Income inequality is a structural feature in Argentina. This paper advances a relatively underexplored analytical framework that links sectoral disparities in profit rates to differences in union organisation and state intervention. We identify three interrelated dimensions: (a) uneven capital accumulation across sectors, captured by profit rates as an upper bound on wage growth; (b) workers’ collective organisation and bargaining capacity, which shape the extent to which this potential is realised; and (c) the role of the state as a contested arena in which distributive conflicts are mediated. Using panel data econometric models (2006–2019), we examine average wages across private economic sectors, accounting for sectoral profit rates, union strength, and minimum wage policies. Our findings reveal that wage inequality emerges from the interaction between capital’s drive for profit maximisation and workers’ responses through organisation, bargaining, and conflict.

Fear of contracting or transmitting COVID-19 had a profound impact on workers’ mental health. Although workplaces implemented COVID-19 protective measures, their effectiveness has been underexplored, particularly regarding the involvement of worker representatives. This research examines whether the presence and active participation of worker representatives in negotiating and implementing COVID-19 protective measures relates to reduced concerns about contracting or transmitting the disease. A cross-sectional study using logistic regression models was conducted on microdata from a Spanish survey conducted in April–May 2021 (n = 19,452). Concerns about contracting or transmitting COVID-19 were studied as dependent variables, whereas the independent variables were integrated into an indicator of participatory implementation of thirteen COVID-19 protective measures. Results show that active involvement of worker representatives in negotiating protective measures is significantly associated with reduced concerns about COVID-19 infection and, to a lesser extent, transmission. Moreover, the presence of worker representatives in workplaces is linked to a greater use of protective measures. Even unnegotiated measures have a positive, albeit smaller, effect. Organisational measures, such as shortening working hours, proved more effective in alleviating infection concerns than personal hygiene measures. In conclusion, active worker participation may serve as a protective factor for workers’ mental health during pandemics.

This special collection entitled ‘Green Transition or Social Transformation? Socio-economic Costs and Challenges of Energy Transition for Working People’ is an invitation to further study the role of labour in the energy transition and the impact of the current form of transition on workers’ lives. Above all, however, it raises fundamental questions about the future trajectory, aims, and scope of the transition. It also suggests that it is worth speaking openly not only about technological change but also about systemic change − one that incorporates economic and political dimensions and must accompany the energy revolution. A transition that leaves hierarchical social structures intact, that fails to critique the economic mechanisms exploiting both people and the environment, or that does not challenge existing relations of power which colonise nature and the working classes, is not a transition at all. It is merely ‘old wine in new bottles,’ designed to ensure the further reproduction of the prevailing system and to create new forms of capital accumulation. This collection presents reflections, analyses, and proposals addressing issues often overlooked in the green transition: the concerns of working people, their anxieties over employment and economic security, and a new form of colonisation under the guise of technological changes in the energy sector. The authors suggest, however, progressive solutions that go beyond the status quo, such as a ‘transformative just transition’, labour environmentalism based on the inseparable relationship between labour and nature, and social–ecological development.

The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected labour markets, among other aspects of life. This study examines the impact of the discouraged worker effect during the pandemic, focusing on the Turkish labour market from 2018 to 2021. Although few studies exist on this topic, they rely on labour force participation rates, whereas our dataset includes direct questions and data specifically related to the discouraged worker effect, allowing for a microeconomic analysis. Probit regression results show that the discouraged worker effect was stronger during the pandemic, with job seekers being 1.6% more likely to become discouraged than before. Higher education levels generally reduce this likelihood, both before and during the pandemic. While age negatively correlates with discouragement, this effect diminishes with increasing age. Single women were more adversely affected than single men and married women than married men. Higher unemployment rates increase discouragement, as expected, while an increase in the unemployment rate has a greater effect on individuals during the pandemic period. Findings suggest that the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on certain individuals, particularly with respect to education level and gender, while Türkiye’s societal structure may help explain the observed gender-based differences.

This article proposes the examination of the climate politics of labour unions, particularly the strategy of just transition, through the prism of environmental labour studies, an ecosocial approach to labour environmentalism. In the first part, it presents a historical overview in order to highlight how the just energy transition became a central element of labour environmentalism. The paper then examines the double impact of climate politics and just transition on labour environmentalism – narrowing its substantive focus while deepening the intersection of nature and labour within and beyond the workplace. The second part draws on the environmental labour studies approach to propose that labour environmentalism should take into account the inseparable relationship between labour and nature, expand the scope of work and workers, and account for global divisions of labour. In our view, such a programmatic shift will ensure that work and workers are placed centrally within ecosocial politics.

