Manajemen | Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji 2004 31
BOOK REVIEWS
MOVING TOWARDS THE VIRTUAL WORKPLACE: MANAGERIAL
SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVES ON TELEWORK
AND
By Viviane Illegems and Alain Verbeke. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham,
2003, xvii + 253 pp., £60 (hardback)
Since the 1970s, telework has been seen as a potential means of liberation for
people from one key aspect of the daily grind—the commute to and from work.
And for readers of this journal Illegems and Verbeke offer a distinctive take on
telework, as they present telework as a policy tool, as opposed to road pricing,
to manage the externalities of work-related travel. They offer this approach as
telework can be a way of saving energy by substituting electronic communication
for physical communication. A book—as opposed to a journal article—affords
them the space in which to review in depth existing global research, as well as
present in detail their survey data collected from one European city.
At the outset the authors acknowledge that telework is a nebulous concept,
but for the authors telework means (paid) work from home, a satellite office, a
telework centre or any other work station outside the main office for at least one
day per week. Some sort of communications technology is used to substitute for
work-related travel, but it need not be continuous, on-line communication (page
20). Their particular focus on telework is for employees (as opposed to the selfemployed); thus, their perspective on telework is different to many others, who
focus on the self-employed. With Illegems and Verbeke focusing on employees,
the decision to become a teleworker is dependent upon the introduction of a
telework policy, and for each worker a joint decision has to be made. The joint
decision involves at least two actors (employee and employer); their joint approval
is a necessary condition for telework adoption. But the actors in this decision
may well not be truly equal partners. Crucially, the authors acknowledge that
telework is a social construct, not a technology, and as a consequence, forecasting
is extremely difficult. The degree of uptake of telework does vary from country to
country and also depends on the nature of capitalism, and cultural attitudes and
mores.
While I have been writing this review I have teleworked. I have used my networked laptop from two locations, my office at home and my second office at the
university, as well as in a third space; a space of mobility on the train (see Auge M,
Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermobility. London: Verso, 1995).
I have undertaken a number of journeys to attend meetings in London and so,
like many other travellers, the railway compartment has been my mobile office.
Thus, as a teleworker myself, along with many readers of this journal, we can draw
on our ‘lived experience’ as we reflect on the arguments presented in Moving Towards the Virtual Workplace. There is a second reason for my particular interest
THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, VOL. 46, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2004, 459--471
460
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
in the book, and this is because of current UK transport policy, which involves
road pricing (during 2003, congestion charging was introduced in cities such as
London and Durham) and in 2006 the city in which I live—Nottingham—will be
the first city in the UK to introduce a workplace parking levy. It is against this
background that I review this book.
Illegems and Verbeke examine telework as an alternative to the commute, and
present the advantages and disadvantages of telework, from three perspectives:
employers; employees; and society at large, embracing the micro and the macro
level. Second, they draw on empirical research to explore where policy makers and
employers should attempt to implement telework (which sectors of the economy,
which jobs, and which employees). Third, they look at what is the most effective
way to implement telework. Finally, the authors explore which policy tools are
the most appropriate for supporting telework implementation.
The arguments presented in the book are constructed in five core chapters.
In chapter 2, the focus is on work-related travel, with analysis undertaken at the
macro level. The authors examine societal problems associated with work-related
travel, with travel presented as an externality—a type of market failure—which
forms two concepts drawn from economics. Transport systems produce large externalities (accidents, environment and congestion costs) and road pricing is one
of the most common solutions to manage road transport externalities. The authors argue that one reason for promoting telework is that commuters account
for about 40 per cent of vehicular traffic; therefore, telework can offer employers
and employees an additional travel ‘choice’, that is, non-travel. A further 10 per
cent of intra-city traffic is for business activities, such as meetings that need faceto-face contact. In chapter 3, the focus shifts to an examination of the barriers to
implementing telework from the perspective of the employer and the employee. A
conceptual framework is presented which combines individual choice models with
an analysis of the ‘environment’ which, for Illegems and Verbeke, has three key
dimensions: the technological environment; the institutional environment; and
the organisational environment (page 29). But for an individual, their decision to
telework will not only depend on the technological, institutional and organisational environments but also on his/her own situation, perceptions and attitudes,
including household situation (presence of other household members and size of
living space). Not all jobs are ‘suited’ to telework, and the lived experience of
teleworkers depends on the nature of their job, the nature of their employment
contract and their gender (page 41).
In the following chapter, Illegems and Verbeke proceed to present empirical evidence to test the environmental aspects of their conceptual framework,
by drawing on a survey of 83 organisations based in Brussels, Belgium. They
begin with a thorough review of the perceived advantages and disadvantages of
telework, and then present the empirical evidence from the Brussels employers’
survey. Of the 83 organisations, 19 had already implemented telework, and all
expressed a desire to implement telework on a larger scale in the future. A further
20 other organisations suggested they would start implementing telework in the
near future. Their survey of the 83 organisations led to a number of insights into
the environmental drivers of—and barriers to—telework implementation. They
BOOK REVIEWS
461
concluded that at present, telework is mainly determined by an awareness of and
openness to the concept, the presence of a coordination and control mechanism
which is output-oriented, experience with flexible work hours, and activities in the
knowledge-based economy. With regard to the expansion of teleworking three
key factors were identified. These were an awareness of the concept, a flexible
hours culture and the availability of electronic communication. Human resource
managers of those organisations yet to implement telework tended to have a more
pessimistic view of the disadvantages of telework, and believed that the barriers
could not be overcome by diffusion of examples of best practice.
In chapter 5, the authors empirically apply the individual-level components of
their conceptual framework to the city of Brussels by examining the advantages
and disadvantages of telework from an employee’s point of view. They draw
on a second survey (of 231 employees from 16 organisations) which includes
organisations that have already introduced telework, those planning to introduce
telework and those not intending to introduce it. Although they present an array
of statistical data they are able to bring the analysis into the realm of personal
dilemmas, and they acknowledge that an employee considering telework faces a
complex set of advantages and disadvantages. The employees’ own personality and
particular life situation will affect the relative weights assigned to the advantages
and disadvantages. For example, the flexibility to schedule work around childcare,
gender roles and gender ideologies in the workplace and at home.
A choice model is generated that describes the main determinants of present
telework adoption. This model embraces a number of key explanatory variables,
such as use of a car, the consideration of the personal implications of telework
as an available option, and holding a clerical function. Through the model the
authors are able to generate evidence to show that telework has a potential effectiveness as a policy tool for alleviating road transport externalities (page 182). And
like previous surveys, those employees surveyed who were interested in teleworking one or more days per week had longer commutes (time and distance) than
conventional workers. The authors also acknowledge that the average length of
commute increases with an employee’s position in the hierarchy—the commuting
trip of an executive is 1.8 times longer than that of a clerical worker.
In conclusion, this is a clearly written book, which argues that telework will be
increasingly adopted in the twenty-first century, representing a far-reaching move
to the virtual workplace, with implications for industrial relations and for society
at large. As one key focus of the book is on the implications for organisations it
has the potential to be a useful resource for readers of this journal. But it should
be noted that many writers on telework focus on the self-employed, as opposed
to employees, which the authors of this book do not.
NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
IRENE HARDILL
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN CHINA
By Bill Taylor, Chang Kai and Li Qi. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham,
2003, x + 267 pp., £60 (hardback)
462
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
The three authors have written the best and most comprehensive book on China’s
industrial relations to date. It is the product of a fruitful collaboration between a
Western academic, Bill Taylor, and two Chinese experts on Chinese labour issues
(a former staff member at the official Chinese trade union federation’s training
institute, and a professor of labour economics at a Chinese business school). Although there is a large body of literature published by Chinese labour experts,
these are barely known outside China, especially because they tend to be very
applied, not too scholarly, and mostly written from the perspective of the official
trade union body; the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). Yet they
are still informative and can be critical of China’s current labour conditions, as
well as giving a sense of the internal debates that go on inside the ACFTU. In this
book, Taylor and his colleagues are able to combine Taylor’s Western-oriented
labour relations training and this inside-China perspective to produce a readable
and informative book for a Western readership.
