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This article builds on Murray and Reshef (1988) to develop a four-cell paradigm typology. Next, a theoretical model is developed to examine the determinants of national union paradigms, to present national case studies of the four paradigms, and to investigate the effects of paradigms on union organizational structures, levels of industrial conflict, and decline rates of national union movements. Finally, the effects that declining unionism has on paradigms and the research implications of this study are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to aid in the reconstruction of the war-disrupted labor movements of other countries have consisted, in large part, of acquainting foreign unionists with American ideas and methods. Success of this technique is necessarily affected by what individuals in the countries concerned think of American labor. Do they understand it? Do they approve of the methods of American unions? Are our techniques and ideas considered to he workable in other countries? This review article discusses answers to these questions as found in a book on American unionism by a young Italian, Franco Ferrarotti, who spent two years in the United States observing the labor scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the post-tsunami reconstruction effort in Aceh, international labour movement organizations 'jumped scale' in an attempt to revitalize a moribund local labour movement. This article provides a close analysis of the four internationally sponsored trade union building projects undertaken as part of that process. This unique intervention sheds light on the crucial role of local context and the extent to which the principles of international solidarity and the pragmatics of trade union diplomacy are mediated through money, institutions, individuals and day-to-day activities. The Aceh case underscores the importance of contingency and the agency of individuals in shaping an international intervention of this kind. In doing so it demonstrates how circuits of labour activism can be affected by constraints and opportunities unrelated to trade union politics or the relations of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

East-West union co-operation in Europe is discussed as the most serious test to cross-border union solidarity, in the light of new frameworks capable to make sense of transnational trade union activity and alternative to theoretical nationalism. The empirical assessment of trade union chances reviews the activities of trade unions in the UK, Germany, Austria and Poland on foreign investment, migration and movement of services. Secondary evidence and case studies show that the strength of transnational union action does not depend on the country, but rather on its form. 'Structural' Europeanization remains weak (e.g. in most European Works Councils), while network-based action is displaying strong developments, especially on migration, but least on the movement of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the state, problems and prospects of trade unions in the independent states of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It describes the trade union movement in the two regions as a conglomerate of monopolist trade unions, which cooperate actively with the authorities on one side and small alternative and independent states on the other. The author adds that the union alliances of the countries in the region were involved in adopting the anti-crisis measures of governments.

This article presents an interview with Michael Sommer, the president of the Internationaler Gewerkschaftsbund (International Trade Union Confederation, or IGB). Several topics are discussed, including how he wants the IGB to have a more prominent role in world politics, how the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 affected international trade unions, and what challenges the IGB will face at the next Group of Twenty (group of finance ministers and central bank governors, or G20) summit meeting.

With the completion of the Single Market, the creation of the Monetary Union, and EU enlargement to the east EU integration has changed substantially over the past two decades, and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the - at present - 12 European branch trade union organizations have been confronted by historically unprecedented challenges. On the one hand, this is involves the highly complex »management of diversity«, both politically and organizationally, as a result of the enlargement of the membership, while on the other hand, it involves an enormously difficult »management of interdependence« as a result of the continuing market liberalization and monetary integration. In comparison to the profiles of the European trade union associations in the first decades after the founding of the European Community, which mainly had the character of round tables and forums, the development of European associations since the 1990s has taken the form of gradual, in some areas substantial progress in the Europeanization of trade union policy. Not least in the areas of wage policy, corporate policy, and labor policy negotiations within the framework of social dialogue the transnational organizational framework has become the »space« of an increasingly more binding and topically more specific coordination of interests and actions among the national member associations. These successes with regard to Europeanization continue to be confronted by deficits with regard to transnationalization. This includes the unresolved problem of making available adequate resources to the secretariats of European associations and contradictions between »European declarations« and »national practice«. These contradictions are owing not least to different national trade union traditions and the power potential of member associations and the Europe-policy orientations which are derived from them. In the near future, the extreme differences between the measures taken to cope with the financial market and euro crises will structurally impede transnational interest harmonization among trade unions, and therefore urgently require intensified European coordination and a pro-active policy on Europe. Besides the exertion of influence on macro-policy and macroeconomic developments in the EU and the European monetary system - a primary task of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) - the European trade union branch organizations are above all confronted with the task of developing their transnational coordination in the areas of wage policy and of optimizing their corporate policy approaches transnationally by means of European works councils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the international trade secretariat (ITS) the International Federation of Petroleum and Chemical Workers (IFPCW), created by the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW). It examines the influence of the Cold War and anticommunism on the secretariat and its advocacy of free trade unionism. The author explores the IFPCW's relationships with the U.S. government and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Other topics include relations with the trade union center the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and union leaders Curtis Hogan, Loyd Haskins, and O.A. Knight. The IFPCW was originally founded as the International Federation of Petroleum Workers (IFPW).

