This thesis examines the influence of compulsory state arbitration and wages board systems on workplace industrial relations. Using an historical and comparative case study approach, the thesis researches workplace industrial relations at three firms operating in the metal industry between 1900 and 1929. A political economy perspective is employed to examine the interaction of institutional stnictures and economic and political processes in the regulation of the wage-effort bargain at the workplace. Key concepts are drawn from both mainstream industrial relations theory, in particular the Oxford School approach, and labour process theory. Drawing on the work of flanders, a distinction is made between the economic and political aspects of the wage-effort bargain through the differentiation of market relations and managerial relations. This thesis argues that arbitral and wages board systems interacted with a range of factors to shape and influence workplace industrial relations. In keeping with the political economy perspective, the thesis examines the economic, industry, technological, political, and institutional environment within which the three cases operated, identifying changes and trends in these factors during the period under review and their implications for workplace industrial relations. The three cases allowed a closer examination of the influence of these general trends on the development of workplace industrial relations. The cases demonstrate the diversity of the metals sector, each representing a different industry in that sector. Further, the cases differed in their geographic and jurisdictional location, allowing comparisons between Victoria and New South Wales to be made. An examination of the role of arbitral tribunals and wages boards argues that the tribunals used their ability to regulate and stabilise market relations to offset their intervention in managerial relations. In this respect the tribunals sought to engineer changes in managerial relations favourable to industry development and yet simultaneously obtain support from the unions through improvements in market relations. As a consequence of these conflicting objectives the tribunals often behaved in a contradictory manner. In addition, unintended consequences often flowed from tribunal regulation and were important in shaping events at the workplace. Thus while industrial tribunals sought to improve market relations, they inadvertently assisted workers to gain more influence over managerial relations. In each case the workplace was the site of much regulatory activity, whether initiated by management, unions or workers. However, the three cases each present a different pattern of workplace industrial relations in terms: of scope of regulation at the workplace; the role of unions; the nature of managerial strategy; the role of unions; and the implementation and enforcement of tribunals decisions. Moreover, the effect of arbitration and wages board systems at each workplace varied, with the influence of a particular matrix of industry, economic, technological and institutional conditions shaped at the workplace.

The main issues, which arise in that research project, are connected with health dimensions. There are emphasised points, which contribute to the employees’ health and well-being, solutions, which organisations implement to prevent workers from diseases and illnesses, to track their current condition of body and mind and generally to improve their overall health situation. From the very beginning the main stress was supposed to lie on physical activity promotion being an integral part of health promotion at the workplace but the obtained information from the conducted interviews verified that idea. The research also touches other variables contributing to the employees’ health and cons tituting the idea of health promotion at the workplace, namely health profiles and Corporate Social Responsibility. It is argued who may benefit from workplace physical activities and to which extent such programs may succeed. Interviews showed double points of views according to the necessity to encourage employees to train within the organization. Basis for the discussion of the topic were interviews gained from the interaction with the staff of the organization Xylem located in Sweden in Emmaboda, a world leader in water solutions. The chosen methodology based on the case study appeared to be the most relevant to explore health issues thanks to the clear empirical example. The company was distinguished because of the sport and rehabilitation centre, which it had in its possession and which seemed to make Xylem be different from the competitors and gave advantages for the employees in the form of additional benefits causing going in for sport at the company’s expense. The results of the research indicate that health promotion at the workplace may be viewed as a part of Corporate Social Responsibility. The evidences for IV that perspective are presented with a proper motivation mostly in the conclusion part. The research intended to show to the readers to what extent health promotion at the workplace incorporating physical activities, health profiles and CSR is important, how it is regarded and how much attention, time and efforts is and should be devoted to deal with that dimension in a proper way.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for approximately 600,000 deaths in the United States each year, with African Americans (AAs) disproportionately affected. Individual-level approaches to reducing CVD remain ineffective, mobilizing a movement that advocates for population-based solutions. Workplace wellness programs (WWPs) have gained considerable traction as a viable strategy for ameliorating CVD burden among workers in general. However, no studies have looked at the efficacy of WWPs in ameliorating CVD specifically among AA employees--a knowledge gap that this investigation aimed to close. Based on the health belief model and the social cognitive theory, this retrospective cohort study used de-identified secondary data to evaluate the racial differences in the mean change in CVD biomarkers between 163 AAs and 228 Caucasians civilian workers participating in a U.S. Marine Corp self-directed WWP. The 4 CVD biomarkers evaluated were systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and waist-to-hip ratio. Repeated measures MANCOVA analysis was used to establish the contribution of the independent variable (race) to SBP, DBP, LDL cholesterol, and waist-to-hip ratio. Results showed an overall significant main effect of time for changes in SBP and DBP even after controlling for race, sex, age, and days from baseline. However, there was no overall main effect of time for changes in LDL cholesterol or waist-to-hip ratio. Further research using randomization, a comprehensive health risk appraisal, and a larger sample size may yield additional benefits to AAs. Implications for positive social change include reduction of the extraordinarily high CVD disease burden and disparity among AAs.

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