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Despite big gains from easing restrictions on international labor mobility, liberalizing migration flows is not pursued unilaterally or negotiated among countries in a way that international trade negotiations are pursued. Among several key explanations is the fiscal burden imposed by immigration on native-born. The paper focuses on a central tension faced by policy makers in countries that receive migrants from lower wage countries. Such countries are typically high productivity and capital rich, and the resulting high wages attract both skilled and unskilled migrants. A generous welfare state may attract low-skill migration deter skilled migration, since it is likely to be accompanied by higher redistributive taxes. Assuming that a group of host countries faces an upward supply of immigrants, the analysis demonstrates that tax competition does not indeed lead to a race to the bottom; competition may lead to higher taxes than coordination. There exists a fiscal externality (fiscal leakage) that causes tax rates (on both labor and capital), and the volume of migration (of both skill types), to be higher in the competitive regime than in the coordinated regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban theorists assert that cities need to be understood not only in terms of their internal systems but also in terms of their national and global connections. This study provides an analysis of these global connections for the city of Ahmedabad, India, through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. It highlights three “events” and discusses their international ramifications: the arrival of Gandhi in 1915; the increasingly global reach of local manufacturing and cultural institutions; and the international censure of the Hindu–Muslim violence in the city, especially in 2002. It closes with a plea to urban historians to heed the arguments of the theoreticians and consider fully the significance of global connections in the study of individual urban histories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Résumé En juin 2012, lorsque la Conférence internationale du Travail ( CIT) a adopté à l'unanimité la recommandation sur les socles de protection sociale, qui donne un contenu concret au droit humain qu'est le droit à la sécurité sociale, la communauté internationale a franchi une étape importante sur la voie de la reconnaissance de la protection sociale comme une composante à part entière des stratégies de développement nationales et internationales. Le présent article resitue la recommandation no 202 dans l'histoire des activités normatives et des politiques de développement, retrace la genèse du concept de socle de protection sociale et analyse le contenu de la nouvelle recommandation et certaines des questions politiquement sensibles qu'elle a soulevées. Il apprécie ensuite si ce nouvel instrument peut faire évoluer la réalité sociale dans les 185 Etats Membres de l' Organisation internationale du Travail ( OIT). Il souligne que son adoption constitue une preuve sans précédent de la bonne volonté de la communauté internationale et un consensus international ambitieux concernant la politique sociale, mais qu'il est indispensable, pour créer la marge de manœuvre nécessaire à une évolution des politiques nationales, que la campagne visant à instaurer, au minimum, une sécurité sociale de base pour tous se poursuive et demeure une priorité internationale. En conclusion, il recense les stratégies que la coalition mondiale qui mène cette campagne doit mettre en œuvre pour que la sécurité sociale demeure ou devienne un objectif inaliénable des stratégies de développement nationales et internationales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé En juin 2012, la 101e Conférence internationale du Travail a adopté la recommandation (no 202) sur les socles de protection sociale, 2012. Le présent article étudie les liens et la complémentarité existant entre cette recommandation et les normes de sécurité sociale déjà définies par l'Organisation internationale du Travail ( OIT). Après avoir examiné si ces normes ont perdu de leur pertinence et si la nouvelle recommandation a été précisément adoptée afin de les remplacer, l'article conclut que cette recommandation complète, élargit et renforce le code international de la sécurité sociale existant déjà. La recommandation no 202 et les conventions de la sécurité sociale de l' OIT constituent un cadre normatif adapté et complet permettant de créer et de pérenniser des systèmes globaux de sécurité sociale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé La société civile soutient pleinement le concept de socle de protection sociale et, en particulier, l'adoption de la recommandation (no 202) sur les socles de protection sociale, 2012, de l'Organisation internationale du Travail. La mise en œuvre des socles de protection sociale permettra de réaliser de formidables progrès au niveau mondial, tant pour réduire la pauvreté et les inégalités que pour favoriser la capacité d'action des individus. Le mouvement de la société civile est convaincu qu'une approche fondée sur les droits humains constitue la façon la plus efficace de concevoir et de mettre en œuvre des socles de protection sociale mobilisateurs et durables. En ce qui concerne la mise en œuvre, fondée sur les droits humains, des garanties de sécurité sociale, elle est principalement axée sur les quatre objectifs