The article discusses the history of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and its relations to U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy. The AFL-CIO was founded in 1955 and generally embraced and supported U.S. foreign policies throughout the Cold War. However, the membership of the AFL-CIO was not always supportive of the U.S.'s decisions to declare war, especially during the Vietnam War. The author argues such an antiwar position during the Vietnam War eventually led to the 2005 declaration of the union calling for the withdrawal of American military forces from the Iraq War.

The article discusses the political efforts of American and British labor movements during World War II, focusing particularly on the British Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The author explores the impact of national foreign policies upon the labor movements and considers whether national interests or the interests of the trade unions are considered most important by the unions. Other subjects considered include the trade union movement, internationalism, the International Labor Organization, international labor standards, interactions between the TUC, AFL, and the Soviet International Federation of Trade Unions, and union leaders Sir Walter Citrine and William Green.

The article focuses on trade unionism in the global setting. It describes trade unionism in private companies about nearly in all developed countries which has been declining due to inability to influence labor contracts. It also discusses the challenges that unions have been facing in private companies. Moreover, it deals on the deepening of competitive forces in private markers in terms on deregulation, changing technology, and the opening of global labor and product markets.

The article offers information on the debate for a distinct form of unionism that involves certain specifications. It tackles the inadequacies of Northern unionism in relation to business along with the risks of political party subordination. Arguments on social movement unionism is created in a situation of closed economies and political authoritarianism that includes countries like South Korea, Brazil and South Africa. Trade union is a concrete example of social movements that refers to the labor-capital relations. The engagement process involves several considerations including the availability of power resources, internal solidarity and the implementation of union agenda. Topics on trade unionism as a core dimension and an aspect of the future is also presented.

Despite a strengthening of collective labor rights in Latin America over the last 15 years, most labor movements in the region have lost power because neither the content nor the enforcement mechanisms associated with the labor reforms fully took into consideration the challenges presented by economic restructuring. Reforms facilitating union formation did not strengthen unions but instead increased union fragmentation. Collective bargaining structures did not respond to the exigencies of international outsourcing; and the initial round of reforms in the 1990s did not contemplate the need to strengthen labor law enforcement mechanisms at a time when heightened international competition created a need for greater state vigilance of labor standards. Recent reforms or proposed reforms hold more promise for labor, but truly union-friendly labor relations regimes require deeper changes. A review of several Latin American cases is followed by a closer examination of Brazil and El Salvador. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article reports on the launching of the New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), which was attended by international organizations worldwide, in early March 2008 in New Delhi, India. NTUI is an organization of independent unions from various industries seeking to unite and bolster power for Indian workers and workers across the globe with its three principles of unity, democracy, and militancy. With the slogan "Building Union Power Together," the organization is independent to any political party but supports political inclinations, passionate on unity and single unionism, and open to fresh strategic thinking. The partnership of NTUI and Jobs with Justice (JWJ), accordingly, places great importance on local initiative and autonomy.

This article discusses research being conducted on trade-unions, discrimination in employment, and wages at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Industrial Research Unit. The article also presents a list of researchers who contributed to these studies, including Mary J. Immediata's study concerning multinational industrial worker union activities, Bernard E. Anderson's research into the history of the U.S. Opportunities Industrialization Centers, and Steven DiAntonio's examination of minority recruitment practices employed by the U.S. army.

The article presents information about West German trade societies and European integration. Discussion topics from a January 16, 1958 conference of European trade societies in Düsseldorf, West Germany are noted, such as the coordination of social services to facilitate integration. The article also treats the socio-political implications of activity within the European economic community. Additionally, an evaluation is given of the customs union in the European common market.

The article focuses on European Union (EU) countries in terms of social policy and workforce exchange. In several cases, corporations from EU countries like Latvia or Poland refused to apply the social minimum wage imposed by the countries to which their employees were sent, like Sweden or Germany. The Court of Justice of the European Communities ruled in favor of these corporations. This decision was viewed negatively by the European Trade Union Confederation.