Yes / Ireland’s selective system of collective agreed minimum wages has come under significant pressure in recent years. A new fast-food employer body took a constitutional challenge against the system of Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) and this was strengthened by the discourse on the negative effects of minimum wages as Ireland’s economic crisis worsened. Taking a historical institutional approach, the article examines the critical juncture for the JLC system and the factors which led to the subsequent government decision to retain but reform the system. The article argues that the improved enforcement of minimum wages was a key factor in the employers’ push for abolition of the system but that the legacy of a collapsed social partnership system prevented the system’s abolition.

The purpose of this research project was to analyze the dialectic of co-optation/domestication and resistance as manifested in the experience of racialized Canadian trade unionists. The seven research participants are racialized rank-and-file members, elected or appointed leaders, retired trade unionists, as well as staff of trade unions and other labour organizations. In spite of the struggle of racialized peoples for racial justice or firm anti-racism policies and programmes in their labour unions, there is a dearth of research on the racialized trade union members against racism, the actual condition under which they struggle, the particular ways that union institutional structures domesticate these struggles, and/or the countervailing actions by racialized members to realize anti-racist organizational goals. While the overt and vulgar forms of racism is no longer the dominant mode of expression in today’s labour movement, its systemic and institutional presence is just as debilitating for racial trade union members. This research has uncovered the manner in which the electoral process and machinery, elected and appointed political positions, staff jobs and formal constituency groups, and affirmative action or equity representational structures in labour unions and other labour organizations are used as sites of domestication or co-optation of some racialized trade unionists by the White-led labour bureaucratic structures and the forces in defense of whiteness. However, racialized trade union members also participate in struggles to resist racist domination. Among some of tools used to advance anti-racism are the creation of support networks, transgressive challenges to the entrenched leadership through elections, formation of constituency advocacy outside of the structure of the union and discrete forms of resistance. The participants in the research shared their stories of the way that race and gender condition the experiences of racialized women in the labour movement. The racialized interviewees were critical of the inadequacy of labour education programmes in dealing effectively with racism and offer solutions to make them relevant to the racial justice agenda. This study of race, resistance and co-optation in the labour movement has made contributions to the fields of critical race theory, labour and critical race feminism and labour studies.

The purpose of this research project was to analyze the dialectic of co-optation/domestication and resistance as manifested in the experience of racialized Canadian trade unionists. The seven research participants are racialized rank-and-file members, elected or appointed leaders, retired trade unionists, as well as staff of trade unions and other labour organizations. In spite of the struggle of racialized peoples for racial justice or firm anti-racism policies and programmes in their labour unions, there is a dearth of research on the racialized trade union members against racism, the actual condition under which they struggle, the particular ways that union institutional structures domesticate these struggles, and/or the countervailing actions by racialized members to realize anti-racist organizational goals. While the overt and vulgar forms of racism is no longer the dominant mode of expression in today’s labour movement, its systemic and institutional presence is just as debilitating for racial trade union members. This research has uncovered the manner in which the electoral process and machinery, elected and appointed political positions, staff jobs and formal constituency groups, and affirmative action or equity representational structures in labour unions and other labour organizations are used as sites of domestication or co-optation of some racialized trade unionists by the White-led labour bureaucratic structures and the forces in defense of whiteness. However, racialized trade union members also participate in struggles to resist racist domination. Among some of tools used to advance anti-racism are the creation of support networks, transgressive challenges to the entrenched leadership through elections, formation of constituency advocacy outside of the structure of the union and discrete forms of resistance. The participants in the research shared their stories of the way that race and gender condition the experiences of racialized women in the labour movement. The racialized interviewees were critical of the inadequacy of labour education programmes in dealing effectively with racism and offer solutions to make them relevant to the racial justice agenda. This study of race, resistance and co-optation in the labour movement has made contributions to the fields of critical race theory, labour and critical race feminism and labour studies.

