This research project is an ethnographical study of three small trade unions. There has been no research carried out on these organisations, except for a limited number of histories. Yet they form a large, though decreasing, percentage of the trade unions in this country. The lack of research is surprising in the age when we are moving back to the idea that 'Small is Beautiful'. This study will, hopefully, remove some of this ignorance and see if the adage is true for trade unions, and will show why small unions have occupied an important part of labour history. The first part of the thesis examines how the project was instigated; the arguments for and against small trade unions; the reasons for the diminution in numbers; and the topical subject of union democracy and how small unions might measure on the efficiency/democracy continuum. The final chapter of the first section outlines the research methodology. In each union the full-time officers and Executive members were interviewed, documents were studied and meetings attended over an extended time period. As a result Chapters 5, 6 and 7 are case studies of the three unions. The project examines the history; structure; motivation of interviewees; communications; effectiveness in meeting objectives; and relationships with employers; other unions and external bodies. Finally interviewees were asked questions on the industrial environment in which they operated, and the prospects of their union surviving in view of the failure of many other small unions. The concluding chapter will, hopefully, give some clues on the way to survive. The one outstanding conclusion is the importance of the role and influence of the general secretary or other leaders. Union survival mainly depends upon them, although, of course, other factors such as the industrial environment and economic recession are important.

Since 1951 the creation of approximately 4 million part-time jobs has been the only source of employment growth in Great Britain. Part-time employment, defined as regular work for not more than 30 hours per week, is concentrated amongst married women, in low-paid occupations and in service sector industries. This thesis examines the influence of employers' demands for labour on the growth of part-time employment, which has been hitherto investigated almost exclusively in the context of economic and social aspects of female labour supply. The increasing utilisation of part-time labour has been responsible for raising the rate of female labour force participation above a level which had remained unchanged since the mid-nineteenth century, and has more than offset the loss of 1 3/4 million jobs in manufacturing, agriculture and mining during the last thirty years. Part-time employment has therefore been instrumental in the transfer of labour resources necessary to the process of restructuring an economy in the advanced stages of industrial development. The research involved comprehensive analyses of the macro employment statistics pertaining to the British economy since 1881, and in-depth empirical research undertaken over the past five years, into the utilisation of full-time and part-time labour at organisational and establishment level in manufacturing and service industries. Workers entering part-time employment have for the most part been recruited by extending the supply of female labour. Expansion of the service sector has not provided sufficient suitable employment for those displaced from declining industries in the primary and secondary sectors of the economy, as part-time jobs offer neither the occupations, hours of work nor the earnings associated with the established structures of employment in these industries. Even the most optimistic forecasts of economic growth do not anticipate a return to previous levels of full-time employment. Future employment policies must be based on cognisance of the fundamental changes which have taken place in the patterns of employers' labour requirements in the more labour-intensive service industries.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

This research investigated the need and requirements for the development of a suitable labour relations policy and also investigates the importance of training managers in the skills necessary for achieving harmonious employment relations.The research considered the complexity of the subject through the evaluation of theoretical frameworks, and expert opinion in the form of a literature review.

Thesis (M Med (Anaesthesiology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2013. / Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether etomidate should be the induction agent of choice for Rapid Sequence Intubation in the Emergency department due to its haemodynamic stability. Objective: To measure the haemodynamic effects of etomidate post- induction in patients undergoing Rapid sequence intubation. Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, observational and unblinded study. The study was conducted at DR GEORGE MUKHARI HOSPITAL theatre unit on 45 patients between the ages of 11 and 65 years of age who fall under the American Society of Anaesthesiology classification (ASA) IE – IIIE. Each patient had an established intravenous line, was pre-oxygenated and then received etomidate (0.2 mg – 0.3 mg/kg). Cricoid pressure was applied immediately following loss of consciousness. Suxamethonium 1.5 mg/kg or Rocuronium 1.2 mg/kg was administered and this was followed by endotracheal intubation 60 seconds later. Data collected included amongst others vital signs:- Heart Rate, Systolic Blood Pressure, Diastolic Blood Pressure and Mean Arterial Pressure which were measured pre-induction, immediately post-intubation, 2.5 minutes, 5 minutes and 7.5 minutes later by a non invasive automated blood pressure monitor. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistical analysis was applied using the SPSS (Statistical Programme for Social Sciences) to demonstrate the demographics and ASA classifications of the patients in the study. Mean standard deviations were calculated for both males and 10 females in the study. Changes in vital signs immediately post-intubation were graphically demonstrated. The changes in vital signs (HR, SBP, DBP and MAP) were calculated and differences in such changes over-time were expressed as p-value. Significant differences in changes of the vital signs were noted if p ≤ 0.05. Results: The blood pressure increased immediately following intubation due to laryngoscopy and intubation. As anaesthesia progressed (i.e. 2.5 minutes, 5 minutes and 7.5 minutes later) the blood pressure gradually declined to levels lower than pre-induction values but at acceptable levels. Conclusion: Etomidate is an effective anaesthetic induction agent as it is haemody-namically stable and thus should be used in an Emergency department