The book is well organised, consisting of two parts. Part I deals with institutional arrangements, and includes a chapter each on the role of the government,
enterprises and managers, and workers and trade unions. In short, this part covers the main actors in China’s industrial relations. Part II covers the industrial
relations processes and contains three chapters on: participation, labour conflict
and settlement, and collective contracts. What is interesting about the book’s
structure is the authors’ emphasis on the role of the government, which is reemphasised in the concluding chapter. Few studies on Chinese labour issues pay
much attention to the role of the state as represented by the Ministry of Labour
and Social Security. The critics of the abysmal labour conditions that can be found
at many factories in China tend to direct attacks at the ACFTU and the Chinese
Communist Party, what the authors call ‘CCP-bashing’. In contrast, Taylor et al.
argue that there is no alternative but to rely on the Chinese state and the official
union federation to rectify labour-rights violations.
Even those familiar with Chinese labour issues will be able to find new material in each of the chapters. The most interesting is chapter 6 on ‘Participation’. It describes the system of employees’ representative congresses that entitles
state-enterprise employees to a series of participatory rights at the workplace. A
provision called ‘opening corporate affairs’, for instance, entitles the congress to
be informed of the enterprise’s plans. Such rights have been codified in several
Chinese laws. Though more often than not the congresses do not function as
laid down on paper; nonetheless, they are endowed with extensive rights. For instance, a congress has the right to suggest to higher-level authorities the dismissal
of state-factory managers.
A problem with the book’s overall orientation and research methodology is that
the source material is heavily reliant on official documentation and the labour laws.
Much of the focus is given to textual analyses of these documents, supplemented by
statistical data and citations of empirical research drawn from secondary sources.
Although all of the authors carried out field research, their findings in the field
barely surface in the book. This may seem odd, but this style is prevalent in
Chinese publications. This is a pity, because Chang and Li have had a much
better opportunity to conduct in-depth field research than any foreign scholar.
463
BOOK REVIEWS
In short, the book is not built upon empirical fieldwork but on textual analyses.
Another shortcoming is an over-emphasis on the state enterprise sector to the
neglect of the non-state sector.
Oddly enough, the concluding chapter has a different twist. It is more sociological, delving into issues of class formation and workers’ consciousness. The
authors’ reading of the situation is that ‘the Chinese working class cannot strive for
or protect their rights and interests, nor does the state wish to see this happen’.
Then, having dismissed the workers’ capacity to resist, the authors contradict
themselves, writing in the last two sentences of the book, ‘the future, however,
is impossible to predict, because it is based on political and class-based struggles.
However, the idea of a smooth transition to some form of capitalism is exceedingly unlikely’. Thus, one is left with an uncertainty as to what lies ahead, in part
because the book has not delved sufficiently deeply into the current empirical
circumstances and attitudes of workers. Nonetheless, the richness of the evidence
and analysis regarding China’s labour laws and the institutional framework of
Chinese industrial relations is reason enough to purchase and read this book.
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
ANITA CHAN
EMPLOYMENT WITH A HUMAN FACE: BALANCING EFFICIENCY,
EQUITY, AND VOICE
By John W. Budd. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 2004, xiv +
263 pp., US$40 (hardback)
This is a very good book. The jacket quotes Tom Kochan’s view that it ‘will
quickly be viewed as a classic statement of the first principles underlying the study
and practice of modern human resources and industrial relations’. That is a strong,
but plausible claim. The book articulates an innovative theoretical approach and
shows how that approach may enable us to deal in a worthwhile and creative way
with a wide array of issues. Those issues are identified in a comprehensive range
of literature, which includes a great deal of up-to-date research as well as a variety
of important historical sources.
Budd’s scholarship is impressive, and he marshals his material in a clear, systematic fashion, which both affords a worthwhile taxonomy and also supports his
theoretical position. This position revolves first around the idea that employment
arrangements ought to have regard for ethical dimensions of work that cannot
be fully covered by utilitarian calculations of efficiency. The central theme of the
book is that employment relations have to take account not only of productive
efficiency but also have to provide equity and voice for employees.
The ideas of equity and voice are familiar. Budd’s first contribution is not to
establish their importance—although he draws effectively on a variety of literature
to do so—but to argue that they need to be treated as two independent ideas to be
set beside efficiency to create a three-dimensional basis for evaluations of laws and
institutions of workplace governance. The fact that equity needs to be set beside
efficiency in formulating policy is perhaps more familiar than the idea that voice
464
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
does (or else it may sometimes be assumed that voice is part of equity), but Budd
makes a strong case for accepting them as separate considerations which are both
important.
Budd’s general case emerges initially from the early chapters of the book, which
include extensive discussion about ethical underpinnings of employment arrangements. Some of this discussion is quite general; other parts of it are more specifically oriented toward US readers, most notably debate about the relative weight
of ‘labor rights’ against ‘property rights’. In the general discussion about ethical
underpinnings it would be possible to take issue with parts of the argument, because this is where Budd is on ground least familiar to him. However, the course of
the discussion is robust enough to survive criticism without danger to the overall
direction, since Budd usually establishes points on the basis of several reinforcing
considerations.
One major aim of the book is to provide a systematic alternative to the laissezfaire market analyses which have been accepted by many policy-makers in recent
years. Budd’s general stance is summed up where he comments in the book’s
introduction that ‘markets should be respected and largely allowed to function,
but with protections and safeguards—a set of checks and balances—that will help
respect and serve human life’ (page 3). That general stance is shown in the tripartite
commitment to efficiency, equity, and voice, and what it may imply for practice
is shown in his detailed analysis of a wide variety of arrangements for workplace
governance. The second half of the book is an extended analysis of different sorts
of arrangements in terms of those three dimensions.
Budd examines various concrete instances in considering the relative merits of
markets, direct legislative regulation, and forms of workplace bargaining. Once
again, some of the discussion is oriented toward US readers. For example, Budd
discusses how the New Deal industrial relations system, and its subsequent developments, may be evaluated by reference to the typology he has developed.
However, the discussion is probably of interest to many outside the US, not least
of all because it provides an additional perspective on issues raised in Kochan,
Katz and McKersie’s Transformation of American Industrial Relations (New York:
Basic Books, 1986).
In any case, subsequent analysis in the book, around a third of the whole,
addresses matters in a broad, international context. Thus, for example, Budd
examines systems of social partnership, sectoral bargaining, centralised awards,
enterprise unionism, and others, in considering how they achieve the three goals
of efficiency, equity and voice. He uses the same strategy in making comparisons between different national industrial relations systems, different forms of
unionisation, and different ways of dealing with globalisation. The great strength
of the book is Budd’s movement between abstract theory and details of actual
arrangements, as he shows how his typology can be used.
Although Budd’s central concern is to show how his theoretical approach enables us to articulate and appreciate differences among various forms of workplace
governance, many readers will also find that the book is simply a useful exposition of up-to-date detail about the various arrangements. The exposition is clear
enough to allow the book to be used for that purpose. The writing is lucid and
BOOK REVIEWS
465
the scholarship sound, so that it is not unlikely that the book will at least find a
place as a reference for many courses.
If Employment with a Human Face were to be used as a main text for a course, that
course would have to aim at drawing students into critical appraisal of industrial
relations systems and arrangements. That support for critical appraisal of current
arrangements also means that the book has the potential to affect practical deliberations about workplace governance. Budd has given his book the best possible
chance to affect practical policy-making. His analysis is balanced, comprehensive
and contemporary, and the ideas are put clearly enough to hope that they may
figure in policy debates. In many ways Budd takes an unfashionable direction by
aiming to articulate explicit ethical points as the foundation for detailed analysis of
industrial relations arrangements, but he does so deliberately and carefully in an
attempt to show that popular economic models are not the only systematic basis
that can be set out as a foundation for critical appraisal of work arrangements. It
is difficult to imagine how he might have done better.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
CHRIS PROVIS
DISCRIMINATION LAW AND PRACTICE (2ND EDITION)
By Chris Ronalds and Rachel Pepper. Federation Press, Sydney, 2004, xxi +
266 pp., $49.50 (paperback)
As barristers, Chris Ronalds and Rachel Pepper state in their preface to this book,
‘Discrimination law is an exciting and continually evolving area of law’ (page v).
It is principally for this reason that the second edition of Discrimination Law and
Practice has been much anticipated. The first edition, authored by Ronalds alone,
was widely regarded as the best and most practical guide available to the complex
areas of discrimination law in Australia at state and federal level.
The second edition builds on and expands the framework established in the earlier edition including recent developments in case law and statute. New chapters
have been included, such as one chapter dedicated to discrimination in education.
