TY - BOOK T1 - Gender and Leadership in Unions Y1 - 2013 A1 - Gill Kirton A1 - Geraldine Healy KW - gender KW - gender equality KW - social justice KW - union leadership KW - women trade union leaders KW - women union members AB -

Reflecting the increased attention to gender and women in the field of employment relations, there is now a growing international literature on women and trade unions. The interest in women as trade unionists arises partly from the fact that women comprise 40 percent of trade union membership in the USA and over 50 percent in the UK. Further, despite considerable overall union membership decline in both the UK and USA, more women than men are joining unions in both countries. Recognition of the importance of women to the survival and revival of trade union movements has in many cases produced an unprecedented commitment to equality and inclusion at the highest level. Yet the challenge is to ensure that this commitment is translated to action and improves the experience of women in their union and in their workplace.Gender and Leadership in Trade Unions explores and evaluates the similarities and differences in equality strategies pursued by unions in the US and the UK. It assesses the conditions experienced by women union members and how these impact on their leadership, both potential and actual. Women have made gains in both countries within union leadership and decision-making structures, however, climbing the ladder to leadership positions remains far from a smooth process. In the trade union context, women face multiple barriers that resonate with the barriers facing aspiring women leaders in other organizational contexts, including the gendered division of domestic work; the organization and nature of women’s work; the organization and nature of trade union work and the masculine culture of trade unions. The discussion of women trade union leaders is situated more broadly within debates on governance, leadership and democracy within social justice activism.(publisher's statement)

PB - Routledge CY - London L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Providing Worker Education and Building the Labor Movement: The Joseph S. Murphy Institute of City University of New York JF - Adult Learning Y1 - 2011 A1 - D'Amico, Deborah KW - access to education KW - adult education KW - City University of New York KW - CUNY KW - Joseph S. Murphy Institute KW - labor force development KW - labor studies KW - partnerships in education KW - social justice KW - union members KW - worker education AB -

To provide equitable access to formal, nonformal and workplace learning, experts urge community, business, education and government partnerships. While membership in unions continues to decline and "opportunities for entry-level workers to become skilled workers is lessening," the partnership described in this article shows that it is possible to increase access for transit workers, health care workers, construction workers, paraprofessionals, and others to career-enhancing growth through labor-management and university collaboration. This article describes an Institute within the City University of New York (CUNY), dedicated to education for union members, the growth and development of organized labor, and the struggle for social justice. The Joseph S. Murphy Institute is named after a former CUNY Chancellor who was a lifelong champion of worker education and workers' rights. The Worker Education Center of the Institute works with labor-management joint funds to meet the workforce development needs of local industries and their workers by fostering partnerships between these Funds and CUNY academic departments that have the requisite expertise. The Institute's Center for Labor, Community and Policy Studies works with unions and their allies to convene forums and conferences that debate issues key to the labor movement, conduct labor-focused research, and produce a critically acclaimed journal--New Labor Forum. This article looks at recent research on adult degree completion, and examines what is working with labor management funds--in the context of a labor-focused Institute at a major public, urban University--which adds to strategies for supporting success in college for adult workers.

VL - 22 L2 - eng CP - 1 ER - TY - BOOK T1 - The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy: Negotiating for Social Justice Y1 - 2011 A1 - Hayter, Susan KW - collective bargaining KW - global economy KW - globalization KW - social justice KW - workers’ rights AB -

Participation in the global economy can contribute to growth and development, but as the recent financial crisis demonstrated, such participation can also threaten employment, wages and labour standards. This volume examines the role that collective bargaining plays in ensuring that participation in the global economy is balanced, fair and just. Collective bargaining is often seen as either an impediment to the smooth functioning of markets, or as ineffective. This volume focuses on the other side of the story and demonstrates the positive contribution that collective bargaining can make to both economic and social goals. No one size fits all and the various contributions examine how this fundamental principle and right at work is realized in different country settings and how its practice can be reinforced across borders. The volume also highlights the numerous challenges in this regard and the critically important role that governments play in rebalancing bargaining power in a global economy. The chapters are written in an accessible style and deal with practical subjects (e.g. employment security, workplace change and productivity and working time). (publisher's statement) Co-published with Edward Elgar.

PB - International Labor Office CY - Geneva, Switzerland L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Organizing for Social Change (4th Edition) Y1 - 2010 A1 - Bobo, A. A1 - Max, S. A1 - Bobo, K. A1 - Kendall, J. KW - direct action KW - grassroots KW - human rights KW - organizing KW - social justice KW - workers’ rights AB -

Now in its fourth edition, here is the comprehensive manual for grassroots organizers working for social, racial, environmental and economic justice at the local, state and national levels. Since 1973 the Midwest Academy has trained more than 30,000 activists in progressive organizations, unions, and faith-based groups. This Midwest Academy Manual for Activists is central to its training programs and seminars, and it provides an invaluable reference source for organizers throughout their careers. Also included are anecdotes about a wide variety of real organizations working on issues concerning labor, the environment, health care, racism, immigration, peace, religion, energy, public campaign financing and more. (publisher's statement)

PB - The Forum Press CY - Santa Ana, CA L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Transforming Power: From the Personal to the Political Y1 - 2009 A1 - Rebick, J. KW - globalization KW - grassroots activism KW - mass communication technology KW - social justice AB -

Veteran activist Judy Rebick explains how globalization and mass communication technology are revolutionizing our understanding of power and producing profound new ideas about social and political life. Whether it’s the election of President Obama, the rise of democracy in Bolivia, or the success of Wikipedia, it’s the process that’s key: bringing communities of people together to produce something new; building a movement from the bottom up; sharing experience, knowledge and wisdom; emphasizing co-operation and consensus over confrontation and political partisanship.

Meaningful response to the environmental crisis and social injustice requires substantial, sustainable change at every level, which can only come through building power from the grass roots, from the people most impacted. In Transforming Power we discover the ideas, the people and the practices that can provide the paths to the change we need. (publisher's statement)

PB - Penguin Canada CY - Toronto L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Labour Relations in the Global Fast-Food Industry Y1 - 2002 A1 - Royle, T. A1 - Towers, B. KW - employment practices KW - fast-food industry KW - industrial relations KW - labor relations KW - social justice KW - trade union exclusion KW - workers’ rights AB -

The fast-food industry is one of the few industries that can be described as truly global, not least in terms of employment, which is estimated at around ten million people worldwide. This edited volume is the first of its kind, providing an analysis of labour relations in this significant industry focusing on multinational corporations and large national companies in ten countries: the USA, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Russia.

The extent to which multinational enterprises impose or adapt their employment practices in differing national industrial relations systems is analysed, Results reveal that the global fast-food industry is typified by trade union exclusion, high labour turnover, unskilled work, paternalistic management regimes and work organization that allows little scope for developing workers' participation in decision-making, let alone advocating widely accepted concepts of social justice and workers' rights. (publisher's statement)

PB - Routledge CY - London L2 - eng ER -