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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]

With the initiation of the Marshall Plan, an arrangement was instituted whereby trade union representatives would function as staff members of the American economic assistance administration for the purpose of aiding free labor organizations in the countries in the program. How effective has this rather unique administrative arrangement been in promoting the aims of our policy of aiding unions abroad? In a critical review of the program, the author of this discussion finds it to have been unsuccessful anti offers suggestions toward a more effective method of operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the campaign of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Canton, Mississippi, aiming to plot the unionization of the employees who work in the local plant of Japanese automaker Nissan and have not had a wage raise since 2006. Topics involve comments from UAW’s president Bob King, solidarity of international union leaders with Canton's workers, and the “Mississippi Student Justice Alliance”, founded by students at the neighboring historically black colleges.

Japan joined the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1877, both to force Britain to close its post offices in Japan and to participate in the novel form of internationalism developed in the 19th century by international administrative unions such as the UPU. In addition to recounting the diplomatic negotiations surrounding the internationalization of Japan’s post, this article examines the politics of UPU membership in order to understand the commitments that UPU membership imposed upon Japan. In fact, the administrative internationalism of the UPU appealed to Japan because the union’s members were equal and all bound identically to the union treaty and its international administrative law. This internationalism was a welcome alternative to the internationalism of the treaty regime, whose great powers and forms of domination had forced Japan into the international arena. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Workers exercise three distinct types of power when they cooperate in transnational campaigns: structural, institutional, and coalitional power. These power types entail the capacity to physically disrupt an employer’s operations, hold an employer accountable through legal or regulatory institutions, and mobilize nonlabor stakeholders to whom the employer must respond. In developing a framework for understanding workers’ power in the global economy, this article integrates significant works in labor geography, comparative institutional analysis, and union revitalization studies while demonstrating how workers’ embeddedness in global production networks, national institutional frameworks, and social networks enables them to challenge employers on the international scale. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

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]

During the last two decades labor unions at the national, regional, and global levels have developed environmental agendas that add to their long-standing and well-justified concerns with occupational safety and health. Yet, it is also fair to say that the internalization of environmental priorities by the broader labor movement remains tentative and contested. The goal of this article is to address three challenges encountered on the road to global union environmentalism, in each case highlighting some promising initiatives undertaken by unions in response. These are the challenges of forming a global labor agenda on the environment, of strengthening the links and deliberations among unions, particularly those in the reconfigured core of the world political economy, and of moving away from business environmentalism and in the direction of social environmentalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the relations of labor unions in North America and the global South, the transition from apartheid to neoliberalism, and the defense of immigrant laborers.

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]

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]

The problem of food security governance is systematically gaining in importance but at the same time constitutes one of the less researched areas within the global governance debate. Food security has never been ensured on a global level despite the amazing progress of science and technology. What is more, the changing nature of the threats to food security makes this goal even more distant. Given the multidimensional nature of the food security concept, answers to this challenge have been sought through processes of international negotiations between nation-states. However, it is increasingly clear that nation-states, because of its contradictory interests, are unable to solve this issue and meet their international commitments for addressing this issue without more explicit engagements with sub and supranational actions. Involvement of other actors operating on different levels seems to be crucial to the process of governing of food security. The idea of multilevel governance has acquired unprecedented importance today. It not only suggests ways of dealing with new conditions of globalization, but it is said to be an essential term for understanding the transnational processes and for identifying non-traditional actors involved in governance processes on different levels. The idea of multilevel governance was developed into a theoretical account of the European Union in opposition to state centric or intergovernmental accounts. It refers to a particular subset of contemporary governance arrangements in which decisionmaking authority is distributed across more then one level of relatively autonomous public-sector institutions. This paper deals with the problem of food security governance and attempts to answer the question whether multilevel governance becomes a gradually institutionalized new international practice or is it only a theoretical model useful in academic debates, without practical meaning to governance of food security? [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 author comments upon various reports published within this special issue on the history of labor unions and foreign relations, including one by Elizabeth McKillen on labor during World War I, one by Geert Van Goethem on government policies regarding American and British labor movements during World War II, and one by Daniel Garcia on class relations within the U.S. armed forces at the end of World War II. Some of the subjects explored include the public opinion of the working-class in the U.S. regarding foreign policy, the study of international labor movements, and the inability of marginalised groups within the U.S. to influence political decision making.