In what can be seen as a sign of the times, there is now a chapter dedicated solely
to harassment, expanding the harassment and vilification chapter discussed in the
first edition.
The exciting and continually evolving nature of discrimination law means that,
as with most law books, new developments in case law and statute warrant a third
edition almost immediately. Recent developments anticipated, but not specifically
included in this second edition include the new age discrimination laws at federal
level. Nevertheless, the laws of direct and indirect discrimination are comprehensively and clearly explained by Ronalds and Pepper, with chapters dedicated to
liability, vicarious liability and the available defences, as well as general exemptions
to unlawful discrimination.
This book represents a clear guide through the various twists and turns of
discrimination law and practice. Of great assistance to practitioners in the area
(such as myself) or other interested parties are the individual chapters dedicated
466
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
to complaint-handling processes, conducting a hearing, and remedies obtained
and obtainable by complainants. The effect of these chapters is aptly summarised
by the authors in their preface: ‘The glare of judicial scrutiny can be scarifying for
both applicants and respondents when they are scrutinised by an external agency
which quite properly has no real interest in the effect the process of seeking justice
has on those who pursue it’ (page v). This important message is one of the reasons
that this book is one of the best guides to discrimination law in Australia.
Given that the subject matter of most discrimination complaints is personal, and
therefore often emotional, the chapters in Discrimination Law and Practice dealing
with the processes of complaint and litigation are essential reading material for
any practitioner advising a client, or any party interested in entering the fray. The
authors endeavour to ensure that all readers will be prepared for the manner in
which the legal system deals with discrimination complaints:
A significant majority of cases before the Federal Court and Federal Magistrate’s
Court are dismissed. Both courts apply close and technical interpretations on the
discrimination laws and the factual matters established before them. A number of
cases lose as they are not made out on a factual basis. Others fail the test of establishing
that the facts as asserted actually meet the various legal requirements which can be
complex and have narrow application. Legal advisers need to make a realistic and
proper assessment of the merits of a complaint before either filing an application or a
defence as the costs of some cases can be high while the amount of damages awarded
is relatively small. Applicant’s legal costs of $80,000 for a damages award of $10,000
is not unusual. (page 215)
The usefulness of the appendices to this book should not be overlooked with
convenient ‘ready reckoners’ of the grounds of unlawful discrimination, areas of
unlawful discrimination, and exceptions to coverage in the various states and territories, clearly set out in table form. It will be no surprise that this excellent book
should make its way onto compulsory reading lists at universities, as well as into
the libraries of any practitioner or party interested in the area of discrimination
law. I look forward to reading a third edition.
WORKPLACE LAW, SYDNEY
ATHENA SCOTT
THE TWILIGHT OF THE OLD UNIONISM
By Leo Troy. M.E. Sharpe Inc., Armonk, New York, 2004, xv + 181 pp., US$25
(paperback)
In this, the third book of his trilogy on unionism in the USA, Leo Troy argues ‘that
the Old Unionism is in a permanent state of decline’. He does so in a refreshingly
candid look at the data on union membership and density. Troy presents a vigorous
case that private sector unions are suffering the consequences of the immutable
forces of change, captured in Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of creative destruction.
In presenting his penetrating data-driven thesis, Troy dispels the wishful thinking
BOOK REVIEWS
467
of union proponents who lay the blame for labour’s decline on the symbiotic
forces of employer opposition and onerous labour laws. To this extent, Troy
ironically does organised labour in the USA a huge favour, relieving them of
the impairing delusion that a Canadian-like labour system, which is well-nigh a
political impossibility in the USA, will reverse the fortunes of the ‘old unionism’;
a term Troy uses to depict private sector unionism vis-à-vis the ‘new unionism’
of the public sector.
Troy divides his book into six principal chapters, followed by a concluding seventh chapter. In chapter 1, he examines ‘The Flow and Ebb of Old Unionism’,
presenting aggregated data on old and new unionism over the past 100 years.
He documents the widely reported shrinkage in private sector density and membership, which have fallen continually for decades. The decline in old unionism
occurs across geographical and state boundaries, and displays vividly in the manufacturing sector, which leads Troy to observe that ‘More than any other sector
of the old unionism, manufacturing leads the descent of the old unionism into the
twilight zone’.
In chapter 2, Troy explores the driving forces behind this decline. He
illustrates the explanatory potency and ubiquity of structural changes. In
Schumpeterian shorthand, unions are in decline because of the unstoppable forces
of economic change. Economic and technological advances unleash structural
shifts in the industrial and occupational composition of work, most of which, outside the public sector, disfavour unions. An underlying but critically overlooked
factor for labour retrenchment is the lack of employee demand for unions in these
newer employment sectors. Indeed, the potency of these structural changes, combined with an ambient absence of employee demand, is the principal reason why
Troy believes the answer to the question, ‘Will There Be a Turnaround of the Old
Unionism?’ (chapter 3) is a decided ‘there will be no turnaround’. Private sector
unionism will not disappear, but will rather retreat to a few industry locales, such
as autos, steel manufacturing and transportation, where it will remain a ‘decisive
factor’.
Troy contrasts the blighted past, present, and future of old unionism with ‘The
Brave New World of the American Labor Movement’, the topic of chapter 4. The
new unionism lies squarely in the public sector, where government as employer
has facilitated labour growth since the early 1960s, when President Kennedy
granted federal employees the right to unionise and bargain collectively through
Executive Order 10988. Today, over a third of the public sector workforce—
federal, state, and local—in the USA is unionised, compared to less than nine
percent of the private sector. Based on current trends, the absolute number of
public-employee union members will soon exceed the private sector figure. The
shift in the dominant makeup of the labour movement, according to Troy, is more
than a statistical observation. It brings a sea change in the philosophical orientation
of organised labour. While the ‘Old Unionism demands a redistribution of income
from private employers to unionized workers . . . the New Unionism demands a
redistribution of the national income from the private to the public economy for
the benefit of unionized public employees’. The problematic character of this
468
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 04
new unionism, heavily influenced by teachers, lies not in the numbers, but in
the inherently politicised nature of public sector labour–management relations.
The political embalmment of such relations raises the question, which Troy now
presciently asks, ‘Are Municipal Collective Bargaining and Municipal Governance
Compatible?’ True to form, Troy answers the question: ‘my answer is yes—but
at a price’.
As Troy documents, the rise of new unionism is not isolated to the USA (see
chapter 5, ‘Is the Twilight of the Old Unionism Unique to the United States?’).
In unmistakable contrast, there is a convergence in international union trends.
Across the G-7 countries, including Canada, Troy shows a pattern of declining
private sector unionism varyingly offset by rising public sector unionism. More
fundamentally, he argues that a comparative assessment of the state of unions
requires the disaggregation of data across private and public employment lest a
misleading picture emerges. A critical distinction in comparing union rates across
countries is the relative size of the public sector.
The emergence of the new unionism in the USA has contributed to the politicisation of the labour movement. According to Troy, the growth of public sector
unionism, combined with old unionism’s search for political solutions (that is,
trade barriers and labour law reform as per Canada), has led to a significant rise
in the political function of labour. In fact, Troy argues that labour has metastasised the Democratic Party into the Labor Party of the USA. In chapter 6,
Troy estimates that organised labour has spent about $400 million in recent
presidential election years, the bulk of which has gone into Democratic coffers. It is through the infusion of such capital that labour has assumed control
of the levers of the Democratic Party. As Troy observes, ‘If the Democratic Party
were a holding company, clearly the dominant shareholder would be the Labor
Movement’.
Troy deserves recognition for his diligence in completing a trilogy with The
Twilight of the Old Unionism. His book possesses several strengths. First, it is
rich in data without overwhelming the reader with numbers. Second, Troy looks
insightfully behind the numbers to tell a powerful story. Union advocates will
not like what they read, but they should not shy away from harsh reality. Andy
Stern’s (the president of the 1.6 million-member Service Employees International
Union) harsh criticism of labour’s complacency lends credence to Troy’s claim.
Finally, Troy is provocative. He raises important questions, which we too often
gloss over in academia. A fundamental one is the compatibility between public
sector unionisation and governance in the public interest.
If there is a noteworthy weak part of the book, it is the chapter on political
action. Organised labour is an important part of the Democratic Party, but it
may be too extreme to assert that the Democratic Party is the Labor Party. The
union movement in the USA is more fractured than Troy suggests. In addition,
the Democratic Party is more heterogeneous.
