History of the Labour Movement in Switzerland
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100 Spouting Anticollaborationist Slogans Against Those on the Left
THE LABOUR MOVEMENT AND THE LEFT IN THE UNITED STATES* Stanley Aronowitz During the 1960s and early 1970s, majority sentiment on the American left held that the American trade union movement had become a relatively conservative interest group. It fought within the Democratic Party, and in direct bargaining with corporations and government, for an increasingly narrow vision of its interests. For example, when confronted with the demands of blacks for full equality within the unions as much as within society as a whole, labour leaders responded with a dual position. The unions remained committed in general to civil rights at the legislative level, but were primarily protective of their members' immediate interests in higher pay and job security. When these interests were in conflict with the demand for full equality, some unions abandoned all but a legislative commitment to civil rights. On the question of the Vietnam war, most unions were either bellicose supporters of the Johnson policies, or remained silent, due either to the ambivalence of some leaders about the war or to unresolved debates among members. The left was aware that a section of the trade union leadership distinguished itself from the generally conservative policies of a section of industrial unions around the ILGWU, the building trades, and most of the old-line union leaders (all of whom grouped around George Meany). This more liberal wing of the labour leadership was led by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and included most of the old CIO unions except the Steelworkers, as well as some former AFL unions (notably, the Amalgamated Meatcutters, some sections of the Machinists, and the State, County, and Municipal Employees). -
THE BATTLE for SOCIALIST IDEAS in the 1980S
THE BATTLE FOR SOCIALIST IDEAS IN THE 1980s Stuart Hall I am honoured to be asked to give the first Fred Tonge lecture. I am pleased to be associated with the inspiration behind it, which is to commemorate the link between theory and practice, between socialist ideas and socialist politics, and thereby keep alive the memory of some- one who served the labour movement in both these ways throughout his life. Fred Tonge's commitment to socialism did not wane with age, as it has in so many other quarters. His commitment to socialist international- ism did not degenerate into that parochialism which so often besets our movement. He understood the absolute centrality of political education to the achievement of socialism. Those are very distinctive qualities and I want, in what follows to make a small contribution to their continuity. So I have chosen to talk about the struggle, the battle, for socialist ideas in the 1980s. First, I want to say something about the importance of ideological struggle. Thinking about the place and role of ideas in the construction of socialism, I would particularly emphasise the notion of struggle itself: ideology is a battlefield and every other kind of struggle has a stake in it. I want therefore to talk about the ideological pre-condition for socialist advance: the winning of a majority of the people-the working people of the society and their allies-to socialist ideas in the decades immediately ahead. I stress the centrality of the domain of the ideological-political ideas and the struggle to win hearts and minds to socialism-because I am struck again and again by the way in which socialists still assume that somehow socialism is inevitable. -
New Axes of Political Cleavages in Poland After 2005
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Klaipeda University Open Journal Systems TOMASZ BOJAROWICZ NEW AXES OF POLITICAL CLEAVAGES IN POLAND AFTER 2005 NEW AXES OF POLITICAL CLEAVAGES IN POLAND AFTER 2005 Tomasz Bojarowicz1 University of Warmia and Mazury (Poland) ABSTRACT The aim of the study is to analyse new axes of cleavages which came into existence in Poland after 2005. The analysis is presented in the context of generally accepted notions and concepts of political cleavages. The methods used for the analysis are: comparative method and historical method. Findings of the research are presented in the following way. First, the author determines that clea- vages in Poland only partially correspond to classical cleavages, then identifies and analyses new stimulators of political cleavages in Poland, which appeared after 2005. A significant role in the consolidation of cleavages played political parties, which instead of translating the existing social conflicts to the level of authority, became the creators of cleavages. KEYWORDS: socio-political cleavage, political parties, transition in Poland. JEL CODES: D7 DOI: Introduction This study analyses the issue of political cleavages. The notion of a cleavage was first introduced by Sey- mour Martin Lipset and Stein Rokkan, however, it was not precisely defined (Lipset, Rokkan, 1967: 6). Poli- tical cleavage is a category which reflects socio-political diversification in the most complete way (Lijphart, 1981). It should be treated as a combination of diversification in both the social and the political system. Such a concept assumes the existence of mutual dependence between the social and political sphere (Bartolini, Mair, 1990). -
