<p><font size="2" face="Arial"><font size="2" face="Arial"> <p align="left">This research paper is a review of the assertion by some commentators that the regulation of the labour market is a cause of the high unemployment rate in South Africa. It starts by providing a historical background of statutory industrial relations in South Africa leading to the current labour dispensation. The discussion includes a review of the current labour legislation and assessment of its compliance with international law. The rating of the South African labour market by the Doing Business study is discussed. This study seeks to ascertain whether there is a causal relation between labour market regulation and the unemployment rate. The conclusion reached is that South African labour legislation complies with international law as espoused in International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions, is not excessively rigid and, most importantly, that there is no convincing evidence of a causal relation between labour market regulation and the unemployment rate.</p> </font></font><font size="2" face="Arial"><font size="2" face="Arial"> <p>&nbsp / </p> </font></font></p>

<p>This research paper examines the different forms of employment patterns that have emerged as a result of globalisation as well as the mechanisms that have been used by the legislator to accommodate those in non-standard employment relationships.</p>

Mexican migrant workers have been coming to Canada since 1974 to work in agriculture as participants of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Presently, Mexicans constitute the majority of SAWP workers. As well, Ontario is the main receiver of these workers followed by British Columbia and Quebec. Accordingly, the scope of this thesis mainly encompasses Mexican workers in Ontario. However, the thesis also includes Mexican SAWP workers in Quebec and British Columbia. This thesis reveals two main issues: (1) that all SAWP workers, particularly Mexican workers, lack key legal rights and protections relating to labour relations, employment, health and safety standards at the structural level of the SAWP; and at the federal, provincial, and international levels. (2) Even when they have rights under legislation relating to the above-mentioned subject matters, Mexicans, especially, lack the capacity to access them. Thus, they become ‘unfree labourers’ who are placed in a perpetual state of disadvantage, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation once in Canada. To describe the issues above, the thesis is divided into five chapters addressing the following: Chapter 1 presents the historical context behind the SAWP as well as the Mexican workers’ circumstances that attract them to participate in the Program. Chapter 2 examines the applicable constitutional and federal framework for SAWP workers. In addition, it highlights key federal exclusions placed on them, which originate in the federal immigration and employment insurance legislation. Chapter 3 concludes that Ontario does not protect its agricultural workers from unfair treatment and exploitation in the workplace; rather, it perpetuates such practices. This reality is intensified for SAWP Mexican workers. Particularly, chapter 3 analyses a constitutional challenge to the Ontario legislation excluding agricultural worker from its labour relations regime; said challenge is based on ss. 2(d) and 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Chapter 4 maintains that similarly to workers in Ontario, SAWP workers in Quebec and British Columbia also face extreme disadvantages due in great part to the lack of or limited legal protections. Finally, chapter 5 asserts that due to its implementation in the Canadian framework, international law is inadequate to protect domestic and SAWP workers’ rights. While each chapter identifies tangible drawbacks or anomalies, which affect SAWP workers negatively, the thesis also provides recommendations to alleviate said weaknesses.

A historical overview of the collective bargaining process in the three major American sports, and a comparative analysis of the current collective bargaining agreements.

It has been ingrained into the American consciousness that our public schools are failing and our students are underachieving. This is something we all know. What is less clear is why American schools are failing. Time and time again, we come back to teachers, who have been identified as the single greatest factor in determining the success of the student. Teachers can make the difference in the lives of students and help secure our economic future. Teachers unions speak for these teachers, thus, in our search for a scapegoat, teachers unions often rank at the top. Right or wrong, it is a serious accusation to say that teachers unions are responsible for the failure of the American education system. Teachers, and consequently teachers unions, have the power to greatly impact education reform. After assessing the state of education in the United States and establishing teachers unions’ role in the bigger picture of education, I will first explore the source of teachers unions political power: their large membership and their money. Teachers unions are among the largest unions in the country and the NEA (National Education Association), specifically, is the highest political contributor of all public sector unions. To assess their political influence, I will show where and how they use their money with the intention of evaluating whether or not they overstep their boundaries as a typical labor union. The next important variable to consider when evaluating the impact of teachers unions is their classification as a public sector union. Private and public sector unions operate under different sets of laws and thus have different rules and strategies for collective bargaining. I will examine how their public sector status impacts their influence on hotly contested education reform issues, such as teacher performance pay, teacher evaluations based on student achievement, school vouchers, and charter schools. What makes teachers unions different from other labor unions? And do these differences give teachers unions a detrimental amount of control over education reform?

