The latest news from BUIRA
20th July 2020
20th July 2020
13th July 2020
Comparative Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis on Work and Employment
Call for Papers for Special Issue
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society
Guest Editors
Tony Dobbins, University of Birmingham, UK t.dobbins@bham.ac.uk
Stewart Johnstone, University of Strathclyde, UK Stewart.johnstone@strath.ac.uk
Marta Kahancová, Central European Labour Studies Institute, Slovakia marta.kahancova@celsi.sk
Ryan Lamare, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA rlamare@illinois.edu
Adrian Wilkinson, Griffith University, Australia Adrian.wilkinson@griffith.edu.au, Visiting Professor, University of Sheffield, UK
COVID-19 is a global public health and socioeconomic crisis (Dobbins, 2020). As such, it is distinct from economic crises like the Great Depression or the 2008 global financial crisis (Johnstone et al., 2019), not least of which is because work had to be primarily reduced or reallocated, not expanded (Barrero, Bloom, and Davis, 2020). Notable exceptions are among those workers able to work from home, and essential front-line workers in health, food production and retail who continue to expose themselves to the virus (Koebel and Pohler, 2020) to keep society functioning by supporting human life (Winton and Howcroft, 2020).
The crisis has had devastating effects on the world of work, globally. Many countries experienced massive shocks to employment, rising unemployment, and decreased labor force participation (Eurofound, 2020; ILO, 2020). However, effects of the crisis have been unevenly distributed across societies, and likely vary according to country institutions, cultures, politics, demographics, and other characteristics (Adolph et al., 2020; Hale et al., 2020; Mora and Schickler, 2020). For example, Adams-Prassl et al., (2020) outline survey data from the UK, US and Germany revealing that the labor market impacts of COVID-19 differ considerably across these countries. Employees in Germany, with its Kurzarbeit short-time work scheme, were less likely to lose their jobs due to the crisis; at least in the short-run. Within countries, impacts vary by sector, and accentuate existing racial, gender, and class inequalities. Workers in alternative work arrangements and in jobs not conducive to working from home are more likely to experience cuts in working hours and income, or redundancy. Early analyses suggest less educated workers and women (Adams-Prassl et al., 2020) as well as low-income workers (Koebel and Pohler, 2020) are most affected by the crisis.
Looking to the future, COVID-19 could lead to widespread restructuring of the way work is performed. The crisis may accelerate the use of technologies in industries and occupations that were not previously impacted by digitalization. The crisis could also facilitate emergence of new jobs because of growing demand for particular services and/or new approaches to organization of the economy. 2
The purpose of this Special Issue is to focus attention on the work- and employment-related implications of the COVID-19 crisis. We have a preference for papers that adopt a comparative lens by exploring the heterogeneous impacts of the crisis and responses to the crisis across different countries, sectors, organizations, employers and workers. We invite papers that make novel theoretical and/or empirical contributions that help us understand the current crisis and papers that develop insights to help navigate future crises and the future of work and employment post-crisis.
Some questions that may be explored in this special include, but are not limited to:
▪ What are the implications and impact of the crisis on the world of work from the perspective of different groups of workers?
▪ What have been the implications of the crisis on key aspects of the employment relationship, such pay and working conditions, workforce reduction, employee voice, health and safety, and labor-management relations?
▪ How did employers restructure and reorganise employment practices during the evolving crisis, and which of these practices are likely to remain post-crisis?
▪ How have trade unions and employee representatives responded to changing employment practices? What has been the involvement of trade unions and employee representatives in the design of policy measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on workers? How do their responses differ across countries with different industrial relations systems and welfare states?
▪ How and why have employer responses to the crisis varied in relation to economic, political, social, cultural, and other contextual issues?
▪ How have government, employer and worker responses to the work and employment-related impacts of the crisis compared with previous economic downturns?
▪ How have the effects of the crisis and government policy responses varied internationally, reflecting different labor market and employment relations institutions? Are there differences, for example, between co-ordinated market economies and liberal market economies, or countries severely/mildly impacted by the pandemic?
▪ Which employment relations theories and frameworks can best help us explain and understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on work and employment?
▪ What are the implications for the future of work and employment, especially for workers?
▪ What are the possibilities for a new politics, and related, labor and social policies, that can improve workers’ lives?
Submission Process
Interested contributors will first submit a long abstract (max. 1,000 words). The abstract should clearly outline the research question or purpose of the proposed paper, as well as how the paper contributes to our understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on work and employment. The abstract should also include a brief description of the empirical analysis used and/or an illustration of the theoretical/conceptual model to be developed. Questions or any other communication about the purpose and process of the special issue should be directed to any of the guest editors via email. However, we will not provide editorial 3
assistance for long abstracts. The long abstracts should be sent via email to Dr. Ryan Lamare (rlamare@illinois.edu) by August 31, 2020.
Guest editors will then choose a subset of abstracts and invite full papers from authors. The deadline for submission of full papers will be December 31, 2020, via Manuscript Central. All invited papers submitted by this date will undergo double-blind review by two reviewers. Note that there is no guarantee that invited papers will be accepted for publication. Based on the blind reviews and extent to which the papers meet the aims and scope of the special issue, a subset of invited papers will be selected for the special issue. Because publication of the special issue is scheduled for the second half of 2021, only papers that can be accepted with minor revisions will be considered.
References
Adams-Prassl, A., Boneva, T., Golin, M. and Rauh, C. (2020). Inequality in the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock: Evidence from Real Time Surveys. Cambridge-INET Working Papers, No 18.
Adolph, C., Amano, K., Bang-Jensen, B., Fullman, N., & Wilkerson, J. (2020). Pandemic politics: Timing state-level social distancing responses to COVID-19. medRxiv Working Paper. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.30.20046326v1.full.pdf
Barrero, J., Bloom, N., & Davis, S.J. (2020) COVID-19 is also a reallocation shock. NBER Working Paper #27137. https://www.nber.org/papers/w27137.pdf
Dobbins, T. (2020). COVID-19 and the Past, Present and Future of Work. Futures of Work, Issue 13, 5th May. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
https://futuresofwork.co.uk/2020/05/05/covid-19-and-the-past-present-and-future-of-work/
Eurofound (2020). COVID-19. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/covid-19
Hale, T., Angrist, N., Kira, B., Petherick, A., Phillips, T., & Webster, S. (2020) Variation in government responses to COVID-19. Oxford: BGS Working Paper Series. https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-04/BSG-WP-2020-032-v5.0_0.pdf
ILO (2020). ILO Monitor 2nd edition: COVID-19 and the world of work. April 7. Geneva: ILO.