Studia Politica 32014
www.ssoar.info The 2014 European Elections. The Case of Poland Sula, Piotr Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Sula, P. (2014). The 2014 European Elections. The Case of Poland. Studia Politica: Romanian Political Science Review, 14(3), 395-406. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-445354 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz This document is made available under a CC BY-NC-ND Licence (Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung) zur (Attribution-Non Comercial-NoDerivatives). For more Information Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de The 2014 European Elections The Case of Poland PIOTR SULA Introduction This article presents the conduct and consequence of the election to the European Parliament held in Poland on 25 May 2014. It is a commonly accepted view that elections are inherent in the democratic order. Members of the European Parliament are elected following a similar procedure to that governing the elections to national Parliaments. Probably as widespread is the opinion that, since they do not result in the election of the executive branch of government, European elections are of less significance to the competing parties – which appear to prioritise their participation in the future government – than the competition for seats in the national parliament. As a consequence, the lesser impact of the decisions made at the ballot box is also translated into a less intense interest in the European elections expressed by the electorate. -
Revolutionary Syndicalist Opposition to the First World War: A
Re-evaluating syndicalist opposition to the First World War Darlington, RR http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0023656X.2012.731834 Title Re-evaluating syndicalist opposition to the First World War Authors Darlington, RR Type Article URL This version is available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/19226/ Published Date 2012 USIR is a digital collection of the research output of the University of Salford. Where copyright permits, full text material held in the repository is made freely available online and can be read, downloaded and copied for non-commercial private study or research purposes. Please check the manuscript for any further copyright restrictions. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. Re-evaluating Syndicalist Opposition to the First World War Abstract It has been argued that support for the First World War by the important French syndicalist organisation, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) has tended to obscure the fact that other national syndicalist organisations remained faithful to their professed workers’ internationalism: on this basis syndicalists beyond France, more than any other ideological persuasion within the organised trade union movement in immediate pre-war and wartime Europe, can be seen to have constituted an authentic movement of opposition to the war in their refusal to subordinate class interests to those of the state, to endorse policies of ‘defencism’ of the ‘national interest’ and to abandon the rhetoric of class conflict. This article, which attempts to contribute to a much neglected comparative historiography of the international syndicalist movement, re-evaluates the syndicalist response across a broad geographical field of canvas (embracing France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Britain and America) to reveal a rather more nuanced, ambiguous and uneven picture. -
ESS9 Appendix A3 Political Parties Ed
APPENDIX A3 POLITICAL PARTIES, ESS9 - 2018 ed. 3.0 Austria 2 Belgium 4 Bulgaria 7 Croatia 8 Cyprus 10 Czechia 12 Denmark 14 Estonia 15 Finland 17 France 19 Germany 20 Hungary 21 Iceland 23 Ireland 25 Italy 26 Latvia 28 Lithuania 31 Montenegro 34 Netherlands 36 Norway 38 Poland 40 Portugal 44 Serbia 47 Slovakia 52 Slovenia 53 Spain 54 Sweden 57 Switzerland 58 United Kingdom 61 Version Notes, ESS9 Appendix A3 POLITICAL PARTIES ESS9 edition 3.0 (published 10.12.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Denmark, Iceland. ESS9 edition 2.0 (published 15.06.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden. Austria 1. Political parties Language used in data file: German Year of last election: 2017 Official party names, English 1. Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (SPÖ) - Social Democratic Party of Austria - 26.9 % names/translation, and size in last 2. Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) - Austrian People's Party - 31.5 % election: 3. Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) - Freedom Party of Austria - 26.0 % 4. Liste Peter Pilz (PILZ) - PILZ - 4.4 % 5. Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative (Grüne) - The Greens – The Green Alternative - 3.8 % 6. Kommunistische Partei Österreichs (KPÖ) - Communist Party of Austria - 0.8 % 7. NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum (NEOS) - NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum - 5.3 % 8. G!LT - Verein zur Förderung der Offenen Demokratie (GILT) - My Vote Counts! - 1.0 % Description of political parties listed 1. The Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, or SPÖ) is a social above democratic/center-left political party that was founded in 1888 as the Social Democratic Worker's Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei, or SDAP), when Victor Adler managed to unite the various opposing factions. -