Understanding the barriers to women’s employment and implementing inclusive initiatives in STEM workplaces is a critical global challenge. This systematic literature review applied a PRISMA-guided protocol to screen and critically appraise 44 empirical publications across four multidisciplinary databases. This review produced a structured analysis of the nature of barriers, their outcomes, and inclusive organisational initiatives for women in STEM workplaces. The study identifies intersecting barriers – bias-related, stereotype threat, culture, and structural – that hinder women’s representation and career progression. Inclusive initiatives, such as mentorship, stereotype reduction, equitable policies, and transparent promotion pathways, are explored as solutions; however, there are gaps in measuring their long-term efficacy and incorporating cross-cultural and intersectional perspectives. The findings underscore the need for robust theoretical frameworks and empirical research to promote equity and inclusion, thereby unlocking the full potential of women in STEM.

While unions’ impacts on workers’ overtime have been primarily studied in Western contexts, research on China remains limited. This paper addresses this gap by examining how Chinese unions affect workers’ overtime and compensation, using data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey. It also explores heterogeneous protection effects for privileged and unprivileged workers. Probit regression, IV, and PSM methods are adopted to address endogeneity and self-selection biases. Results show that Chinese unions and their perceived efficacy significantly reduce workers’ overtime – particularly illegal (exceeding legal limits) and uncompensated overtime. The protective effect is stronger for unprivileged workers with short-term contracts or easily replaceable tasks. This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness and heterogeneity of Chinese unions’ role in regulating overtime, rooted in their ‘party-state face’. It offers new insights into unions’ contribution to safeguarding workers’ welfare and labour rights in China.

The Social Security Pension System of Northern Cyprus faces a significant deficit, with structural imbalances needing urgent policy interventions. The annual deficit is approximately equal to 50% of current pension payments, or 3.2% of GDP. Without a reform, this deficit is expected to continue and may pose a critical obstacle to Cyprus’s EU integration aspirations. The objective of this article is to design a reform to finance this component of the pension system that will address both current and longer-term sustainability. The paper employs a methodology of public sector budgetary accounting and actuarial estimation of the pension deficit under various scenarios. The findings show that the employees’ Provident Fund assets’ vulnerability to the rate of inflation provides an opportunity to combine the contributions of both components of the public-administered pension systems. Such a measure, along with some parametric reforms like increasing the retirement age, would address the current crisis and ensure the future sustainability of the Social Security Pension System.

How have hopes raised by the UN1995 Beijing plan for global gender equality and empowerment been addressed in policy frameworks, academic theorising, grassroots mobilisation, and women’s everyday experience? To answer this question, the article starts with contextual snapshots, focusing on Australian, Indian, and Latin American/Caribbean examples, to draw out issues of occupational segregation, formal and informal economy work, paid and unpaid work, and migration. Two international approaches to addressing these issues were the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal and its International Labour Organisation (ILO) Decent Work agenda. While intersectional and decolonial theories critique the UN’s weak and depoliticised human rights framework, there seem to be limited alternatives right now to the work being done within this frame and to extend it. Sources of hope lie in recent Latin American and Caribbean gender mobilisations, and an emerging Care Society agenda addressing gender inequities of value, time, and voice in unpaid work. Reviewing the seven new research articles on gender and work in ELRR 36(3), this article shifts from structure to agency, identifying how constraints are reproduced and navigated. In Australia, men’s interventions in apprenticeship training structures helped perpetuate occupational segregation. Three articles document daily experiences of restricted agency or outright oppression in work/family relationships in India, where tradition and neoliberalism intersect. Argentinian communal kitchens have reduced domestic labour time and increased voice, though in Mexico, expanded community childcare provision may not shift the gender division of care.

In the Philippines, bans on the use of plastic bags have been enacted in 489 cities and towns as a means of stemming waste, while proposed legislation for a nationwide prohibition has been pending for several years. The national single-use plastic (SUP) ban is a significant step forward in mitigating plastic pollution and climate change, but it will have economic and employment impacts on firms and workers. This study fills in a gap by estimating the employment impact of a national ban using firm-level data from official surveys. An exploratory labour-centric methodology interrogates workers’ perceptions of a ban through interviews with unionists. The study finds the employment effect to be significant, as 32,000 workers in almost 500 SUP firms will be directly affected, and another 9.000 workers in the midstream plastic industry will be indirectly impacted. Workers have a range of opinions regarding a proposed ban – from opposition because of the expected layoffs to acceptance as a necessary solution to plastic pollution. However, support for a SUP ban is predicated on the existence of alternative employment for affected workers. The study reveals that workers are receptive to a message that integrates both environmental concerns and labour standards. However, there is a serious lack of information dissemination from plastic firms and government agencies about the proposed SUP ban and the necessary adaptation measures to prepare workers for a transition. The economic, sociocultural, and institutional barriers to an effective just transition for SUP workers are substantial but not insurmountable.