Johnstone, S., Saridakis, G., & Wilkinson, A. (2019). The Global Financial Crisis, Work and Employment: Ten Years On. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 40(3), 455–468.
Koebel, K., and Pohler, D. (2020). Labor markets in crisis: The causal impact of Canada’s COVID-19 economic shutdown on hours worked for workers across the earnings distribution. Canadian Labour Economics Forum Working Papers Series, No. 25 (Spring/Summer).
Mora, C.G., & Schickler, E. (2020) Racial minorities more at risk in the workplace and the economy. Berkeley IGS Release #2020-06. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1kd7h0sc
Winton, A. and Howcroft, D. (2020. What COVID-19 tells us about the value of human labour. Manchester Policy Blogs, April 7th. University of Manchester.
13th July 2020
WEI webinar on Wednesday 15th July at 3pm
Engaging with employers to reduce workplace inequalities for parents and carers: the case of the flexible working toolkit
Liz Atkinson, Senior project officer
Rebecca Harris, Employer engagement officer
Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations
Hosted by the Work and Equalities Institute, in this webinar Liz Atkinson and Rebecca Harris from the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation will discuss the approach of the GMCVO to promoting flexible working for parents and carers who are returning to the workforce in Greater Manchester. The session will introduce the flexible working toolkit that GMCVO have co-produced with a range of employers and Returners in the Greater Manchester region. Issues of how the content and design of the toolkit were developed as well as future issues of how to measure its impact, and its increased relevance in the post-lockdown workplace, will all be discussed. This will be an interactive session and will be of interest to anyone interested in gender inequality, flexible working and how to increase the impact of their research using co-production methods with employers.
You can learn more about the toolkit here.
Please register on Eventbrite. You will receive a Zoom invitation closer to the webinar.
6th July 2020
We're delighted to announce that the CIPD Applied Research Conference (ARC) is going digital, and the call for papers has been extended to 31 July 2020.
The digital conference will take place on 20-21 January 2021. The conference is an annual meeting place for academic researchers and practitioners working in people management, employment policy and related fields.
Benefits of taking part
By submitting a paper, you can help shape the content of the conference. You'll be able to share your research with peers and HR practitioners, publish your research following the conference, and be eligible for the Professor Ian Beardwell Prize with £1,000 for best applied research paper.
Submission and selection
We welcome papers on a wide range of subjects around the themes of work, employment and people management, including:
We invite two types of submissions:
Papers will be selected for:
Details of the submission process are available here.
6th July 2020
You and your network are invited to the above webinar by Dr Alex J. Wood , University of Birmingham & University of Oxford, Tuesday 21 July 2020 at 16:00 - 17:00 PM Melbourne time (GMT+10) i.e. 07.00-08.00 BST.
If you wish to attend by Zoom, please register ASAP via this LINK or paste into your browser: https://www.monash.edu/business/events/webinar-how-power-and-despotism-works-in-flexible-workplaces# .
Organisers: International Consortium for Research in Employment & Work and Monash Business Digitalisation Research Network , Monash Business School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Co-hosts: Professors Greg Bamber & Fang Lee Cooke.
This Webinar considers the impact of flexible scheduling on managerial power and workplace control. When we understand paid work as a power relationship, Alex argues, we see how precarious scheduling constitutes flexible despotism. He has published a book, Despotism on Demand: How Power Operates in the Flexible Workplace. The Webinar and the book are in memory of University of Cambridge Faculty of Economics Montague Burton Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations William Brown CBE (1945–2019); a former BUIRA President; a former visitor to Monash University.
6th July 2020
Dear ILERA Executive Committee members, representatives of European ILERA National Associations, and colleagues,
I hope that this e-mail finds you all well. In this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic, research and dialogue on labour and employment relations and current challenges in the labour market is more important than ever. ILERA strives to maintain its activities, and only last week the ILERA Regional Congress for the Americas was held, after an impressive transition from a regular congress to be held in Toronto to a stimulating and active online conference.
I contact you know with a call for proposals to host the next ILERA European Regional Congress in 2022. The last, 12th, European Regional Congress was successfully organized in Düsseldorf, Germany, in September 2019 on the theme of 'Perspectives of Employment Relations in Europe'.
Previous European Congresses have taken place as follows:
· 11th ILERA European Regional Congress, Milan, Italy, 8-10 September 2016
· 10th ILERA European Regional Congress, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 20-22 June 2013
· 9th IIRA European Regional Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, 28 June - 1 July 2010
· 8th IIRA European Regional Congress, Manchester, UK, 3-6 September 2007
· 7th IIRA European Regional Congress, Lisbon, Portugal, 7-11 September 2004
· 6th IIRA European Regional Congress, Oslo, Norway, 25-29 June 2001
· 5th IIRA European Regional Congress, Dublin, Ireland, 26-29 August 1997
· 4th IIRA European Regional Congress, Helsinki, Finland, 24-26 August 1994
· 3rd IIRA European Regional Congress, Bari, Italy, 23-26 September 1991
· 2nd IIRA European Regional Congress, Herzlia, Israel, 13-17 December 1987
· 1st IIRA European Regional Congress, Vienna, Austria, 25-27 September 1984
The proposal should contain a maximum of 10 000 characters including spaces, and cover at least the following:
- tentative congress theme, programme and structure
- organization (organizers/organizing team and related associations, and organizational experience and capacity)
- location, possible venue, size/number of participants, and other logistics
- tentative timing of the congress
If you have any questions you are welcome to contact the ILERA Secretariat at ilera@ilo.org.
The proposal should be sent to ilera@ilo.org by August 26 at the latest.
The ILERA Executive Committee will assess the proposals, and make a decision on the host and location of the next European Regional Congress in September.
With thanks in advance and very best wishes,
Mia Rönnmar,
President of ILERA
6th July 2020
The Industrial Relations Society of Victoria (IRSV), Australia, invites you to attend our Women in Industrial Relations event - Wine and Webinar - with guest speaker:
Sharan Burrow
General Secretary of the International Trade Union ConfederationThursday 9 July 2020 17:00 hrs Melbourne time (GMT+10).
08:00hrs BST, so in the UK it might be a cuppa and Webinar!Sharan Burrow was elected General Secretary of the ITUC in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014 and 2018. Prior to this, she held the position of ITUC President since its Founding Congress in 2006 and the position of ICFTU President since 2004. Sharan is the first woman to have held any of these positions.
In 2000, Sharan was the second woman to be elected President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the first woman to be elected President of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Asia Pacific Region Organisation. She has served as a member of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation and a member of the Stakeholder Council of the Global Reporting Initiative. As part of her ILO responsibilities, Sharan chaired the Workers’ Group of the Sub-Committee on Multinational Enterprises.