suivants: 1) le respect des droits et de la dignité des personnes détenant des droits en matière de sécurité sociale; 2) la pleine participation de la société civile; 3) la couverture universelle à l'échelon local, national et international; et 4) la prise en compte des besoins spécifiques des groupes vulnérables. Dans le sillage de la 101e session de la Conférence internationale du Travail, tenue en 2012, 59 organisations de la société civile ont cré é la Coalition pour les socles de protection sociale, qui a deux principales missions: 1) surveiller la mise en œuvre universelle des socles de protection sociale, aux niveaux local et national, et y contribuer; et 2) promouvoir le concept de socle de protection sociale dans le cadre des processus d'élaboration des politiques mondiales, tels que les discussions sur le Programme de développement des Nations Unies pour l'après-2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé L'adoption de la recommandation (no 202) sur les socles de protection sociale, 2012, de l'Organisation internationale du Travail montre l'importance que revêt l'extension de la couverture de la sécurité sociale au niveau mondial. Pour que l'extension de la couverture ait un maximum d'effets positifs, il est nécessaire que les prestations et les services de sécurité sociale soient fournis au plus grand nombre de personnes et couvrent le plus grand nombre de risques, mais aussi que les prestations soient adéquates. Même si cela ne va pas sans difficultés, il est possible de définir et de mesurer le niveau de couverture. En revanche, la définition du concept de «prestation adéquate» est souvent moins claire, une seule mesure - le taux de remplacement - étant généralement utilisée pour déterminer l'adéquation relative des prestations monétaires. Compte tenu des multiples objectifs des systèmes de sécurité sociale, l'utilisation d'une mesure plus large de l'adéquation, au-delà du niveau des prestations monétaires, est non seulement plus appropriée, mais nécessaire. Dans un monde où le poids des contraintes financières n'a sans doute jamais été aussi lourd, le présent article examine l'importance de l'adéquation, en montrant pourquoi il est nécessaire de se placer dans une perspective élargie permettant de mesurer les autres aspects de la fourniture de prestations et de services. Il décrit la façon de construire un tel instrument d'analyse à variables multiples et les difficultés que cela pose. En essayant de déterminer si les autres objectifs de la fourniture de prestations sont atteints - notamment la qualité de service, les objectifs en matière d'emploi, la sécurité des prestations et l'interaction avec les parties prenantes -, cet article se propose de contribuer à élargir le débat sur la question de l'adéquation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé En juin 2011, la Conférence internationale du Travail ( CIT) a adopté une résolution et des conclusions définissant la nouvelle stratégie de l'Organisation internationale du Travail en matière de sécurité sociale, qui vise à aider les Etats Membres à édifier et pérenniser des systèmes complets de sécurité sociale à partir d'une approche bidimensionnelle: 1) (dimension «horizontale») fixer comme objectif prioritaire la création d'un ensemble de garanties élémentaires de sécurité sociale définies au plan national afin de constituer un socle de protection pour toutes les personnes dans le besoin le plus rapidement possible; et 2) (dimension «verticale») élargir l'étendue et les niveaux de la couverture de sécurité sociale au plus grand nombre de personnes possible et le plus rapidement possible, tel que le préconisent la convention no 102 (1952) et d'autres normes de sécurité sociale. En juin 2012, la CIT a complété cette stratégie avec l'adoption d'une nouvelle norme internationale du travail, la recommandation (no 202) sur les socles de protection sociale, 2012. Cette recommandation est considérée comme une avancée majeure dans le domaine de la politique sociale mondiale, dans la mesure où l'instauration de socles nationaux de protection sociale peut combler les déficits de couverture de sécurité sociale existant actuellement et aider les pays à remédier à la pauvreté et à la vulnérabilité. Ce double numéro spécial de la Revue propose une analyse du processus qui a conduit à l'adoption de la recommandation et examine les questions budgétaires, juridiques, politiques et institutionnelles qui devront être réglées pour que les objectifs de la recommandation puissent être remplis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of all temporary unskilled migrant workers who originated from Bangladesh in 2010, women accounted for less than 3%. This extremely low proportion of women results from the numerous sociocultural, religious and political barriers women labour migrants encounter. Based on 23 in-depth interviews collected in 2009 in Bangladesh with former migrant domestic workers who worked in the Gulf region, the article argues that women actively negotiate these barriers prior to going abroad and upon return. Using a micro-sociological perspective of gender and family relations, the article shows that, depending on women’s family situation and relationships, they were more or less at risk of suffering stigma in the pre-departure and return stages of temporary labour migration. The article builds on a solid body of research that examines how international labour migration challenges the global and local patriarchal gender order. The findings show how international migration of women may unsettle the patriarchal gender order, but can also serve to further subordinate women after they return home. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Industrial Relations / Relations Industrielles is the property of Universite Laval, Department of Industrial Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Industrial Relations / Relations Industrielles is the property of Universite Laval, Department of Industrial Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Se presenta una reimpresión del artículo "La labor de la Conferencia en Ginebra," publicado originalmente en la "International Labour Review," volúmen 5, número 3. En 1951, el Premio Nobel de la Paz se concede a Léon Jouhaux, en reconocimiento de su «larga vida consagrada al trabajo y a la lucha por el avance de las clases trabajadoras, y ante todo a la mejora de su condición», y expresamente «porque desde sus primeros años ha estado siempre al servicio de la paz y en contra de la guerra». No proporcionaremos aquí una biografía exhaustiva de este sindicalista histórico, pero sí destacaremos un aspecto de ella que reviste un interés capital para la historia de la OIT. Tras varios años de intensa actividad en el movimiento sindical internacional y esfuerzos vanos por impedir que tuviera lugar el primer conflicto armado mundial, Léon Jouhaux se convertirá en miembro de la Comisión de Legislación Internacional del Trabajo en calidad de experto representante de los trabajadores, hecho que puede considerarse como el germen del tripartismo de la OIT. El propio Jouhaux relató dicho acontencimiento en su discurso pronunciado durante la ceremonia de entrega del Premio Nobel en Oslo, el 11 de diciembre de 1951: En [la Conferencia de] Leeds surge, en un texto sindical, la idea de una organización internacional del trabajo, habida cuenta del riesgo que representa para la clase obrera la competencia capitalista internacional. […] Quizás la Conferencia socialista y de los trabajadores de las Potencias Aliadas celebrada en Londres en febrero de 1918 fue aún más importante. […] Una de sus demandas fue que hubiera al menos un representante oficial de los trabajadores y del socialismo en la Conferencia de Paz, demanda a la que accedieron dos gobiernos, gracias a los cuales Gompers y yo mismo formamos parte de las delegaciones de los Estados Unidos y de Francia en calidad de expertos técnicos. Ambos participamos intensamente, en nombre del movimiento sindical, en la elaboración del Tratado y, más concretamente, de su Parte XIII. La clase obrera iba adquiriendo un conocimiento cada vez más preciso de las causas profundas de los problemas internacionales. Léon Jouhaux cita asimismo en dicho discurso dos fragmentos de la Parte XIII del Tratado, por la que se estableció la Organización Internacional del Trabajo y su órgano permanente, la Oficina, «cuyas actividades y resultados tangibles no necesitan ya ser mencionados», en palabras del galardonado. Se trata de los dos primeros párrafos del documento, en los que se precisa que «la Sociedad de las Naciones tiene por objeto establecer la paz universal, y que esta paz no puede fundarse sino sobre la base de la justicia social», y que «existen condiciones de trabajo que implican para un gran número de personas la injusticia, la miseria y las privaciones, lo cual engendra tal descontento que la paz y la armonía universales están en peligro y […] que es urgente mejorar dichas condiciones». Precisemos asimismo que en 1919 Léon Jouhaux fue elegido miembro del Consejo de Administración de la Oficina Internacional del Trabajo, y siguió siéndolo hasta su muerte en 1954. La Revista le consagró entonces un artículo que contenía numerosos testimonios y citas de actores del mundo del trabajo del momento. El artículo de Léon Jouhaux que reproducimos aquí es una reseña, desde el punto de vista de los trabajadores, de la tercera reunión de la Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo. En la primera de ellas, celebrada en Washington, la Conferencia definió «el carácter general de la reglamentación internacional del trabajo», y en la segunda, celebrada en Génova, «aplicó a los trabajadores marítimos dicha reglamentación general». En Ginebra la tarea que figuraba en el orden del día era la extensión de su ámbito de aplicación a los trabajadores agrícolas. Los debates fueron arduos; la situación de estos trabajadores en aquella época recuerda la que viven actualmente los trabajadores del sector informal, cuestión tratada recientemente en la Revista en un artículo sobre los límites de la administración y de la inspección del trabajo en África. Cabe señalar que la necesidad de una inspección del trabajo se consagra en la cláusula laboral núm. 9 del Tratado de Versalles (véase el recuadro 1 en la introducción al presente número monográfico, pág. 3). En el artículo que presentamos a continuación, Léon Jouhaux denuncia la tentativa, por algunos participantes en aquella tercera reunión de la Conferencia, de utilizar las dificultades económicas para cuestionar la necesidad de una reglamentación del trabajo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jan Tinbergen, galardonado con el primer Premio Nobel de Economía en 1969, participó a finales de ese mismo año en una reunión de economistas que la OIT había convocado con el fin de fijar las prioridades en materia de investigación del recién creado Programa