Politics Final Flashcards

German Works Councils

• Elected by the entire workforce

• Strong rights: Information, consultation, participation

• Formal power-sharing: Institutionalized negotiations between labor and management

• Dominated by DGB unitary unions: All-encompassing unions

• Role in preventing layoffs: Works councils help protect jobs during economic downturns

• Developed in 1920s form of codetermination

Codetermination

• Between firms and elected works councils

• At firm and plant level: Information and participation rights

• Labor representatives on supervisory boards

• Two channels: Supervisory board and work council

• Worker participation: Emphasis on shaping workplace decisions

• Prevents layoffs: Encourages training and upskilling, protects jobs, fosters company-specific skills

Short-Time Work (Kurzarbeit)

• Government-financed: Stabilizes employment during economic slumps

• Layoff alternative: Employees reduced to part-time instead of being laid off

• Support: Workers receive 60%+ of pay via unemployment insurance

• Cost-sharing model: Keeps workers employed while reducing economic shocks.

European Social Model (EurWork)

• Economic & social progress are inseparable

• Social partners: Unions recognized as legal partners

• Social dialogue: Collaboration between unions, employers, and government

• Values: democracy and individual rights, free collective bargaining, the market economy, equal opportunities for all, and social protection and solidarity.

Flexicurity (Auken)

• Danish labor market model

• Balance: Flexibility for employers, security for workers

• Decentralized system: Pay and conditions set via collective bargaining

• Win-win: Universal benefits, paid sick leave, pension plans

• Limited severance pay: Government-funded healthcare

Social Movement Mobilization (Lakey)

• Strong social movements: Essential for real change

• Grassroots activism: Coalition building between unions and community groups

• Transforming politics: Social movements drive democratic change

• Origins of Nordic model: 1920s-30s, labor movements shaped economic democracy

Patrimonial Capitalism (Piketty)

• Wealth accumulation: Wealth is concentrated in hands of a few and passed down/inherited rather than earned through labor and innovation which eads to "patrimonial capitalism"

• Inequality: No natural force to prevent growing wealth concentration

• Permanent inequality: If no deliberate policy intervention

• r > g: Capital return outpaces economic growth, worsening inequality. A system where wealth accumulation leads to increasing inequality, as investment returns outpace economic growth.

IG Metall

• Largest European trade union: Metal workers

• Powerful and experienced: Can endure long strikes

• Recent success: Secured 28-hour workweek and 4.3% pay increase with Sudwestmetall

• Pattern-setting union that engages in comprehensive collective bargaining for all union sectors

Nordic Model Emergence (Lakey)

• 1920s-30s: Norway's struggle for economic democracy

• Labor movements: Nonviolent action and coalition building for change

• Solidarity: Led to the development of the Nordic Model

CMEs vs. LMEs

• Coordinated MEs: Negotiated collaboration (Germany, Sweden, Japan)

  • organized capitalism

  • strong labor relations/codetermination

  • strong inter firm relations

  • More equality

  • incremental innovation

• Liberated MEs: Market-driven (USA, UK)

  • Limited labor protections

  • Rapid innovation

  • general training/vocational training

  • greater inequality

Freedom to Fail (Lakey)

• Norway's model: Government provides vocational training, education, public pension, and universal healthcare

• Entrepreneurial support: Encourages risk-taking and growth mindset with safety nets

Job-Security Councils (Semuels)

• Swedish model of flexicurity: Employers fund councils to retrain laid-off workers

• Support: Financial assistance and career counseling

• High success rate: Over 85% of displaced workers find new jobs within a year

Social Justice Framing (Turner)

Framing workplace issues as greater societal social justice issues to eventually build coalitions

Coalition Spillover

The phenomenon where strong labor coalitions lead to broader political power and support for various movements.

NYS Climate Jobs Program (Skinner)

A union initiative aimed at transitioning to a low-carbon economy while ensuring worker rights and job sustainability.

