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This article provides an overview of the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in Brazil, with a focus on its impact on labor and employment. While AI adoption in Brazilian industry is still limited, a significant portion of jobs in the country are considered highly vulnerable to AI. The article highlights the challenges and lack of regulation surrounding platform work and the potential impact of AI on agriculture. The Brazilian government has established the Brazilian National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (EBIA) to promote responsible AI development and the training of qualified professionals. Additionally, there are bills being drafted to regulate AI and establish principles, rights, and duties for its use, as well as to provide rights for individuals affected by AI systems. The article emphasizes the importance of social dialogue and workers' organizations in protecting workers' rights in the face of AI advancements. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market in Germany. It raises concerns about job displacement and wealth disparities, comparing the situation to the historical "Engels' pause" during the Industrial Revolution. While Germany has not yet seen significant wealth inequalities due to AI, there is evidence of an AI-induced Engels' pause, with digital skills becoming increasingly important and AI adoption in the workplace increasing. The article also discusses the challenges faced by migrant workers, power imbalances, and Germany's regulatory approach to AI in the workplace. It highlights the upcoming EU Platform Work Directive and the differing interests of employers' organizations and trade unions in governing AI-driven tools. The potential impacts of AI on labor markets, including inequality and precarious work, are also explored. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for strong policy interventions to address socioeconomic challenges and promote fairness and inclusion in the digitalized world of work. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the regulation of labor in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) in Eastern and Southern Africa, with a focus on South Africa and Kenya. It identifies two main concerns: the regulation of labor for African workers engaged in low-end AI work and the sharing of information in authoritarian states and its impact on organized labor and civil society. The article also discusses the lack of regulation for low-end AI work, such as data janitorial work, and the potential biases and negative effects of AI on women in sectors like fintech. It provides country-specific examples, including the use of AI in South Africa's healthcare and transportation systems, as well as the limited attention given to AI by established unions. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of responsible AI practices and addressing regulatory concerns while harnessing the economic potential of AI. In South Africa, the call center industry is at risk of job loss due to AI, and the lack of AI policy and regulation exacerbates this issue. In Kenya, the development of a strong Fintech sector based on AI technologies has led to financial inclusion but also raises concerns about data privacy and protection. The article also highlights the emergence of union-like organizations in Kenya to represent workers in the digital platform economy. Overall, AI regulation in Africa is incomplete, and progress towards informal regulation has been uneven. [Extracted from the article]

This article investigates the relationship between the share of assets held by institutional investors relative to GDP and a synthetic index of union bargaining power in 20 OECD countries from 1980 to 2017. Findings from the use of fixed-effects OLS and instrumental variables regressions show that the share of assets held by institutional investors, especially insurance companies and pension funds, is correlated with a decline in union bargaining power. The authors argue that by contributing to significant changes in corporate strategies and governance through potential effects on jobs and wages, institutional investors in most OECD countries may have weakened the influence of trade unions, thereby leading to a higher decentralization of wage bargaining. Mixed evidence is found, however, when investigating the role of complementarity across institutions to explain cross-country heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of the issues covered in this article is due to the impact of information technologies on the labour sphere, transformation of the features of “classical” labour relations and the need to rethink the categories of “employee” and “employer” in order to ensure the exercise of collective labour rights, such as the right to association, collective bargaining and collective action by all workers regardless of the form of employment, first of all, by dependent self-employed persons. The author emphasises that the ILO, the CJEU in the opinions of their supervisory bodies, and the EU Court of Justice in their judgments use a broad approach to the interpretation of the concept of employee, including self-employed persons, in particular, in the context of exercising the right to association and collective bargaining. The author presents the experience of certain European countries, in particular, France and Poland, in terms of legislative consolidation of fundamental labour rights for self-employed persons. The article demonstrates that courts in different jurisdictions have different approaches to resolving the issue of the legal status of platform workers using the example of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Spanish court in the Deliveroo case. It is stated that in Ukraine today, one of the fundamental labour rights - the right to join a trade union de jure is not limited by the existence of an employment relationship or the status of an employee. At the same time, the right to