Union recognition and partnership at work: a new legitimacy for Irish trade unions?

In the Irish context of national partnership and the promotion of workplace partnership at firm level, unions might be expected to have achieved, at least, a pragmatic acceptance by employers. Using a survey of full‐time union officials in eight trade unions organising in the private sector, this paper reports their experiences of recent recognition campaigns. Employer opposition appears to have intensified, and in a substantial percentage of cases has involved the victimisation of activists. In facilitating employees to make a free choice regarding union representation, the Codes of Practice and the Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2001 are regarded by the majority of officials as inadequate. A majority of officials favoured the introduction of a statutory right to recognition. Non‐union firms appear as ‘free riders’ that have enjoyed the benefits of national partnership but evaded the compromises and concessions that necessarily characterise such agreements. If left unchecked, the free‐rider phenomenon could undermine the institutional framework on which partnership is based.     

“我是看热闹的”:2010BCA×TIME OUT青年艺术市集

民谣现场、美酒、行为艺术、身份扮演加上五光十色的有型或有范儿的年轻人们,天安时间当代艺术中心在8月9日开幕的"2010BCA青年艺术市集—我是"的现场简直就是一个大party,你可以遇见各种平时经常联系的或者不联系的朋     

佳士得香港春拍来了

去年的5月28日欧洲足球冠军联赛进行决赛,西班牙的巴塞罗那队以2:0击败英格兰的曼彻斯特联队夺得冠军,今年5月28日的香港,作为国际知名拍卖行的佳士得,选在此时展开春拍,与4月份刚结束的香港苏富比春拍一别苗头。不同与苏富比强调奢华、皇权拍品的策略,除去在红酒、手腕表、珠宝这些满足新富阶级的专场,佳士得香港在书画、佛像、私人藏家征集的拍品上下足了功夫,充分满足了中国藏家的收藏品味。     

青年艺术家公众左右未来

秋拍大戏正在上演，在这个舞台上，有的艺术家华丽演出继续。有的则黯然落幕。不同结局，不同声音，旁观者更是见仁见智。在观众日益挑剔的时代．名家名角．都保不齐有人喝倒彩。初出茅庐的愣头小子，要想出彩．更是需要功底和运气。     

早春二月，聚焦伦敦——当代，又见沃霍尔

“沃霍尔热潮”继续在2月16日的伦敦佳士得“战后及当代艺术”拍卖上升温，红白色的《自画像》一跃超越了它的估价（300—500万英镑）．最终以1080万英镑成交，被拉里·高古轩夺得。这是伦敦本周当代拍品中成交价最高的作品。     

Japanese sogo shosha and the U.S. export trading companies

Recent legislation in the U.S. concerning export trading companies has drawn attention to the Japanese general trading companies. While the intent of the ETC Act was not to replicate the sogo shosha model in the U.S., there are some parallels which we can identify. In this paper we examine the evolving forms of the sogo shosha and ETCs, and show how they compete directly in some areas of international trade. Although early performance results for U.S. ETCs are not encouraging, longer term results are expected to improve. To support this expectation, we identify current problems and offer recommendations for improvement. These recommendations are framed in the context of the U.S. business environment, and implications for public policy are assessed.     

Trade Unions and Political Participation in the European Union: Still Providing a Democratic Dividend?

Decline in electoral participation is a feature of many Western democracies. In this paper, we focus on the relationship between trade union membership and political participation. Workplace authority structures, trade union membership and union presence have been identified as important influences on electoral participation. Based on a survey of employees in 15 member states of the European Union, we test for a relationship between political participation, union membership and union workplace presence. The independent effect of trade union membership on political participation was found to be both significant and positive and is associated with higher levels of political activism and electoral participation. Furthermore, an institutional context that facilitates high levels of union density seems likely to have an overall positive effect on citizen participation.     

Primary vs secondary prophylaxis with pegfilgrastim for the reduction of febrile neutropenia risk in patients receiving chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: cost-effectiveness analyses

Objective:

Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of primary vs secondary prophylaxis (PP vs SP) with pegfilgrastim to reduce the risk of febrile neutropenia (FN) in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy from a US payer perspective.

Methods:

A Markov model was used to compare PP vs SP with pegfilgrastim in a cohort of patients receiving six cycles of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and prednisone (CHOP) or CHOP plus rituximab (CHOP-R) chemotherapy. Model inputs, including efficacy of pegfilgrastim in reducing risk of FN and costs, were estimated from publicly available sources and peer-reviewed publications. Incremental cost-effectiveness was evaluated in terms of net cost per life-year saved (LYS), per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained, and per FN event avoided over a lifetime horizon. Deterministic and probabilistic analyses were performed to assess sensitivity and robustness of results.

Results:

Lifetime costs for PP were $5000 greater than for SP; however, PP was associated with fewer FN events and more LYs and QALYs gained vs SP. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for PP vs SP for CHOP were $13,400 per FN event avoided, $29,500 per QALY gained, and $25,800 per LYS. CHOP-R results were similar ($15,000 per FN event avoided, $33,000 per QALY gained, and $28,900 per LYS). Results were most sensitive to baseline FN risk, cost per FN episode, and odds ratio for reduced relative dose intensity due to prior FN event. PP was cost-effective vs SP in 85% of simulations at a $50,000 per QALY threshold.

Limitations:

In the absence of NHL-specific data, estimates for pegfilgrastim efficacy and relative risk reduction of FN were based on available data for neoadjuvant TAC in patients with breast cancer. Baseline risks of FN for CHOP and CHOP-R were assumed to be equivalent.

Conclusions:

PP with pegfilgrastim is cost-effective compared to SP with pegfilgrastim in NHL patients receiving CHOP or CHOP-R.     

Medicare in the 21st century.

The authors provide an overview of the Medicare program in terms of how the current program operates, the current issues it faces that may shape possible options for reform, and the implications of these features and issues for employment-based health plans. Current issues include adoption of a premium support model, changes in the eligibility age for Medicare benefits, Medigap insurance, benefits covered and customer service.