Report Of The Seminar On Trade Union Freedom

Achieving the goal of decent work for all--in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity--is possible only if employees can actively participate in the process. This global report emphasizes the need for a conducive environment to facilitate collective bargaining and conflict resolution, wellfunctioning labor administration, and strong workers' and employers' organizations. The report identifies positive developments in freedom of association, such as initiatives promoting that freedom due to growing economic integration. It also describes the restrictions and interference that representative organizations face from the challenges posed by structural and technological changes and globalization. Finally, it describes the ILO response to these challenges through technical cooperation and assistance to member states and outlines a plan of action for the next four years.

Organizing Matters demonstrates the interplay between two distinct logics of labour’s collective action: on the one hand, workers coming together, usually at their place of work, entrusting the union to represent their interests and, on the other hand, social bargaining in which the trade union constructs labour’s interests from the top down. The book investigates the tensions and potential complementarities between the two logics through the combination of a strong theoretical framework and an extensive qualitative case study of trade union organizing and recruitment in four countries – Austria, Germany, Israel and the Netherlands. These countries still utilize social-wide bargaining but find it necessary to draw and develop strategies transposed from Anglo-American countries in response to continuously declining membership.