The protective state, which looks after individuals “from cradle to grave”, the expression used at the time welfare systems were set up, has gradually extended its reach, by seeking, through a variety of protection mechanisms, to cover the different situations of need that may happen in an individual’s lifetime. The system offers a safeguard from […]
Historically, the main concern about work hours has been to cap the number of hours employees can work in a given period. On the back of past struggles to achieve an eight-hour workday, as a general rule, we now have legal limits on daily working hours. Barring certain notable exceptions (Japan), the majority of western […]
Over a decade ago, a top-level politician allegedly made the now-infamous statement that “nobody owns public money”. Although we do not know whether the politician actually said this and in what context, or if it is an apocryphal story. The phrase is often dredged up to criticize the underlying belief (that public authorities can do […]
A noticeable change in recent labor union history is a gradual departure from their original international ideas by increasingly narrowing them down to local or domestic matters. The old idea of international proletarianism, and the aspiration to defend workers’ interests worldwide, or at least beyond domestic boundaries, are giving way to union policies heavily conditioned […]
The changes we are experiencing in the world of employment are fast and continual. If we look at what work will be like, and how employment relationships will be structured in the future, the only certain thing we will find is that they will change continually and we must forget any attempt to find a […]
