Roger Blanpain

This text recognises the importance of maximizing the benefits of globalization while diminishing its negative effects. The social exclusion that globalization seems to foster, and the widening gap it facilitates between rich and poor in developed as well as in developing nations, can no longer be ignored. Accordingly, the concept of social rights, originally introduced in the European Social Charter of 1961, has once again come to the forefront of international and comparative labour law. The book contains the reports of the International Conference held in Brussels, on 9 May 2000, which was organized by The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium and the Society for Social and International Cooperation, in collaboration with The Council of Europe, The European Union, and The International Labour Organisation. The goal of this conference was to investigate ways of building bridges between economic and technological market-driven developments on the one hand, and fundamental necessities of a civilized and decently human society on the other. Introductory remarks were made by Mr. R. Brillat (Head of the section European Social Charter, Council of Europe). The first paper seeks to identify the social challenges confronting European citizens in the 21st century. Then follow three reports by members of the Committee of Independent Experts of the Council of Europe (R. Birk, S. Evju and M. Mikkola), describing the rights contained in the European Social Charter, what the Charter means for Central and Eastern European countries, and the relationship between the Charter and the European Union. Current proposals to devise a Charter of Fundamental Rights for the European Union, and the work of the ad hoc convention established by the Tampere European Council of October 1999, are discussed in depth. Other papers are concerned with ensuring co-ordinated and coherent progress in this area among the various international and regional organizations of the wider global social community, and with the actual implementation of "core rights" in national legislation, including: Right to Work and Freedom to Work (A. Jacobs, M. Biagi, R. Salomone); Information and Consultation of Workers (M. Colucci); Equal Treatment and the Prohibition of Discrimination (R. Blanpain); The Rights of Children and Young Persons (M. Matey); Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining (C. Engels); and The Right to Strike and Lock-out (G. Morris). Annexes reprint relevant documents of the Council of Europe (I), of the European Union (II), and the ETUC and UNICE (III).

Taken in conjunction with the European Works Council Directive and the European Company Statute, the EC directive on information and consultation rights of employees aims to strengthen a growing spirit of co-operation between employees and employers. This book offers in-depth analysis, legislative history, and documentation of the interwoven genesis of these three crucially important labour law initiatives and their impact on industrial relations and HRM. Questions central to both the legislative debate and to this book include: how will the information and consultation rights be organised?; what can be learned from the experience of the European Works Council Directive (1994), now that more than 600 EWCs have been established by agreements between management and labour?; what is the role of trade unions and collective bargaining?; what role can employees play in the exercise of managerial prerogative?; what will be the impact on the employability of the employees?; how does the European Works Council relate to the European Company Statute?; how will the presence of employees' representatives in the supervisory board of the companies be organised?; how will the Directive be implemented in the EU member states?; and how much room is there for national employment systems in implementing the directives? In his analysis, Professor Blanpain shows that European law-makers are now answering these questions, aiming at clarity and coherence in their definitions (especially in the European Company Statute) of such terms as "involvement," "consultation," "information," and "participation," although they are careful to leave the notion of managerial prerogative intact. The legal texts and penetrating commentary in the book galvanize the notions and concepts that surround this important issue.

Because labour and social security issues have arisen in many disparate ways since the inception of the European Communities, there has been no consistent classification of European law in this area. This book attempts to rectify that situation, presenting as complete a codification as possible of this body of law, with texts of the most important documents and direct reference to print and online sources of all relevant conventions, regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and agreements. The codification encompasses European Union texts on labour and social security, as well as pertinent Council of Europe documents.

Inevitably, numerous international regulations and conventions pertaining to labour and social security have followed in the wake of the onrush of economic globalization, greatly augmenting the considerable legal regime developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) during the mid and late twentieth century. This book presents as complete and up-to-date a codification as possible of international labour and social security law, with texts of the most important documents and direct reference to print and online sources of all relevant conventions, regulations, recommendations, agreements, declarations and guidelines. The codification encompasses all pertinent promulgations of the UN, the ILO, the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA), and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Among the texts reprinted in full are the following: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN); International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (UN); International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (UN); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (UN); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (UN); Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN); Constitution of the ILO; ILO Conventions covering such issues as forced labour, employment of children, maternity, protection against unemployment, freedom of association and protection of the right to organise and to bargain collectively, vocational guidance and training, and employment of indigenous peoples; ILO Conventions protecting workers against such workplace hazards as ionising radiation, carcinogenic substances and agents, air pollution, noise and vibration; Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises (ILO); Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (ILO); North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation; and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Far from settling into a recognizable pattern, the employment relationship spawned by globalization and communications technology continues to evolve. If the labour law and industrial relations community are to retain expertise and social utility in their vital role, constant monitoring of the field and discussion is essential. It was to further this purpose that the Club of Labour Law Journals held a conference in Brussels in April 2001, under the auspices of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium and the Society for Social and International Cooperation. This book is the record of that significant conference. The presentations and discussion proceed along four main avenues: the "battle for the brains", the impact of atypical work arrangements, the concept of employability, and the online rights of workers. Important questions addressed include: do globalization and high technology necessarily go hand in hand?; which skills increase employability?; what are the social factors of employability?; are contingent and partly dependent workers protected in a fair way?; to what degree can the employment contract be stabilized?; how can we tackle the erosion of social security provisions?; to what extent should intra-company electronic resources be regulated?; and what is the relation between employers and illegal immigrants?