Mundial del Empleo. En su ponencia Tinbergen examinó la influencia de la política comercial internacional en la capacidad de creación de empleo. En su opinión, las políticas restrictivas — en especial con respecto al comercio de productos agropecuarios y textiles —, así como los obstáculos comerciales con que tropiezan los productos de alto valor añadido, perjudican al comercio basado en ventajas comparativas, según el principio de Heckscher-Ohlin. En el artículo aquí reproducido el autor explica también sobre qué base clasificar las industrias con arreglo a la intensidad relativa de los factores de producción, a fin de lograr una división internacional del trabajo óptima. Destaca sobre todo «que el mayor obstáculo para la buena elección de las industrias más indicadas para los países en vías de desarrollo es en este momento la política comercial restrictiva que siguen los países desarrollados», aunque también critica los obstáculos establecidos por los países menos adelantados. Su sólida argumentación contribuyó a la reducción de los obstáculos al comercio observada desde entonces y consolidó la idea de que puede fomentarse el empleo corrigiendo las deformaciones del sistema comercial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to stretch the GPN approach through investigating a second-hand trade network. One of the understudied geographies of the world economy is the large-scale international trade in second-hand clothes which are exported from the Global North to Africa. Clothing collected by charities and commercial recyclers is sold in the developing world. This article examines how secondhand clothing commodities are produced in the UK, the international economic geographies of the used-clothing trade and labour activities in Mozambique. The societal, network and territorial embeddedness of GPNs are investigated illuminating how there are coordinated and non-integrated patterns of trade. Migrant and diaspora populations play key roles in coordinating activities between some exporters and importers, whereas in other networks British charities undertake the more profitable collection and sorting activities and are separated from African wholesale and retailers. Within global second-hand clothing networks there are different power relations between charities, firms and individuals, which enable them to extract more or less value from second-hand things. The socially and historically embedded roles of British charities and firms in the collection, sorting and export of second-hand clothing are discussed and the importance of the material culture which surrounds these networks of intersecting charitable and commercial activities are highlighted. The reproduction of exchange-value in used clothing through socially necessary labour time in sorting factories is examined. Different case studies are discussed demonstrating the difficulties of studying the complex webs of networks with dynamic geographies which constitute second-hand trade. This article stretches GPN analysis to consider the back-end of the global economy and explore how profit is accumulated from the trade in low-value commodities from the Global North to the Global South. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Industrial Relations / Relations Industrielles is the property of Universite Laval, Department of Industrial Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais is the property of Centro de Estudos Sociais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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]

During the four years since 2006 Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic, has led the world in the receipt of foreign remittances as a proportion of GDP. Needless to say, the key reasons for this are the low income levels in Tajikistan and the country's special relationship with Russia, which has been enjoying rapid economic growth. Yet while interest in the relationship between migration and foreign remittances has existed for a long time, not many studies have looked at this region. This article uses household survey forms from two points in time to profile households in Tajikistan and international labour migration by Tajiks, and examines the relationship between household income levels in Tajikistan, the poorest of the former Soviet republics, and foreign remittances received from international labour migrants and the likelihood of migrants being supplied. It finds no correlation between household income levels and amounts of money received from abroad, which suggests that altruistic models of the relationship between migration and remittances do not apply. Moreover, it also finds that households with high incomes are more likely to supply migrants, indicating that international labour migration from Tajikistan may not be pro-poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the world's labor market, focusing on the degree to which the market is integrated in the beginning of 2012 as a result of globalization. The authors comment on the increase in technologies in developing countries and its relation to global labor markets. Topics include the decrease in the wage level disparity between developed and developing countries according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the effect of labor migration on the world's wage convergence, and the increase in income and living standards in developing countries as a result of international labor integration.

