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Articles on Trade unions

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Students take part in protests in support of the university pensions strikes. PA

Why workers go on strike

A strike around a specific employment issue can easily develop a momentum of its own and become a catalyst for a much wider expression of dissatisfaction.
The first Labor Day was hardly a national holiday. Workers had to strike to celebrate it. Frank Leslie's Weekly Illustrated Newspaper's September 16, 1882

Have we forgotten the true meaning of Labor Day?

The holiday began as a strike against excessive workweeks but now bears little resemblance to its worker-centric origins, even as the founders’ gains are slowly lost.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, the country’s largest trade union federation, has been losing members. REUTERS/Rogan Ward

Has South Africa’s labour movement become a middle class movement?

The membership base of South Africa’s trade union movement has undergone significant changes which begs the question: has it moved away from its working class roots to become a middle class movement.
Stable food prices are a central issue for South Africa’s Reserve Bank. But should it be doing more to protect the poor? Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

South Africa needs a sensible debate about its Reserve Bank. Here’s a start

There’s a raging debate in South Africa about the role of its central bank. This is inevitable given that so much is changing in the world of central banking and in economic life.
Despite public perception, figures indicate that white collar workers are more likely to be a member of a union than people working in traditionally blue collar professions. Shutterstock

Three charts on: the changing face of Australian union members

Union membership continues to fall, particularly within industries that traditionally claim a strong union heritage.
Delegates at the launch of the South African Federation of Trade Unions. The Star/Nokuthula Mbatha

South Africa has a new trade union federation. Can it break the mould?

South Africa’s newest trade union federation, Saftu, comes at a time of declining political influence by unions, compared to during the struggle against apartheid. They are also seen as elitist.
The Hawke Labor government had a strong incentive to seek a new approach to industrial relations when it came to office. National Archives of Australia

Australian politics explainer: the Prices and Incomes Accord

The Prices and Incomes Accord was a series of agreements between Labor and the ACTU where unions would moderate their wage demands in exchange for improvements in the ‘social wage’.

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