Response Paper 2
In the article - Social Justice & the Global Economy, Pranab Bardhan examines whether social justice can survive the predatory onslaught of globalization? According to him, all is not lost, and much is within our grasp, even though globalization poses a compelling threat towards achieving equity and social justice. I wish to take some of the cogent points raised by him further in their scope.
Loss of Collective Bargaining and Role of Globalization in facilitating exploitation of workers
According to Henry Sumner Maine , progressive societies are moving from status towards contract, and progress entails that the movement of individuals become free of the constraints imposed by state territoriality. The feudal lords in England
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Due to the labor being stranded whilst industry takes frequent flights, unionism is in stark decline. It brought the end of collective bargaining, as the capitalist found shutting operations and moving somewhere else easier than engaging with collective bargaining.
Since the 1990s the Supreme Court of India, bizarrely somersaulted the entire labor jurisprudence by introducing structural adjustment and disregarding workers rights. In T.K Rangarajan v. State of Tamil Nadu , in this per Incuriam decision the Supreme Court took away the right to strike from government employees, thus snatching the most powerful weapon of collective bargaining. Previously, labor jurisprudence of the Supreme Court was oriented towards protecting the rights of workers, and had held that right to collective bargaining is guaranteed to government employees. (Bangalore Water Supply v.
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The multi-national elite has seized for itself all privileges to create and innovate at the expense of the developing countries, who can no longer access the information and technology necessary to alleviate the suffering and privations of their citizens. The developing world has become the consumer of information, technology, drugs and research. It has become a market for the developed world. The law of intellectual property which is meant to incentivize innovation has been turned into a system of retarding innovation by perpetrating monopolies and a protectionist business
Tensions between union supporters and management began mounting in the years preceding the strike. In April of 1994, the International Union led a three-week strike against major tracking companies in the freight hauling industry in attempts to stop management from creating $9 per hour part-time positions. This would only foreshadow battles to come between management and union. Later, in 1995, teamsters mounted an unprecedented national union campaign in attempts to defeat the labor-management “cooperation” scheme that UPS management tried to establish in order to weaken the union before contract talks (Witt, Wilson). This strike was distinguished from other strikes of recent years in that it was an offensive strike, not a defensive one. It was a struggle in which the union was prepared, fought over issues which it defined, and one which relied overwhelmingly on the efforts of the members themselves (http://www.igc.org/dbacon/Strikes/07ups.htm).
Which necessitated Qantas’ negotiating of workplace agreements, grievance procedures and tribunals to resolve employee demands. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) was pursuing for ground staff, a 10% wage rise over the next 2 years (increase in remuneration), for third party labour providers be controlled and restricted (job security) and to be internally retrained to expand employees’ skills (employment conditions) [1]. Negotiations for this failed immediately as both parties couldn’t agree on a balance between worker satisfaction and business objectives. As Qantas only offered a 3% wage increase over the next year, and a 2% increase for the next 2 years [4]. This resulted in the TWU flagging a nationwide strike for 2 hours, as they deemed their demands a necessity to cope with the every changing domestic economic conditions. “We 're not here to piss people off, we 're here to keep the people on side but they need to understand our plight- Qantas are stonewalling us” stated TWU spokesman Mick Piere [4] as ground staff at Qantas demanded for : greater maintenance of employment i.e. salaries and on-costs, work within the business and for non-dismissal of human resources. Which workers need in order
David Brody argues that the rise of contractual or collective bargaining relationships during the post WWII era formalized the relationship between employers and unions, but simultaneously began to put a break on shop floor activism. Explain Brody’s argument and, where relevant, incorporate Weber’s theory of bureaucracy.
strikes turned very bad with deaths and injuries. Having unions were good in some views
“Globalization contributes to sustainable prosperity for all people”. This quote contains mostly truth but there are also many arguments towards how globalization really does contribute to sustainable prosperity for people all around the world. This can be supported by three main points. How the rise of Japan’s economy effected the lives of millions of people. How shipwrecking effects the lives of both the ship companies and the workers in Bangladesh, and how economic growth contributes to the sustainable prosperity of the population in a specific nation. Sustainable prosperity can be defined differently from different individuals because of people’s personal opinions and their perspective is also effected by the people who influence their lives the most, but the main definition of prosperity is to have good fortune, or growth in an economic way. Globalization creates a gateway for sustainable prosperity to all people and gives people all around the world the opportunity to gain prosperity.
The rise of industrial age led to the rise of industrial factory systems. As the industries grew larger as well as the workplace, it required more employees. As the employees grew in the workplace, their relationship with the employer became less personal hence individuals lost power. (History of Labor Unions Summary & Analysis, 2014) emphasizes that there was little to nothing an individual could do to pressure a large industrial business to increase his/ hers wages or shorten his/hers hours or provide a better working environment. The increasing migrants in Australia during the 1960’s continually replenished the supply of unskilled workers making it difficult for any employee to attain any leverage in negotiations with their employers. This led to employee’s embracement of collective action which then led to the rise of unions. According to (Burchielli, R 2006) Unions are seen as the power house of employees in the workplace, their role was to give employee a collective bargaining with their employers for better working environment, better wages and benefits such as paid leave. However union membership have decreased over the last couple of decades, according to (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2013) in 1986 46 % of employees were members of trade unions by 2007 the figures have dropped to only 19%. There...