The South Korean government has demonstrated a strong commitment towards the social integration of international brides and the children of mixed ethnic heritage by establishing 100 ‘multicultural family support centres’ throughout the country. Given its record of opposing the long-term settlement of foreigners in Korea, this recent government announcement signals a very significant change in its policies concerning international migrants. Consequently, the proliferation of migrant support programmes bearing the title ‘multiculturalism’ unwittingly suggests that Korean society is receptive toward the internationalisation of families. In this article I show that the establishment of these support centres represents a governmental response to the accumulated societal pressure from below that sought to improve the precarious social conditions of international migrants and to embrace multiculturalism as an inevitable, but positive, social force. Despite their impressive scope and resource allocation, the contents and approaches of the newly emerging multicultural programmes reproduce, rather than minimise, the cultural hierarchy between Koreans and non-Koreans. I utilise the concepts of ‘cultural paternalism’ and ‘cultural fetishism’ in order to capture the manner in which the dominant members of Korean society define the terms of and approaches to dealing with cultural diversity, reduce the complex issues of social equality to cultural differences, and treat culture as a fetish by uniformly emphasising the expressive dimensions of culture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the introductory section of this paper, the author has pointed out to the declining trend of marine officer cadre in the world and the position and role of the Croatian officers in this global process. In the next chapter, the author has explored the factors contributing to the attractiveness of marine officer's profession conducting a scientific research using opinion survey questionnaire method on 31 Croatian officers on board vessels owned by foreigners. The analysis of the survey has shown that the attractiveness of marine officer's profession will not increase by the reorganization of the whole educational system, which is advocated by particular companies in Croatia. Radical change of current situation in the country and society regarding the problems of seafarers would be absolutely required. The survey results have shown that the knowledge and creativity of Croatian marine officers are the qualities which highly distinguish them from their competitors onboard ships owned by foreign owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hay millones de trabajadores domésticos en el mundo, la mayoría de los cuales carecen de protección laboral porque sirven en hogares privados sujetos a relaciones de trabajo singulares. Están desamparados frente a la explotación, los abusos y la violencia, y realizan a menudo mucho trabajo por poco salario. El Convenio sobre las trabajadoras y los trabajadores domésticos (núm. 189) y su Recomendación complementaria (núm. 201), adoptados en junio de 2011 por la OIT, encarnan la determinación de gobiernos y organizaciones de empleadores y de trabajadores de todo el mundo de remediar esta situación. Los autores del artículo, que participaron en los preparativos y negociaciones que alumbraron estas normas, estudian el contenido y los puntos polémicos de las mismas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights the role played by Work Integration Social Enterprises as mechanisms which offer jobs to people with difficulties entering the ordinary labour market through social and employment programmes which promote the employability of beneficiaries, some of whom are international immigrants. Despite their quantity, which now amounts to more than 5.7 million in Spain -- the 12.2% of its population-, they make up a group that is specially exposed to social risks and levels of poverty. Such entrepreneurial devices, as transition companies for the labour activation and the social inclusion of the most vulnerable immigrants, contribute to the attainment of a more inclusive and cohesive society. We shall define the work of the Work Integration Social Enterprises in the Basque Country where the international migration is rated in the 6,6% in 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the consequences of political reform and structural adjustment programmes on trade union development in the countries of francophone West Africa. It addresses the key questions of how and to what extent the democratic upsurge of the 1990s has impacted trade unionism and how structural adjustment has reshaped the industrial relations landscape. It surveys recent developments such as the increasing influence of international labour organisations, the growth of social dialogue in the region, trade union proliferation and the new focus on organising informal-sector workers. The article concludes that, despite the decline in trade union density, the present climate represents opportunities as well as dilemmas for continued trade union vigour. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BSTRACT [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enhance of the complexity of life under economic and social impact of the transition to a economy market, the deepening social division of labor, the need for the effective use of resources, like utility participation in favorable international division of labor, are some of the main factors which have led to raising concerns to study theoretical - applicative basis of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, the international community has failed to give prominence to the human right to social security. Many nation states seem to hide behind the principle of progressive realization. While the quality of social security has improved gradually for many workers in the formal economy worldwide, a large number of workers in the informal economy have been left without social security coverage, even in countries experiencing persistent economic growth. The demonstration that a basic set of social security benefits is affordable, also for developing countries, first broke the spell that had beset the social security development debate. However, it took a global financial and economic crisis to push social security to the top of the international agenda, with social security systems being recognized as important economic stabilizers even by the G20. The social protection floor (SPF) must be evaluated in a development context: Without an SPF, many people will not reach the level of skills and productivity needed to enter the formal economy but will remain trapped in informality and low productivity. Investing in a basic level of social protection that triggers a virtuous cycle of improved productivity and employability will ensure