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Articles on Trade unions

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A demonstrator holds a placard reading “Macron, no no no no, 49,3 times no”, a reference to a French law that would allow the country’s president to pass pension reform without a vote in the National Assembly. Christophe Simon/AFP

Debate: The forward march of labour restarts with historic strikes in France and the UK

While the scale of the strikes in both countries is historic, a scholar in employer relations notes the legislative conditions framing industrial action in the UK are much more restrictive.
Workers such as these Starbucks employees in St. Anthony, Minn., increasingly went on strike in 2022. Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Worker strikes and union elections surged in 2022 – could it mark a turning point for organized labor?

Workers have filed the most union petitions since 2015 and the number of strikes have surged, but whether this turns into a sustained increase in membership rates is still unclear.
Unionised RMT staff standing at a picket outside Euston station back in October. Mark Kerrison / Alamy Stock Photo

Strikes: how do they work?

From unions and ballots to picket-lines and sympathy strikes.
London’s Oxford Circus Underground station closes as the biggest nationwide rail strike in 30 years hits the UK. ZUMA Press Inc | Alamy

What trade unions do and what joining one means

Workers, particularly at the beginning of their careers, don’t know their rights in the workplace, and often fear asserting them.
House painter Emanuel Chisiya and other jobseekers wait for casual jobs work offers on the side of a road in Cape Town. EPA-EFE/Nic Bothma

Why formal employment is not a guaranteed path to social equality

Many formal sector jobs are increasingly precarious and poorly paid, meaning that formal work is not an avenue to greater social equality for many people.

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