From the ITUC's headquarters in Brussels, Sharan will be speaking on the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be followed by a Q and A session. This will provide the opportunity for IRSV members and friends to ask Sharan any questions.
Although we can't meet in person, please grab a wine or a cuppa and join IRSV members online for what promises to be an engaging discussion with Sharan Burrow. Although this is an IRSV Women in Industrial Relations event, all are welcome to register.
For further details and to register click here
or paste into your browser: irsv.asn.au/Public/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=77F3BDFA-16A1-493A-BFD8-2FB851534520
Organiser: Industrial Relations Society of Victoria,
Australia
Katie Sweatman <ksweatman@irsv.asn.au> may be able to help with registration, if necessary.
6th July 2020
This report analyses the responses of 510 contact centre workers in Scotland and the hazards they face from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and the disease Covid19. Extensive evidence of serious dangers, including no or inadequate social distancing, face-to-face contact, hotdesking, problems with HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems. The report combines primary evidence with a critical review of including an extensive literature consisting of reports, academic articles, practitioner and government guidance. It concludes with an extended discussion section exploring the implications, Finally, a recommendations' chapter identifies important steps that should be taken to ensure contact workers' safety.
Read the report by Phil Taylor here: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/72600/
25th June 2020
Journal of Industrial Relations (JIR)
CALL FOR PAPERS
‘Climate Change and Industrial Relations’
Special Issue: Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.64(4), September 2022
Organisers and Special Issue Guest-Editors:
Dr Frances Flanagan, University of Sydney Business School, Australia
Dr Caleb Goods, University of Western Australia, Australia
The objective and aim of the special issue
Industrial relations and anthropogenic climate change are deeply entwined phenomena. Climate change is the product of work. Human labour is necessary at the point of fossil fuel extraction and is crucial in its manufacture into the products and infrastructures that underpin modern, emissions-intensive societies. Future shifts to low-carbon societies are similarly dependent on human labour, without which the vast programs of reconfigured transportation, housing, energy, cities, health and agricultural systems that are necessary to return humanity into a ‘safe operating space’ cannot be realised. Questions of how different forms of work are valued, organised, and regulated are thus inseverable from environmental policy: we can neither understand the environmental and social contexts for the continued promulgation of emissions-intensive practices, nor imagine and promote their alternatives, without grappling with industrial relations.
Industrial relations, in turn, have been profoundly shaped by fossil extraction processes, and the vast global production networks such fuels underpin, in the past and the present. Modern trade unions were born with the industrial revolution, and with them practices for the exercise of collective power and paradigms of rights, law, value and regulation that continue to inform the organisation of work today. More than two centuries of emissions are also shaping the nature of work in a direct physical sense, by destabilising the ecological conditions for its safe performance, changing the places that are available for human habitation and labour, and rendering the myriad systems that are crucial to work – from food supply to stable geopolitics – more precarious and crisis-prone. 2/
The scope, themes and topics to be addressed by the special issue
For this special issue, ‘Climate Change and Industrial Relations’, we invite papers that aim to advance scholarship on the mutuality of climate change and industrial relations, and add to our understanding of the ways in which climate changes shapes industrial relations, and the ways in which industrial relations shapes climate change.
We encourage authors to develop their own interpretations of this mutuality, but they may consider the following:
Labour, capital and states in the making and maintenance of fossil fuel hegemonies
Labour, capital and states in contesting fossil fuel hegemonies
Rethinking labour regulation for climate-changed workplaces: rights, responsibilities and institutions
3/5
Varieties of (fossil) capitalism? States and regulation of labour and environment in comparative perspective
Submission to the special issue process:
Abstracts of between 500-1,000 words should be submitted to the Guest Editors (see contact details below) by 30 September 2020. The full paper to be submitted online to the JIR for peer review by 14 May 2021. All submitted abstracts will be examined by the Guest Editors for suitability for the special issue.
All submitted papers must be based on original material and not under consideration by any other journal or outlet. All manuscripts are reviewed initially by the Guest Editors and only those papers that fit within the aims and scope of the special issue and meet the academic and editorial standards of the journal, are sent out for external review. All papers will undergo a full double-blind review process and will be evaluated by the Guest Editors of the special issue and at least two independent reviewers.
Symposium:
Questions related to the content and logistics of the symposium should be directed to the Guest Editors (see contact details below). While participation in the symposium is not a mandatory condition for submissions to this special issue, we strongly encourage it. The guest editors aim to host a digital symposium on 17 February 2021 (exact format to be determined).
Those who are successful will be expected to submit their full paper (formatted to JIR standards) for discussion by 3 February 2021 so that papers can be distributed (in pdf format) to other participants to read prior to the symposium. 4/5
Special issue – Timeline:
Publication of the special issue, JIR Vol. 64(4), September 2022
Guidelines for contributors – Summary:
− The length of the full manuscript (including references, tables etc.) should be around 10,000 words (max). Please note that it would not be possible for us to consider papers for publication unless they are within the standard length (so longer papers are not possible to publish nor is a large number of tables/figures possible to include).
− The anonymised manuscript should include a separate title page: with the author(s) affiliation and full contact details: full name of author(s), institutional affiliation, postal and email addresses (noting the corresponding author). Authors to also provide a brief biographical note (100 word limit/author) to the title page.
− The manuscript should include a brief abstract (150-200 words) and keywords (4-5 words).
− The manuscript should follow the Harvard (author, date) system of referencing, with ‘endnotes’ (if necessary and kept brief) rather than ‘footnotes’.
− For the full JIR submission guidelines and style guide, please consult the JIR website at http://jir.sagepub.com
5/5
JIR online submission process:
The Journal of Industrial Relations (JIR) is hosted on SAGE Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne Manuscripts. Simply visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jir to login and submit your article online.
How to submit a manuscript to the JIR online?
1. Navigate to the JIR’s ScholarOne Manuscripts site at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/JIR
2. If you are not already registered, you will need to register with the system first to submit a manuscript.
3. To register, click the Create Account tab for new users.
4. Supply the requested information.
5. You will need to enter information in fields marked with a "req."
6. Please take note of the user ID and password you create, for future use to log into the system.
7. Once your account is created, click the link to log in.
8. To submit a manuscript, click the Author Center link, and then select Click here to submit a manuscript.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.