The problem of the investigation was to determine the legal status of public sector school oriented professional negotiations in the fifty states of the United States. Available data dealing with the status of public sector school oriented professional negotiations between boards of education and teacher organizations proved to be disorganized in terms of providing readily available, complete, and accurate information.The attorney general of each state was contacted by letter for the purpose of completing a questionnaire. The secondary source of information was the executive secretary of each state school board association.Thirty states have statutes mandating negotiations between boards of education and teacher organization representatives. Within each state statute information was gathered concerning (1) statutory inclusion, (2) impasse procedures, (3) grievance procedures, (4) scope of negotiations, (5) employee rights, (6) employer rights, and (7) strikes and penalties.Findings included:1. Thirty state legislatures have mandated negotiations between boards of education and teacher organizations.2. All state legislatures in the Northwest area of the United States mandate professional negotiations between boards of education and teacher organizations.3. One state legislature in the Southeast area of the United States mandates professional negotiations between boards of education and teacher organizations.4. One state statute prohibits boards of education from recognizing teacher organization representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining.5. All thirty state statutes mandating collective bargaining between boards of education and teacher organizations provide teachers with exclusive representation,6. All thirty state statutes mandating collective bargaining between boards of education and teacher organizations provide as negotiable items such matters as salaries, hours, and working conditions.7. All thirty state statutes mandating collective bargaining between boards of education and teacher organizations provide for settlement of impasse by mediation, factfinding, or arbitration.Conclusions were:1. Negotiation rights for teachers have come about more slowly than for most government employees.2. Increased organized efforts to formalize the negotiation procedures have continued to be faced by boards of education in all states.3. Teacher strikes are increasing in spite of anti-strike legislation in most states.4. Statutes have given priority to teacher rights in terms of the rights of teachers and boards of education.5. The passage of legislation is no panacea for problems stemming from board of education and teacher organization relationships and legislation will not eliminate the possibility of court cases, attorneys general opinions, and teacher strikes.Recommendations are:1. Periodic studies should be undertaken in order to update professional negotiation procedures.2. Specific statutory provisions should be studied in depth to determine if such provisions are fulfilling the needs of both parties.3. Attention should be given to professional negotiations within states to determine how legislation is being implemented and how the legal status is developing in states where no guidelines are provided.4. Further study should take place to determine the impact of statutory enactments on both parties.

Chapter 1 begins with the motivation of my study in teachers' labor market. I employ a monopolistic screening model to show that there exist multiple equilibria in the educational system; a pooling equilibrium and a separating equilibrium. The model predicts that the pooling equilibrium is optimal only when the average quality of teacher applicants is high. Using data from the OECD, I examine the relation between teachers' earnings and teacher quality of the U.S. and Korea. Chapter 2 focuses on teachers and their career dynamics, and the data is at teacher level. Using the Current Population Survey for 2001-2010, I show that public school teachers are paid less compared to other comparable college graduates in non-teaching sectors. By studying the change in earnings after career changes, I find the evidence of positive selection when teachers move into the non-teaching sectors and of negative selection when non-teachers move into the teaching sector, which results in the decrease in the average teacher quality. Chapter 3 looks at both teachers and school districts, and I use district-teacher matched dataset, based on the School and Staffing Survey (SASS) for 2007-2008. I employ a multilevel model and a propensity score matching to identify union effects in states with different legal environments for collective bargaining of teachers. I find that collective bargaining is neither necessary nor sufficient for unions to affect teachers' well-being. I show that meet-and-confer is a popular alternative to collective bargaining and that it is an important mechanism for unions to influence teachers' non-wage benefits. Chapter 4 concerns school districts, and I use SASS district level data. I reevaluate the role of teachers unions on pay structure and districts' financial status. In contrasts to previous findings, I find that the variance of teachers' earnings is higher in more unionized settings. Moreover, I show that the financial status of districts with teachers unions is stronger than that of districts without the unions. I confirm that unionism is associated with less usage of performance pay system. / Economics

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<p><font size="2" face="Arial"><font size="2" face="Arial"> <p align="left">This research paper is a review of the assertion by some commentators that the regulation of the labour market is a cause of the high unemployment rate in South Africa. It starts by providing a historical background of statutory industrial relations in South Africa leading to the current labour dispensation. The discussion includes a review of the current labour legislation and assessment of its compliance with international law. The rating of the South African labour market by the Doing Business study is discussed. This study seeks to ascertain whether there is a causal relation between labour market regulation and the unemployment rate. The conclusion reached is that South African labour legislation complies with international law as espoused in International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions, is not excessively rigid and, most importantly, that there is no convincing evidence of a causal relation between labour market regulation and the unemployment rate.</p> </font></font><font size="2" face="Arial"><font size="2" face="Arial"> <p>&nbsp / </p> </font></font></p>