Pendant l’état de guerre en Pologne, après le 13 Décembre 1981 nombreux militants étaient à l'étranger. Les membres de l'opposition du mouvement Solidarité vivaient également à Paris. Ils étaient: Seweryn Blumsztajn, Slawomir Czarlewski, Danuta Nowakowska, Mirosław Chojecki, Jacek Kaczmarski, Andrzej Wolowski, Zbigniew Kowalewski, Andrzej Seweryn, Piotr Chruszczyński et autres. Le Comité de Coordination a été fondée le 16 Décembre 1981. Dans sa déclaration, les membres ont demandé à l'opinion publique internationale pour protester contre les événements de Pologne et d'aider les syndicalistes en Pologne. Le siège de Paris avait plusieurs cellules: le Bureau, le secrétariat, section de l'information, le soutien et la Pologne section culturelle. Les activités du Comité ont été possible grâce à l'appui fourni par les syndicats français - CFDT, CFTC, FO, CGC et FEN. Il est resté en contact avec de nombreux organismes de bienfaisance et de soutien organisé pour « Solidarnosc » clandestine. / During the martial law after the 13th of December 1981 many activists were abroad. Members of the opposition of Solidarity movement lived also in Paris. They were: Seweryn Blumsztajn, Slawomir Czarlewski, Danuta Nowakowska, Mirosław Chojecki, Jacek Kaczmarski, Andrzej Wołowski, Zbigniew Kowalewski, Andrzej Seweryn, Piotr Chruszczyński and others. The Coordinating Committee was founded on 16th of December 1981. In its statement the members called to the international public opinion to protest against the events in Poland and to help trade unionists in Poland. The Paris headquarters had several cells: the Bureau, the Secretariat, information section, the support Poland and cultural section. The activities of the Committee was possible thanks to the support provided by the French trade unions - CFDT, CFTC, FO, CGC and FEN. He stayed in contact with many charities and organized support for underground "Solidarity".

Title: Trade Union Recreations in Czechoslovakia in the 50s and 60s of the 20th Century Annotation: The thesis analyses organization, course, and other aspects of trade union "recreation", important and favorite way of holiday spending in former Czechoslovakia. It is a contribution to the research of a leisure time phenomenon. Based primarily on so far unexploited archival sources it observes development of leisure activities and recreation stays organized by the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement between 1948 and 1968. It focuses both on recreation of adults and young pioneers' summer camps. It deals with artistic representation of daily life at trade union recreations in movies and fiction literature, among others. Conclusions of the research are above all as follows: attempts at ideological indoctrination of people even during their leisure time, accentuated at the beginning of the period in view, grew weak gradually. Organized recreation stays became a desired way of a cheap holiday, namely in absence of other possibilities. A collectivist spirit belonged to main characteristics of this way, but it was not solely linked to the communist ideology. Key words: modern history - trade unions - trade union holiday ("recreation") - pioneers'summer camps

With the rise of the new social movements and increasing number of protests over service delivery in South Africa’s poorest townships, many activists have started to question whether unions are able to relate to the demands of the unorganised and poor. It is argued that under the new democracy COSATU has become bureaucratic and is too closely aligned to the ANC to challenge government policies and play a transformative role in society. Such concerns are not entirely new. Labour historians and industrial sociologists have long debated the political potential and democratic character of trade unions and there is a vast literature documenting the organisational styles of unions in South Africa today and in the past. Based on examination of union archival records and interviews with key informants, this study traces the emergence of the ‘workers control’ tradition in South African trade unions. ‘Workers control’ is a unique approach based on non-racial, industrial trade unions, which are democratically organised on the factory floor. Such unions, which are ideally controlled by elected worker representatives at all levels and united nationally on the basis of sharing common policies and resources, create the basis for an autonomous movement that promotes the interest of workers. Although most closely associated with FOSATU (1979-1985), this study found that workers control had deeper historical roots. Workers control was a product of the ideological and organisational renewal that characterised the 1970s and was initially created by the Trade Union Advisory Coordinating Committee (TUACC) in Natal and, later, the Witwatersrand. TUACC, which included significant numbers of women employed as semi-skilled production workers and unskilled migrant men, reflected complex shifts in the labour market and the economy. It was in this context that ordinary union members together with a diverse layer of activists developed TUACC’s unique approach to organisation. The power of white university trained activists in determining union policies has been overestimated and worker leaders, particularly more educated women workers, played an important role in building TUACC unions. Based on a Gramscian analysis, TUACC maintained that democratic unions based on strong shop floor organisation could exploit loop holes in the law and participate in industrial structures without undermining union autonomy and democracy. TUACC, however, was less clear of how to relate to political movements and parties. TUACC distanced itself officially from the banned ANC to avoid repression, but some workers and unionists looked to homeland and traditional leaders for alliances. This tension between the creation of a democratic trade union culture and the workers’ support of more autocratic political and traditional leaders and populist movements was never resolved. All of TUACC’s affiliates were founder members of COSATU and this study gives us some insight into the traditions that inform COSATU’s responses to social movements, political parties and the state today. Drawing on the insights of the Anracho-syndicalism, this study also highlights some of the dangers of separating the economic and political activities of workers into unions and political parties respectively.