In summary, Troy writes a provocative and interesting book. It should be on
everyone’s shelf.
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
MARICK MASTERS
BOOK REVIEWS
469
REORGANIZING THE RUST BELT: AN INSIDE STUDY OF THE AMERICAN
LABOR MOVEMENT
By Steven H. Lopez. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles,
2004, xxii + 292 pp., US$22 (paperback)
In 1997 and 1998, Steven Lopez interned for a Service Employees International
Union (SEIU) local representing nursing home workers in western Pennsylvania.
Combining this experience with extensive interviews, Lopez offers an excellent
ground-view snapshot on the state of the American labour movement. Two dimensions make Lopez’s case studies of five campaigns particularly insightful. As
the title suggests, the Pittsburgh location is quite symbolic. Lopez’s nursing home
activism grows in economic soil abandoned by the area’s once prominent steel
industry. Service industry unionism has thus literally replaced the manufacturingbased labour movement.
Even more important, the SEIU in Pennsylvania represents a union very much
in transition. Nationally, the SEIU is at the forefront of American union revitalisation. With half its budget devoted to organising and using innovative grassroots
campaigns, such as Justice for Janitors, the SEIU has grown to become the largest
union in the AFL-CIO. In the past few years, the SEIU leadership has joined with
several other unions to raise a growing debate about the fundamental organisation of the AFL-CIO and the overall structure of the American labour movement.
Yet, the SEIU that Lopez encounters in western Pennsylvania offers a complex
experience. While individual leaders and locals seem to embody the energy of
social movement unionism, the specific local that Lopez interns for comes out of
a past of strong business unionism. Thus, while part of Lopez’s story points to
strategies and tactics reflective of the best grassroots union innovation across the
country, these new models very much struggle to overcome the legacies of the
traditional servicing model. Anyone who has attempted to build union capacity
for grassroots mobilisation will relate to the messiness found in Lopez’s story. For
outside observers, the book provides a nice picture of the challenges and opportunities that local leaders and activists confront as they try to reinvent the labour
movement.
While Reorganizing the Rust Belt is specifically devoted to the five case studies, Lopez does a good job of connecting his material to broader debates. He
references key works on the American labour movement’s crisis and potential
transformation. As a sociologist, he also engages the literature on social movements. Lopez argues that the main social movement theories are not particularly
helpful for understanding the union experience he details. The main theoretical
debates in the field have asked why social movements arise in the first place and
seek answers in objective factors largely outside the control of movement leaders.
Lopez finds that such a focus fails to capture the forces at work in the SEIU campaigns. Instead, Lopez seeks to place conscious strategy back into the equation
by viewing protest activism as originating from the relative ability of leadership
to overcome objective obstacles.
Lopez organises the book around three key obstacles: working-class antiunionism; the organisational legacy of business unionism; and the power of
470
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 04
capital. Anti-unionism provides the context for the two case studies of organising,
both with the same group of workers. When the SEIU attempted to organise the
roughly 70 workers at the ‘Rosemont Pavilion’ (Lopez does not use actual names)
nursing home it ran into significant resistance from workers despite their gross
mistreatment by management. Many workers blamed unions more generally for
the steel industry’s disappearance in the region. Furthermore, workers had experienced (or had relatives and friends who had experienced) ineffective top-down
unionism or, in some cases, outright union corruption.
The key variable explaining the SEIU’s loss in the first election and then victory
in the second attempt, however, was the union’s strategy. With their lead organiser
already overworked, for the first campaign the union seized an opportunity for a
quick vote. While this strategy did not leave management much opportunity to
mount an aggressive anti-union campaign, it also left the union using old style
organising tactics with very little in the way of worker mobilisation. The result: the
union lost by two votes. A year later the union drew on the one-on-one grassroots
techniques advocated by studies of union organising including a worker organising
committee, house visits, workplace actions, and many visible expressions of union
support. This time management had time to develop a sophisticated anti-union
effort. Indeed, Lopez’s account is quite instructive on the reality of employer
hostility and the weakness of US labour laws. However, despite a climate even
more hostile to the union than the year before, the workers voted to join by
a ratio of two to one. For anyone engaged in labour education, the material
Lopez presents in these two chapters provides a rich case study on the obstacles,
opportunities, and lessons of union organising in the USA.
For his next two campaigns Lopez turns to the difficult organisational legacy of
business unionism. Much of Local A’s staff developed their careers in a different
era when the union’s goal was exclusively servicing the membership. They were
used to handling grievances and working out problems on behalf of a largely
passive membership. In turn much of the membership expected the union to
solve problems for them. The revived notion that the union offers a mechanism for
mobilising workers to fight their own battles was foreign to both the membership
and much of the union staff. The local, however, faced two threats which servicing
unionism alone simply could not counter: the privatisation of four county-owned
nursing homes; and a county government demanding contract concessions.
The contract campaign illustrates the difficulties of overcoming the legacy of
business unionism. To build a mobilisation capacity the local brought in interns
and other staff who had to work around union representatives who either were
not able to do effective grassroots organising or who saw a mobilised membership
as a threat to their familiar way of life. As one of the interns holding workplace
meetings, Lopez directly encountered members outraged that the union was not
solving the contract bargaining for them. While the union got member turnout for
public actions, such mobilisations required extensive staff time and energy because
the union had few worksite leaders capable of organising turnouts. Fortunately,
with county leaders under time pressures over their budget the local’s uneven
campaign proved enough to win a non-concessionary contract.
The anti-privatisation campaign seemed to be an even more difficult battle
as a county Republican majority aggressively attacked the public-owned Kane
BOOK REVIEWS
471
nursing home centres as overstaffed and inflexible centres (compounded by a
series of financial disasters) which soaked up taxpayer money. Yet, ironically,
because privatisation lay outside the union’s traditional servicing role, it actually
enjoyed more opportunities to mobilise. Since the membership did not view the
issue as one that the union staff should take care of workers, the membership
were not only willing to fight the battle, but even began the organising on their
own. Unlike the contract campaign, privatisation also proved an issue with greater
public appeal. The union enlisted activists who had fought for the public homes
in the 1970s as well as the families of Kane residents. Together, the local and its
allies turned around the Republican’s comparison of ‘bloated’ public homes with
the ‘lean’ private nursing home industry by pointing to the many horror stories
of understaffed and under-funded nature of for-profit homes. The Kanes thus
emerged as public demonstrations of quality care in an industry otherwise known
for rampant mistreatment of both employees and residents. The nature of the issue
thus allowed the union to overcome its organisational legacy to lead a successful
campaign against privatisation. At the same time, however, the campaign did not
transform the old structures. Indeed, the local’s contract campaign struggled to
mobilise members despite the Kane campaign coming before the contract battle.
In confronting ‘Megacorp’, Lopez’s last campaign, the SEIU faced a multinational corporation with over 700 nursing homes. In the late 1980s and early 1990s
the union had pushed the corporation, distracted by growth problems, into coordinated bargaining within Pennsylvania. By 1995, however, management was
clearly seeking to break with these past union gains. Since ‘Megacorp’ could
withstand a strike at its 20 homes in the state, the three Pennsylvania SEIU locals
needed to forge a broader corporate campaign. While the leadership pursued the
kinds of broad member and community mobilisation strategies advocated by the
literature on union activism, Lopez’s story is once again complex. The overworked
staff at the social unionism-oriented Local B had to contend with Local A’s tradition of business unionism and a Local C that had been thrown into trusteeship.
The 17-week campaign provoked much illegal retaliation by management. While
labour law enforcement is weak in the USA, this law-breaking did protect workers
from being permanently replaced when they did go on strike (under US labour
law workers can be essentially fired for striking over contract issues, but are protected if they strike over company illegalities). It also allowed the union to place
the struggle in a larger social justice context. Thus, through solid internal organising, community support, and national and state political leverage, the SEIU
rolled back the corporation’s concessionary campaign and blocked management’s
ambitions to break the union—although it did not win all of its contract demands.
Since Lopez writes with a style that is both rigorous and personal, Reorganizing
the Rust Belt is an easy and informative read. In a short appendix he provides a
frank account of his journey from dissertation plan to final actual research (one
that would provide for a rich discussion in any research methods class). In short,
this book offers a deep mine of information for anyone interested in the American
labour movement, grassroots union activism, or solid ethnographic research.