<p>"Effects of Changes in the Unemployment Insurance Eligibility Requirements on Job Duration — Swedish Evidence"</p><p>This paper investigates the impact of the unemployment insurance (UI) entrance requirement on employment duration among earlier unemployed in Sweden. I exploit changes in the rule taking place in 1994 and 1997 to study behavioural adjustments in the timing of job separation between 1992, 1996, and 1998. Performing across-year analyses, I find evidence of clustering of job exits at the time of UI qualification. By using predicted hazard rates for each week, I calculate an approximate 2.9-week extension in average employment duration between 1996 and 1998 due to the 5-week prolonging of the entrance requirement.</p><p>"Job-search Assistance Using the Internet – Experiences from a Swedish Randomised Experiment"</p><p>This paper reports the experience from a randomised experiment offering voluntary job-search assistance on the Internet to job seekers at Swedish public employment offices. The purpose is to, i) investigate to what extent the evaluation design manages to avoid common difficulties in experimental evaluation, ii) assess the effect of the programme on the employment outcome, and iii) use the nonbiased experimental results as a benchmark evaluating the performance of frequent nonexperimental estimators. I find that the evaluation design successfully circumvents inherent difficulties in the experimental approach, such as ethical concerns, bureaucratic behaviour and randomisation bias. However, the voluntariness of the programme caused severe compliance problems in terms of both no-shows and dropouts. This is accounted for by analysing the effect of the “intent-to-treat” (the policy parameter of most interest), which is close to zero. Studying the effects of various doses of actual treatment, using an nonexperimental instrumental variable model, I fail to reject the hypothesis of a zero programme effect. Finally, a methodological comparison suggests that standard nonexperimental techniques succeed in reproducing the nonbiased experimental results.</p><p>"Are there Pre-programme Effects of Swedish Active Labour Market Policies – Evidence from Three Randomised Experiments"</p><p>This paper takes advantage of unique experimental data from three demonstration programmes in 2004 to investigate pre-programme incentive effects of active placement efforts at the employment offices in Sweden. The exit rate from unemployment between referral to and start of the programme services is compared between UI eligible experiment and control group members. The results are mixed. In one of the experiments, targeted towards a broad group of UI receivers, arranged job-search activities in groups combined with increased monitoring of job-search efforts generated a 38 per cent increase in the escape rate from unemployment in the weeks leading up to programme start. This translates into an almost two-week reduction of the ongoing UI spell. Referrals to increased monitoring alone did not have the same effect on exit behaviour. In the other two experiments, targeted towards youth and highly educated respectively, referrals to active placement efforts had no effect on the pre-programme outflow.</p>

No description available.

<p>During year 2007 ClaraHälsan Ltd bought the company health service Solstahälsan in Karlstad. The wide merger of the two health services the problems arose around the employees’ employment agreements when certain parts of the agreement differ. At a transition of a company, in this case a health service, the rights and obligations for the employees will pass on to the new employer according to directive 2001/23/EG who came in force in the swedish legal system in year 1995. The former employer is only responsible vis-à-vis the employees ”for economic obligations related to the time before the transition, the code of protection of employment 6 b §. The new employer are committed to the old employment agreement vis-à-vis the employees during at least one year.</p><p>At a transition the employment will automatically pass on to the new employer who will take over the rights and obligations in connections to the transition. It is not the collective agreement in whole that will pass on to the new employer, only the employment conditions in the collective agreement.</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to examine what will happen to the employment conditions when two companies become one through a transition, especially pension benefits.</p>

No description available.

No description available.