Contact details:
Organisers and Special Issue Guest-Editors:
Dr Frances Flanagan
University of Sydney Business School, Australia
Email: frances.flanagan@sydney.edu.au
Dr Caleb Goods
UWA, Australia
Email: caleb.goods@uwa.edu.au
Journal of Industrial Relations (JIR):
JIR Editorial Office
Email: business.jir@sydney.edu.au
***
25th June 2020
A virtual symposium was held on June 17, 2020 honouring the contributions of Bruce Kaufman (Georgia State University), and featured presentations by John Kelly, Dionne Pohler, Mark Bray, David Lewin, and Daphne Taras. An edited video has been made available for anyone to watch: https://youtu.be/rgFx74QXEfo . This symposium was organized by John Budd, Rafael Gomez, and Daphne Taras as part of the the 10th International Labour and Employment Relations Association Regional Congress of the Americas.
25th June 2020
15th June 2020
The final version of this policy discussion paper by Keith Sisson has now been published and is available at:
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/research/irru/wpir/
15th June 2020
9th June 2020
BUIRA’s US sister, Labor & Employment Relations Association (LERA) is hosting a series of free webinars Employment Relations During the COVID-19 Pandemic. These will all be on Thursdays as one-hour sessions that begin with comments by leading experts (5 minutes each), followed by open dialogue. The aim is to deepen understanding of employment relations matters during the pandemic. The one below might be of particular interest to members:
4 June 2020: 3pm British Summer Time: LERA International and Comparative Interest Section
“Implications of COVID-19 for Workers: International Comparisons of Government, Employer and Union Policies and Practices”
Speakers: · Fang Lee Cooke (Monash University, Australia) · Greg J. Bamber (Monash University, Australia and Newcastle University, UK) · Martin Behrens (Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) of the Hans-Böckler-Foundation, Germany) · Harry Katz (Cornell University)
Fang will cover China; Greg will cover Australia; Martin will cover Germany; Harry will cover USA. Moderator: Janice Bellace (University of Pennsylvania)
If you wish to participate, it is essential to register; click on this link or paste the link into your browser: https://lera.memberclicks.net/lera-webinar-series--ler-during-covid-19
1st June 2020
The Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC), based at the University of Leeds, is a focal point for research and knowledge transfer around the changing dynamics and future of work, employment and labour markets. It is the largest interdisciplinary group of social scientists working in this field in the UK. CERIC was founded in 2005, and this webinar series forms part of our 15th year anniversary activities and celebrations ahead of the anniversary report, due for publication later in the Summer. The seminar series showcases a diverse range of research interests within the Centre while also reflecting our sustained record of research on themes of social inequalities, voice and representation and digital futures of work. We hope you will be able to join us for these webinars and look forward to lively and stimulating debate.
1st June 2020
26th May 2020
26th May 2020
Join The Equality Trust for this interactive online conference, bringing together a range of speakers to share their insights and explore how we can get organised to finally win equal pay during this challenging period.
Women, particularly those in low-paid work and the gig economy, are already some of the hardest hit economically by the COVID-19 crisis. Winning equal pay is more important now than ever before.
Join us on Friday 29th May to mark the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act 1970, the landmark legislation which made equal pay for equal work a legal right for all. This conference will give participants the opportunity to explore the challenges of winning equal pay from a range of perspectives and begin taking action wherever they are.
Diana Holland - Assistant General Secretary, Unite the Union
Hilary Wainwright - Editor, Red Pepper
Dr Jo Grady - General Secretary, University and College Union (UCU)
Sam Smethers - Chief Executive, Fawcett Society
Alexia Hendrickson - Senior Campaign Manager, Pay Justice
Dame Moya Greene - Founder, #MeTooPay
Rachael McIlroy - Senior Research Lead, Royal College of Nursing
Professor Geraldine Healy - Queen Mary University
Dr Anne Laure Humbert - Director, Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice at Oxford Brookes University
Dr Wanda Wyporska - Executive Director, The Equality Trust
More speakers to be announced shortly
Sian Elliott - Women’s Equality Policy Officer, Trades Union Congress (TUC)
Kym Oliver & Jumoke Abdullahi - Co-Founders, The Triple Cripples
Tom Schuller - Author, The Paula Principle: Why Women Lose Out at Work
Imogen Richmond-Bishop - Research, Advocacy, and Communications Manager, Just Fair
Victoria Jones - National Officer, FDA
Paul Day - Director, Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA)
Dr Fenella Porter - Co-Director of Women's Rights and Gender Justice, Oxfam GB; Co-Founder, RED Learning Cooperative
Ian Manborde - Equality and Diversity Organiser, Equity
This online conference will take place on Friday 29th May from 10:00 to 13:00, and will feature a mix of plenary speakers and small group breakout discussions.
Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs so we can work on making this space as inclusive as possible. If you have any questions, please contact Rianna Gargiulo, Campaigns Officer, at rianna.gargiulo@equalitytrust.org.uk.
Once you have completed the sign-up form, you will receive an email confirmation. The day before the event you will receive an email with sign-in details. This is a free, open event and we encourage people from different communities, political backgrounds, and walks of life to attend.
26th May 2020
Jill Rubery looks at whether UK government support for workers in the wake of the crisis is as generous as it sounds. Professor Jill Rubery is Director of the Work & Equalities Institute at Alliance Manchester Business School.
https://www.alliancembs.manchester.ac.uk/news/support-schemes-under-microscope/
26th May 2020
Despotism on Demand draws attention to the impact of flexible scheduling on managerial power and workplace control. When we understand paid work as a power relationship, argues Alex J. Wood, we see how the spread of precarious scheduling constitutes flexible despotism; a novel regime of control within the workplace.
Wood believes that flexible despotism represents a new domain of inequality, in which the postindustrial working class increasingly suffers a scheduling nightmare. By investigating two of the largest retailers in the world he uncovers how control in the contemporary "flexible firm" is achieved through the insidious combination of "flexible discipline" and "schedule gifts." Flexible discipline provides managers with an arbitrary means by which to punish workers, but flexible scheduling also requires workers to actively win favor with managers in order to receive "schedule gifts": more or better hours. Wood concludes that the centrality of precarious scheduling to control means that for those at the bottom of the postindustrial labor market the future of work will increasingly be one of flexible despotism.
Video Abstract: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rdGQwPSRis&t=1s
Blog: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/ending-despotism-at-work-after-coronavirus/
Praise:
"Despotism on Demand is brimming with ambition and imagination. Based on outstanding fieldwork, it rises above many such ethnographies in its theoretical sophistication."
Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley
"This impressive book on working conditions in the on-demand economy deserves to be widely read. Alex J. Wood provides a lucid and nuanced account of how precarious scheduling has become central to managerial control in this growing sector."