the sustainability of statutory schemes by enabling more and more people to move into contributory systems. It is critical to ensure that public social security systems include and are supported by all strata of the population in order to maintain and strengthen broad public support and national solidarity. Such broad national consensus will protect the necessary fiscal space and maintain pressure to assure the quality of provision. The 100th International Labor Conference in June 2011 will provide an opportunity to endorse the SPF as part of the ILO's two-dimensional strategy for the extension of social protection on a global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of globalization and the erosion of the nation-state's steering capacities new cross-border regulations are developing in the key area of trade union activity. It is a matter of academic controversy what limits they are subject to and what opportunities these new and complementary regulations outside the nation-state might provide to compensate for the steering deficits in the nation-state or to make it possible to react to various forms of internationalization of the economy, such as labor migration, capital exports and imports, transnational company mergers and cooperation, and the establishment of transnational production chains. In political science the concept of »global governance« is used to analyze specific forms of political problem solving and regulation in the international policy arena without restricting the view through »methodological nationalism« (Ulrich Beck). »Governance,« as distinct from government, takes in various formal and informal kinds of transnational regulation which manage without a sovereign - in other words, with the competence to take binding decisions and to implement collective decisions - central authority or »world state.« Besides governments, non-state actors are also involved in their negotiation and implementation, including national and global trade unions which perform important functions with regard to articulation, steering, participation, and legitimation. Notwithstanding widespread assumptions about the »total impotence« of international trade union policy and the general »ungovernability« of a cross-border economy in future the rudiments of a global system of social regulations and industrial relations will develop. It is true that they share the structural short-comings of the overall global governance architecture: already at the program level a »networked minimalism« is manifesting itself and the concrete policy results remain meager and their scope limited. In addition, this concerns »soft law« whose implementation takes place only in the shadow of hierarchy, under pressure from a confrontational public or with regard to the threat potential of powerful national trade unions or functional national labor relations. Finally, global governance is characterized by a serious democratic deficit. Regulatory procedures lack democratic legitimacy and control and the participating actors represent only particular groups in society and their internal decision-making structures are characterized by communication between elites, informal procedures, long legitimation chains, and regional power asymmetries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effect of studying abroad on international labour market mobility later in life for university graduates. We exploit the introduction and expansion of the European ERASMUS student exchange programme as an instrument for studying abroad. We find that studying abroad increases an individual's probability of working in a foreign country by about 15 percentage points. We investigate heterogeneity in returns according to parental education and the student's financial situation. Furthermore, we suggest mechanisms through which the effect of studying abroad may operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between international labour migration and business cycles is poorly understood. This article uses Worker Registration Scheme data to examine differences in the use of migrant labour in Scotland following the onset of recession and argues that it has changed in spatially and sectorally uneven ways which reflect two distinct migrant labour functions - as 'substitutional' relative to the domestic workforce and as 'complementary' relative to labour filling roles not taken up by the national workforce. In the former case the demand for migrant labour is highly sensitive to economic cycles. This is not so in the latter case as employers in some sectors find it difficult to source domestic labour. The conceptual advance that the article seeks to make lies in its identification of the mechanisms accounting for the geographical distinctiveness of 'complementary' migrant labour flows over the business cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the possibility of agricultural guest-workers forming unions in the United States. It focuses on Mexican seasonal workers and examines Mexican labor law, particularly commenting on laws that require Mexicans to have a Mexican employment relationship and that prohibit foreigners from acting as trade union officials. The attitudes of American agricultural unions toward Mexicans laborers are explored. Other topics include the United States' H2-A visa program, the unions the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and the North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA), and Mexican's working conditions in the U.S.

Labor leaders and theorists in the United States have called for greater international labor cooperation and solidarity in the face of economic globalization and the declining fortunes of many private sector unions. However, these calls have not adequately analyzed the important role U.S. public sector unions play in the national labor movement and their efforts to confront the threat of the privatization of public services through international labor cooperation. In this exploratory article, the author offers an analysis of U.S. public sector unions, their recent international programs and experiences, and the obstacles and opportunities for coordinating efforts to engage, and possibly transform, international labor cooperation. The author argues that the rising fortunes of most public sector unions are accompanied by increasing interunion contestation and fragmentation, leaving affiliation with the global union federations as the primary, albeit external, source of national coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the challenges of global trade union associations in the face of globalization, including the needs to reinvent themselves transnationally and to gain recognition. Results of a research project are reviewed that gauged the degree of change in organization, function, and membership of these transnational union federations.