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY (DETROIT)
DAVID REYNOLDS
MOVING TOWARDS THE VIRTUAL WORKPLACE: MANAGERIAL
SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVES ON TELEWORK
AND
By Viviane Illegems and Alain Verbeke. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham,
2003, xvii + 253 pp., £60 (hardback)
Since the 1970s, telework has been seen as a potential means of liberation for
people from one key aspect of the daily grind—the commute to and from work.
And for readers of this journal Illegems and Verbeke offer a distinctive take on
telework, as they present telework as a policy tool, as opposed to road pricing,
to manage the externalities of work-related travel. They offer this approach as
telework can be a way of saving energy by substituting electronic communication
for physical communication. A book—as opposed to a journal article—affords
them the space in which to review in depth existing global research, as well as
present in detail their survey data collected from one European city.
At the outset the authors acknowledge that telework is a nebulous concept,
but for the authors telework means (paid) work from home, a satellite office, a
telework centre or any other work station outside the main office for at least one
day per week. Some sort of communications technology is used to substitute for
work-related travel, but it need not be continuous, on-line communication (page
20). Their particular focus on telework is for employees (as opposed to the selfemployed); thus, their perspective on telework is different to many others, who
focus on the self-employed. With Illegems and Verbeke focusing on employees,
the decision to become a teleworker is dependent upon the introduction of a
telework policy, and for each worker a joint decision has to be made. The joint
decision involves at least two actors (employee and employer); their joint approval
is a necessary condition for telework adoption. But the actors in this decision
may well not be truly equal partners. Crucially, the authors acknowledge that
telework is a social construct, not a technology, and as a consequence, forecasting
is extremely difficult. The degree of uptake of telework does vary from country to
country and also depends on the nature of capitalism, and cultural attitudes and
mores.
While I have been writing this review I have teleworked. I have used my networked laptop from two locations, my office at home and my second office at the
university, as well as in a third space; a space of mobility on the train (see Auge M,
Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermobility. London: Verso, 1995).
I have undertaken a number of journeys to attend meetings in London and so,
like many other travellers, the railway compartment has been my mobile office.
Thus, as a teleworker myself, along with many readers of this journal, we can draw
on our ‘lived experience’ as we reflect on the arguments presented in Moving Towards the Virtual Workplace. There is a second reason for my particular interest
THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, VOL. 46, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2004, 459--471
460
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
in the book, and this is because of current UK transport policy, which involves
road pricing (during 2003, congestion charging was introduced in cities such as
London and Durham) and in 2006 the city in which I live—Nottingham—will be
the first city in the UK to introduce a workplace parking levy. It is against this
background that I review this book.
Illegems and Verbeke examine telework as an alternative to the commute, and
present the advantages and disadvantages of telework, from three perspectives:
employers; employees; and society at large, embracing the micro and the macro
level. Second, they draw on empirical research to explore where policy makers and
employers should attempt to implement telework (which sectors of the economy,
which jobs, and which employees). Third, they look at what is the most effective
way to implement telework. Finally, the authors explore which policy tools are
the most appropriate for supporting telework implementation.
The arguments presented in the book are constructed in five core chapters.
In chapter 2, the focus is on work-related travel, with analysis undertaken at the
macro level. The authors examine societal problems associated with work-related
travel, with travel presented as an externality—a type of market failure—which
forms two concepts drawn from economics. Transport systems produce large externalities (accidents, environment and congestion costs) and road pricing is one
of the most common solutions to manage road transport externalities. The authors argue that one reason for promoting telework is that commuters account
for about 40 per cent of vehicular traffic; therefore, telework can offer employers
and employees an additional travel ‘choice’, that is, non-travel. A further 10 per
cent of intra-city traffic is for business activities, such as meetings that need faceto-face contact. In chapter 3, the focus shifts to an examination of the barriers to
implementing telework from the perspective of the employer and the employee. A
conceptual framework is presented which combines individual choice models with
an analysis of the ‘environment’ which, for Illegems and Verbeke, has three key
dimensions: the technological environment; the institutional environment; and
the organisational environment (page 29). But for an individual, their decision to
telework will not only depend on the technological, institutional and organisational environments but also on his/her own situation, perceptions and attitudes,
including household situation (presence of other household members and size of
living space). Not all jobs are ‘suited’ to telework, and the lived experience of
teleworkers depends on the nature of their job, the nature of their employment
contract and their gender (page 41).
In the following chapter, Illegems and Verbeke proceed to present empirical evidence to test the environmental aspects of their conceptual framework,
by drawing on a survey of 83 organisations based in Brussels, Belgium. They
begin with a thorough review of the perceived advantages and disadvantages of
telework, and then present the empirical evidence from the Brussels employers’
survey. Of the 83 organisations, 19 had already implemented telework, and all
expressed a desire to implement telework on a larger scale in the future. A further
20 other organisations suggested they would start implementing telework in the
near future. Their survey of the 83 organisations led to a number of insights into
the environmental drivers of—and barriers to—telework implementation. They
BOOK REVIEWS
461
concluded that at present, telework is mainly determined by an awareness of and
openness to the concept, the presence of a coordination and control mechanism
which is output-oriented, experience with flexible work hours, and activities in the
knowledge-based economy. With regard to the expansion of teleworking three
key factors were identified. These were an awareness of the concept, a flexible
hours culture and the availability of electronic communication. Human resource
managers of those organisations yet to implement telework tended to have a more
pessimistic view of the disadvantages of telework, and believed that the barriers
could not be overcome by diffusion of examples of best practice.
In chapter 5, the authors empirically apply the individual-level components of
their conceptual framework to the city of Brussels by examining the advantages
and disadvantages of telework from an employee’s point of view. They draw
on a second survey (of 231 employees from 16 organisations) which includes
organisations that have already introduced telework, those planning to introduce
telework and those not intending to introduce it. Although they present an array
of statistical data they are able to bring the analysis into the realm of personal
dilemmas, and they acknowledge that an employee considering telework faces a
complex set of advantages and disadvantages. The employees’ own personality and
particular life situation will affect the relative weights assigned to the advantages
and disadvantages. For example, the flexibility to schedule work around childcare,
gender roles and gender ideologies in the workplace and at home.
A choice model is generated that describes the main determinants of present
telework adoption. This model embraces a number of key explanatory variables,
such as use of a car, the consideration of the personal implications of telework
as an available option, and holding a clerical function. Through the model the
authors are able to generate evidence to show that telework has a potential effectiveness as a policy tool for alleviating road transport externalities (page 182). And
like previous surveys, those employees surveyed who were interested in teleworking one or more days per week had longer commutes (time and distance) than
conventional workers. The authors also acknowledge that the average length of
commute increases with an employee’s position in the hierarchy—the commuting
trip of an executive is 1.8 times longer than that of a clerical worker.
In conclusion, this is a clearly written book, which argues that telework will be
increasingly adopted in the twenty-first century, representing a far-reaching move
to the virtual workplace, with implications for industrial relations and for society
at large. As one key focus of the book is on the implications for organisations it
has the potential to be a useful resource for readers of this journal. But it should
be noted that many writers on telework focus on the self-employed, as opposed
to employees, which the authors of this book do not.
NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
IRENE HARDILL
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN CHINA
By Bill Taylor, Chang Kai and Li Qi. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham,
2003, x + 267 pp., £60 (hardback)
462
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
The three authors have written the best and most comprehensive book on China’s
industrial relations to date. It is the product of a fruitful collaboration between a
Western academic, Bill Taylor, and two Chinese experts on Chinese labour issues
(a former staff member at the official Chinese trade union federation’s training
institute, and a professor of labour economics at a Chinese business school). Although there is a large body of literature published by Chinese labour experts,
these are barely known outside China, especially because they tend to be very
applied, not too scholarly, and mostly written from the perspective of the official
trade union body; the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). Yet they
are still informative and can be critical of China’s current labour conditions, as
well as giving a sense of the internal debates that go on inside the ACFTU. In this
book, Taylor and his colleagues are able to combine Taylor’s Western-oriented
labour relations training and this inside-China perspective to produce a readable
and informative book for a Western readership.