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.

From 1996 to 2001, a network of U.S. organizations and activists intensively pressed corporations and government agencies to stop thwarting workers' efforts to unionize Nicaragua's assembly-for-export garment factories. Preexisting transnational mobilization-- goal-seeking remnants of the 1980s U.S. Central America peace movement, networked with elements of Nicaragua's Sandinista movement--propelled this cross-border campaign into existence. Some campaign organizations had U.S. union ties, but others, including some of the most pivotal organizations, did not; this and other forms of diversity strengthened the campaign by facilitating an effective interorganizational division of labor. The campaign adopted strategies that took into account its power relations with opponents and the other opportunity structures it was dealt, and it developed effective frames to recruit old and new activists to carry out this new mission. [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.

La negociación colectiva intersectorial, sectorial y de empresa viene adquiriendo una dimensión transnacional europea desde mediados de los años noventa. Fomentadas al principio por las instituciones de la Unión Europea, estas variantes de la negociación colectiva se han desarrollado después de manera autónoma. Es difícil saber al día de hoy qué efectos concretos va a tener dicho proceso, si es que los tiene, en las condiciones de trabajo individuales. Fundándose en un informe presentado a la Comisión Europea en 2005, el autor defiende que el asunto sea objeto de una norma comunitaria - un reglamento del Consejo con arreglo a los títulos del Tratado de la Unión Europea dedicados a la política social y la cohesión socioeconómica - para dotar así a la negociación colectiva transnacional de un marco optativo de desenvolvimiento. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since September 1994, when the Directive 94/45/EC on the creation of European Works Councils came into force, the trajectory followed by their introduction in Spain has been similar to the one in the European Union. However, in spite of such parallel evolution, the coverage rate in the multinational companies with headquarters in Spain or those adhering to Spanish legislation on this subject, has always been lower than the European average. The priority of the Spanish multinational companies towards Latin American markets --with the resulting exemption of the obligation to create a committee with the above characteristics-- but also the existence among Spanish employers of a cultural conception that is particularly reluctant to share control of the company's power with its workers, the persistent «local» vision of collective bargaining and the labour relationship by the Spanish unions, are some of the main causes that surface when it comes to explaining the small degree of development experienced by European Works Councils in Spain in respect of what is happening in the rest of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Copyright of Nouvelles Pratiques Sociales is the property of Revue Nouvelles Pratiques Sociales 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 Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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 Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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 an exploration into the cooperation of American and other Western labor unions with the organization Solidarność in relation to the Polish industrial crisis of the 1980s. Attention is given to the Polish perspective on the Western unions' motivations for supporting the group. Various attitudes of the different Western trade unions towards Poland in general and Solidarność in particular are examined, including common ideological and political alignments as well as direct sentiments of socio-economic solidarity.

The article traces the relationship between Solidarność and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) during the industrial unrest of Poland in the 1980s. It discusses the political disagreements between AFL-CIO's leader Lane Kirkland and the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan over the best way to pressure the Polish government's labor policies. Elements of the union relationships highlighted include AFL-CIO's collaboration with Polish public opinion and their recognition of the authority structure of Solidarność.

The article discusses the historical development along with the political and economic constraints and prospects in the establishment of a concrete East African Trade Union Federation. It relates that the effort to establish transnationalization of trade unionism in developing countries was propelled by the desire to counter anti-trade union tendency that is a common practice in contemporary globalization. Moreover, it provides an overview on the development of trade unions in East Africa during the colonial period in 1908 up to the creation of a trade union confederation in 2006.

