KluwerLawOnline.com - International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/toc.php?pubcode=ijcl en-gb Tue, 21 May 2013 21:01:07 -0500 Tue, 21 May 2013 21:01:07 -0500 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Editorial http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013008 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations
  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Part of Volume 29, Issue 2
  • Authors
    • Mia Rönnmar
  • Journal International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations
  • Online ISSN 0952-617X
  • Print ISSN 0952-617X
    • ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013008     Guest Editorial http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013009 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations
  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Part of Volume 29, Issue 2
  • Authors
    • William Brown
    • Chang Kai
  • Journal International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations
  • Online ISSN 0952-617X
  • Print ISSN 0952-617X
    • ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013009     Legitimacy and the Legal Regulation of Strikes in China: A Case Study of the Nanhai Honda Strike http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013010 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations The article analyses approaches to legitimacy and the legal regulation of strikes in China in the context of rising levels of collective disputes and collective action. The right to strike, as a fundamental human right, has been recognized in principle and embodied in Chinese law. But the relevant legislation is not yet clear or sufficient. Strikes are not illegal in China, and the penalties to which those who organize strikes are liable arise from inappropriate application of the law, or are not based in law. Drawing on the experience of the 2010 Nanhai Honda strike, it is argued that dealing with strikes in the current legal framework should follow the principles of rational treatment and legal resolution.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013010     Myth and Reality of the Right to Strike as a ‘Fundamental Labour Right’ http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013011 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations This article addresses the right to strike in the context of recent developments in China. The matter is discussed through the medium of developments at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2012 where the existence of the right to strike was questioned by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) in highly confrontational and controversial circumstances, in the process presenting a major political challenge to the ILO supervisory bodies and their very survival. It is argued here that the IOE claims are greatly exaggerated, that the position of the ILO supervisory bodies is easily defended, and that the behaviour of the IOE presents a serious threat to the rule of law. The article concludes with some brief reflections on the implications of the foregoing for the right to strike in China.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013011     A Potential Roadmap towards Workplace Fairness in China: With Some Lessons from the US Experience http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013012 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations The article outlines key principles for workplace dispute resolution that are consistent with continued economic advance of China's labour market and employment relations. An account is given of recent experience in the US with mediation, arbitration and advanced forms of negotiations. The article then discusses the opportunity offered by pressures on labour standards from external corporate responsibility codes. It suggests venues for experimenting with these processes in Chinese employment. It concludes by emphasizing the need to develop the skills and capabilities needed by managers, worker representatives and third-party neutrals to implement and support these dispute resolution processes.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013012     The Ending of Unauthorized Strikes in the West: Some Policy Implications for China http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013013 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations Unauthorized strikes were a common feature of the private sectors of many Western economies in the third quarter of the twentieth century. They largely disappeared during the fourth quarter. At a time when such strikes are an increasing issue in China, the article considers why they ceased to be such in the West, using evidence from Britain. It discusses the nature of unauthorized or 'wildcat' strikes and argues that several factors caused them to fade away. Pressures of increased product market competition forced management to gain closer control over the conduct of work and payment systems. Trade unions restructured themselves to cope better with workplace bargaining, before declining in influence. Government increased the procedural constraints on workplace strikes and created an independent third-party intervention service. The article concludes with policy implications.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013013     Crisis in the ILO Supervisory System: Dispute over the Right to Strike http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013014 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations The International Labour Organization (ILO) has a well-oiled supervisory system for obligations under the Constitution and Conventions, but one of the tripartite partners is attempting to change the way the system has worked for over ninety years. This has implications beyond the ILO itself, and may compromise some aspects of settled human rights law. The Employers' Group in the ILO are claiming that the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations is interpreting the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention in a way prohibited by the ILO Constitution, and the employers consequently blocked discussion of any cases of individual application of Conventions in the 2012 International Labour Conference. The employers are also claiming a right of the Conference to review and approve or disapprove the findings of the Committee of Experts, which has no basis in the mandates of the two committees. A temporary compromise has been found to allow work to go forward at the 2013 Conference, but this is short term. Behind all this lies a challenge by the employers to the content of the right to strike in international law, and an attempt to separate ILO supervision from the practice in the wider United Nations (UN) system. This article examines the claims of the Employers, finding them misplaced and exaggerated, and contrary to normal international supervisory practice in the ILO and the United Nations, and suggests ways forward.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013014     Employee Know-How, Non-compete Clauses and Job Mobility across Civil and Common Law Systems http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013015 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations The law relating to trade secrets and to enforcement of non-compete and confidentiality clauses in the post-termination phase impacts on the ability of employees to find new employment and to use knowledge accumulated in previous employment when they do. This article compares the approaches in select common law and civil law jurisdictions to these areas of law. The law is complex, not harmonized and often unpredictable, and a number of significant policy goals come into conflict. The article concludes that while calls for restricting non-competes have merit, they should be assessed in the context of the contiguous laws concerning other contractual clauses and trade secrets.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013015     Has Australia’s Road to Workplace Partnership Reached a Dead End? http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013016 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations Over the last fifteen years, a number of developed countries have pursued an agenda seeking to develop more collaborative management-union arrangements often labelled as partnerships. This article reviews the Australian road to partnerships by situating it within the context of developments in the UK and New Zealand. In 2009, Australia's then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, suggested that Australian Industrial Relations were about to undergo a shift towards a new model of workplace interaction that included more collaboration and partnerships. We argue that rather than a substantial shift, this approach can be viewed as an evolution from the Accord years, disrupted for a period by the Howard Government. However, unlike similar regulatory regimes in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the Australian Government has done little to entrench a system of partnerships at the workplace level. This article assesses the extent to which collaboration and partnership in Australia's modern IR system provides a roadmap to a new Australian IR landscape, or whether the failure of policy-makers to act has led to a dead-end for Australian partnerships. The practical implications of this agenda for the conduct of industrial relations are considered.

    • Content Type Journal Article
    • Part of Volume 29, Issue 2
    • Authors
      • Keith Townsend, School of Management, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
      • Adrian Wilkinson, School of Management, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
      • John Burgess, School of Management, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
      • Kerry Brown, School of Management, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
    • Journal International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations
    • Online ISSN 0952-617X
    • Print ISSN 0952-617X
    ]]>     Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/IJCL2013016