Suchergebnisse

The book examines the integration of European trade union movement and explores the prospects for European or transnational solidarity among workers.

Based on the examples of two collectives preparing lunches and giving them for free with an option of donation at Montreal universities, this article considers how services of general interest could be organized in an alternative way—namely how the combination of paid and unpaid work, spontaneous work involving high number of volunteers, and the dissociation of annual income from sale of output can serve as a model for providing needed public services. The probable expansion of such services in the future is supported by several current trends in the developed countries: for example, underemployment of human resources, a new work ethos, and the democratic deficit inherent in the current system of service provision by state or market providers. This article applies the case study method to illustrate citizens' attitudes and to consider what structural and organizational changes may be needed to set up an alternative form of service provision potentially applicable to other venues.

This article examines whether Japanese trade unions have developed greater levels of international cooperation as a result of increased regional integration, i.e. economic partnerships with Asian counterparts in the 2000s. Labor rights at the regional level or resources that allow workers to organize are absent in the Japanese case; therefore, its analysis enriches understanding of the impact of those elements on labor internationalism in varieties of international regional integration. Economic partnership agreements were found not to be an incentive for building relations among Japanese and fellow international trade unions. Instead, cooperation was found to be contingent on already established ties. The article also demonstrates a growing interest among Japanese and other trade unions in responding to regional projects of the East Asian Community and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

This article considers what a transnational, and specifically European labour movement, would mean in the context of European integration, and whether there are prospects for its development. There are certainly structures and sporadic actions, so the question is whether they can develop further into a movement. I will summarize the literature on the integration of labour in the EU, which commonly argues that it is divided and incapable of action. These obstacles can be considered in a different light when the strand of social movement approaches is applied. Then I will present two cases of transnational European collective action with a focus on the managing of difference and on developing into a social movement. To summarize I will assess the future of labour mobilization in transnational context and conclude with a tentative explanation.

AbstractThis article analyses the parliamentary debates and decision‐making related to the highly contentious EU directive on services. It is intended as a contribution to the academic debate on political conflict lines in the European Parliament. Our argument is that neither the left–right cleavage nor a territorial one (old versus new Member States) can fully explain conflict at stake on socio‐economic issues. Rather, what we can observe is cross‐cutting opposition between 'regulators' and 'liberals'.