collective bargaining, collective bargaining agreements and the right to collective action to protect one’s rights, which are an integral part of the right to freedom of association, is de facto only possible for those who are in an employment relationship based on an employment contract and have the status of an employee. As a solution to this problem, it is proposed to introduce a broad category of “working” or “employed” in national legislation, which will be used exclusively for the purposes of unionisation, exercise of the right to collective bargaining, conclusion of collective agreements and collective action. Such a definition should be separated from the definition of the narrow concept of an employee under an employment contract used in the context of individual labour relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of the experiences and resulting inequalities in reproductive health in the workplace has generated studies of pregnancy, miscarriage, menstruation, fertility and menopause. One issue that has remained outside of this literature is abortion. How abortion is talked about (or not talked about), experienced and perceived as a workplace issue were the central questions in our research undertaken in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2017. Our study comprised a survey (3180 respondents) followed by a series of online focus groups (61 participants) with trade union members from a broad range of workplaces, with the aim of investigating how abortion was positioned in workplaces within legally restrictive regimes. We conceptualize how self‐disciplining, silence and abortion stigma are reproduced in workplaces, drawing on a feminist Foucauldian framework to examine disciplinary power. We examine evidence of how, in conservative societies, abortion talk is suppressed, and we generate new theoretical knowledge on how disciplinary power undermines resistance to anti‐abortion norms and demonstrate the function of the normalizing gaze in the workplace. We conclude by offering avenues for future research on abortion stigma and disciplinary power, to extend further knowledge and conceptual framing of abortion as a workplace issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, we question evaluative practices concerning 'scientific excellence' as solely captured in so-called 'A journals', because they can entail a disconnection between the measure and its contents. Where this occurs, we start writing for our own immediate 'survival' and long-term social standing among our peers. Along the way, however, there is a risk that we lose sight of what 'meaningful' research can feel and look like. While research must be reliable or trustworthy, we advocate the use of complementary evaluative practices that involve learned societies, along with employee or employer-focused organisations and their assessment of the meaningfulness of published research in their respective contexts. Our proposal (a) encourages diverse forms of research contribution, (b) enables researchers to develop a collaborative approach that supports engagement and dialogue between researchers and the appropriate audiences for their work and (3) ensures that the impact of research can be developed more intentionally after publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe agri-food industry in Southern Europe and elsewhere is typically seen as a place of harsh exploitation of immigrant workers. This article aims to give a more comprehensive picture of immigrant work in the Italian agrifood system. Based on nine case studies of local production systems, it elaborates on the concept of “subordinate integration,” showing its different variants. In addition, it discusses the relationship between subordinate integration at work and different forms of social insertion on the territory, mainly focusing on the housing question. In conclusion, the social regulation of work in agriculture and the role of trade unions is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do leftist forces accept, support and adopt free-market policies? To answer this question, we carry out a comparative study of left-wing groups (both parties and trade unions) in France, Italy and Spain during the late 1970s and the early 1980s. This period is widely acknowledged in international political economy to have represented a paradigm shift from post-war Keynesianism to neoliberal policy-making. We employ in-depth content analysis of memoirs, interviews to the press, opinion articles and policy-papers to explain actors' positions on landmark policies implemented during such transition. In alignment with a developing literature in political economy (e.g. Mudge 2018), we find a proactive role of progressives in developing the ideological justification for the resort to liberal policies. However, we emphasise that widespread consensus among so-called progressives, rather than a leading role of technocrats or party experts, best explains such shifts. In this way, the paper casts doubts on interpretations of the liberalisation process that place excessive emphasis on the role of external constraints as well as on elite power. Drawing on Hall (1993), we argue that left-wing forces in the early 1980s have enacted a 'second order change', whereby policymakers use new instruments to meet existing policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negotiating and concluding collective agreements are two very important consecutive steps in ensuring the economic and social well-being of employees and employers. With this material, we aimed to analyze what changes have occurred in the Law no. 367/2022 on social dialogue, in relation to the old Law no. 62/2011 on social dialogue, regarding the negotiation and conclusion of MCCs and whether these changes represent improvements to them and in what sense, with what consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective labour contracts, collective labour disputes and strikes have until now represented three fundamental institutions of