Judy Wajcman, London School of Economics and Political Science
Paperback UK £20.99: https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9781501748882/despotism-on-demand/
Paperback US $26.95; ebook $12.99 https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501748882/despotism-on-demand/#bookTabs=1
26th May 2020
New early view open access article: ‘Does modernizing union administrative practices promote or hinder union revitalization? A comparative study of US, UK and Australian unions’, Clark, P. F., Bamber, G.J., Whitehead, P. V., Gray, L. S., Cockfield, S. & Gilbert, K., British Journal of Industrial Relations, doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12526
https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12526
11th May 2020
BUIRA’s US sister, Labor & Employment Relations Association (LERA) is hosting a series of free webinars Employment Relations During the COVID-19 Pandemic. These will all be on Thursdays as one-hour sessions that begin with comments by leading experts (5 minutes each), followed by open dialogue. The aim is to deepen understanding of employment relations matters during the pandemic. The one below might be of particular interest to members:
Speakers:
Fang will cover China; Greg will cover Australia; Martin will cover Germany; Harry will cover USA.
Moderator: Janice Bellace (University of Pennsylvania)
If you wish to participate, it is essential to register; click on this link or paste the link into your browser:
https://lera.memberclicks.net/lera-webinar-series--ler-during-covid-19
11th May 2020
11th May 2020
The BSA and WES have opened up a call for applications to join the Editorial Team. This is the first time that individual rather than institutional applications are being considered, reflecting the realities of the current climate. We have kept the number of people joining the team open so that as many good candidates as possible can be offered a place. Applicants should be in good scholarly standing in an appropriate academic discipline and ideally have some previous association with WES.
WES has a tight Editorial Team of approximately 12 colleagues doing the day to day editorial work and working with our Editorial and Associate Boards developing the journal. The culture within WES is to offer a generous and developmental editorial process for the 600 submissions we receive each year. We work in a highly collegial way as a team and with our 65 Board members to maintain this culture, despite the challenges of a year of strike action and now the Coronavirus crisis. The Editorial team meets, now virtually, on a regular monthly/bimonthly basis and team members are also expected to attend our Board meetings and conference, however those will be organised in the future. We are embarking on a period of internationalisation and navigating the development of Open Access within academic publishing - presenting us with interesting challenges and formulating new ways of working.
It might be hard to imagine taking on a substantial commitment to an editorial role at this time, but we have kept this application process flexible so you would start your tenure ideally from September but only when you are able and would be mentored by experienced team members during your first year. If you are interested in applying and would like to have an informal conversation with one of the Editors in Chief please contact us by email and we can arrange a call.
You are also welcome to contact Alison Danforth at the BSA for more information about the role and the BSA.
Elizabeth Cotton e.cotton2@herts.ac.uk
Eleonore Kofman e.kofman@mdx.ac.uk
Ian Roper i.roper@essex.ac.uk
Alison Danforth alison.danforth@britsoc.org.uk
Call for Editors: https://www.britsoc.co.uk/opportunities/
Deadline for applications: 3 June 2020
1st May 2020
For a copy of the paper summarised below, please email
keithsisson@hotmail.co.uk
Best wishes
Keith Sisson (Industrial Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick)
Making Britain the best place in the world to work: how to protect and enhance workers' rights after Brexit ... and coronavirus
Abstract
The UK government’s promise in the Queen’s Speech of 19 December 2019 to protect and enhance worker’s rights after Brexit has taken on new urgency in the light of the coronavirus pandemic, the inadequacy of the present framework being exposed for all to see. A Ministry for Employment and Social Affairs and a specialist social partnership body like the Low Pay Commission are needed to ensure that these rights are regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changing circumstances. Effective enforcement mechanisms are a must, which means a well-funded enforcement agency and requiring businesses to take responsibility for what happens in their supply chains, with provisions for social licensing as well as mandatory due diligence. The government also needs to improve the evidence base for decision making about workers’ rights including a regular survey of management policies and practices based on the internationally renowned Workplace Employment Relations Survey. Overall, the task will make sense to more people if the government uses the language of 'fairness’.
1st May 2020
20th April 2020
Dear colleagues
I am not able to physically send out book for review but I am negotiating e-copies of books for review in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.
If you are interested in reviewing these books then do please let me know j.holgate@leeds.ac.uk. Please also indicate when you might be able to complete the review.
Best wishes
Jane Holgate
Handbook of the Politics of Labour, Work and Employment. Edited by Gregor Gall, Visiting Professor of Industrial Relations, University of Leeds, UK https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-of-the-politics-of-labour-work-and-employment-9781784715687.html
Workers’ Self-Management in Argentina: Contesting Neo-Liberalism by Occupying Companies, Creating Cooperatives, and Recuperating Autogestión (Brill and Haymarket, 2020). Workers’ Self-Management in Argentina is Volume 199 of the Historical Materialism Book Series.
Neufeind, M., J. O’Reilly and F. Ranft (2018) (eds.) ‘Work in the Digital Age: Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’ (London: Rowman and Littlefield). https://policynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Work-in-the-Digital-Age.pdf
Youth Employment Edited by Jacqueline O'Reilly, Clémentine Moyart, Tiziana Nazio and Mark Smith
https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/youth-employment
20th April 2020
Ending Despotism at Work after the Coronavirus - Join Alex J. Wood for a Virtual Book Launch and Q&A
- Despotism on Demand: How Power Operates in the Flexible Workplace -
May 15th, 2020 5:30pm BST (12:30pm EST, 9:30am PST)
“Despotism on Demand is brimming with ambition and imagination. Based on outstanding fieldwork, it rises above many such ethnographies in its theoretical sophistication.”—Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley
“This impressive book on working conditions in the on-demand economy deserves to be widely read. Wood provides a lucid and nuanced account of how precarious scheduling has become central to managerial control in this growing sector. As such ‘flexible despotism’ constitutes an important new source of inequality.”—Professor Judy Wajcman, London School of Economics
Despotism on Demand draws attention to the impact of flexible scheduling on managerial power and workplace control. When we understand paid work as a power relationship, argues Alex J. Wood, we see how the spread of precarious scheduling constitutes flexible despotism; a novel regime of control within the workplace.
Zoom details will be sent out once you book a free ticket.
40-minute online talk followed by 20-minute Q&A session
Alex J. Wood is Lecturer in the Sociology of Work at the University of Birmingham and a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. Follow him on Twitter @tom_swing.
ATTENDEES, SAVE 30% • USE CODE 09FLYER
In the United States order online at cornellpress.cornell.edu or call 800 848 6224
• In Canada email info@codasat.com
• In the UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Oceania & Africa save 30% on website orders at combinedacademic.co.uk
Use discount code CS09FLYER
17th April 2020
Dear colleagues
I hope you are doing fine in this difficult time.
I am not able to physically send out book for review but I am negotiating e-copies of books for review in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.
If you are interested in reviewing this boo then do please let me know. Please also indicate when you might be able to complete the review.