The book is well organised, consisting of two parts. Part I deals with institutional arrangements, and includes a chapter each on the role of the government,
enterprises and managers, and workers and trade unions. In short, this part covers the main actors in China’s industrial relations. Part II covers the industrial
relations processes and contains three chapters on: participation, labour conflict
and settlement, and collective contracts. What is interesting about the book’s
structure is the authors’ emphasis on the role of the government, which is reemphasised in the concluding chapter. Few studies on Chinese labour issues pay
much attention to the role of the state as represented by the Ministry of Labour
and Social Security. The critics of the abysmal labour conditions that can be found
at many factories in China tend to direct attacks at the ACFTU and the Chinese
Communist Party, what the authors call ‘CCP-bashing’. In contrast, Taylor et al.
argue that there is no alternative but to rely on the Chinese state and the official
union federation to rectify labour-rights violations.
Even those familiar with Chinese labour issues will be able to find new material in each of the chapters. The most interesting is chapter 6 on ‘Participation’. It describes the system of employees’ representative congresses that entitles
state-enterprise employees to a series of participatory rights at the workplace. A
provision called ‘opening corporate affairs’, for instance, entitles the congress to
be informed of the enterprise’s plans. Such rights have been codified in several
Chinese laws. Though more often than not the congresses do not function as
laid down on paper; nonetheless, they are endowed with extensive rights. For instance, a congress has the right to suggest to higher-level authorities the dismissal
of state-factory managers.
A problem with the book’s overall orientation and research methodology is that
the source material is heavily reliant on official documentation and the labour laws.
Much of the focus is given to textual analyses of these documents, supplemented by
statistical data and citations of empirical research drawn from secondary sources.
Although all of the authors carried out field research, their findings in the field
barely surface in the book. This may seem odd, but this style is prevalent in
Chinese publications. This is a pity, because Chang and Li have had a much
better opportunity to conduct in-depth field research than any foreign scholar.
463
BOOK REVIEWS
In short, the book is not built upon empirical fieldwork but on textual analyses.
Another shortcoming is an over-emphasis on the state enterprise sector to the
neglect of the non-state sector.
Oddly enough, the concluding chapter has a different twist. It is more sociological, delving into issues of class formation and workers’ consciousness. The
authors’ reading of the situation is that ‘the Chinese working class cannot strive for
or protect their rights and interests, nor does the state wish to see this happen’.
Then, having dismissed the workers’ capacity to resist, the authors contradict
themselves, writing in the last two sentences of the book, ‘the future, however,
is impossible to predict, because it is based on political and class-based struggles.
However, the idea of a smooth transition to some form of capitalism is exceedingly unlikely’. Thus, one is left with an uncertainty as to what lies ahead, in part
because the book has not delved sufficiently deeply into the current empirical
circumstances and attitudes of workers. Nonetheless, the richness of the evidence
and analysis regarding China’s labour laws and the institutional framework of
Chinese industrial relations is reason enough to purchase and read this book.
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
ANITA CHAN
EMPLOYMENT WITH A HUMAN FACE: BALANCING EFFICIENCY,
EQUITY, AND VOICE
By John W. Budd. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 2004, xiv +
263 pp., US$40 (hardback)
This is a very good book. The jacket quotes Tom Kochan’s view that it ‘will
quickly be viewed as a classic statement of the first principles underlying the study
and practice of modern human resources and industrial relations’. That is a strong,
but plausible claim. The book articulates an innovative theoretical approach and
shows how that approach may enable us to deal in a worthwhile and creative way
with a wide array of issues. Those issues are identified in a comprehensive range
of literature, which includes a great deal of up-to-date research as well as a variety
of important historical sources.
Budd’s scholarship is impressive, and he marshals his material in a clear, systematic fashion, which both affords a worthwhile taxonomy and also supports his
theoretical position. This position revolves first around the idea that employment
arrangements ought to have regard for ethical dimensions of work that cannot
be fully covered by utilitarian calculations of efficiency. The central theme of the
book is that employment relations have to take account not only of productive
efficiency but also have to provide equity and voice for employees.
The ideas of equity and voice are familiar. Budd’s first contribution is not to
establish their importance—although he draws effectively on a variety of literature
to do so—but to argue that they need to be treated as two independent ideas to be
set beside efficiency to create a three-dimensional basis for evaluations of laws and
institutions of workplace governance. The fact that equity needs to be set beside
efficiency in formulating policy is perhaps more familiar than the idea that voice
464
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
does (or else it may sometimes be assumed that voice is part of equity), but Budd
makes a strong case for accepting them as separate considerations which are both
important.
Budd’s general case emerges initially from the early chapters of the book, which
include extensive discussion about ethical underpinnings of employment arrangements. Some of this discussion is quite general; other parts of it are more specifically oriented toward US readers, most notably debate about the relative weight
of ‘labor rights’ against ‘property rights’. In the general discussion about ethical
underpinnings it would be possible to take issue with parts of the argument, because this is where Budd is on ground least familiar to him. However, the course of
the discussion is robust enough to survive criticism without danger to the overall
direction, since Budd usually establishes points on the basis of several reinforcing
considerations.
One major aim of the book is to provide a systematic alternative to the laissezfaire market analyses which have been accepted by many policy-makers in recent
years. Budd’s general stance is summed up where he comments in the book’s
introduction that ‘markets should be respected and largely allowed to function,
but with protections and safeguards—a set of checks and balances—that will help
respect and serve human life’ (page 3). That general stance is shown in the tripartite
commitment to efficiency, equity, and voice, and what it may imply for practice
is shown in his detailed analysis of a wide variety of arrangements for workplace
governance. The second half of the book is an extended analysis of different sorts
of arrangements in terms of those three dimensions.
Budd examines various concrete instances in considering the relative merits of
markets, direct legislative regulation, and forms of workplace bargaining. Once
again, some of the discussion is oriented toward US readers. For example, Budd
discusses how the New Deal industrial relations system, and its subsequent developments, may be evaluated by reference to the typology he has developed.
However, the discussion is probably of interest to many outside the US, not least
of all because it provides an additional perspective on issues raised in Kochan,
Katz and McKersie’s Transformation of American Industrial Relations (New York:
Basic Books, 1986).
In any case, subsequent analysis in the book, around a third of the whole,
addresses matters in a broad, international context. Thus, for example, Budd
examines systems of social partnership, sectoral bargaining, centralised awards,
enterprise unionism, and others, in considering how they achieve the three goals
of efficiency, equity and voice. He uses the same strategy in making comparisons between different national industrial relations systems, different forms of
unionisation, and different ways of dealing with globalisation. The great strength
of the book is Budd’s movement between abstract theory and details of actual
arrangements, as he shows how his typology can be used.
Although Budd’s central concern is to show how his theoretical approach enables us to articulate and appreciate differences among various forms of workplace
governance, many readers will also find that the book is simply a useful exposition of up-to-date detail about the various arrangements. The exposition is clear
enough to allow the book to be used for that purpose. The writing is lucid and
BOOK REVIEWS
465
the scholarship sound, so that it is not unlikely that the book will at least find a
place as a reference for many courses.
If Employment with a Human Face were to be used as a main text for a course, that
course would have to aim at drawing students into critical appraisal of industrial
relations systems and arrangements. That support for critical appraisal of current
arrangements also means that the book has the potential to affect practical deliberations about workplace governance. Budd has given his book the best possible
chance to affect practical policy-making. His analysis is balanced, comprehensive
and contemporary, and the ideas are put clearly enough to hope that they may
figure in policy debates. In many ways Budd takes an unfashionable direction by
aiming to articulate explicit ethical points as the foundation for detailed analysis of
industrial relations arrangements, but he does so deliberately and carefully in an
attempt to show that popular economic models are not the only systematic basis
that can be set out as a foundation for critical appraisal of work arrangements. It
is difficult to imagine how he might have done better.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
CHRIS PROVIS
DISCRIMINATION LAW AND PRACTICE (2ND EDITION)
By Chris Ronalds and Rachel Pepper. Federation Press, Sydney, 2004, xxi +
266 pp., $49.50 (paperback)
As barristers, Chris Ronalds and Rachel Pepper state in their preface to this book,
‘Discrimination law is an exciting and continually evolving area of law’ (page v).
It is principally for this reason that the second edition of Discrimination Law and
Practice has been much anticipated. The first edition, authored by Ronalds alone,
was widely regarded as the best and most practical guide available to the complex
areas of discrimination law in Australia at state and federal level.
The second edition builds on and expands the framework established in the earlier edition including recent developments in case law and statute. New chapters
have been included, such as one chapter dedicated to discrimination in education.