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS in POLAND 25Th October 2015
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN POLAND 25th October 2015 European Elections monitor The Law and Justice Party win the parliamentary elections and the absolute majority Corinne Deloy Abstract: Five months after having been elected Andrzej Duda (PiS) as President of the Republic on 24th May last (with 51.55% of the vote) the Law and Justice Party (PiS) won the parlia- mentary elections that took place in Poland on 25th October. It won the absolute majority Results and should therefore be able to govern Poland alone over the next four years – a first in the country’s history since the fall of communism in 1989. The conservative and eurosceptic party, also who were disappointed with the PO. The People’s extremely attached to Poland’s Catholic identity Party (PSL), a centrist, agrarian party chaired by led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, won 37.58% of the vote outgoing Prime Minister Janusz Piechocinski, won and 242 seats (+85 in comparison with the last 5.13% of the vote and 18 seats (- 10). parliamentary elections on 9th October 2011) in the Diet, the Lower Chamber of Parliament. It drew The left has disappeared from Parliament. The United ahead of Civic Platform (PO), the party of outgoing Left Coalition (ZL, Zjednoczona Lewica), formed of Prime Minister Eva Kopacz, which won 24.09% of the the Alliance between the Democratic Left (SLD) led vote and 133 seats (- 74). by Leszek Miller, Your Movement (TR, Twoj Ruch) Pawel Kukiz – a rock singer and protest candidate led by Janusz Palikot, the Socialist Party, the Greens who won 20.8% of the vote in the first round of the and the Labour Union (UP), won 7.55% of the vote presidential election on 10th May 2015 took third i.e. -
Trade Union Policies and Practices for Gender Equalitypdf
Empowering Women at Work Trade Union Policies and Practices for Gender Equality Empowering Women at Work Trade Union Policies and Practices for Gender Equality Copyright © International Labour Organization 2020 First published 2020 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publishing (Rights and Licensing), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected]. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with a reproduction rights organization may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. ISBN: 9789220336021 (Web PDF) Also available in French: Autonomiser les femmes au travail – Politiques et pratiques des organisations syndicales en faveur de l’égalité de genre, ISBN: 9789220336038 (Web PDF), Geneva, 2020 The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. -
Download/Print the Study in PDF Format
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN POLAND 25th October 2015 European Elections monitor The conservative opposition running favourite in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Poland Corinne Deloy Abstract: Just a few months after the unexpected victory of Andrzej Duda in the presidential election on 10th and 24th May last the Poles are returning to ballot on 25th October next to renew the two chambers of their parliament. All of the polls forecast victory by the main opposition party Law Analysis and Justice (PiS) in a country that is still divided between the industrial west which leans rather more to the Civic Platform (PO), a liberal party in office for the last eight years, and the east, which is more rural and closer to the conservative forces embodied by PiS Justice. The most recent poll by CBOS and published on 2014 of former Prime Minister Donald Tusk (PO) as 25th September and published by CBOS credits the the President of the European Council. However the PiS with 34% of the vote and Civic Platform with country is at a crossroads and in a month’s time will 30%. The Kukiz’15 group created by the candidate make a vital choice between two opposite paths, in the last presidential election, Pawel Kukiz, is due personified for the first time in the country’s history to come third with 9%; of the vote. The United by two women. Left (ZL) is due to win 5% of the vote – i.e. below the 8% voting threshold vital for a coalition to be THE OUTGOING GOVERNMENT IN DIFFI- represented in parliament – likewise the People’s CULTY Party (PSL). -
Reclaiming Syndicalism: from Spain to South Africa to Global Labour Today