Globalization has precipitated a major restructuring of the world's ports and brought in its wake a marked deterioration in dock workers’ terms and conditions of employment. Many trade unions have found it difficult to protect their members’ interests against this international “race to the bottom,” most notably in those countries where dock labor has been historically poorly organized but also where industrial restructuring has been used as a vehicle to de-unionize the industry. Other unions have been more successful, either by working in concert with private employers and public port authorities or by mobilizing their membership to contest and contain the process of industrial restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

The article comments on the essay about international feminism in relation to capitalist globalization written by Hester Eisenstein. According to the author, Eisenstein calls for the reinvigoration of the commitment to the socialist-feminist course. Based from Eisenstein's introduction, she believes that feminism has permitted the shift from industrial to post-industrial labor practices which affected wages, weakened labor unions and public support for welfare, and promoted class inequality. She agreed on the negative impact brought about by contemporary global feminism and neoliberalism as cited by Einsenstein.

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.)

Discusses the intervention of the United States labor movement and government officials in labor movements in order to encourage business and social welfare unionism and discourage political unionism. How America tried to undermine the Philippine Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) May First trade union movement; Information on KMU; Evaluation of America's foreign labor policies.

This study probes the nature of inter-state alignments. Alignment is argued to be one type of structural relation that follows the logic of structural balance (Heider, 1946, 1958; Cartwright and Harary, 1956). The findings from a case study of the superpower strategic triangle, 1971-1988, support the general hypothesis about the tendency toward balance in structural relations. The structural mechanism in this triangle appears to help balance the bilateral con- flicts among China, the Soviet Union, and the United States, and hence produced a war-free era from 1971 to 1988 among the three countries. These results support the view that balance and stability can be better preserved in a multilateral rather than in a bilateral context. While it is premature to offer a definitive conclusion on the theory of structural balance, this study suggests some new ways to probe the nature of alignment relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the impact which changes in economy, employment structure, and politics have had on West German trade unions in the post-war period. Overall there has been a remarkable stability of union membership and policies. This applies in particular to the very slight effect which business cycles have exerted. In contrast, however, membership developments have been more dependent on changes in the distribution of economic and political power. Unions have not adapted to transformation of the employment structure but the losses of members caused by this has been more or less compensated by gains in shrinking segments of the labour force. Therefore, stability of membership levels has been possible even though adaptation of recruitment strategies has not been successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data were collected from 151 Hong Kong organizations to determine the relationship between culture, firm size, level of unionization and presence of an HRM department, and human resource management (HR) practices. Culture was a relatively weak predictor of HR practices. Existence of an HRM department and level of unionization were moderate predictors while firm size and the existence of a specialized training unit within the HRM department were the strongest predictors of HR practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines public opinion about the political involvement of trade unions in the UK and Denmark. Both are systems in which trade unions are linked to a political party and both have high rates of union density. However, whereas British unions have contested governments of both parties and opposed regulation of industrial relations, Danish unions have a tradition of cooperation with government and are entangled in a web of institutionalized industrial relations. Results, however, are amazingly similar. Both the public at large and union members accept unions in general and also their political involvement, but oppose contestation of political authority. Irrespective of union behaviour, beliefs in the supremacy of parliament seems to be firmly rooted in public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the Australian Section of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (A.S.E.) in the second half of the 19th century. The author explains how the A.S.E. was formed in 1852 and was the first stable trade union formed in Australia. The union's relationship with its parent body in Great Britain is also mentioned. Subjects of the article also include union benefits, financial assistance from union members in other countries, and the growth and spread of union membership in the second half of the 19th century.

Discusses the implications of expanding foreign trade for domestic unionism in the United States. Primary incentives to U.S. firms for acquiring subsidiaries or setting up branch manufacturing plants in other countries; Number of jobs that were lost because of shifts in imports and exports between the first quarter of 1970 and that for 1971.

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.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the global role of trade unions, the cooperation between trade unions and social democratic political parties, and the economic aspects of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the global role of trade unions, the cooperation between trade unions and social democratic political parties, and the economic aspects of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009.