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Most of the literature on absenteeism suggest that absence from work is a complex issue influenced by multiple causes, both of personal and of organizational nature. Job satisfaction has also been identified as one of the factors affecting an employee's motivation to work attendance. There is no universal agreement concerning the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction. Some research have found no correlation between these two variables, whereas other studies indicate a weak relationship between these two variables. It has also been suggested that absence and job satisfaction might be more strongly related under some conditions, for instance in the case of blue-collar workers. There is a lack of attention in the literature, however, to injury-related absenteeism, which is a particular type of absenteeism. This paper attempts to fill this gap and examines the effect of job satisfaction on injury-related absenteeism by using Greek and UK data. The empirical results suggest that there is a negative relationship between injury-related absenteeism and job satisfaction. The paper also discusses possible policy measures towards reducing injury-related absenteeism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine discourse in public deliberations in pre-development locales in the UK and US about advantages and disadvantages of future shale development ('fracking'). We aimed to understand how people anticipate potential health effects, broadly construed, of environmental toxicity and disturbance in the context of planned, but not yet implemented, energy development. In day-long deliberations with small, diverse groups in two cities in each country (London, Cardiff in the UK; Los Angeles, Santa Barbara in the US), participants discussed impacts on health and well-being using three main rubrics: 'It's money or health', 'Why take chances?' and 'Beyond the tipping point'. Throughout, participants framed health as an intrinsically moral issue, with collective responsibility as a dominant normative frame. We identify the concept of compound risk to underscore effects of multiple risks and hazards on people's sensibilities about anticipated future health and environmental harm. The findings demonstrate how and why diverse publics in pre-impact sites in both countries saw shale extraction as high stakes development that poses significant, often unacceptable, risks to human and environmental health and well-being. Risks extended beyond toxicity to broad threats to health, including, for some, the end of life as we know it on the planet. Overall, participants' discussions of health were more connected to social categories and their underlying moral principles than to technological details. This work contributes evidence of blurred boundaries between environment and health as well as the importance people place on social risks in the context of proposed energy system change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies of British trade union membership concentration have used the variance of logs and concentration ratio measures to show a tendency towards increasing concentration. This paper proposes the Herfindahl index as a more appropriate measure. The annual variation in concentration is analysed by means of the Herfindahl index and shows some fluctuation, particularly prior to 1947. Divergent trends are also shown for manual and white-collar membership concentration. An explanation of the aggregate trend and of these different occupational trends is advanced in terms of bargaining structure and the development of general unionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the growth of the public houses has become static within the UK the government has been looking at different ways in which they can strategically expand the market, of which one is the 24-hour drinking legislation. The 24-hour drinking legislation has been operative in the United Kingdom for just over one year now and this article looks at how a chain of public houses has adopted this legislation into their day-to-day running of the business. The paper also discusses the types of consumer's who frequent the public houses at the new trading times and in particular, with the aid of consumer behaviour theory and in particular the PIECE model, discusses the process in which these consumer's go through. The main conclusions denote that shift workers, the unemployed, and blue collar workers all use these premises at the new trading times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Wages in industrialized countries have risen considerably during the last 50 years, whereas hours worked, for manual workers at least, have decreased only marginally. In Europe, one policy response has been to attempt to protect workers from pressure to work long hours by placing legal restrictions on the amount of hours that may be worked each week. This paper examines the possibility that, in fact, observed hours may be the result of a desire of workers to work longer due to a shift in their preferences from leisure to increased consumption, caused by the huge increase in mass media advertising. A cointegrating VAR framework is used to test this hypothesis on UK time series data for both males and females from 1952 to 1997. Advertising is shown to be positively associated with hours worked for both male and female series. Causality tests indicate unidirectional causality, for males and females, from advertising to hours worked. These results suggest that the European policy response is more likely to restrict employee rather than employer discretion over hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the analysis of the role of trade