New Media Unions Organizing Digital Journalists By Nicole S. Cohen, Greig de Peuter
Best wishes
Jane Holgate
17th April 2020
Unfortuantly, we've had to postpone BUIRA 70th Anniversary Conference 2020 until next year. Manchester have kindly already offered to host us again in 2021 for what we're sure will be an amazing conference!
We'd like to thank everyone for their great abstracts our all the speakers who agreed to give plenaries. This year's conference would've been the biggest since our records begin, and we hope that you'll attend next year.
We also hope that we might be able to do a smaller event in the autumn to celebrate BUIRA's 70th year. We'll keep you posted on these developments.
Until then stay safe and soldiarity
19th March 2020
16th March 2020
Have you submitted your abstract for the Work, Employment and Society Conference 2020? If not, abstract submission will close on Friday, 27 March 2020.
https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/bsa-work-employment-and-society-conference-2020/
Dramatic changes in the dynamics of work have fragmented the fabric of people’s lives, impacting on health, relationships and communities; for many, destroying the self-efficacy and social connections that extend dignity and a sense of citizenship.
It is against this backdrop that the Work, Employment and Society Conference 2020 (WES 2020) takes place in Cardiff, Wales. As the birthplace of the NHS, and with a long history of political and worker activism, Wales provides the perfect setting to reconnect, reactivate and reimagine the sociality of work.
WES 2020 invites discussion about the dignity of people at work; and how work and employment affects people’s lives, health, relationships and sense of citizenship.
Alongside paper presentations, reflecting the venue, we call for short films, art-work, photographic displays, music and theatrical performances that ignite the senses and (maybe) show work in a different light. The stages, screens and walls of the venue are open to imagination, and the trying out of something new.
Also, new for WES 2020, we invite ‘On the Front Line’ presentations. The aim is to hear the ‘voice of the worker’ and their experiences of work and employment. This might involve workers as co-authors or co-presenters, or workers might be embodied within the presentation; through audio, photograph, art, film or other creative means.
We also welcome suggestions for Special Sessions or events on any topic that matters for work and the lives of workers. The topic should relate to the Aims and Scope of the journal Work, Employment and Society and the conference theme: this might involve staging a debate on a controversial topic, challenging orthodoxy or highlighting a misunderstood concept or practice.
Abstract submission deadline: Friday, 27 March 2020
Please note: In order to submit an abstract, you will be required to create an account on the BSA website first. You do not have to hold BSA membership in order to submit an abstract. If you already have an existing account on the BSA website, please use those credentials to login. Please contact the BSA Membership Team if you experience any difficulties.
16th March 2020
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BZI514/phd-scholarship-work-and-employment-relations-broadly-defined
Applications are invited for a full-time 4 year PhD scholarship commencing Sep/Oct 2020 in the area of work and employment relations, to be supervised by Professor Tony Dundon. The candidate will develop their specific proposal and areas of interest include, but not limited to: new technology and skills; the role of trade unions and union organising in the gig-economy; employment and digital labour platforms; social dialogue and worker voice for freelance/digital platform workers; and/or questions of employment regulation under new modes of capitalism.
Literatures of interest to candidates may include those that question the many claims about the future of work destroying jobs (see Spencer, 2017); the re-shaping of skill and labour power (see Thompson, 2019); the role of the state in (de)regulating worker rights (see Bales et al, 2018; Taylor, 2019); digital labour platform types (see Howcroft and Bergvall-Kareborn, 2019); labour market precarity (Rubery et al, 2019); emerging questions of voice yet also how employees are coerced into ‘silence’ (see Hickland et al, 2020); and a re-evaluation of disciplinary boundaries to study and examine such developments in the field of employment and HRM (see Godard, 2014; Dundon and Rafferty, 2018; Budd, 2020; Kaufman, 2020). References available here
Applications are invited from candidates with Degrees / Master’s degrees that have a knowledge base in industrial relations, labour process, sociology of work, labour law, heterodox economics, critical management, human resources, social psychology, and/or employment regulation.
The scholarship will cover EU level fees and a stipend of €1,000 per month for years one to four on a full time basis. Scholarship holders are expected to undertake a limited amount of formative academic duties in addition to pursuing their doctoral studies.
Application Procedure
Applicants should hold a minimum 2.1 first degree and preferably a Masters qualification in a relevant discipline area and have a strong interest in the areas of work and employment studies described above. Applicants should submit the following:
Applications should be sent by email to: Rebecca Gachet, Kemmy Business School, rebecca.gachet@ul.ie
Shortlisted candidates may be invited to interview.
Informal inquires may be made to Professor Tony Dundon (tony.dundon@ul.ie)
Closing date for receipt of applications is 5 pm on Friday, May 1st 2020.
16th March 2020
Restrictions on international travel have meant that our speaker, Professor Fang Lee Cooke, is no longer able to join us on Tuesday 24th March. With this in mind we have taken the decision to cancel the WEI annual lecture, with a view to rescheduling later in the year.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and we will be in touch once we have confirmed a new date.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at WEI@manchester.ac.uk
16th March 2020
For further details and to reserve a place, contact Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)
16th March 2020
16th March 2020
BUIRA endorses BSA statement on UCU industrial action. BUIRA would like to extend our support to and endorse the statement published by the British Sociological Association on 18th February 2020. Read the BSA statement here https://es.britsoc.co.uk/bsa-statement-on-strike-action-2/
BUIRA supports members who are affected by the forthcoming UCU strike action. Like the BSA, BUIRA will honour the digital picket line, and not tweet, retweet or send promotional emails during the strike period (20th February-20th March inclusive).
19th February 2020
PLEASE NOTE: CHANGE OF DATE AND TIME!
Due to the UCU strike, this seminar has been rescheduled to Friday 6th March
BUIRA History of Industrial Relations Study Group
Assessing the ILO and its history, with
Professor Marcel van der Linden (International Institute of Social History) and
Dr Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick (Birkbeck College)
Friday 6 March 2020, 10.30am-12.30pm followed by buffet lunch
Room C279, University of Westminster Business School, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS (opposite Madame Tussauds, nearly opposite Baker Street tube)
For further details or to reserve a place, please email Michael Gold (m.gold@rhul.ac.uk) or Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk).
Programme:
10.15-10.30: tea/coffee and biscuits
10.30: Welcome: Michael Gold and Linda Clarke (Chairs) followed by:
Marcel van der Linden: The ILO: a critical appraisal after one hundred years
The question I want to raise is straightforward: How can we appraise the record of the ILO since its founding in 1919? What are the results and future prospects of its efforts? Is the organization truly inconsequential, a "90-pound weakling,” a "toothless tiger," as critics have argued? These questions are difficult to answer. Not only because of the variegated history of the ILO, rife with ongoing controversies, but also because the literature on the subject is overwhelming. I will argue that the first half century of the ILO consisted of “fat years”, in which regulating the global labour market achieved limited but clear progress, and that the second half century was a time of “lean years”, when the ILO accomplished less. I will illustrate this by showing how the relative attainments from the period until around 1970 were subsequently weakened. Unless it manages to reinvent itself in the near future, the organization is now in danger of further marginalization.
Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick: The ILO and the International Labour Movement
The international labour movement has played a major role in working within the ILO structures, promoting the adoption of new international labour standards, and pushing for their full implementation. The international trade union bodies, which were instrumental in the founding of the ILO in 1919, have helped to shape it and provide it with reliable interlocutors. Drawing on previous work on the ITUC and the international labour movement more generally, Rebecca will focus on the role of the ITUC and its associated bodies (including the GUFs) in a) the development of new labour standards, focusing particularly on the Domestic Workers’ Convention, b) on its role in the resolution of the long-running conflict over the right to strike, and c) on the broader issue of the relations between the two bodies: have the international trade unions become overly dependent, even symbiotic, with the ILO, and what are the differing views within the global labour movement on these relations? Should they be changed, in the light of a new, more independent and campaigning approach to the global labour movement?
6pm: Close (followed by drinks until 6.00pm)
The speakers:
Marcel van der Linden is Honorary Fellow and former Research Director of the International Institute of Social History (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences),
18th February 2020
Keynote Speaker
About the Event
The concerns over austerity, Brexit, the decline of collective bargaining and the pace of technological change have fed into growing uncertainties about the future of work and the inequalities that may arise from such concerns. Whilst these issues are widely discussed in academic realms, there is little engagement between academics, policymakers and practitioners, which is necessary to address these uncertainties in their wider context. In four panel sessions, this daylong PGR event will address each of these critical areas of uncertainty and drawing upon academics’, practitioners’ and policymakers’ expertise to help PGRs understand the practicalities of these challenges and to develop the ability to conduct impactful research in these areas. The event focuses particularly on the North of England, since such uncertainties are seen to manifest in this region in a unique way.
Keynote Speaker
About the Event
The concerns over austerity, Brexit, the decline of collective bargaining and the pace of technological change have fed into growing uncertainties about the future of work and the inequalities that may arise from such concerns. Whilst these issues are widely discussed in academic realms, there is little engagement between academics, policymakers and practitioners, which is necessary to address these uncertainties in their wider context. In four panel sessions, this daylong PGR event will address each of these critical areas of uncertainty and drawing upon academics’, practitioners’ and policymakers’ expertise to help PGRs understand the practicalities of these challenges and to develop the ability to conduct impactful research in these areas. The event focuses particularly on the North of England, since such uncertainties are seen to manifest in this region in a unique way.
Schedule
8:50-9:20 Registration (Atrium, Alliance Manchester Business School)
9:20-9:30 Keynote: Professor Jill Rubery (Director, Work and Equalities Institute)
9:30-11:00 Session 1: The impact of Austerity
11:00-11:15 Coffee Break (Penthouse, Alliance Manchester Business School)
11:15-12:45 Session 2: Uncertainties caused by Brexit
12:45-13:30 Lunch (Penthouse, Alliance Manchester Business School)
13:30-15:00 Session 3: Pace of technological change
15:00-15:15 Coffee Break (Penthouse, Alliance Manchester Business School)
15:15-16:45 Session 4: The decline in collective bargaining
16:45-18:00 Drinks reception (Penthouse, Alliance Manchester Business School)
Registration
18th February 2020
https://www.edi-conference.org/
Please submit your abstracts to Stream 15:
Organizational Responsibility, Diversity Intersections and Precarious Work
Stream Chairs:
Elina Meliou, Aston Business School e.meliou@aston.ac.uk
Joana Vassilopoulou, Brunel University joana.vassilopoulou@brunel.ac.uk
Ana Lopes, Newcastle University ana.lopes@ncl.ac.uk
We have been witnessing a surging interest in debates about organizational responsibility, as well as the ethical and moral aspects of leadership (Brown & Mitchell, 2010; Ciulla & Forsyth, 2011; Dinh et al., 2014). This growing body of research impels leaders to exercise positive, humanistic behaviours for the betterment of their followers, organizations and society (Liu, 2015, Tomkins & Simpson, 2015, Gabriel, 2009). This literature focuses on social and environmental targets and objectives of sustainable value creation and positive change (Miska & Mendenhall, 2018).
Simultaneously, precarious forms of employment are on the rise. Precarious work is characterised by low pay, insufficient and variable hours, short-term contracts rights, and is shaped by work-life balance considerations (Ayudhya et al., 2017) and the degree of regulatory protection (ILO, 2015; Vallas, 2015). Socio-economic upheaval has resulted in nations becoming socially and politically more isolated, exclusionary and protective of resources, leading to a climate, which does not foster inclusion of vulnerable demographic groups in organizations and society at large (Mor Barak, 2018). Indeed, precarious work has deleterious effects for vulnerable demographic groups worldwide with women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, among others, experiencing in and out of work poverty (Walby, 2015). Racial and feminist critiques sought to highlight how ‘regimes of inequality’ (Acker, 2006) structure work and organizations by restaging social relations of domination and subjugation (Acker, 1992; Gherardi, 1994; Nkomo, 1992).
The stream seeks to explore the paradox of organizational responsibility, diversity intersections and precarious work in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of the various contexts, and experiences of precarity in organizations.
Submissions to the stream can be in the form of long abstracts (up to 1500 words), developmental papers (3000-5000 words, including references) or full papers (no length restrictions) by the deadline of 1 March 2020. Please process your registration and paper submission online via www.edi-conference.org.
References
Ayudhya, U.C.N.; Prouska, R.; Beauregard, T. A. (2017) The Impact of Global Economic Crisis and Austerity on Quality of Working Life and Work‐Life Balance: A Capabilities Perspective. European Management Review DOI: 10.1111/imre.12128
Brown, M.E., & Mitchell, M.S (2010) Ethical and unethical leadership: Exploring new avenues for future research. Business Ethics Quarterly 20(4): 583–616.
Ciulla, J.B., & Forsyth, D.R (2011) Leadership ethics. In: Bryman A, Collinson D, Grint K, et al. (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 229–241.
Gandini, A (2018) Labour process theory and the gig economy, Human Relations, DOI: 10177/001872671879002
ILO (2015) World Employment and Social Outlook: The Changing Nature of Jobs. Geneva: ILO Publications.
Mor Barak, M. E. (2018) Erecting Walls Versus Tearing Them Down: Inclusion and the (False) Paradox of Diversity in Times of Economic Upheaval. European Management Review.