collective labour law, with profound repercussions in ensuring or violating social dialogue and social peace. With the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in almost all areas of social life, including labour relations, new strengths and weaknesses, but also new opportunities and threats arise with regard to the existence, scope and legal and social effects of these three institutions. And with this article we only aim to shed some initial light on these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the nineteenth century, powerful railway unions in the USA and the UK cultivated an expansive system of voluntary sickness, death, unemployment, and superannuation benefits. By the early twentieth century, the movements had diverged: while the British Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants relinquished its commitment to voluntarism in favor of state healthcare and pensions, the American Railway Brotherhoods persisted along voluntarist lines, resisting social insurance in favor of exclusive schemes for their white male membership. What accounts for these diverging orientations? I highlight the importance of organizational forms as a lens for understanding comparative trade union strategy, emphasizing the role of law in designating legitimate forms of workingclass association. I demonstrate that governing elites in both countries promoted voluntarism as a benign form of working-class organization throughout much of the nineteenth century. Consequently, I argue, early American and British trade unions adopted benefits in part because they enabled them to mimic the far more respected and legitimate friendly and fraternal mutual benefit societies. Toward the end of the century, the context had changed: while alternative organizational avenues were opened for trade unions in the UK, benefits presented an ongoing organizational lifeline for American unions. In defining and redefining the boundaries of legitimate forms of workers' associations, legal decisions in both countries shaped not only trade union organizing strategies in the short run but also their positioning in broader social struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) as a new model for worker-led organizing. It highlights the obstacles faced by workers in the United States who want a union but do not have one, both externally and internally within the labor movement. The EWOC model focuses on lowering unionization costs through volunteer organizers, utilizing digital tools, and spreading worker power. The article explains how EWOC was founded and its mission to support immediate fightbacks and worker-initiated unionization. It also emphasizes the importance of planting organizing seeds widely, supporting any worker who wants to organize, and relying on volunteers. The article concludes by discussing the limitations of EWOC and the potential for its model to be adopted by larger unions and organizations. The text discusses the concept of "seeding" in labor organizing, which involves providing organizing tools and support to as many workers as possible in order to increase the number of union drives and campaigns. This approach is seen as a necessary innovation in today's decentralized economy, where workers are spread out across small establishments. The text argues that unions should adopt a more proactive and ambitious approach to organizing, saying yes to all workers seeking organizing help and relying more on volunteers rather than paid staff. The text highlights the success of organizations like EWOC and the NewsGuild in implementing this approach and calls for the labor movement as a whole to embrace these strategies. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the growing trend of unionization among tech workers in the United States. It acknowledges the significant power that tech workers possess in both their workplaces and the broader economy. The article compares the organizing efforts of tech workers to historical labor movements in other industries and discusses the challenges they face due to the industry's resistance to unions. Despite these obstacles, there has been a noticeable increase in tech worker organizing, resulting in thousands of workers joining unions and securing collective bargaining agreements. However, this represents only a small portion of the overall tech industry. The article explores the potential for a tech worker movement, highlighting the development of networks and shared narratives among tech workers, as well as instances of worker activism and unionization efforts. It also delves into different theories of class, such as the Professional-Managerial Class (PMC) and Contradictory Class Locations, and emphasizes the importance of addressing issues like compensation and job security in tech worker mobilizations. The article discusses the transformation of worker consciousness and the unique challenges of organizing in the tech industry. It identifies progressive workforces and lower-paid workers as potential strongholds for majority unionism in tech. Lastly, the article draws parallels between tech workers and autoworkers in the historical labor movement and considers the possibility of industry-wide settlements in the tech industry. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor movement in the United States. It discusses a case where a university dean suggested using AI to replace striking graduate student teaching assistants, which was met with opposition from the student union. The article also examines how AI is being used in industries like fast-food and logistics to replace workers and weaken their bargaining power. It emphasizes the importance of government regulations to safeguard workers and ensure fair treatment in the face of AI advancements. Unions in the entertainment industry, such as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, have been fighting against the negative effects of AI on workers, securing contracts that regulate its use and protect compensation and credits. Other unions, like the CWA and Teamsters, are also advocating for worker input and protections in AI utilization. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the effects of economic policy on workers and the labor movement in the United States. It notes a decline in workers' bargaining power since the late 1970s, leading to lower wages and increased inequality. The article traces this trend to corporate and government actions, including the weakening of unions and a focus on deficit reduction rather than investments. It then examines President Biden's economic policies, which aim to address inequality, combat climate change, and revive the economy. These policies involve significant investments in infrastructure, clean energy, healthcare, and education. Despite facing opposition, Biden's policies have been enacted into law, providing funding for job creation, poverty reduction, and the revitalization of the chip manufacturing industry. The article discusses the positive impact of these policies, such as low unemployment rates, rising wages, and reduced inequality. It also emphasizes the importance of labor law reform and enforcement to strengthen workers' bargaining power. Additionally, it examines the government's role in promoting manufacturing growth and addressing issues like deteriorating infrastructure, climate change, and inequality. The article concludes by discussing the need for the socialization of investment and the challenges involved in achieving these goals. [Extracted from the article]

This research note combines conceptual considerations on the relationship between populist and class-political discourse with an analysis of two parties that, in light of their origins, suggest affinities to both populism and class politics: the Union of Labour (UP) in Poland and the Workers' Party of Belgium (PVDA/PTB). Taking up a discursive approach to populism with an established tradition of theoretical reflection on class politics, the analysis keys in on the interplay of populist and class-political elements in how these parties construct collective identities in their programmatic statements and related organisational practices such as links to trade unions. It finds that the UP largely abandoned its founding references to 'working milieus' in favour of a left-wing populism of 'ordinary people' vs. 'elites', whereas the PVDA/PTB has maintained a primarily class-political discourse centred on 'working people' with elements of populism, performatively embellished by its practices of workplace-level organising and trade union entryism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On assuming office in 2014, India's BJP-led government initiated an ambitious plan to facilitate the ease of doing business, aiming to make India an attractive investment destination. Interview data from 20 trade union leaders and an expert and published data from ILO, government and trade union documents and newspaper archives reveal that, to advance this neoliberal agenda, the government did not use direct and obvious repressive tactics as was the case during the 1976 Emergency, but rather, a combination of discourse, manipulation of democratic institutions like the Parliament and a strategy for disengaging and disempowering the unions that oppose reforms. The new Labour Codes provide a facade for tackling the perennial problem of union recognition and collective bargaining that has plagued Indian industrial relations, but in their implementation, these Codes are likely to weaken unions and erode working conditions. The government's practices attempt to obscure precariousness and silence civil society organisations by imposing unprecedented restrictions on them and disengaging with them. Today, more than ever before, employment in India tends towards informality. Rather than strengthening unions, the government has created fissures in the labour movement by using the unions affiliated with it to manufacture a democratic debate on various pertinent issues, like the Labour Codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of authoritarian innovations provides a means of interpreting labour governance practices that claim to uphold democratic values and international labour standards while restricting labour participation and genuine voice in the workplace. Two underexplored dimensions of this literature are (a) how authoritarian practices are utilised by power elites in 'hybrid' state formations and (b) under what conditions they may be discarded in favour of a return to direct forms of coercion and violence. In this article, we examine these questions with reference to Myanmar, where there was a decade of experimentation with democracy before a reversion to military-dominated authoritarian rule in February 2021. In the first half of that decade, space opened under a military-led government for decidedly more democratic labour relations, although labour governance reforms were designed and operationalised in ways that constrained the strength and reach of trade unions. In the second half, a democratically elected civilian-led government presided over the contraction of the space available to organised labour. By tracking the alignment of meso-level authoritarian practices against the changing macro-level character of Myanmar's political landscape, this article contributes to theoretical debates within the emerging literature on authoritarian innovations in labour governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of a common European market for financial services has significantly altered the strategic edifice for banks, as well as for the trade unions representing their employees. In the Nordic countries, where regulation of the labour market has long relied on multiemployer bargaining and strong sector-level actors, this has led to a strategic realignment. Faced with mergers and acquisitions, the potential for delocalization and an increasing amount of directly applicable EU-regulation in the sector, Nordic finance trade unions have supported the creation