This study deals with the growth of unionisation in the London Clearing Banks between 1960 and 1970. In Chapter One the growth of white collar occupations and white collar trade unionism in the British economy is briefly characterised. After a review of the literature on the determinants of white collar unionisation in Chapter Two and a discussion of the nature and history of banking as an occupation, the collective organisations recruiting in the banking industry and the nature of labour relations in banking in Chapter Three, a model of bank workers' orientations to work, employment and trade unions is hypothesized in Chapter Four. This model is tested and revised in Chapters Five and Six by reference to a survey of bank workers'attitudes conducted by the author during 1972 and 1973. The revised model is then used in Chapter Seven as part of an apparatus of interpretation of the history of industrial relations in banking during the decade 1960-70. In interpreting the growth of trade unionism in the London Clearing Banks, causal factors - such as employment concentration and employer recognition - which currently enjoy a wide currency in explaining white collar union growth are rejected as major explanatory variables for banking. Instead, attention is concentrated on the internal occupational structure of banking and the changing characteristics of the labour force recruited to this structure. It is argued that the increasingly bureaucratized and feminized character of bank employment during the 'sixties was the central factor influencing the growth and recognition of the National Union of Bank Employees. In a concluding Chapter, aspects of banking as an occupation are compared with national trends in the white collar occupational structure in an attempt to assess the sociological impact of the feminisation of routine white collar occupations on the growth of white collar unionism and the class identification of white collar workers.

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This thesis assesses the contribution of union involvement in learning to union 'revitalisation' in the UK. The overall research question addressed in this thesis is 'Have bargaining and organising approaches linked to learning provision contributed to strengthened union presence or 'revitalisation' in the sectors and demographic groups where it is underrepresented and declining (i.e outside the public sector?)' Since 1997, unions in the UK have expanded their level of involvement in issues related to learning, in large part due to increased government funding via the Union Learning Fund and with the statutory recognition of Union Learning Representatives. These developments have taken place at a time when unions have been adopting, to various extents, strategies to counter decline in membership levels and bargaining coverage. Two of the main strategies of this type include an increased emphasis on organising new members and workplaces, and the fostering of cooperative or 'partnership' style collective agreements. These are analysed in detail in this thesis, particularly in terms of how increased union involvement in learning supports and influences such strategies. The empirical dimension of the thesis is largely based on in-depth, qualitative interviews, including five chapters based around case studies of union learning activity that relates to broader union 'revitalisation' strategies. Key findings include that union involvement in learning has contributed somewhat towards increasing levels of membership and building union presence among underrepresented groups of workers, but that the process of integrating learning into collective agreements has been problematic due to ambivalent and often hostile employers, within a context of weak state regulation and statutory support.

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By bringing together trans-nationalism and labour process studies my research develops an understanding of migrant labour that re-evaluates the social and political potential of migrants’ everyday relationships in, across and beyond their workplaces. It shows that, although increasing casualisation of employment limits workers’ organisational resources, growing diversity and mobility also prompts alternative modes of resistance to improve the lives of transient workers. The challenges this research poses for unions include overcoming the persisting ‘masculine politics’ of organising models, expanding their coalitions beyond an ‘industry-based’ strategy, and engaging directly with migrants’ communities to promote self-organising through alternative educational tools.

Empirical research on executive compensation in China is very small compared to western countries, despite the fact that China is already the largest emerging economy. Moreover, most studies on executive compensation in China focus on the agency theory model and have produced mixed results. Little research on executive compensation has been done using alternative perspectives. This thesis explores management incentive issues by examining executive compensation in Chinese listed companies from three under-researched perspectives: the managerial power model, tournament model and simultaneous model. All three models have been adapted to the Chinese context. The managerial power model tests executive compensation from the managerial power perspective. A new power dimension - political power - is added to Grabke-Rundell and Gomez-Mejia's (2002) managerial power model in order to test the political influence on executive compensation in Chinese listed companies. The research findings support the hypothesis that political duality, which refers to Chairman/Party Secretary duality, is positively related to executive compensation in Chinese listed companies. The tournament model examines the organizational incentive structures. It studies the pay differences between organizational levels instead of studying the absolute level of pay, which provides an alternative incentive design other than the pay for performance mechanism. It is found that government ownership can weaken the tournament incentive in Chinese listed companies. Finally, the endogenous nature of executive compensation has been largely neglected by previous studies. This study contributes to the literature by examining executive compensation, managerial ownership, board characteristics and firm value in Chinese listed companies in a simultaneous model. The research findings show that executive compensation, managerial ownership and board characteristics are jointly determined in Chinese listed companies. Specifically, small boards help to control Highest Paid Director (HPD) compensation, to align the interests between HPD and the company and to increase firm value. Independent directors also help to align the interest between the HPD and the company and to increase firm value. Political duality (Chairman/Party Secretary duality) fails to control HPD compensation but it helps to control board size.

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Throughout their history individual trade unions have amalgamated together to form new unions. The catalyst for amalgamation has come from a combination of sources industrial change, government policy and legislation and internal motivations related to membership size and resources. At the same time local union organisation has remained integral to the structure of unions including their internal government, bargaining ability and engagement with members. This thesis relates these two features of trade union practice to each other by considering the effects of amalgamation on local union organisation, both in terms of the local level itself and the local level as part of the whole organisation of the union. The thesis does this through a case study approach to the research. The case studies are of three major UK trade unions which have experienced amalgamation over a ten year timeframe and a local union organisation within each of these. The unions reflect a spread of industry, different forms of organisation and types of membership. The research examines the tensions and synergies between the different levels of organisation in a union and their leaders in themselves and as they influence a process and outcome of amalgamation. As a study of trade union organisation and behaviour the thesis engages with and complements the wider body of research into union mergers and that on local union organisation in unions. Its individual contribution is to the research on trade union mergers where the position of the local level of union organisation has been a neglected area of investigation. Beyond that it also provides further insights into the role and activity of paid officials and lay representatives as union leaders, the role and activity of organised factions within unions, the influence of unions' industrial and ideological orientation on forms of local union organisation and the tension between different concepts of trade union structure and behaviour.

This thesis is a study of Chinese workers in the white goods industry, in particular workers in refrigerator factories in Anhui Province. It explores the change of factory regime and its impacts on workers during the development of the white goods industry and the process of marketization and privatisation. There have been a certain number of academic research studies on factory regimes in European and North American settings, and in recent years, research into China's industrial relations has increased. In contrast, changes of factory regimes based on a particular industry have been largely ignored by foreign and Chinese scholars. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the impact on the workers and the trade unions of the change in factory regimes in the process of China's transition towards a market economy. This thesis utilises qualitative and quantitative research methods, but mainly uses qualitative methods. Case studies were conducted in two companies in China. Eighty- three semi-structured interviews with workers, managers, trade union officials and scholars were completed. Structured interviews were conducted with 50 workers, and 50 managers responded to a questionnaire survey. In addition, secondary data referring to the Chinese white goods industry, both in Chinese and English, were collected mainly from statistical information published by government agencies and business bodies. It is argued that market relations rather than ownership transformation play a crucial role in the change of factory regime. It is not always true that the workers benefit from the good performance of the enterprises under the market economy with Chinese characteristics. In the context of the market economy, China's trade unions have retained their traditional concept. Their fundamental change is ultimately dependent on reform within the Party. Furthermore, the division of labour with Chinese characteristics makes for additional difficulty in the formation of China's working class.