The article discusses various published reports within the issue, including one by John Belchem that examines 19th century Liverpool, England, one by Natasha Vall that examines the development of cultural policy in Europe in the 20th century and one by Sissel Bjerum Fossat that explores the relationship between Denmark and the United States.

Western solidarity with Solidarność had a surprisingly limited transnational scope. It was mainly organized within particular nation states and coloured by domestic factors. If there was international collaboration, this was mainly bilateral with Poland, and not multilateral between different Western countries. International organizations involved in the solidarity campaign, such as the ICFTU, the WCL, and the ILO, could hardly break open borders within the Atlantic world (see abbreviations at the end). The limited transnational character of the solidarity with Solidarność is in contrast with the scope of other social movements focusing on an international issue. The anti-apartheid movement, for instance, has even been called a key factor in the development of present-day global politics. Two possible reasons for this contrast are explored. A first major difference is that anti-apartheid was a grassroots movement, while solidarity with Poland was coordinated by old social movements, such as Church organizations, and, especially, trade unions. The article argues, however, that this hardly accounts for the different transnational scope. A much more important explanation is the fact that anti-apartheid, focusing on the South, did not cause much controversy, while solidarity, focusing on the East, interfered with Western trade unions' programmes and contacts. As a consequence, the amount and nature of support for Solidarność differed between the different countries. The same applies other East–West movements, such as the peace movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multinational companies (MNC) are today one of the most important challenges for the trade union movement. Against this backdrop, and given that the growth of MNC has been a long-term historical process, it is rather surprising how little efforts labour historians have devoted to the topic — despite the existence of a relevant and rich sociological and industrial relations literature. The article aims to contribute to fill this gap with a case study analysis of international trade union networks at Ford and General Motors, two firms in which such networks emerged early after the Second World War, and which today, at least in Europe, stand out as 'best practice' cases of international labour cooperation in the guise of European works' councils. The paper inquires into the changes in the motives, forms, and practical results of cross-border cooperation initiatives at Ford and GM in Western Europe during the second half of the twentieth century, and interprets these patterns against the backdrop of the broader development of trade union internationalism during the post-war period, and the more specific challenges organized labour faced in these two multinational firms. I argue that serious attempts for international cooperation were already made during the 1950s and 1960s but were frustrated because of management obstruction and also because of fears among major European unions that international bargaining could weaken national union structures and solidarity notions. It was only during the 1990s that the emergence of European works' councils led to the first tangible results of international cooperation, reflecting above all the much more threatening labour market consequences of MNC development during that period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of complementarity or substitutability of FDI and international labour mobility has not yet been answered. The substitutability assumption does not take into consideration the technological spillover of FDI in the host countries. Moreover, migration flows reveal cultural characteristics and labour force properties of their native country which may stimulate bilateral business networks, strengthening the complementarity assumption between capital and labour flows. In this paper we build a continuous time dynamic model where these offsetting forces are at work. We analyze whether, and to what extent, the increase in labour mobility might affect FDI outflows. A numerical simulation is performed showing that a higher income growth rate corresponds to a higher labour mobility. Some policy implications and further research direction are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new data on international work-related visits collected from a survey of about 2,000 people traveling to/from Australia. Visits emerge as the prime medium for face-to-face interactions to exchange knowledge rather than as a substitute for migration. Exchanging knowledge through visits is strong among outgoing visitors but statistically insignificant among incoming ones, implying that benefits to Australia's knowledge stock are more likely to come from the former rather than the latter. Governments and universities use visits to exchange information and data. In contrast, Australian small- and medium-size enterprises are more likely to exchange knowledge related to operative competences, like product development, manufacturing and distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Conference of Socialist Economists (CSE) and Capital & Class were central in creating the conditions for a labour process debate. However, while the lournal has continued to publish some articles on labour process issues, the debate has become associated primarily with the annual International Labour Process Conference. This article explores shifts in the nature and focus of debates, emphasizing continuity between the traditions as well as change. By contrasting early attempts in the lournal to uncover `immanent laws' of the capitalist labour process to more recent writings on core theory, contemporary trends in labour power and capitalist political economy are outlined and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second half of the 'long nineteenth century' witnessed a dramatic increase of strikes all over Europe, which was not confined within national boundaries. Historical strike research has mainly analyzed strike-related transnationalism by doing comparative studies and examining international strike waves. This article offers a second approach towards a transnational