To conclude this analysis on the basis of the labor’s extensive history, Sloane & Witney (2010) propose, “it is entirely possible that labor’s remarkable staying power has been because of the simple fact that to many workers, from the nineteenth century to the present, there really has been no acceptable substitute for collective bargaining as a means of maintaining and improving employment conditions” (p.80). In the end, it is important to anticipate unions and employers presently work together to find solutions that will enhance collective bargaining strategies and practices to serve the interest of both parties.
Theories of global distributive justice address the following sorts of questions. Should we feel morally concerned about the large gap between the developing countries and the developed countries? What duty do us citizens have to provide assistance to the global poor? And what scale should we take the duties to?
Labor Unions have been around for since the 1750’s. A union is “ a legally constituted group of individuals working together to achieve shared, job- related goals, including higher pay and shorting working hours ( Denisi Griffin 2015)”. Labor unions work with the employees to get the rights that they believe they deserve. The three laws that impacted unions was the Wagner Act of 1935, the Taft-Hartly Act, passed in 1947 and the Landrum Griffin Act of 1959. The Wagner Act was passed to help put unions “on equal footing as managers for rights of employees” (Denisi, Griffin, pg. 246). This law help to set up National Labor Relations Act and helps to administrate union laws. The Taft-Hartly Act of 1947 was passed to “limit union practices ( Denisi, Griffin, pg. 247) “and it also outlawed “closed shop (
Unions have weakened because of the nationwide attention on local fights. Because of this, unions have to pick their fights carefully, and public rapport will go down if a strike is not tied to a legitimate issue of moderation. On the other hand, Source #2 states that the unions are increasingly feeling that
On the other hand, opponents question if the benefits of globalization compensate the created downsides. In their opinion, globalization has manifested unemployment, poverty and marginalization. Additionally, it has been one of the key drivers ...
Social Justice to me means that everyone has the same opportunity to experience life in such a way that they can have all their needs met and feel fulfilled as people. This may sound really simple, but it is actually a very complex idea that I am going to try to break apart and try to explain here. The first part is everynone. When I say everyone, I mean every person in existence. Whether they are a citizen of the United States, a refugee from Syria, or an astronaut, no longer in the atmosphere. In essence, everyone counts. Second is opportunity. Opportunity is the set of circumstances that make an outcome available and the ability to capitalize on those circumstances. Third is experiencing life. This refers to the ability to move through their life from beginning to end with the freedom and agency to make educated choices about things that affect them. The final part is having needs met and feeling fulfilled. This is probably the most difficult one to explain effectively. To illustrate this idea I look to Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. I assert that in a socially just society everyone should have their needs met starting with the most basic (the ones on the bottom) to the most
Just imagine waking up in squalor, a once prominent society, now a desolate wasteland. All because foreign interest has raped your land of its natural resources and you seen not a cent in profit. Although, globalization is unifying the worlds developed nations and is bringing commerce to nations that have struggle in past years. True, globalization has many positive effects but do the pros outweigh the cons. In this essay I will discuss Globalization ruining the integrity of many countries and also is forcing many undeveloped nations into a bind, and is causing economic distress on some developed nations. Also, due to economic globalization the nations of the world are diluting their culture, sovereignty, natural resources, safety and political system. My goal is not to change your way of thought, but only to enlighten you of the negatives of global economic expansion.
The laws and regulations surrounding Industrial Relations since the 1900’s have, at each reform, placed tighter constraints on the amount of power unions are able to exert. The reforms have also radically increased managerial prerogative, through an increased use of individual bargaining, contracts and restrictions imposed on unions (Bray and Waring, 2006). Bray and W...
Globalization, love it or hate it, but you can’t escape it. Globalization may be regarded as beneficial from an economic and business point of view, but however cannot be perceived the ditto when examined from the social sciences and humanities side of it. Globalization can be argued as a tool for economic growth, advancement and prosperity through co-operation between the developed and developing countries. The pro-globalization critics argue that the benefits that globalization brings to developing nations surpasses or outcasts the negative impacts caused by globalization and may even go a step further to state that it is the only source of hope for developing nations to prosper and stand out. However, the real question to be asked is as to what extent are the positives argued upon without taking into account the negative aspects of globalization towards developing countries. Moreover, how many developing countries out of many are exactly benefiting or even prospering from globalization is another question to consider. Therefore, my paper will dispute that indeed growth and advancement provided by globalization to developing countries is beneficial in short-term, but in the long-run, it will only bring upon negative impacts and challenges due to the obstacles involved such as exploitation of labour and resources, higher increase in poverty, and effects of multi-national corporations on local businesses and the economy, and to an extent the effects on the developing country itself.