of company-level trade union alliances within MNCs, while still building upon resources and repertoires stemming from Nordic 'comparative institutional advantage'. Our 'extended case study' of three such alliances in the finance sector, called 'Nordic company clubs', concludes that, while trade unions there still benefit from strong, typically Nordic institutional and associational power resources, important actor-centred variables and capabilities such as narratives, scaling, resourcefulness and institutional experimentation complement and strengthen our understanding of trade union strategies and institutional change in the context of market integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is ample literature to suggest that labour's interests are at odds with the extension of income protection to 'outsiders'. Until recently, Italian unions were reluctant, if not outright obstructive, towards the introduction of a minimum income scheme (MIS). After the 2008 financial crisis and its dramatic social and economic consequences, however, the three major labour confederations supported the introduction of a national MIS, openly embracing the fight against income insecurity. Why did trade unions overturn their conservative approach and eventually support social assistance safety nets? Drawing upon textual evidence and semi‐structured interviews, the paper suggests that the Italian labour movement, albeit with differences among the confederations, has radically changed its preferences towards social assistance. Unions gradually shifted from a 'deservingness' logic (championing 'hard work') to one of reservation wage (the 'we are all in the same boat' narrative). Weaknesses in labour market peripheries have encouraged the labour movement to defend those at risk of poverty. The Italian case has wider implications for actors' preferences and roles in welfare reform, showing that structural and strategic factors may encourage labour to join coalitions that support welfare 'de‐dualisation' pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the strike among the workers of the TK-AST steelworks in Terni during the 2014 industrial dispute, and on their collective action. The paper aims at demonstrating how such collective action is characterised by an internal fragmentation born out of a growing alienation in the workplace mirrored in the public sphere during the strike action, and which can be traced back to the personal history of the individuals, to the length of service and position in the production process and struggle experience. It also attempts to demonstrate how this can be interpreted with a growing alienation in the production sphere of industrial work which can be linked to a general differentiation of life into social aspects and economic aspects, and a distinction between central and peripheral aspects of the self.

The essay investigates the role played, or that could be played, by trade unions for the inclusion of vulnerable workers in employment, in the wake of a recent propensity for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategies adopted by several companies. In order to do so, after an analysis of DE&I strategies, the research takes into consideration the reaction of trade unions and their potential interest in these approaches. In particular, several tools used by trade unions in different European Member States are compared, such as collective bargaining, awareness-raising measures, individual support, training, collaborations with other actors, and litigations. Among these instruments, the research confirms the primary role played by collective bargaining. Lastly, a reflection is made on the relationship that is established, or could be established, between DE&I models and trade unions: a strong correlation between the two is recognised, which sometimes takes the form of a real cooperation and, in some other cases, of a true dependency.

AbstractThe paper proposes a rational reconstruction of Fleeming Jenkin’s 1868 analysis of wage determination in labour markets characterised by the presence of trade unions. Jenkin intended to show that the supply and demand theory of market price determination did not support the thesis sustained by the opponents of trade unions that the latter are unable to permanently achieve a market-clearing wage higher than that which would be obtained in their absence. Starting with a definition of “demand” and “supply” of a given commodity as functions of a few economic variables, Jenkin elaborated a fresh critique of the wages fund theory and highlighted the impact of trade unions on both supply and demand for labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organised, temporary labour migration from the Global South to wealthier countries is a growing and sometimes problematic phenomenon. This article considers Timorese involvement in the Australian Seasonal Workers Program (SWP) in relation to this trend. Drawing primarily on semi‐structured interviews and participant observation undertaken among an interconnected group of 50 Timorese seasonal workers across Australia and Timor‐Leste between 2016 and 2021, we found that geographical and social isolation and limited leisure all proved challenges while working in Australia. In some cases, it appears that the workers were able to lean upon their own social networks and local churches as a way to mitigate these challenges. We argue that, in considering the welfare of workers in temporary migration programs such as the SWP, it is important to be aware of the role played by informal groups that are formally outside the scheme itself. Labour migration from Timor‐Leste to Australia has advantages for both sending and receiving countries but is also fraught with a range of challenges that are as yet unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A burgeoning literature has analysed how and why platform workers express their (collective) voice. While this 'willingness to act' of platform workers is evidenced across several countries, there