Since the onset of globalization, protective labour legislation has been deeply eroded throughout the industrialized world. In its place we have a plethora of new employment phenomena such as flexible work time, temporary work services, decentralization of collective bargaining, private fee-charging employment placement services - a wide variety of arrangements in which employers and individual workers reach mutual agreement with little or no reliance on legal norms of government regulation. What are the dimensions and implications of this trend? And how should we go about ensuring the continuing effectiveness of labour law as an instrument of social ordering? These important questions drew a group of prominent labour law scholars from eight major developed countries to the Fifth Japan Institute of Labour (JIL) Comparative Labour Law Seminar in Tokyo in November 1998. Each participant presented papers and engaged in group discussion on the following topics: changes in labour market regulations, such as abolition of state-monopolized employment placement services and deregulation of fixed-term contracts; trends in individual labour relations, such as working hour flexibilization and expansion of derogation toward individual consent; and developments in collective labour relations, such as the movements from centralized bargaining to company- or plant-level bargaining and from trade unions to works councils. This book is the record of this seminar. Its analysis and conclusions should be useful to any practitioner, policymaker or academic interested in using available means to ensure the persistence of our commitment to high standards in labour relations. It is an integrated starting point from which to proceed toward a new labour law concept positively adapted to the socio-economic realities of the modern world.

The role of state or the function of labour law during industrialization in Asian countries is of utmost importance when examining how Asian labour laws differ from European or American labour law models and whether or not any common characteristics exist in Asian labour law. The seven national reports (Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan) included in this volume provide an overview of the regulation of union organization, collective bargaining, and industrial disputes. These reports also analyze the role of government in industrial relations in the course of economic development. In regulations on formation of labour unions, some countries, such as Japan, have the least government intervention whereas other countries, for example Korea and Taiwan, have experienced more direct government control through imposition of certain forms of labour unions or registration requirements and procedures. The same applies to regulations on collective bargaining and industrial disputes. For instance, in Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia violation of collective agreements is not only sanctioned by civil liability but is also criminally punished. A review of the national reports reveals that while diversity in labour laws exists in the Asian countries represented, the significant role of government in labour relations is widely recognized. Whether the government's significant role in industrial relations in Asian countries is a transitional phenomena which takes place during economic development and maturity of democracy, or whether Asian labour law is heading for a new labour law model which differs from the western model, should be further examined. The national papers in this volume provide fundamental information on current labour laws in Asian countries and on comparable characteristics in western labour law models.

Covering significant European legislation passed in the late-1990s, this text starts with the European Works Council Directive of 22nd December 1994 and ends with the Treaty of Amsterdam presented in June 1997.

A comparative overview of the ongoing changes in the legal regulation of industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe. It discusses the transformation and development taking place in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

This is a study of the institutional changes which the Treaty of Amsterdam brought to the European structure, on the one hand, and the provisions regarding social policy and employment which are contained in the new chapters of the Treaty, on the other hand. Four of the five contributions focus on the social policy of the European Union and the European Community. It was essential to include a chapter regarding the institutional changes which have occurred as the social provisions in the Treaty are carried out via institutional structures, as are other aspects of European policy. This book concludes with an index and several annexes, including the consolidated version of the treaties establishing the European Union and the European Community, and the presidency conclusions of the Council Summit meetings at Amsterdam and Luxembourg regarding social policy and employment.