A intervenção do Estado na economia como produtor direto de bens e serviços foi por longo período uma estratégia comum adotada tanto por países desenvolvidos como subdesenvolvidos. Entretanto, em conseqüência da crise econômica mundial do fim dos anos setenta e inicio dos oitenta os mesmos países passaram a reconsiderar este tipo de intervenção. Neste momento, a privatização foi colocada na agenda política como parte de uma ampla estratégia desenhada para reduzir escopo da ação estatal, ajustar sua capacidade fiscal, e melhorar o desempenho das empresas conferindo-lhes maior autonomia. A despeito das pressões comuns que favoreceram a adoção da privatização por diferentes governos e países, seu timing, escopo e formato variaram significativamente. Esta constatação levou ao deslocamento do foco analítico dos argumentos puramente técnicos e econômicos para um conjunto de variáveis que procuram capturar as diferenças entre o arranjo institucional do sistema político, em cada país, que colaboraram para esta variação, bem como para explicar as diferentes estratégias perseguidas pelos principais atores envolvidos frente à privatização em cada contexto institucional. Apesar do avanço representado por esta abordagem, pouca atenção tem sido devotada ao exame da influência do sistema de intermediação de interesse na explicação da variação entre os programas de privatização. O objetivo deste trabalho foi discutir a influência ou o impacto do sistema político e de intermediação de interesse sobre a privatização do setor de telecomunicações em três dos maiores países da América Latina, México, Argentina e Brasil, e dois da Europa França e Inglaterra. A principal conclusão é que apesar das pressões convergentes comuns observadas que levaram todos os cinco governos a adotar, em alguma medida, a privatização, esta variou significativamente de país para país, o que pode ser explicado pelas diferenças nessas duas arenas mencionadas e pela preferência dos principais atores envolvidos no processo. Em sistemas políticos onde o poder Executivo é mais concentrado como México, Argentina os governos foram capazes de privatizar o suas estatais em um tempo exíguo ou de forma pioneira como fez a Inglaterra, e independente da oposição. Em sistemas políticos onde o poder é mais dividido e onde a Constituição impingiu a formação de uma supermaioria para realização das reformas, como no Brasil e na França, os governos encontraram mais dificuldade para privatizar, fazendo-o somente no fim da década de 1990 e, no caso da França, mantendo o Estado como acionista principal. / State intervention in the economy as a direct producer of goods and services has for a long time been a common strategy adopted by both developed and underdeveloped countries. However, as a result of the global economic crisis of the late 1970s and early 1980s, the same countries began to reconsider this type of intervention. At the moment, privatization has been placed on the political agenda as part of a broad strategy designed to reduce the scope of state action, adjust its fiscal capacity, and improve corporate performance by giving them greater autonomy. In spite of the common pressures that favored the adoption of privatization by different governments and countries, their timing, scope and format varied significantly. This finding led to the displacement of the analytical focus from purely technical and economic arguments to a set of variables that seek to capture the differences between the institutional arrangements of the political system in each country that contributed to this variation and to explain the different strategies pursued the main actors involved in privatization in each institutional context. Despite the advancement represented by this approach, little attention has been devoted to examining the influence of the intermediation system of interest in explaining the variation between privatization programs. The objective of this work was to discuss the influence or impact of the political system and intermediation of interest on the privatization of the telecommunications sector in three of the largest countries in Latin America, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and two in Europe France and England. The main conclusion is that in spite of the common converging pressures observed that led all five governments to adopt privatization in some measure, this has varied significantly from country to country, which can be explained by the differences in these two arenas mentioned and the preference of main actors involved in the process. In political systems where the executive power is more concentrated like Mexico, Argentina governments were able to privatize their state-owned companies in a short time or in a pioneering way as England did, and independent of the opposition. In political systems where power is more divided and where the constitution has imposed the formation of a \"supermajority\" for the realization of reforms, as in Brazil and France, governments have found it more difficult to privatize, only in the late 1990s. 1990, and in the case of France, maintaining the State as the main shareholder.

A presente tese visa demonstrar que, à luz da experiência vivida pela Itália pela Espanha, a concertação social pode ser um instrumento bastante útil para o enfrentamento de diversos temas de política social e econômica. Todavia o pleno reconhecimento da liberdade sindical é imprescindível para que a concertação social seja realizada de maneira legítima, pois somente mediante a existência de interlocutores verdadeiramente representativos, governo e atores sociais consiguirão manter entendimentos socialmente vinculantes e que sejam capazes de espelhar a realidade social. O Brasil não reconhece plenamente a liberdade sindical e por tal motivo, as tentativas de concertação social realizadas a partir da segunda metade da década de 1980 não contaram com o efetivo envolvimento das partes sociais. Mesmo assim, o país progrediu desde então, e atualmente gera grande interesse por parte da comunidade internacional. Não obstante, para que o Brasil aprofunde o processo da integração regional, bem como conquiste uma posição de efetivo destaque e influência no contexto internacional, é fundamental o reconhecimento pleno da liberdade sindical, o que permitirá finalizar a transição democrática, bem como a celebração de pactos sociais legítimos, sempre que eles se demonstrarem necessários. / The present thesis intends to evidence that, in light of the experience lived by Italy and Spain, social concertation can be a very useful instrument in order to face many issues with regard to social and economic policy. Notwithstanding, the complete acknowledgement of freedom of association is necessary in order to social concertation be made trough legitimate means, because only upon the existence of truly representative interlocutors, government and social partners will keep socially binding understandings, capable of reflecting the social reality. Brazil does not fully acknowledge freedom of association and, as a consequence, the social partners were not concretely involved with the attempts of social concertation that took place as from the late 1980s. Even though, the country has developed since then, and currently it generates a great interest within the international community. Notwithstanding, if Brazil wishes to deepen the regional integration process, as well as to conquer a key role within the international context, it is crucial to fully acknowledge freedom of association, what will allow the country to conclude the democratic transition, as well as to execute legitimate social pacts, whenever they become necessary.

