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This paper examines the labor policies of the United Typothetae of America (UTA) from its birth in 1887 through the late 1920s and argues that labor policy differences among its members (personified by two prominent New York City-based printing employers, Theodore DeVinne and Charles Francis) created a “house divided” that not only prevented it from creating and maintaining a unified labor policy but also ultimately led to its demise as an employers' association and reconstitution primarily as a trade association. It will do so by analyzing key episodes in the UTA's labor history to show how the two competing labor philosophies – DeVinne's absolute authority & independence and Francis's stability & order – interacted with industry conditions – intense price competition, a decentralized industry structure, proprietor autonomy, the relative power of unions, and economic conditions – to impact the UTA's labor policies and its institutional survival. The UTA's experience reveals the diversity of American employers' experiences as well as the challenges that they have faced when attempting to act collectively in the industrial relations arena. Moreover, recent IR research on employers' associations around the world also reveals that, as unions have declined in power, many also are shifting their focus away from labor relations to other member services.

The growth of organized labor during the latter part of the nineteenth century triggered an organizational impulse on the part of employers across the country. Although some employers’ associations began as “negotiatory” bodies engaged in collective bargaining, the vast majority of them shifted toward a more “belligerent” approach. Academic scholarship has generally focused on the belligerents at the national level. Recently, some scholars have begun to study organized employers at the community level, but they continue to feature the more typical staunchly anti-union associations. This study of Columbus, Ohio's master printers’ association reveals a different pattern of local labor relations during the years between 1887 and 1960 – an association that had generally smooth bargaining relationships with craft unions. Columbus’ conservative and sheltered economy enabled the longstanding cooperative shared printing craft culture to thrive. But changes in Columbus’ economy, shifts in larger patterns of industrial relations, the hard-line influence of the national employers’ association, and technological changes altered the context of local labor relations. The result was that, by 1960, the Columbus association sought the upper hand in labor relations by becoming a more traditional and belligerent employers’ association. This story of “latecomers” adds to our understanding of organized employer behavior under different historical periods and circumstances.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

An Act to repeal the Industrial Relations Act 1971; to make provision with respect to the law relating to trade unions, employers' associations, workers and employers, including the law relating to unfair dismissal, and with respect to the jurisdiction and procedure of industrial tribunals; and for connected purposes [31st July 1974]

Cincinnati manufacturers before World War I displayed substantial unity in pursuing the open shop. San Francisco employers were divided, in both their attitudes and their actions, on how to deal with unions. I treat these differences in terms of business class formation. My explanation emphasizes how racial dynamics, class relations, and citizenship practices, acting in cumulative historical sequences, shaped employer solidarity and ideology.

Collective bargaining (CB) in China is perceived as inadequate, thanks to the lack of trade union independence and representation. However, CB of the sweater industry in Wenling, one of the world’s largest manufacturing centre, shows another tendency. Using Wenling as the case, the purpose of this paper is to explore whether a new form of CB is emerging in China.

This paper uses a qualitative case study approach, and covers stakeholders, including the government, trade union, sweater association, workers and employers.

In China, trade unions are constrained by corporatism and therefore cannot become the effective agents of CB. However, the increased industrial conflicts could in effect push employers to become the engine of change. This paper finds that employers endeavour to use CB as a tool to stabilise employment relations and neutralise workers resistance. Consequently, a gradual transition in labour relations system is on the way, characterised by “disorderly resistance” to “orderly compliance” in the working class.

The case industry may not be sufficient in drawing the details of CB in China, while it provides the trend of change.

Conventional wisdom on the Chinese labour relations and CB tends to ignore the employer’s perspective. This paper partially fills in the gap by offering CB and change of employment relations from the aspect of employers.

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for employer brand equity (EBE) that combines both perspectives of employer brand customers into a unified framework for employee attraction and retention.

This paper extends previous conceptual work on EBE by identifying the role of EBE antecedents in internal and external employer branding. In addition, it recognizes the interactive nature of employer-employee relationship.

The framework incorporates employee experience with the employer, which relates to the interaction between employee and employer and recognizes the internal and external perspectives simultaneously. Further, the unified framework helps to develop a four-cell typology for the strategic management of an employer brand.

Existing research has failed to integrate the two perspectives of employment customers in a clear model and, thus, offered limited applicability to an employment setting. The EBE framework goes beyond existing models by providing a conceptualization that aims to reflect the employer-brand relationship from the perspective of existing and potential employees. Further, it provides theoretical and empirical rationale for a set of propositions that can empirically be examined in future research.

Looks at the unique way Germany’s trade unions work, by the use of workers’ participation with elected representatives, which uses works councils in conjunction with management. Briefly sketches the structure and function of these very different and apposite ends of the spectrum.

Purpose – European social protection arrangements have undergone significant transformations since the mid-1970s. However, while the existing literature has focused on reforms in public welfare arrangements, an analysis of both public and private social protection is needed to understand the social protection status of European workers. Recent reforms have led to varying degrees of social protection dualism between insiders and outsiders. After showing the existence of dualization processes in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, the chapter explores the structural and political sources of these processes.

Methodology/approach – We conduct a comparative historical analysis and process tracing of policy change and its drivers in three major European political economies. A combination of qualitative evidence and quantitative measurements are used.

Findings – We find that de-industrialization has contributed to unsettling the skill composition that sustained both public and private postwar social protection arrangements. This development has affected the preferences of employers, for whom cost containment has become a critical issue. Furthermore, we show that the capacity of employers to realize their preferences depends on the governance structures of social policy arrangements and on domestic political institutions.

Originality/value – The chapter suggests new perspectives on employers' preferences in Coordinated and Liberal political economies which differ from those which have informed the Varieties of Capitalism approach.

The purpose of this paper is to expand and test Backhaus and Tikoo’s (2004) employer branding (EB) conceptual framework from the perspective of internal EB in a sport event sponsorship context.

This study developed a set of hypotheses, which were tested in the context of a business-to-business multinational organization’s sport event sponsorship project. Empirical data were collected from 716 employees of the case company after the sponsorship project was complete.

The results support all the hypotheses and reveal that a sport event sponsorship project can act as a means to achieving EB goals in the investigated context.

The sample of the study was limited to the existing personnel of one case company. The study measures the effects at a single point in time, thus the findings should be validated with longitudinal research design.

The results propose that companies can benefit from integrating sport sponsorship with internal EB. Practitioners are advised to create sponsorship projects that involve current employees effectively.

The study adds to the literature by being among the first empirical studies to have tested the effects of EB among current employees via a sponsorship project.