is little research on their 'willingness to pay', however. Are platform workers willing to become dues paying union members? Exploiting novel survey data from Austria, this article addresses this gap by analysing the propensity of app-mediated food delivery couriers to join trade unions. Similarly to traditional industries, the findings demonstrate that the decision to join a union is driven by instrumental and value-rational motivations. Compared to employed couriers, those on 'free-service provider contracts', i.e. freelancers, are less likely to unionise, however. Also, short expected job tenure and limited personal contacts hinder unionisation in app-mediated food delivery. Yet unions are not without tools: they can significantly improve relationships between them and the couriers by supporting grassroots activists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rising consumer prices, tight labour markets, a resurgence in labour militancy, and a new post-Covid appreciation of the role of government and market regulation, the conditions for renewed union growth seem favourable. But unions have to come from far. Across the OECD, unions have lost members and power, young people increasingly stay away from unions and labour markets have thoroughly changed from what they were. How likely, then, is a new era for trade unions? This article explores four scenarios for the future of trade unions – marginalization, dualism, substitution and revitalization – each grounded in a few assumptions about the environment and behaviour of unions. Drawing on data and research from 12 OECD member states, the article explores middle range theories for each scenario and weighs arguments pro and contra its likelihood. It concludes with a set of critical propositions about the future of trade unions and research about the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Economics / Economia Internazionale is the property of Camera di Commercio di Genova 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.)

Introduction: Social media provides nurses with tools to share information, debate healthcare policy and practice issues, and engage in interpersonal interactions. Historically, also in Scandinavia, nurses' trade unions have taken the lead in defining nursing as a profession and supporting nurses in 'conducting good nursing'. However, it is unexplored how trade unions guide nurses in social media use. Aim: To explore the explicitly formulated guidance documents provided by Scandinavian nurses' trade unions, specifically focusing on how the trade unions guided nurses' social media use. Materials and methods: Trade union guidelines for social media use were searched on the Scandinavian nurses' organisations' websites. A textual discourse analysis inspired by Fairclough's critical approach was conducted. The analysis considered three levels: the social practice level, focusing on connections between the texts and the surrounding society; the discursive practice level, focusing on the processes of production and distribution of the texts; and the textual level, capturing how grammatical formulations and single words work in the (re) construction of social structures. Results: At the social practice level, the trade union documents guiding nurses' social media uses were embedded in platfomised public communication, laws about confidentiality and data protection, and ethical codes for nurses. At the discursive practice level, the guidelines were constructed to support nurses' social media uses in adhering to their profession's ethical principles. The trade unions' implicit and explicit representations of nurses blurred the distinction between nurses as professionals and nurses as private persons. At the textual level, the guidelines tapped into the potential risks of using social media and how nurses ought to act on social media. Unlike the Danish and Swedish trade unions, the Norwegian trade union did not develop specific guidelines for nurses' social media use. Conclusion: The guidelines emphasized risks stemming from social media use that did not adhere to the profession's politically defined guidelines, norms, and values, although nurses' conditions are already framed by the national legislations and ethical standards. The study advocates for the development of guidelines that support beneficial uses of social media in relation to nurses and the nursing profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the British trade union movement's relationship with Zionism in the period from the Arab Revolt to the Six Day War. It argues that despite an appearance of fraternalism between the British and Zionist labour movements, this relationship was, in fact, governed more by indifference and political expediency on behalf of British trade unions and unionists than by any genuine ideological solidarity or conviction. It shows the Trades Union Congress's reluctance to give any tangible support to Zionist political aims, most clearly when such aims were in opposition to the Attlee government's Palestine policy, but even at other points when the Zionist project faced existential threats to its continued existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the analysis of popular accusation in the Spanish criminal procedure system, with special reference to the controversy, not exempt from social and political relevance, that accompanies the exercise of popular action by political parties, unions and business associations. Exercise that responds to a constitutional right, of legal configuration and, therefore, not absolute or unlimited; and over which flies over, the result of the unconsolidated and approved versions of successive reform projects of our criminal procedure (in particular, the Draft of the new Criminal Procedure Law of 2020), the sword of Damocles of a prohibition, perhaps interested and interesting for the governments in power, but in no way compatible with the advisability of monitoring the inaction of a Public Ministry, like the Spanish one, subject