Le dialogue social a pour but de promouvoir la paix sociale indispensable à tout développement économique. S’il est un passage obligé en matière de prévention et de résolution des conflits sociaux, il est de façon générale aujourd’hui un mode de régulation incontournable dans toutes les sociétés. Au Mali, le dialogue social a connu sous la Troisième République, à partir de la révolution de mars 1991 et avec l’avènement de la démocratie et de l’Etat de droit, un essor remarquable ; celui-ci est allé de pair avec l’éclosion du pluralisme syndical. Quelque peu paradoxalement, aujourd’hui, le développement du dialogue social se heurte précisément à la question de la représentativité. Le fonctionnement de certaines institutions du pays s’en trouve paralyser, tout comme celui de diverses commissions de négociation, ceci dans le secteur privé comme dans le secteur public. Dans un tel contexte, les plus hauts responsables de l’Etat ont eux-mêmes des difficultés pour réunir les acteurs sociaux autour d’une même table. Il apparaît ainsi urgent de déterminer la représentativité essentiellement des organisations syndicales de travailleurs, via l’organisation d’élections professionnelles et le recours à des critères consensuels préalablement définis.Au-delà de la question de la représentativité, il est nécessaire de s’interroger sur les réalités et les enjeux contemporains du dialogue social au Mali. Ceci passe tout d’abord par la réalisation d’un bilan de son encadrement juridique, qu’il s’agisse de droits à l’information, à la consultation ou à la négociation collective au niveau national, sectoriel ou de l’entreprise, ou bien encore des dispositions relatives à la gestion des conflits sociaux. Par ailleurs, il convient d’envisager les conditions d’amélioration du dialogue social au Mali. Ceci conduit d’un part à proposer certaines modifications normatives, d’autre part à réfléchir à sa dynamisation via, notamment, la formation de ses acteurs, l’intervention de tiers facilitateurs, mais aussi l’extension de son périmètre à des questions relatives aux droits sociaux fondamentaux, voire à dimension sociétale. / Social dialogue is intended to promote social peace, a precondition to economic development. It is a prerequisite for prevention and resolution of social conflicts, it is generally today a mode of regulation in all societies. In Mali, social dialogue developed extraordinarily under the third Republic, from the revolution of March 1991 and with the advent of democracy and the rule of law. This went hand in hand with the emergence of pluralism in trade unions. Somewhat paradoxically, today, the development of social dialogue is facing precisely the issue of representativeness. The functioning of some institutions of the country is paralyzed, as well as the functioning of various trading commissions, in both private and public sector. In such a context, the highest state officials themselves are struggling to bring together social actors around the table. Thus, it is urgent to determine essentially representativeness of trade union organizations of workers, through the organization of professional elections and the use of consensual criteria previously defined.Beyond the issue of representativeness, it is necessary to question the realities and contemporary issues of social dialogue in Mali. First of all, this involves taking stock of its legal framework, be its rights to information, consultation or collective bargaining at national, sectoral level of the company, or of the provisions relating to the management of social conflicts. Furthermore, consideration should be given to the conditions leading to improved social dialogue in Mali. On the one hand, this entails proposing normative changes, on the other hand, reflecting on its revitalization through, in particular, its actors, the intervention of third-party facilitator training, but also the extension of its scope to questions relating to fundamental social rights, or even to societal dimension.

Research of a wide range of primary sources informs this work, including hitherto unstudied local union records, oral testimony, contemporary newspapers, government and employer reports. Conclusions reached in this dissertation are that while the founders of the local trade union movement shared a vision of improving the lot of workers in their employment and in the wider social context, and they endeavoured to establish effective structures and organisation to this end, their efforts were of mixed success. They succeeded eminently in improving and protecting the employment conditions of workers to contemporary expectations through effective exploitation of political and institutional channels and through competent and conservative local leadership. However, the additional and loftier goal of creating a better life for workers outside the workplace through local combined union action were much less successful, foiled not only by overwhelming economic difficulties, but also by a local sense of working-class consciousness which was muted by the particular social and cultural context of Rockhampton.