Vallas, S. (2015) Accounting for precarity: Recent studies of labor market uncertainty. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews 44(4): 463–469.
Walby, S. (2015) Crisis. Cambridge: Polity Press
14th February 2020
14th February 2020
10th February 2020
Assessing the ILO and its history, with
Professor Marcel van der Linden (International Institute of Social History) and
Dr Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick (Birkbeck College)
Thursday 5 March 2020, 4.00-6.00pm
Room C379, University of Westminster Business School, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS (opposite Madame Tussauds, nearly opposite Baker Street tube)
For further details or to reserve a place, please email Michael Gold (m.gold@rhul.ac.uk) or Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk).
Programme:
3.30-3.50pm: Tea/ coffee/ refreshments
3.50-4.00: Welcome: Michael Gold and Linda Clarke (Chairs)
Marcel van der Linden: The ILO: a critical appraisal after one hundred years
The question I want to raise is straightforward: How can we appraise the record of the ILO since its founding in 1919? What are the results and future prospects of its efforts? Is the organization truly inconsequential, a "90-pound weakling,” a "toothless tiger," as critics have argued? These questions are difficult to answer. Not only because of the variegated history of the ILO, rife with ongoing controversies, but also because the literature on the subject is overwhelming. I will argue that the first half century of the ILO consisted of “fat years”, in which regulating the global labour market achieved limited but clear progress, and that the second half century was a time of “lean years”, when the ILO accomplished less. I will illustrate this by showing how the relative attainments from the period until around 1970 were subsequently weakened. Unless it manages to reinvent itself in the near future, the organization is now in danger of further marginalization.
Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick: The ILO and the International Labour Movement
The international labour movement has played a major role in working within the ILO structures, promoting the adoption of new international labour standards, and pushing for their full implementation. The international trade union bodies, which were instrumental in the founding of the ILO in 1919, have helped to shape it and provide it with reliable interlocutors. Drawing on previous work on the ITUC and the international labour movement more generally, Rebecca will focus on the role of the ITUC and its associated bodies (including the GUFs) in a) the development of new labour standards, focusing particularly on the Domestic Workers’ Convention, b) on its role in the resolution of the long-running conflict over the right to strike, and c) on the broader issue of the relations between the two bodies: have the international trade unions become overly dependent, even symbiotic, with the ILO, and what are the differing views within the global labour movement on these relations? Should they be changed, in the light of a new, more independent and campaigning approach to the global labour movement?
6pm: Close (followed by drinks until 6.00pm)
The speakers:
Marcel van der Linden is Honorary Fellow and former Research Director of the International Institute of Social History (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences),
10th February 2020
It is with great sadness that we convey the news that Emeritus Professor Willy Brown passed away unexpectedly on Thursday evening at his home near Cambridge.
Willy’s achievements in the industrial relations and labour economics fields were exceptional. For many decades Willy was an eminent scholar in these fields, not only in the United Kingdom but also internationally. He was arguably one of the most influential academics of his generation in both research and policy formulation.
Willy was Emeritus Master of Darwin College and Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Cambridge. He was previously the Director of the Industrial Relations Research Unit at the University of Warwick, which gained an international reputation for excellence and influence under his leadership, before becoming the Montague Burton Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Cambridge from 1985 to his retirement in 2012.
Willy provided academic leadership through various senior administrative roles at Cambridge. He also served as President of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association from 1986 to 1989 and as a member of the Executive of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (formerly the International Industrial Relations Association) from 1989 to 1995.
Willy held a number of significant government appointments in the UK including foundation member of the Low Pay Commission from 1997-2007 and as a senior member of the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service Council and Panel of Arbitrators.
Willy was the author of many seminal journal articles and books including Piecework Bargaining (1973), The Changing Contours of British Industrial Relations (1981), The Evolution of the Modern Workplace (2009) and The Emerging Industrial Relations of China (2017). In 2002 he was made Commander of the British Empire for services to employment relations.
Willy was an Honorary Professor at Renmin University in Beijing and was instrumental in bringing together international and Chinese scholars to examine developments in Chinese employment relations. In 2015 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sydney in recognition of his significant contributions to industrial relations scholarship and policy in Australia and internationally.
Notwithstanding Willy’s considerable academic accomplishments, his greatest impact may have been through his personal connections and friendships. Willy strived to make the world not only a better place but also a fairer place. In this respect he lived by example. Willy was a truly magnificent person with a unique capacity to speak with anyone on equal terms. He was so selfless, so humble, so generous, and so kind. Willy was greatly loved and will be sorely missed.
- Willy’s former doctoral students
4th August 2019
Elections to the two vacant places on the BUIRA Executive Committee took place at the association's Annual General Meeting earlier this month in Newcastle.
Eleanor Kirk (University of Glasgow) and Yvonne Rueckert (Portsmouth University).
21st July 2019
Following a successful conference hosted at Newcastle University, we're pleased to announce that a team from the University of Birmingham have become the BUIRA Stewards.
Many thanks to Jo McBride, Ana Lopes, Stewart Johnstone, Stephen Procter and Michael Brooks for their hard work running the association.
The Birmingham team is as follows:
Tony Dobbins – President
David J Bailey – Membership Officer
Genevieve Coderre-LaPalme – Events and Conference Officer
Andy Hodder – Secretary
Paul Lewis – Treasurer
Alex Wood – Communications Officer
21st July 2019
Professor Frank Burchill OBE
In very sad news for the industrial relations community, Professor Frank Burchill passed away on Saturday, 18 July 2020, after a short illness.
Frank was highly respected by his colleagues in the academic, practitioner and wider industrial relation community.
In 1989, after 22 years with the Department of Adult Education, Frank was appointed Keele’s first Professor of Industrial Relations and established a Department of HRM and Industrial Relations and ultimately a full-time undergraduate programme, full-time Masters’ degrees and a Doctorate programme. Many people from the industrial relations community benefited and, indeed, had their lives changed, by being educated and enlightened as students in Frank’s Department. The Department provided a proper robust social science education, in the best sense of the meaning.
In 1999, Frank stepped down from the Headship of the Department because he had been appointed by the Secretary of State at the Home Department – then Jack Straw – to conduct an inquiry into industrial relations procedures in the then UK Fire and Emergency Service.
Frank also conducted extensive practical industrial relations work as a Deputy Chairman of the UK Central Arbitration Committee, and with Acas.
In 2009 he went to Tasmania, where his wife Alice had been appointed to work for the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services, later becoming CEO.
Frank returned to the UK in 2012, and continued to teach at various universities and to do Acas work. In 2009 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for Services to Acas.
Sincere condolences to Alice and the family from BUIRA.
21st July 2020