The workers in modern businesses face growing pressure as they attempt to combine their work with a family life and its associated responsibilities. This is a relevant issue in many countries, but the approaches taken by governments, trades unions and employers' organizations show a great variety. This text includes seven national reports, representing a wide spectrum of approaches and measures. A review of the national reports reveals the variety of national approaches. In many cases, measures such as flexible working hours and part-time working have been adopted without the specific intention of facilitating working and family life, but the result has nevertheless been beneficial in this area. Other countries have made the harmonization of work and family life the hallmark of their labour relations systems.

Even in countries which regard themselves as model democracies such as The United States of America the situation at the workplace may be entirely different with regard to the basic freedoms and equal treatment. In the USA, which is a genuine democracy in a political sense, the importance which is attached to democratic values is not always apparent in the codes of conduct in American enterprises and organizations. The degree to which democratic notions are put into practice in the industrial world is the basic theme of this 28th Bulletin entitled Employee Rights and Industrial justice. In the introductory chapter by Jacques Rojot the significance of the central theme, ethics in human resource management in the 1990s, its philosophical and practical meaning, as viewed from different perspectives, is discussed. This introduction is followed by general observations and points of view on the issue of employee rights and its ethical foundations. Hoyt N. Wheeler treats the subject of employee rights from the human rights perspective, while George E. Ogle, for instance, discusses its religious dimension. The third and last part of Employee Rights and Industrial Justice is devoted to the situation and views which exist in different countries and the differences and similarities that may exist between them. The article, by Frank M. Horwitz, for instance, treats the current situation in South Africa, with regard to democracy in industry and in the political system. Other interesting topics include nonunion grievance procedures and due process in the workplace.

Collected in this volume are papers presented at an international symposium in comparative industrial relations held in Bologna on 11 January 1991, organized by SINNEA, research and training institute, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University. Key issues such as collective bargaining, health and safety matters, dismissal law and atypical labour are discussed in a comparative perspective in connection with the working environment of the small and medium-sized enterprises.

An overview of the criteria of the existence of an employment relationship in ten countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands and New Zealand. In each of these countries, the legal nature of work arrangement is of major importance.

Workers' participation continues to be an important and much debated, even contested, subject in industrial relations and human resource management. It is also a topic which evolves as the labour force becomes more educated, the economy more international and technology more advanced. It remains a culturaly inspired issue as the prevalent system of workers' participation in any given country abundantly reflects underlying societal and social values, which make each system, or the lack thereof, a unique experience and happening. This book is mainly based on country reports (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Poland, the Netherlands, the USSR and the United States), giving a wealth of information. It focuses on the private sector and in this context it presents the story of Poland and the USSR at their initial steps in the privatization of parts of their economies.

Social justice and the market economy often seem to be on a collision course. Human dignity and equal treatment are of little commodity value. More and more, however, labour law theorists are insisting that, without more serious attention to human rights in the workplace, the dominance of market-driven economics will continue to engender grave and potentially explosive social problems. This collection of essays -- composed in honour of the leading labour law and social security jurist Ruth Ben-Israel -- offers incisive perspectives on this vital aspect of today's post-industrial society. Featuring the most recent views of a virtual who's who of major labour law authorities, the book includes in-depth analyses of such important aspects of the field as the following: + workplace representation; + safety and health at work; + labour conflicts; + labour courts; + the ILO supervisory system; + right to strike; + employee privacy; + enterprise reorganisation; and + treatment of blue collar vs. white collar workers. All issues are treated from a comparative legal viewpoint, with valuable contributions from Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel, and Japan. Ruth Ben-Israel is notable for her commitment -- as teacher, writer, and international advisor - to the continuity and expansion of social justice as the welfare state has increasingly succumbed to the pressure of the corporate-driven global economic model. Her extensive body of work emphasizes collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts, workers' participation, equal employment opportunity (especially for women), and unfair dismissal. Labour Law, Human Rights and Social Justice is a faithful and fitting tribute from her colleagues to her determination and eloquence in pursuing this most worthy of goals.

This volume contains the lectures given by prominent civil servants and representatives of the "International Employers' Association" (IOE) and the "International Confederation of Free Trade Unions" to law students from various European countries at the occasion of their visit to the "International Labour Organization". The purpose of these lectures is to expand on the major problems the ILO, as the social conscience of the world, will be confronted with in the next century. These lectures open a panorama of worldwide trends, which will co-determine the future outlook of our societies. The "Geneva Lectures" deal with following important topics: the world of work; the informal economy; globalization and the confrontation it involves; the future of the trade union movement; the role of the employer's associations; the ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work (1998), child labour; international labour standards and the codes of conduct of multinational enterprises. They give the reader an insight in the world of tomorrow and how one of the leading international bodies reflects on how to deal with them.