Glynne Williams

Unions Facing the Future: Questions and Possibilities

The current circumstances of trade unions are subject to extensive debate. As a contribution to these debates, three sets of issues are ad dressed : how unions organize and operate in relation to members, how unions reposition and rebuild themselves against changing forms of ownership and different managerial practices, and how unions attempt to face the challenges of multinational capital. Unions have sought to renew and revitalize themselves by changing organizational practices or changing aims and ambitions, as well as by recomposing past rela tionships, especially between unions and state bodies. These themes are addressed via three case studies chosen to exemplify particular aspects of union organization and activity. The study concludes with a comparative evaluation of the three cases in terms of the principles of union renewal.

Labour standards and capacity in global subcontracting chains: evidence from a construction MNC

This article investigates how fundamental labour rights specified in international framework agreements are implemented and monitored in subcontracting chains. It shows how labours capacity for workplace-based monitoring is influenced by factors such as ownership structures, the societal context, and, most importantly, the institutions and dynamics of local labour control.

Subcontracting and labour standards: reassessing the potential of international framework agreements

Attempts to regulate labour standards in multinational companies face clear difficulties, not least because companies themselves may not have the executive power to enforce terms throughout complex and fragmented subcontracting structures. In the case of international framework agreements (IFAs), this might suggest a fundamental weakness. Taking our example from the South African construction industry, this article presents an IFA in the context of both employer and union strategy. We demonstrate that a two-track approach exists: highly interventionist approach to quality-critical issues compared with labour-related issues. On this basis, we suggest that, far from being over-hyped, IFAs have yet to be taken seriously enough.

Length polymorphism in the pro α2(I) collagen gene: an alternative explanation in a case of Marfan syndrome

SummaryA 38 base pair (bp) insertion in the pro α2(I) collagen gene (COL1A2) of a patient with Marfan syndrome has been proposed to be the possible cause of the disease (Henke et al. 1985). However, analysis of this insertion in DNA from the patient in question and from random normal individuals reveals it to be a common polymorphism. We suggest that the 38 bp insertion is not related to the primary defect in this case of Marfan syndrome.

Organizing networks and alliances: International unionism between the local and the global

After being pushed onto the defensive through the institutions of the Washington Consensus as well as unilateral management action in MNEs in the 1980 and 1990s, international trade unionism is making headlines again. Trade unions are part of multi-faceted campaigns to secure fundamental labour rights (Riisgaard and Hammer 2011) and to regain influence in the workplace. While these rights, based on the ILO core labour standards and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, constitute a common plank in the various campaigns, the latter are conducted through a variety of organizational forms. A large number of IFAs, for example, have been achieved against the background of established union networks within MNEs as well as the institutional platform of European works councils (EWCs); others only serve as a starting point for creating such international union networks. Thus, it should not be surprising that union networks can take different forms, have diverse power constellations, and serve different purposes.

The (performance) management of retirement and the limits of individual choice

The removal of the default retirement age in the UK has been broadly welcomed as the disposal of an age-discriminatory measure. It is argued here that a focus on formal equality has been at the expense of a more critical analysis of the employment relations consequences. The central role given to performance measurement allows employers considerable discretion over when employees retire and the scope for bargained outcomes in the new regime is limited. This may be to the detriment of older workers and will have implications for the workforce as a whole. Equality, in other words, may come at the expense of a broader conception of fairness.

Managing by Insecurity: Work and Managerial Control Under Outsourcing

This paper examines the development of managerial control throughout the course of a flagship outsourced contract and discusses the implications of outsourcing for trade union strategy. Outsourcing provides a productive insecurity, enabling the contractor to link individual performance with contract renewal. However, this needs to co-exist with some semblance of stability, and under fixed-term contracting, the inherent contradiction between these two aims is exposed over time. Employee priorities become bounded by the workplace and by the term of the contract. Consequently, bargaining relationships, which were sustainable ‘in-house’, are called into question. The dilemma for trade unions arises from the need to re-build a wider agenda from this focus on the here-and-now.

Redefining retirement: age equality and the rise of performance management

How do individuals retire when there is no default retirement age? The changes to the retirement regulations were aimed at extending individual choice, but with the use of performance management, employers have a new tool with which to control the time and manner of retirement. Employees who fail to perform as required are now to be ‘managed out’. Therefore, retirement needs to be treated as an outcome of workplace employment relations with consequences for all age groups.

Book Review: Jeffrey Rothstein, When Good Jobs Go Bad: Globalization, De-Unionization, and Declining Job Quality in the North American Auto Industry:

Twenty years ago, when Jeffrey Rothstein planned his research for this book, opposition to unrestrained economic globalisation appeared to be a default position on the left. Post Trump and post EU referendum, and faced with new battle lines between an established neoliberal/liberal agenda and a protectionist economic nativism, many on the left have thrown in their lot with the former. To oppose free trade is to oppose the rising economic tide that has lifted all of our boats.

Macmillan's children? Young workers and trade unions in the early 1960s

The challenge facing unions in recruiting younger workers is a comparatively recent concern, prompted by years of decline. As such, there is very little comparable discussion prior to the 1980s. This article takes a longer view. Using previously unpublished survey data from the early 1960s, we show that patterns of membership and attitudes to unions were more complex than headline figures might suggest. Specifically, we highlight areas of weakness associated with organising strategy at the time, and suggest some implications with subsequent trends. More generally, the data presents a unique insight into the lives of young workers in the early 1960s and their relationship with their trade unions.