to the dictates of the principle of hierarchical dependency and no stranger to more than notable doses of politicization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital labour platforms transform work and employment relations in many ways. Crucially, they renounce the role of the employer, leading to a redefinition of traditional categories of actors and their roles in social policy and dialogue. Using the example of the EU proposal for a directive on improving working conditions in platform work, this article examines how this redefinition is materialising in practice among social partners in order to understand its implications for the future of social dialogue and legislation. While previous research focused on the status of workers, this study takes a complementary view by considering the employer side as a key counterpart in a functioning employment relationship. The actor‐approach is used to analyse the views and positions of EU social partners and how their prerogatives are affected by the blurring of the role of the employer and the redefinition of traditional categories of actors in social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of continent-wide neoliberal restructuring prompted by the Eurozone crisis, the demise of concertazione (tripartite bargaining) by technocratic and centre-left governments represented a key trait of the 'authoritarian' neoliberalisation of the Italian political economy after the 2011 sovereign debt crisis. The article traces the reasons behind this 'authoritarian' turn by relying on a historical materialist framework centred around the Gramscian notion of 'common sense'. The end of concertazione was premised on societal dissensus over the management of the crisis, and on the rise to dominance of a narrative portraying neoliberalising 'structural reforms' as both urgent and necessary. Amid declining legitimacy of neoliberal practices, the unilateral adoption of these measures was facilitated by supranational pressures and by decades-long transformations in Italian capitalism. The 2022 election results illustrate that the legitimation crisis of neoliberalism remains unresolved in the current post-Covid-19 context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the EU-US (TTIP) and EU–Canada (CETA) free trade negotiations, large coalitions of civil society organisations were active not only across borders but also within European member states. In several countries, coalitions saw the opportunity to transform their issue-specific group into a general coalition on EU trade policy in order to achieve more sustained engagement. However, in hindsight, only some of the transformed coalitions remained active and visible with the same organisations, while others experienced a decline in visibility, activities, and membership. This study aims to explore the factors contributing to this divergence in coalition transformation, drawing on the literature from social movement and interest group studies. Based on interviews with trade activists in Belgium and the Netherlands, the analysis points to differences in perception of political and discursive opportunities, resource mobilisation, the degree of ideological and cultural overlap between the coalition's actors, and organisational structure as important factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Legal Theory / Jogelméleti Szemle / Zeitschrift für Rechtstheorie is the property of Journal of Legal Theory / Jogelmeleti Szemle / Zeitschrift fur Rechtstheorie 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.)

Despite the growing interest in the economic backgrounds of mps in Western Europe, the evolution of working-class numerical representation before 1945 has not been systematically studied. Using data from England and Wales (1832–1944), Germany (1871–1930), and Norway (1906–1936), the authors show both that working-class mps were elected when barriers were lowered and that almost all working-class parliamentarians were affiliated with socialist parties. The authors further probe the conditions that determined the electoral success of workers using data about all candidates, constituencies' occupational profile, and unionization in Norway between 1906 and 1936. They find that socialist parties nominated workers either in relatively uncompetitive elections in which unionization was high or in competitive races in which the party's victory was possible but not guaranteed. Using information about mps in Germany and England and Wales, the authors find similar patterns. The article discusses the implications for research about democratization, the rise of social democracy, and the numerical representation of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do organized economic interests affect the governance of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic? We investigate whether the structural and instrumental power of employer organizations and unions impact upon the stringency of containment measures implemented by governing authorities to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on Italy during the first Covid-19 wave of early 2020 as a crucial case. Using Hausman–Taylor panel regression models and original indicators of regional stringency and of unions and employers' organizations' efforts to exercise instrumental power via public pressure on social media, we find that the intensity of public pressure by employer organizations is negatively correlated with the stringency of the policy responses implemented by regional authorities to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst union pressures only show a limited effect. Our findings demonstrate that business pressure and the interplay of economic and class interests are constitutive of the governance of a crucial social and public health phenomenon such as the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article concerns the role of Polish trade unions in creating a legal framework for the tech-based employment. The authors discuss the impact of