Edited by Tony Pilch.
Published 2007 (ISBN: 1 905370 14 8) Price £9.95
A collection of essays considering the role of Trades Unions in the global economy, looking at the role that unions can play in preparing Britain’s workers for the effects of globalisation, and how international links between unions can offer an important force for progressive change across the world. Increased competition from abroad has heralded changing industrial patterns in Britain, with consequences for workers in each sector of the UK economy. The rise of off-shoring is just one example. In a global economy, the uncertainties that accompany the free movement of labour, and the fast pace at which a competitive advantage can be created and lost, have led many countries to move in the direction of increased protectionism. However, as the Chancellor has suggested, measures that seek to reverse or halt the free movement of goods and services, capital and labour are likely to impact disproportionately on our prosperity and growth. As this collection shows, a better approach may be to seek to involve workers and employers in meeting the challenges of a rapidly changing and changeable labour market, preparing workers for the jobs of the future and seeking to develop mechanisms for people to learn new skills at every stage of their lives.