Global Issues Reclaiming Syndicalism: From Spain to South Africa to global labour today Lucien van der Walt, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa Union politics remain central to the new century. It remains central because of the ongoing importance of unions as mass movements, internationally, and because unions, like other popular movements, are confronted with the very real challenge of articulating an alternative, transformative vision. There is much to be learned from the historic and current tradition of anarcho- and revolutionary syndicalism. This is a tradition with a surprisingly substantial and impressive history, including in the former colonial world; a tradition that envisages anti-bureaucratic and bottom-up trade unions as key means of educating and mobilising workers, and of championing the economic, social and political struggles of the broad working class, independent of parliamentary politics and party tutelage; and that aims, ultimately, at transforming society through union-led workplace occupations that will institute self-management and participatory economic planning, abolishing markets, hierarchies and states. This contribution seeks, firstly, to contribute to the recovery of the historical memory of the working class by drawing attention to its multiple traditions and rich history; secondly, to make a contribution to current debates on the struggles, direction and options for the working class movement (including unions) in a period of flux in which the fixed patterns of the last forty years are slowly melting away; thirdly, it argues that many current union approaches – among them, business unionism, social movement unionism, and political unionism – have substantial failings and limitations; and finally, it points to the need for labour studies and industrial sociology to pay greater attention to labour traditions besides business unionism, social movement unionism, and political unionism. -
Introduction
INTRODUCTION The aim of this book is to study the relationship between Catalan workers, the anarchist-syndicalist movement and the development of the Spanish polity between the years 1898 and 1923. Following the injunction of Geoff Eley and Keith Nield, I wish to write a work covering, on the one hand, the social history of labour and its organisational manifestations, and, on the other, its broader political impact.1 In this way I hope not only to deepen knowledge of the Catalan working class and its institutions, but also to contribute to the overall understanding of early twentieth-century Spanish history. The reasons for choosing this topic are twofold. First, anarchism showed great vitality in Catalonia – along with several other parts of Spain, most notably Andalusia – during the early twentieth century. In 1919 the anarchist- syndicalist labour confederation, the CNT, would, albeit briefly, attain over half a million members in Spain as a whole, about 60 percent of whom were Catalan. Second, the growth of labour protest, and of the CNT in particular, was perceived as a massive challenge by business, and by the military and political elite of the Restoration regime, who between 1919 and 1923 spent much of their time searching for strategies to either contain or destroy the organisation. Catalonia and especially Barcelona were at the heart of these struggles. The period ended with a coup d’etat against the Restoration regime in September 1923. It is my contention that its origins cannot be understood without taking into account the violent social conflict which had racked the city over the previous four years. -
ROBERTSON, NICOLE. the Co-Operative Movement And
118 Book Reviews ROBERTSON,NICOLE. The Co-operative Movement and Communities in Britain, 1914–1960. Minding Their Own Business. [Studies in Labour History.] Ashgate, Farnham 2010. 251 pp. Ill. £55.00; doi:10.1017/ S002085901200003X Despite its undoubted size and influence it is probably fair to say that, until recently at least, the cooperative movement has received less attention from historians than the labour movement. This now seems to be changing. A number of important stock-taking collections have appeared recently and new research projects are now underway.1 Much of this recent work has been influenced by new perspectives on the history of con- sumption and consumerism. During the 1990s, influential studies by Peter Gurney and Ellen Furlough among others demonstrated the need to consider consumer cooperation on its own terms, as a movement challenging the dominant capitalist mode of con- sumption.2 Nicole Robertson’s study of the British consumer cooperative movement is influenced by this consumerist perspective on cooperative history, and, like most recent studies of British cooperation, acknowledges its debt to Gurney in particular. Robertson presents a detailed study of various aspects of cooperative ideology and practice during the period 1914–1960, organized around three themes: cooperation’s contribution to economic and recreational life; cooperation and consumer protection; and cooperation as part of the wider labour movement. The study combines an examination of the published sources of the national coop- erative movement with records from eight local cooperative societies in England, Scotland and Wales. These varied enormously in size, ranging from the tiny Ewloe Place Coop- erative Society in Flintshire, which had barely 300 members during the 1920s, to the very large urban societies of London and Birmingham.