the algorithmic management on the structure of the employment relationship and justify the need to protect workers. Social partners can play an important role in shaping this protection. The article discusses the legal instruments which can be used by trade unions. The text outlines the actual picture of collective relations in the technological area. The authors consider the reasons of the weakness of the social dialogue and analyze solutions which could contribute to improving the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines Alexei Navalny's trade unions that emerged in 2018-2019 and ceased their activities in 2021-2022. These unions were supposed to contribute to the development of Navalny's movement and the integration of labor protests into the political movement. The article considers Navalny's unions as an attempt to unify socioeconomic and political demands and addresses factors hindering this unification. The article utilizes Ernesto Laclau's theory of populism with some modifications. While Laclau's works usually neglect organizational issues and repertoires of protest, this analysis also focuses on organizational structures and repertoires of Navalny's unions. The article demonstrates that Navalny's unions became servicing organizations which cannot be conducive to populism. Repression, the servicing model of organizations, the ability of the existing political system to satisfy some social demands from below and the adherence of trade unions and employees to repertoires of complaint-making, hindered the development of Navalny's trade unions and populism in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2021, South Africa signed the first international Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). This unlocked 8.5 billion USD in donor funding (primarily loans) to decarbonise its economy. The processes and substance of this decarbonisation have been criticised by unions and by civil society. This article traces the stakeholder consultation process through which civil society encouraged marginal improvements while broadly legitimising the JETP, and it details the causes and implications of South African unions' decreased engagement with the Just Transition. The article argues that the specifics of civil society's engagement with multistakeholder consultations, and organised labour's disengagement, work towards legitimising a donor- and market-led transition. In partially explaining why a powerful civil society and the labour movement have not demanded more radical change, the article highlights tensions between the 'professional class' that dominates responses to climate change and a workers' movement where political power is deeply tied to identarian mobilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic technological transformations that are taking place in the third decade of the twenty-first century, described as the Fourth and even Fifth Industrial Revolutions, pose significant challenges for community partners who act in labour relationships. Transparency and the related right to information are some of the factors that define a democratic state under the rule of law. This also applies to labour relationships as widely understood. The regulations of collective employment law grant various rights in this respect to entities that represent staff, who may, among other things, demand information on the use of artificial intelligence by the employer in the work environment. In the Polish labour law system, the widest scope of competences in this regard is granted to trade unions. This article focuses on the legal and functional aspects that are related to the transfer of this type of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'black box issue' is one of the biggest problems with algorithmic management. The lack of transparency in the operation and decision-making of AI is of greatest concern to those whose data is being processed (including employees). Trade unions, as the organisations that most represent the interests of workers, can play a big role here; however, they need to be empowered. There is a lack of legislation at EU and Member State level to set norms for this issue; the only country that has already introduced such legislation is Spain. The draft Polish regulation refers to the Spanish solutions and seems to be very interesting. It introduces the possibility for trade unions to obtain data from an employer on the operation of AI in relation to the algorithmic management of employees. The authors present this regulation against the background of EU recommendations and previous Polish legislation on the employer's obligation to provide information. They also identify elements that need to be refined during the parliamentary process in order to make the regulation more effective in protecting workers' rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates trade union responses to in-store digitalization in retail in Italy and Spain. It considers critical issues often associated with the digital transformation of work including excessive work flexibility, high levels of monitoring and skills mismatch. It goes on to discuss two alternative employment relations developments: a 'low road', along which digitalization enhances market regulation and employers' ability to control the workforce unilaterally; or a 'high road', where digitalization allows for better working conditions as well as business productivity. Drawing on documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews with trade union leaders, and content analysis of collective agreements signed at the sector, territorial and company level, findings report how Italian and Spanish trade unions attempt to use in-store digitalization to increase their leverage and aim for the high road. Overall, this work confirms the challenges of deterring the retail sector from pursuing the low road while highlighting some institutional factors and trade union strategies that can make the difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]