unions in wage determination, British economists in the last decade or so have concentrated their efforts on the part played by unions in wage inflation. This paper is addressed to a somewhat different question: by how much have trade unions in Britain raised the pay of unionized manual workers relative to the pay of non-unionized manual workers? The derived estimates pertain not to a single occupation or industry, but are an economy-wide average and so, no doubt, conceal some important differences within particular sectors. Nevertheless an examination of the British experience affords a valuable opportunity to consider whether the institutional setting of collective bargaining acts as a neutral factor in determining the influence of unions on relative wages. Many observers have drawn attention to the existence in the high employment postwar British economy of two systems of industrial relations; in its Report, the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations (1968) presents a cogent, if rather strong, summary description of the characterization of the two systems. On the one hand, there are those industries where average hourly earnings (net of overtime pay) do not differ substantially from the wage rates negotiated between representatives of the employers and of the unions at the industry level. On the other hand, there are those industries (the large engineering sector being the standard example) in which actual hourly earnings are considerably in excess of the industry-wide wage rate agreements and it is in these industries that, as far as the pay of manual workers is concerned, bargaining at the plant or firm level takes on paramount importance. These differences in the industrial relations systems may imply corresponding differences in the opportunities available to unions to secure an hourly earnings differential for their members vis--vis non-union workers. To investigate this possibility, a... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper, John Kwoka Jr examined the effects of industry concentration, plant size and unionization on the wages of blue collar workers in US manufacturing. He criticized earlier studies that had investigated the relationship between wage rates and the structure of labour product markets for 'deficiencies in model specification and problems of variable measurement' which he argued 'have not produced altogether consistent results (1983, pp. 251-7). He argued persuasively, that because plant size, concentration and unionization are likely to be interrelated, their effects on wages will only be disentangled if these variables are included separately in a wage equation, along with an interaction term between concentration and unionization and a vector of labour quality variables. The interaction term is included to test for the possibility that union relative wage effects are greater, the greater the degree of concentration (see Lewis, 1963, p. 160). The labour quality variables are included to allow for the possibility that the monopoly wage effect is, in part, a result of the higher quality of workers in concentrated industries (see Weiss, 1966, pp. 96-117).
This paper reports on an attempt to test the applicability of Kwoka's propositions to skilled and semi-skilled manual workers in British manufacturing in 1980, using data at the level of the establishment. There are a number of important differences between the United States of America and Great Britain which made direct comparisons between the two sets of results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an ethnographic study of male manual workers in Blackpool, a large seaside town in the United Kingdom, and drawing on Bourdieu as a theoretical frame, this article explores the role of place in understanding conditions and experiences of precarity. With higher than average levels of deprivation, seaside towns have experienced particular employment challenges where precariousness is likely to be at the forefront of male manual workers' labour market condition. Results highlight the significance of the interplay between place, employment prospects, geographical 'constriction' and dispositions of 'provisionality,' which, together, produce 'uneven geographies' of labour. We develop the concept of 'place precarity' to show how precarity is fundamentally rooted in the spatial context and to capture how conditions and experiences of precarity interact with localised employment conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article chronicles industrial relations in the Great Britain between January to April 1969. During the first quarter of 1969 the average total register of unemployed in Great Britain showed a fall compared with the first quarter of 1968. On a seasonally adjusted basis unemployment in the first quarter of 1969 averaged 479 thousand as compared with 510 thousands for the corresponding period of 1968. Since August 1968 unemployment had been on a downward trend and this continued until February. In March the trend was reversed when the fall in wholly unemployed amounted to 17,000 fewer than the estimated normal seasonal fall at that time of the year. In percentage terms the average wholly unemployed in Great Britain showed a 0' 1 fall over the average figure for the last quarter of 1968. The Index of basic weekly rates of wages for manual workers in Great Britain continued to rise in the first quarter of 1969. This rise was smaller than in the last quarter of 1968 when the December figure showed the effects of the new engineering agreement coining into operation in that month. The rise was small in comparison with that of the first quarter of 1968 when the January figure showed a steep increase over the December 1967 figures.