The article advances debates on just transition by addressing both conceptual and practical dimensions of justice and development. It proposes an integrated evaluative framework that bridges justice and development perspectives, which are often treated separately in the literature. – Drawing on the capability approach, the framework links normative evaluation with participatory co-production, thereby supporting the design of more transformative just transition policies. Based on an extensive review of the literature, the article identifies seven dimensions of a comprehensive conception of social-ecological justice – distributive, epistemic, restorative, planetary, intergenerational, ecological, and procedural – and distinguish two ideal types of development – growth-driven development and social-ecological development. We argue that the extent to which the dimensions of justice are realised, both in number and degree, determines the scope and depth of shifts from growth-driven to social-ecological development and thereby shapes the transformative potential of just transition policies. The article applies this framework empirically through an evaluation of the International Labour Organisation’s approach to just transition. By grounding the analysis in a capability-based conception of justice and development, our framework positions co-production as central to processes of transformation that seek to be just. As part of this co-production process, the article calls for a more engaged and ethically grounded scholarship that contributes actively to the collective pursuit of just and sustainable futures.

This study examines the direct and indirect effects of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) on profitability, with a focus on the role of company size as a mediator. The impact of CSRD and company size on profitability and CSRD on company size was examined using panel data regression for 48 companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2023. In addition, Baron and Kenny’s method was used to evaluate the mediation effect. The analysis was repeated using the one-step generalised method of moments to address potential endogeneity issues. The results reveal a significant positive relationship between CSRD, company size, and their impact on profitability, as well as a significant positive correlation between CSRD and company size. Furthermore, the findings show that the relationship between CSRD and profitability in Palestinian companies is partially mediated by company size. The research outcomes are significant for experts and policymakers on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure policies and profitability. The positive results may lead to enhancing CSR disclosure policies within Palestinian companies and adopting sustainable practices that benefit society and the environment. This, in turn, may increase the chances of Palestinian companies of attracting investments.

Despite the proliferation of research, more systematic attempts to trace worker experiences across production networks of renewable energy remain marginal. This limits our potential to offer meaningful insights to guide future political mobilisation and policy measures for organised labour and workers more broadly. As a partial remedy, I provide an initial description of labour processes in wind energy. To do so, I carry out labour regime analysis. The utility of the labour regime framework stems from its ability to help the analyst to understand the labour process better by grounding it into a systematic theoretical framework to capture more effectively how dynamic political economic processes condition workplace outcomes. In my analysis, I highlight how capitals-in-competition within energy production networks facilitate structural conditions that intensify the rate of wind worker exploitation. Critically, the ecological sphere of the labour regime mediates the capital-labour interaction, which helps to explain the significant number of hours and extended timelines expected of wind technicians and those involved on project developments, as project owners push for time intensive schedules to reduce wind turbine downtime. My work also extends labour regime scholarship by arguing that ideational constructions, informed by different spheres of the labour regime, govern the labour process in important ways, which suggests that future studies might more seriously consider how ideational notions of work, such as Gramscian ‘common sense’ expectations, maintain labour regimes. I reason that a combination of these factors, both material and ideational, has made workplace organising in wind difficult.

Algorithmic management (AM) is reshaping work in many industries. However, what is done to redress potential risks is little understood. This study explores how trade unions, employers, and government actors assess AM-related occupational safety and health (OSH) risks and their strategies to understand how industrial relations could influence the safety and health of workers managed by digital technologies. Drawing on the Pressure, Disorganisation and Regulatory failure (PDR) model and interview and document data from Sweden, we find a gradually increasing interest in AM in the early 2020s among the government and the social partners. Unions learn, inform, and bargain about AM; employers enact ‘healthy discipline’; and government agencies inspect digital risks in workplaces. Moreover, economic and reward pressures contribute to AM-associated OSH risks. Disorganisation manifests as a lack of knowledge about the OSH effects of AM, leading to ineffective OSH management. Regulatory failure is reflected in new EU regulations stalling national-level initiatives, since the overlapping regulations complicate the enforcement of existing OSH regulations. This study highlights the crucial role of trade unions in advancing the agenda on AM-related OSH risks. It also makes a theoretical contribution by extending the PDR model, offering insights into the driving forces shaping AM and compromising OSH beyond the workplace level – highlighting wider politico-economic and institutional dynamics influencing OSH.