history of striking: the analysis of strike-related transnational entanglements. By the example of strikes in Switzerland, it focuses on three aspects and asks about their geographical dimensions, their impact on the outcome of local strikes as well as the impact of these strikes on the further transnationalization of industrial relations: strike-induced migration; the transnational collection of donations for strikers; and border-crossing organizational cooperation both of trade unions and employers. The catchment area of these transnational entanglements covered large parts of Europe. Whilst transnational donations, being important both financially and symbolically, experienced their heyday between the 1860s and the 1890s, several forms of migration, including the border-crossing recruitment of strike-breakers and the deportation of foreign strikers, took place over the whole period considered and were in some cases crucial for the outcome of strikes. These forms of migration were especially important in causing the establishment of transnational mechanisms of cooperation between both trade unions and employers organizations between the 1890s and 1914. On balance, the Swiss case uncovers a potentially very productive field of analysis for renewed historical strike research, which fits perfectly well into a transnational labour history inspired by the philosophy of 'histoire croisée'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an historical examination into the labor politics of the turn of the 20th century along the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and British Columbia. Details are given highlighting the central theme of transnational labor activism, where Canadian and American working class groups cooperated against the Asian immigrant presence in the area. General remarks are given illustrating the racial polemics of working-class politics in the era. The article then discusses the context of racially oriented class structure in the period's imperialist atmosphere, the growth of aggressive labor activism against Asians, and the communication networks of transnational Anglo-American solidarity.

In February 2009, the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, presented an exhibit titled Freedom: The UAW and the Release of Nelson Mandela. The exhibit documented the UAW's longtime financial and moral support for global movements against racial apartheid in South Africa. The union's efforts culminated in a flurry of activity that included leadership of the Shell Oil boycott, under its president, Owen Bieber, in the 1980s. In June 1990, Mandela recognized the work of the UAW by visiting Detroit during his U.S. Freedom Tour. The Reuther exhibit has opened an important and underappreciated perspective on the UAW's long history of international activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Industrial Relations / Relations Industrielles is the property of Universite Laval, Department of Industrial Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Jewish Labor Bund in Poland was destroyed during the Holocaust, and efforts to resurrect the shattered party on Polish soil were thwarted with the advent of communism in 1949. With several thousand bundists now dispersed to all corners of the globe, the International Jewish Labor Bund was established in 1947, the first time in the Bund's 50-year history that it had organized across geographic borders. This article examines the circumstances surrounding the Bund's decision to restructure and how this new movement functioned as a transnational network of bundist groups in over a dozen countries. It looks at the development of and interaction between local Bund organizations and considers the role that the movement's World Coordinating Committee played in the life of those organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the role of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), a pro-Western international labor union organization founded during the Cold War, in the labor movement in Singapore in the 1950s, and how that involvement related to U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. The involvement of a rival organization, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), backed by the Soviet Unions is discussed. The influence this rivalry had on the political thinking of Lee Kuan Yew, who became the authoritarian leader of Singapore, is analyzed.

Roli Degazon-Johnson explores the development of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol and the role which the international labour movement -- specifically the teachers' unions of the Commonwealth -- have played in ensuring that the human right of the teacher to mobility for employment is balanced against the impact of the loss of this human capital through "brain drain" to the education systems of developing countries and small states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Industrial Relations / Relations Industrielles is the property of Universite Laval, Department of Industrial Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Presentamos una nueva publicación anual del Instituto Internacional de Estudios Laborales de la OIT, el Informe mundial del trabajo, cuya primera entrega versa sobre las desigualdades de renta. Su aparición en plena tormenta financiera, a finales de octubre de 2008, no podía ser más oportuna: todo el planeta estaba pendiente de la crisis y preguntándose, con temor, cuáles serían su alcance, duración y consecuencias económicas y sociales. El estudio trata de los factores causantes de las desigualdades de renta, que no dejan de agravarse en el mundo. Sitúa el problema de la desigualdad en el marco de la globalización de las finanzas, el funcionamiento del mercado de trabajo, las características de los nuevos empleos y las políticas de redistribución de la riqueza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Studies in Population is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents a paper about global employee information and consultation procedures in worldwide enterprises. It advocates a trans-nationalisation of employee information and consultation procedures in enterprises operating at worldwide level. It argues that international law should explicitly recognize the setting up of trans-national employee information and consultation procedures in worldwide enterprises to strengthen the efforts recently undertaken by global union federations in various International Framework Agreements.