Objective: We assess the existence of unfair inequalities in health and death using the normative framework of inequality of opportunities, from birth to middle age in Great Britain.Methods: We use data from the 1958 National Child Development Study, which provides a unique opportunity to observe individual health from birth to the age of 54, including the occurrence of mortality. We measure health status combining self-assessed health and mortality. We compare and statistically test the differences between the cumulative distribution functions of health status at each age according to one childhood circumstance beyond people's control: the father's occupation.Results: At all ages, individuals born to a 'professional', 'senior manager or technician' father report a better health status and have a lower mortality rate than individuals born to 'skilled', 'partly skilled' or 'unskilled' manual workers and individuals without a father at birth. The gap in the probability to report good health between individuals born into high social backgrounds compared with low, increases from 12 percentage points at age 23 to 26 at age 54. Health gaps are even more marked in health states at the bottom of the health distribution when mortality is combined with self-assessed health.Conclusions: There is increasing inequality of opportunities in health over the lifespan in Great Britain. The tag of social background intensifies as individuals get older. Finally, there is added analytical value to combining mortality with self-assessed health when measuring health inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used a person-centred approach to explore typologies of older manual workers based on presenteeism, stress resilience, and physical activity. Older manual workers ( n = 217; 69.1% male; age range 50-77; M age = 57.11 years; SD = 5.62) from a range of UK-based organisations, representing different manual job roles, took part in the study. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Based on the three input variables: presenteeism, stress resilience and physical activity, four distinct profiles were identified on using Latent Profile Analysis. One group ('High sport/exercise and well-functioning'; 5.50%) engaged in high levels of sport/exercise and exhibited low levels of stress resilience and all types of presenteeism. Another profile ('Physically burdened'; 9.70%) reported high levels of work and leisure-time physical activity, low stress resilience, as well as high levels of presenteeism due to physical and time demands. A 'Moderately active and functioning' group (46.50%) exhibited moderate levels on all variables. Finally, the fourth profile ('Moderately active with high presenteeism'; 38.20%) reported engaging in moderate levels of physical activity and had relatively high levels of stress resilience, yet also high levels of presenteeism. The profiles differed on work affect and health perceptions largely in the expected directions. There were no differences between the profiles in socio-demographics. These results highlight complex within-person interactions between presenteeism, stress resilience, and physical activity in older manual workers. The identification of profiles of older manual workers who are at risk of poor health and functioning may inform targeted interventions to help retain them in the workforce for longer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In 2011 recommendations for the prescription of lung cancer in coke oven workers were made in the UK. In the 1970s, a powered helmet respirator, the Airstream helmet, was introduced to the UK coking industry with the aim of reducing exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) aerosols and consequent lung cancer risks for workers on the coke oven tops. This review set out to identify the level of protection afforded by the Airstream helmet, when the helmets could be considered to have provided effective protection and whether the levels of protection have been maintained to the current time. Methods: Five approaches were taken to identify review material, including searching the peer-reviewed and grey literature; searching material held in the National Archive; using a Freedom of Information to the Health and Safety Executive; interviews with employees involved in the introduction of the Airstream helmet; and acquisition of company reports. Results: The two principal companies involved in coke production in the UK took different approaches to the introduction of the Airstream helmets. Because of this, it can only be considered that effective wearing occurred in the industry as a whole from 1982 onwards. Exposure measurements made by British Steel in the late 1970s suggested that the mean protection factor of the Airstream helmet was ~10 (5th percentile ~2.5), regardless of whether exposure was assessed as the inhalable aerosol or other measures more specific to aerosol of PAH. More recent data collected using biological monitoring has identified that average urinary levels of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-HP) generally correspond with the inhalation occupational exposure limit for benzene soluble material. Although on occasions, relatively high air concentrations in-mask and urinary 1-HP concentrations have been identified, underlining the necessity to maintain close supervision of workers wearing respirators. Conclusions: Overall, we concluded that the wearing of helmet respirators has effectively controlled long-term average exposure to PAH for most workers on coke ovens since 1982. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The International Agency for Research on Cancer controversially has classified formaldehyde as causing nasopharyngeal carcinoma and myeloid leukemia. To provide further information on this question, we extended follow-up of a cohort of 14,008 chemical workers at 6 factories in England and Wales, covering the period 1941–2012. Mortality was compared with national death rates for England and Wales, and associations with incident upper airway cancer and leukemia were explored in nested case-control analyses. We observed excess deaths from cancers of the esophagus (100 observed vs. 93.1 expected), stomach (182 vs. 141.4), rectum (107 vs. 86.8), liver (35 vs. 26.9), and lung (813 vs. 645.8), but none of these tumors exhibited a clear exposure-response relationship. Nested case-control analyses of 115 men with upper airway cancer (including 1 nasopharyngeal cancer), 92 men with leukemia, and 45 men with myeloid leukemia indicated no elevations of risk in the highest exposure category (high exposure for ≥1 year). When the 2 highest exposure categories were combined, the odds ratio for myeloid leukemia was 1.26 (95% confidence interval: 0.39, 4.08). Our results provide no support for an increased hazard of myeloid leukemia, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, or other upper airway tumors from formaldehyde exposure. These results indicate that any excess risk of these cancers, even from relatively high exposures, is at most small. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There have been few studies of people’s experiences of receiving care from migrant workers. This is despite the growing move to employ migrants to provide care and support for older and disabled people in the developed world. This article reports empirical findings from a study of migrants working in social care in England conducted between 2007 and 2009. It focuses on the reported interactions between service users and carers with migrant workers. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 adults receiving social care services and family carers in home and residential settings who had a variety of needs for care and with support. Analysis highlighted the range of their experiences. An emerging theme arising from the interviews was that of communication and the difficulties experienced by people using care services, or family carers speaking on their behalf, of understanding and being understood by care workers whose spoken English was not easy for them to comprehend. Social workers will need to be alert to alert to the risks facing service users, carers and migrant care workers in such contexts. We conclude that the marginal position of both social care users and migrant workers is reflected in these micro encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large majority of the labour force were manual workers in 1960. As voters, they had electoral power to pursue collective goods. As producers they were able to disrupt production. The majority left school with no qualifications. Their human capital consisted of skills specific to particular production processes. These became obsolete with de-industrialization, and with the large rise in secondary and higher education. Educated workers relied more on individual bargaining power, and less on collective goods. Casting workers as consumers rather than citizens or producers punished those with low purchasing power, de-legitimized producer collective action and justified low wages. Poverty increased and relative wages fell. Rising productivity was partly offset by rising house prices and longer household working hours. Council house sales enfranchised a minority and penalized the rest. The majority continued to identify as working class, but their culture was discredited by market liberalism and consumerism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the 1888 Cost of Living Survey, I estimate the demand for calories of American and British industrial workers. I find that the income and expenditure elasticities of calories for American households are significantly lower than the corresponding elasticities for British households, suggesting that American industrial workers were nutritionally better off than their British counterparts. I further find that the calorie elasticity differential between the two countries was driven by the higher wages enjoyed in the United States. Additional analysis reveals that the relative price of calories was approximately 20 percent greater in Great Britain than in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the general election of leader and deputy leader in Great Britain on June 9, 1983. It also states the reasons why the Labour Party was defeated during this election. It is emphasized that the Labour Party has only earned 28.3% of the votes and 209 seats in the House of Commons. Those figures gained by the Labour Party reflect the lowest share of the popular vote it had earned since 1918, the fewest seats the party occupied since 1935, and the fewest votes per seat since 1900. Lack of support since 1951 is considered as one of the reasons for the defeat of the Labour and this is due to the decreasing number of skilled manual workers, their disaffection from the Labour, rising unpopularity of Labour's policies, and the failure of the party to reconsider its socialism.

The article examines the interrelated labor demand decisions taken by the firms whose expectation formation is assumed to be rational. It derives optimal employment decision schemes for blue and white collar workers in a closed form solution in Great Britain. An overview of several econometric studies which examined the interrelated input decisions of the factors of production is given. The parameters of the interrelation labor demand model are discussed. The article shows how existing dynamic labor demand models mainly differ in the way expectations are modeled.

Examines the estimates of nominal earnings along with the cost of living, discussing its impact on changes in real earnings of male and female manual workers in Britain from 1770 to 1870. Adjustment of workers' average real earnings; Analysis of the standard of living of the average working-class family; Details on the cost-of-living index.

This article attempts to indicate both the diversity of substance and the diversity of approach, which characterize sociological studies of blue-collar workers in Great Britain. The discussion hinges on four perspectives, which may be distinguished in the relevant sociological literature: 1. Institutional Empiricism; 2. Systems Analysis; 3. Social Action Studies; 4. Reference Group Analysis. These perspectives are sufficiently clear to justify organizing the discussion around them, but it should be emphasized that they are not necessarily to be seen as mutually exclusive categories Sociologists see in fact that sometimes two perspectives may be consciously utilized by an author in a mutually supportive way. They further see that sometimes the answer to a problem of research strategy posed from the standpoint of different perspectives may lead in practice to an unexpected convergence as between different writers. What has to be recognized here is that the occupational community serves as an important membership and reference group in explaining the continued working class identification. To describe these workers as privatized would, therefore, be misleading. This suggests that the occupation itself needs to be treated as a variable in assessing the extent to which one can talk of normative convergence between the working and middle classes. It provides an analytical point of contact with the work of Scott et al who, as was noted above, treated occupation as a social system variable in their attempts to explain blue-collar worker behavior.

: Background There is limited evidence on the social determinants of A&E use and concerns over the equity of NHS Direct utilization. : Methods We analysed data from the 2004–05 British General Household Survey, which included 20 421 participants. Logistic regression was used to examine individual casualty use in the last 3 months and household NHS Direct use in the last year. : Results Casualty use was higher for individuals living in rented accommodation or without car access, lower income groups, unskilled manual workers, current smokers and for individuals with limiting illness. In contrast, NHS Direct use was lower in households with older residents, low income, no car access and where the head of household was from a manual occupational group, a minority ethnic group or born outside the UK. The odds ratio for use of NHS Direct for households in the lowest equivalized income quintile was 0.67 (0.55–0.81). Adjustment for limiting illness increased the effect of socio-economic factors on NHS Direct use. : Conclusions Reduced access to A&E services will disproportionately affect poorer individuals, whereas increased investment in telephone services will benefit affluent populations. Current national policy may widen inequities in access to emergency care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]