In what can be seen as a sign of the times, there is now a chapter dedicated solely
to harassment, expanding the harassment and vilification chapter discussed in the
first edition.
The exciting and continually evolving nature of discrimination law means that,
as with most law books, new developments in case law and statute warrant a third
edition almost immediately. Recent developments anticipated, but not specifically
included in this second edition include the new age discrimination laws at federal
level. Nevertheless, the laws of direct and indirect discrimination are comprehensively and clearly explained by Ronalds and Pepper, with chapters dedicated to
liability, vicarious liability and the available defences, as well as general exemptions
to unlawful discrimination.
This book represents a clear guide through the various twists and turns of
discrimination law and practice. Of great assistance to practitioners in the area
(such as myself) or other interested parties are the individual chapters dedicated
466
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 2004
to complaint-handling processes, conducting a hearing, and remedies obtained
and obtainable by complainants. The effect of these chapters is aptly summarised
by the authors in their preface: ‘The glare of judicial scrutiny can be scarifying for
both applicants and respondents when they are scrutinised by an external agency
which quite properly has no real interest in the effect the process of seeking justice
has on those who pursue it’ (page v). This important message is one of the reasons
that this book is one of the best guides to discrimination law in Australia.
Given that the subject matter of most discrimination complaints is personal, and
therefore often emotional, the chapters in Discrimination Law and Practice dealing
with the processes of complaint and litigation are essential reading material for
any practitioner advising a client, or any party interested in entering the fray. The
authors endeavour to ensure that all readers will be prepared for the manner in
which the legal system deals with discrimination complaints:
A significant majority of cases before the Federal Court and Federal Magistrate’s
Court are dismissed. Both courts apply close and technical interpretations on the
discrimination laws and the factual matters established before them. A number of
cases lose as they are not made out on a factual basis. Others fail the test of establishing
that the facts as asserted actually meet the various legal requirements which can be
complex and have narrow application. Legal advisers need to make a realistic and
proper assessment of the merits of a complaint before either filing an application or a
defence as the costs of some cases can be high while the amount of damages awarded
is relatively small. Applicant’s legal costs of $80,000 for a damages award of $10,000
is not unusual. (page 215)
The usefulness of the appendices to this book should not be overlooked with
convenient ‘ready reckoners’ of the grounds of unlawful discrimination, areas of
unlawful discrimination, and exceptions to coverage in the various states and territories, clearly set out in table form. It will be no surprise that this excellent book
should make its way onto compulsory reading lists at universities, as well as into
the libraries of any practitioner or party interested in the area of discrimination
law. I look forward to reading a third edition.
WORKPLACE LAW, SYDNEY
ATHENA SCOTT
THE TWILIGHT OF THE OLD UNIONISM
By Leo Troy. M.E. Sharpe Inc., Armonk, New York, 2004, xv + 181 pp., US$25
(paperback)
In this, the third book of his trilogy on unionism in the USA, Leo Troy argues ‘that
the Old Unionism is in a permanent state of decline’. He does so in a refreshingly
candid look at the data on union membership and density. Troy presents a vigorous
case that private sector unions are suffering the consequences of the immutable
forces of change, captured in Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of creative destruction.
In presenting his penetrating data-driven thesis, Troy dispels the wishful thinking
BOOK REVIEWS
467
of union proponents who lay the blame for labour’s decline on the symbiotic
forces of employer opposition and onerous labour laws. To this extent, Troy
ironically does organised labour in the USA a huge favour, relieving them of
the impairing delusion that a Canadian-like labour system, which is well-nigh a
political impossibility in the USA, will reverse the fortunes of the ‘old unionism’;
a term Troy uses to depict private sector unionism vis-à-vis the ‘new unionism’
of the public sector.
Troy divides his book into six principal chapters, followed by a concluding seventh chapter. In chapter 1, he examines ‘The Flow and Ebb of Old Unionism’,
presenting aggregated data on old and new unionism over the past 100 years.
He documents the widely reported shrinkage in private sector density and membership, which have fallen continually for decades. The decline in old unionism
occurs across geographical and state boundaries, and displays vividly in the manufacturing sector, which leads Troy to observe that ‘More than any other sector
of the old unionism, manufacturing leads the descent of the old unionism into the
twilight zone’.
In chapter 2, Troy explores the driving forces behind this decline. He
illustrates the explanatory potency and ubiquity of structural changes. In
Schumpeterian shorthand, unions are in decline because of the unstoppable forces
of economic change. Economic and technological advances unleash structural
shifts in the industrial and occupational composition of work, most of which, outside the public sector, disfavour unions. An underlying but critically overlooked
factor for labour retrenchment is the lack of employee demand for unions in these
newer employment sectors. Indeed, the potency of these structural changes, combined with an ambient absence of employee demand, is the principal reason why
Troy believes the answer to the question, ‘Will There Be a Turnaround of the Old
Unionism?’ (chapter 3) is a decided ‘there will be no turnaround’. Private sector
unionism will not disappear, but will rather retreat to a few industry locales, such
as autos, steel manufacturing and transportation, where it will remain a ‘decisive
factor’.
Troy contrasts the blighted past, present, and future of old unionism with ‘The
Brave New World of the American Labor Movement’, the topic of chapter 4. The
new unionism lies squarely in the public sector, where government as employer
has facilitated labour growth since the early 1960s, when President Kennedy
granted federal employees the right to unionise and bargain collectively through
Executive Order 10988. Today, over a third of the public sector workforce—
federal, state, and local—in the USA is unionised, compared to less than nine
percent of the private sector. Based on current trends, the absolute number of
public-employee union members will soon exceed the private sector figure. The
shift in the dominant makeup of the labour movement, according to Troy, is more
than a statistical observation. It brings a sea change in the philosophical orientation
of organised labour. While the ‘Old Unionism demands a redistribution of income
from private employers to unionized workers . . . the New Unionism demands a
redistribution of the national income from the private to the public economy for
the benefit of unionized public employees’. The problematic character of this
468
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 04
new unionism, heavily influenced by teachers, lies not in the numbers, but in
the inherently politicised nature of public sector labour–management relations.
The political embalmment of such relations raises the question, which Troy now
presciently asks, ‘Are Municipal Collective Bargaining and Municipal Governance
Compatible?’ True to form, Troy answers the question: ‘my answer is yes—but
at a price’.
As Troy documents, the rise of new unionism is not isolated to the USA (see
chapter 5, ‘Is the Twilight of the Old Unionism Unique to the United States?’).
In unmistakable contrast, there is a convergence in international union trends.
Across the G-7 countries, including Canada, Troy shows a pattern of declining
private sector unionism varyingly offset by rising public sector unionism. More
fundamentally, he argues that a comparative assessment of the state of unions
requires the disaggregation of data across private and public employment lest a
misleading picture emerges. A critical distinction in comparing union rates across
countries is the relative size of the public sector.
The emergence of the new unionism in the USA has contributed to the politicisation of the labour movement. According to Troy, the growth of public sector
unionism, combined with old unionism’s search for political solutions (that is,
trade barriers and labour law reform as per Canada), has led to a significant rise
in the political function of labour. In fact, Troy argues that labour has metastasised the Democratic Party into the Labor Party of the USA. In chapter 6,
Troy estimates that organised labour has spent about $400 million in recent
presidential election years, the bulk of which has gone into Democratic coffers. It is through the infusion of such capital that labour has assumed control
of the levers of the Democratic Party. As Troy observes, ‘If the Democratic Party
were a holding company, clearly the dominant shareholder would be the Labor
Movement’.
Troy deserves recognition for his diligence in completing a trilogy with The
Twilight of the Old Unionism. His book possesses several strengths. First, it is
rich in data without overwhelming the reader with numbers. Second, Troy looks
insightfully behind the numbers to tell a powerful story. Union advocates will
not like what they read, but they should not shy away from harsh reality. Andy
Stern’s (the president of the 1.6 million-member Service Employees International
Union) harsh criticism of labour’s complacency lends credence to Troy’s claim.
Finally, Troy is provocative. He raises important questions, which we too often
gloss over in academia. A fundamental one is the compatibility between public
sector unionisation and governance in the public interest.
If there is a noteworthy weak part of the book, it is the chapter on political
action. Organised labour is an important part of the Democratic Party, but it
may be too extreme to assert that the Democratic Party is the Labor Party. The
union movement in the USA is more fractured than Troy suggests. In addition,
the Democratic Party is more heterogeneous.
