiving Alternatives.

o        Community alliances and unorganised labour.

o        Labour's fringes: forced labour.

o        The labour movement: boundaries and solidarities.

o        Global Labour Institute: Informal Economy Workers.

o        Neoliberal disciplining and policy.

o        Labour's fringes: unemployment and superexploitation.

 

Presenters Andreas Bieler, Mike Bird, Robert Byford, Mònica Clua-Losada, Sheila Cohen,

Bridget Conor, Valentina Cuzzocrea, Andy Danford, Alana Dave, Peter Dwyer, Kirsten

Forkert, Dan Gallin, Jamie Gough, Stuart Hodkinson, Jane Holgate, Miguel Martinez Lucio,

Salah Mahdi, Joanna McDarby, Siobhán McGrath, Annalisa Murgia, Liam O'Hanrahan,

Orestis Papadopoulos, Karin Pape, Sermin Sarica, Christine Sheehy, Klara Skrivankova, John

Smith, David Spooner, John Stirling, Galip Yalman, Joyce Zhe Jiang.  Criticallabourstudies.org.ukContact Phoebe Moore p.moore@salford.ac.uk for more information. __________________________________________________________________________________

28th AIRAANZ Conference, 8-10 February, 2012, Grand Chancellor Hotel, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Website: http://airaanzweb.weebly.com/3/post/2011/03/2012-airaanz-conference.html

IFSAM 2012 Conference, Limerick, Ireland, 26-29 June 2012. Website: http://www.ifsam.org/

16th World Congress of ILERA, 16th World Congress of ILERA, 2-5 July 2012, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Website: http://www.ilera2012.com/

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