IMF: Unions and Inequality (Hiltzik)

Argument that union decline correlates with rising income inequality and stagnant wages for workers. Solutions include strengthening union representation, collective bargaining, and increased corporate reform.

Justice for Janitors

A labor campaign aimed at uplifting low-wage workers through coalition building and civil rights frameworks.This campaign focuses on improving wages and working conditions for janitorial staff, and using social justice framing to advocate for their rights and fair treatment in the workplace.

Employer Tactics to Block Union Recognition (Kate Bronfenbrenner)

Methods used by employers to deter unionization, such as:

• Management consultants, captive audience meetings, supervisor one-on-ones

• Plant closing threats, discharges, harassment, surveillance

Union Revitalization Strategies

Tactics aimed at reinvigorating labor movements through:

• Progressive politics: Campaigns for $15 minimum wage, political mobilization

• Coalition building: Local, national, and international efforts

American South and the Low-Wage Economy

Characterization of the South as a low-wage hub due to historical factors which contributes to wage stagnation and lack of worker protections. Important because it sets a pattern for the rest of the US weakening the labor movement.

Fight for $15 Impact

A movement originating in NYC that successfully increased wages for millions of workers nationwide.

Redlining and the Racial Wealth Gap (Kurtzleben & Cohen)

Discriminatory practices that limited wealth-building opportunities (loans, Homestead Act, zoning) for Black families, leading to generational inequality.

Union Renewal in LA, CA

Efforts to revitalize labor movements in Los Angeles using coalition-based organizing strategies in sectors like hotels and healthcare.

Sectoral Approach

An organizing strategy aimed at improving working conditions across entire industries rather than individual workplaces, exemplified by the Nail Salon Act.

Educationism (Hanauer)

The belief that education alone can solve wage inequality, criticized for missing the need for labor power, increased wages, and wealth redistribution through fair taxation.

Domestic and Farm Workers, NLRA

The exclusion of these workers from unionization protections established by the National Labor Relations Act (1935) due to efforts to exclude Black workers by Southern Democrats. Organizing efforts like United Farm Workers and Justice fr Janitors paved the way for legal protections.

Spirit Level (Wilson & Pickett)

The link between income inequality and negative social outcomes like poor health and reduced trust.

Three Ways Oligarchs Retain Power (Reich)

Factors like

• the decline of unions,

• campaign contributions (bribery)

• deregulation

• scapegoats (blaming minorities)

• Solutions lie in creating stronger labor rights, progressive taxation, and corporate accountability.

Alternative for Germany (AfD)

Far-right political party: Anti-immigration, Eurosceptic, and nationalist

Anti-globalization: Opposes European Union integration

Sweden Democrats

• Far-right party: Anti-immigration and nationalist policies

• Historical links: Initially associated with neo-Nazi groups, but distanced from this

Marine Le Pen / National Rally (France)

Far-right political party led by Marine Le Pen, focused on nationalism and anti-globalization. Pro workers, tax cuts, and increased public spending.

The “Great Reset”

the phenomenon of the revival of labor movement in 2023.

• Reset expectations: Labor unions are winning surprisingly large contract settlements as workers have to reset their expectations to demand more than they did pre-pandemic.

• 3 MAIN FACTORS: 1) Tight labor market, 2) Increased union momentum, 3) more effective and militant bargaining methods.

Forces Driving Union Revival (Greenhouse/Blanc)

The interplay of rising economic inequality and changes in labor laws that are revitalizing labor movements.

Power Shift, Systemic Changes (Reich)

The growing influence of corporate power at the expense of democratic institutions, necessitating reforms. Proposed solutions are rebalancing power, stronger labor rights, and progressive taxation.

Kuznet’s “Fairy Tale” (Piketty)

Critique stressing that economic growth does not inherently solve inequality, advocating for policy interventions.

Troika

The coalition of European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Coalition that imposed austerity measures (spending cuts, increased taxes, economic reform) on struggling European economies. Led to increased protests and economic hardships. Prioritizes fiscal discipline over social welfare, contributing to economic hardship and social unrest.