In summary, Troy writes a provocative and interesting book. It should be on
everyone’s shelf.
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
MARICK MASTERS
BOOK REVIEWS
469
REORGANIZING THE RUST BELT: AN INSIDE STUDY OF THE AMERICAN
LABOR MOVEMENT
By Steven H. Lopez. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles,
2004, xxii + 292 pp., US$22 (paperback)
In 1997 and 1998, Steven Lopez interned for a Service Employees International
Union (SEIU) local representing nursing home workers in western Pennsylvania.
Combining this experience with extensive interviews, Lopez offers an excellent
ground-view snapshot on the state of the American labour movement. Two dimensions make Lopez’s case studies of five campaigns particularly insightful. As
the title suggests, the Pittsburgh location is quite symbolic. Lopez’s nursing home
activism grows in economic soil abandoned by the area’s once prominent steel
industry. Service industry unionism has thus literally replaced the manufacturingbased labour movement.
Even more important, the SEIU in Pennsylvania represents a union very much
in transition. Nationally, the SEIU is at the forefront of American union revitalisation. With half its budget devoted to organising and using innovative grassroots
campaigns, such as Justice for Janitors, the SEIU has grown to become the largest
union in the AFL-CIO. In the past few years, the SEIU leadership has joined with
several other unions to raise a growing debate about the fundamental organisation of the AFL-CIO and the overall structure of the American labour movement.
Yet, the SEIU that Lopez encounters in western Pennsylvania offers a complex
experience. While individual leaders and locals seem to embody the energy of
social movement unionism, the specific local that Lopez interns for comes out of
a past of strong business unionism. Thus, while part of Lopez’s story points to
strategies and tactics reflective of the best grassroots union innovation across the
country, these new models very much struggle to overcome the legacies of the
traditional servicing model. Anyone who has attempted to build union capacity
for grassroots mobilisation will relate to the messiness found in Lopez’s story. For
outside observers, the book provides a nice picture of the challenges and opportunities that local leaders and activists confront as they try to reinvent the labour
movement.
While Reorganizing the Rust Belt is specifically devoted to the five case studies, Lopez does a good job of connecting his material to broader debates. He
references key works on the American labour movement’s crisis and potential
transformation. As a sociologist, he also engages the literature on social movements. Lopez argues that the main social movement theories are not particularly
helpful for understanding the union experience he details. The main theoretical
debates in the field have asked why social movements arise in the first place and
seek answers in objective factors largely outside the control of movement leaders.
Lopez finds that such a focus fails to capture the forces at work in the SEIU campaigns. Instead, Lopez seeks to place conscious strategy back into the equation
by viewing protest activism as originating from the relative ability of leadership
to overcome objective obstacles.
Lopez organises the book around three key obstacles: working-class antiunionism; the organisational legacy of business unionism; and the power of
470
THE JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
December 04
capital. Anti-unionism provides the context for the two case studies of organising,
both with the same group of workers. When the SEIU attempted to organise the
roughly 70 workers at the ‘Rosemont Pavilion’ (Lopez does not use actual names)
nursing home it ran into significant resistance from workers despite their gross
mistreatment by management. Many workers blamed unions more generally for
the steel industry’s disappearance in the region. Furthermore, workers had experienced (or had relatives and friends who had experienced) ineffective top-down
unionism or, in some cases, outright union corruption.
The key variable explaining the SEIU’s loss in the first election and then victory
in the second attempt, however, was the union’s strategy. With their lead organiser
already overworked, for the first campaign the union seized an opportunity for a
quick vote. While this strategy did not leave management much opportunity to
mount an aggressive anti-union campaign, it also left the union using old style
organising tactics with very little in the way of worker mobilisation. The result: the
union lost by two votes. A year later the union drew on the one-on-one grassroots
techniques advocated by studies of union organising including a worker organising
committee, house visits, workplace actions, and many visible expressions of union
support. This time management had time to develop a sophisticated anti-union
effort. Indeed, Lopez’s account is quite instructive on the reality of employer
hostility and the weakness of US labour laws. However, despite a climate even
more hostile to the union than the year before, the workers voted to join by
a ratio of two to one. For anyone engaged in labour education, the material
Lopez presents in these two chapters provides a rich case study on the obstacles,
opportunities, and lessons of union organising in the USA.
For his next two campaigns Lopez turns to the difficult organisational legacy of
business unionism. Much of Local A’s staff developed their careers in a different
era when the union’s goal was exclusively servicing the membership. They were
used to handling grievances and working out problems on behalf of a largely
passive membership. In turn much of the membership expected the union to
solve problems for them. The revived notion that the union offers a mechanism for
mobilising workers to fight their own battles was foreign to both the membership
and much of the union staff. The local, however, faced two threats which servicing
unionism alone simply could not counter: the privatisation of four county-owned
nursing homes; and a county government demanding contract concessions.
The contract campaign illustrates the difficulties of overcoming the legacy of
business unionism. To build a mobilisation capacity the local brought in interns
and other staff who had to work around union representatives who either were
not able to do effective grassroots organising or who saw a mobilised membership
as a threat to their familiar way of life. As one of the interns holding workplace
meetings, Lopez directly encountered members outraged that the union was not
solving the contract bargaining for them. While the union got member turnout for
public actions, such mobilisations required extensive staff time and energy because
the union had few worksite leaders capable of organising turnouts. Fortunately,
with county leaders under time pressures over their budget the local’s uneven
campaign proved enough to win a non-concessionary contract.
The anti-privatisation campaign seemed to be an even more difficult battle
as a county Republican majority aggressively attacked the public-owned Kane
BOOK REVIEWS
471
nursing home centres as overstaffed and inflexible centres (compounded by a
series of financial disasters) which soaked up taxpayer money. Yet, ironically,
because privatisation lay outside the union’s traditional servicing role, it actually
enjoyed more opportunities to mobilise. Since the membership did not view the
issue as one that the union staff should take care of workers, the membership
were not only willing to fight the battle, but even began the organising on their
own. Unlike the contract campaign, privatisation also proved an issue with greater
public appeal. The union enlisted activists who had fought for the public homes
in the 1970s as well as the families of Kane residents. Together, the local and its
allies turned around the Republican’s comparison of ‘bloated’ public homes with
the ‘lean’ private nursing home industry by pointing to the many horror stories
of understaffed and under-funded nature of for-profit homes. The Kanes thus
emerged as public demonstrations of quality care in an industry otherwise known
for rampant mistreatment of both employees and residents. The nature of the issue
thus allowed the union to overcome its organisational legacy to lead a successful
campaign against privatisation. At the same time, however, the campaign did not
transform the old structures. Indeed, the local’s contract campaign struggled to
mobilise members despite the Kane campaign coming before the contract battle.
In confronting ‘Megacorp’, Lopez’s last campaign, the SEIU faced a multinational corporation with over 700 nursing homes. In the late 1980s and early 1990s
the union had pushed the corporation, distracted by growth problems, into coordinated bargaining within Pennsylvania. By 1995, however, management was
clearly seeking to break with these past union gains. Since ‘Megacorp’ could
withstand a strike at its 20 homes in the state, the three Pennsylvania SEIU locals
needed to forge a broader corporate campaign. While the leadership pursued the
kinds of broad member and community mobilisation strategies advocated by the
literature on union activism, Lopez’s story is once again complex. The overworked
staff at the social unionism-oriented Local B had to contend with Local A’s tradition of business unionism and a Local C that had been thrown into trusteeship.
The 17-week campaign provoked much illegal retaliation by management. While
labour law enforcement is weak in the USA, this law-breaking did protect workers
from being permanently replaced when they did go on strike (under US labour
law workers can be essentially fired for striking over contract issues, but are protected if they strike over company illegalities). It also allowed the union to place
the struggle in a larger social justice context. Thus, through solid internal organising, community support, and national and state political leverage, the SEIU
rolled back the corporation’s concessionary campaign and blocked management’s
ambitions to break the union—although it did not win all of its contract demands.
Since Lopez writes with a style that is both rigorous and personal, Reorganizing
the Rust Belt is an easy and informative read. In a short appendix he provides a
frank account of his journey from dissertation plan to final actual research (one
that would provide for a rich discussion in any research methods class). In short,
this book offers a deep mine of information for anyone interested in the American
labour movement, grassroots union activism, or solid ethnographic research.
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY (DETROIT)
DAVID REYNOLDS