The dynamics of strike votes: Perceived justice during collective bargaining

Why do workers decide to go on strike or change their mind during a strike? This field study aims to determine to what extent employees' perceptions of justice formed during the collective bargaining process influence their strike vote. Data were collected from a North American university faculty that went on strike 21 months after the expiration of its collective agreement. The results show that perceived justice about collective bargaining is a determinant of the strike vote. The role played by the employer and the union as a source of (in)justice and the importance of the four types of justice perceptions (procedural, distributive, interpersonal, and informational) vary depending on the context of ballots (initiate, continue, or end the strike). This suggests that the reduction of uncertainty leads to the activation of three different mechanisms: judgmental heuristics (salience), social comparison, and cognitive dissonance. The results also suggest that employees attempt to be as rational as possible when they decide to go on strike. Nevertheless, the decision to join strikers and to continue the strike is partly based on an emotional process: employees use the strike to punish the employer. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economic Growth,Climate Change,Biodiversity Loss: Distributive Justice for the Global North and South

Abstract: Economic growth‐the increase in production and consumption of goods and services‐must be considered within its biophysical context. Economic growth is fueled by biophysical inputs and its outputs degrade ecological processes, such as the global climate system. Economic growth is currently the principal cause of increased climate change, and climate change is a primary mechanism of biodiversity loss. Therefore, economic growth is a prime catalyst of biodiversity loss. Because people desire economic growth for dissimilar reasons‐some for the increased accumulation of wealth, others for basic needs‐how we limit economic growth becomes an ethical problem. Principles of distributive justice can help construct an international climate‐change regime based on principles of equity. An equity‐based framework that caps economic growth in the most polluting economies will lessen human impact on biodiversity. When coupled with a cap‐and‐trade mechanism, the framework can also provide a powerful tool for redistribution of wealth. Such an equity‐based framework promises to be more inclusive and therefore more effective because it accounts for the disparate developmental conditions of the global north and south.     

Time‐based differences in the effects of positive and negative affectivity on perceived supervisor support and organizational commitment among newcomers

Building on the broaden‐and‐build theory and research on the negativity bias, this study examines how trait affectivity, as a stable predisposition predicting the pattern of emotional responding, shapes newcomers' perceptions of supervisor support and experience of organizational commitment. Using latent growth modeling and data collected at four points in time from newcomers (N = 158), we found the initial level of perceived supervisor support to mediate a negative relationship between negative affectivity and the level of commitment. Moreover, although newcomers experienced a general decrease in perceived supervisor support and a related decrease in commitment, those with high positive affectivity experienced a weaker decrease in perceived supervisor support, which led to a weaker decrease in commitment. Incidentally, positive affectivity was also positively related to the initial level of commitment. Two post hoc studies indicated that positive and negative affectivity exerted their effects controlling for state affect and replicated the relationship between change in perceived support and commitment. We discuss how these findings inform our understanding of trait affectivity's influence on newcomers' work attitudes.     

Diversity and organizational innovation: The role of employee involvement

This study examined the interactive effects of workplace diversity and employee involvement on organizational innovation. Using a sample of 182 large Canadian organizations, we found a three‐way interaction between level of employee involvement, variation in involvement, and racioethnic diversity on innovation. In organizations with high levels of employee involvement, high variation in involvement was associated with higher involvement levels among racioethnic minorities, resulting in a stronger association between diversity and innovation. Furthermore, the association between White employee involvement and innovation was significantly more positive under the condition of high involvement among racioethnic minority group members. Thus, ensuring high levels of involvement among members of historically marginalized racioethnic groups enhances the innovation effects of employee empowerment systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seeking Indigenous food sovereignty: origins of and responses to the food crisis in northern Manitoba,Canada

A food crisis confronts many Indigenous communities in northwestern Canada, as reflected by wide-scale food insecurity and diet-related disease. South-generated responses to this crisis generally disregard principles of Indigenous food sovereignty and are disengaged from concerns related to environmental and food justice. This study seeks to explore the needs and priorities of a First Nation (Misipawistik Cree Nation) and an associated Métis community (Grand Rapids) regarding existing and potential responses to the food crisis in northern Manitoba. Substantial changes to the traditional food system were initiated during the establishment of the reserve system in the 1800s and now extend to damage associated with hydro development. Responses to these changes were categorised according to themes and include the revival of country food traditions, individual and community gardens, agriculture in the North, and better quality imported foods. Regardless of response, decision-making needs to be community-driven, culturally appropriate, to reflect local priorities in order to effectively address the northern food crisis, and, ultimately, needs to work towards Indigenous food sovereignty to be effective.     

Assessing local climate action plans for public health co-benefits in environmental justice communities

Climate change presents a complex environmental health and justice challenge for the field of urban planning. To date, the majority of research focuses on measuring local climate efforts and evaluating the general efficacy of adopted climate action plans (CAPs). Cumulatively, these studies argue that socio-economic and demographic variables (such as the fiscal health of cities, city size, and median household income) are important factors in implementing climate policies. Less studied are issues of environmental justice and the impacts of climate change on population health. Through interviews with urban planners and a document analysis of CAPs, this study assesses how California cities with high levels of pollution and social vulnerability address climate change and public health. The findings of this study show that CAPs in these cities rarely analyse whether greenhouse gas reduction strategies will also yield health co-benefits, such as a reduction in the co-pollutants of climate change (i.e. ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides). In many instances, the net co-benefits of health are not monetised, quantified, or even identified by local governments. In California's most impacted cities, climate planning activities and work on public health are happening in a parallel manner rather than through an integrated approach. The results suggest a need for increased opportunities for interagency coordination and staff training to conduct health analyses, free and easily accessible tools, methods for prioritising funding streams, and the development of partnerships with community-based organisations for linking climate planning with public health.     

Emotional labor threatens decent work: A proposal to eradicate emotional display rules

Emotional labor—the management of emotional displays as part of one's work role—has emerged as a growth area of study within organizational behavior and customer service research. In this article, we call attention to the human costs of “service with a smile” requirements with little benefits. We first review the evidence showing that requiring positive emotions from employees induces dissonance and depleted resources, which hinders task performance and threatens well‐being. We articulate how formalized emotion display requirements limit self‐determination by threatening the autonomy, competence, and belongingness needs of employees. Further, via an organizational justice lens, we argue that emotional labor is an unfair labor practice because employees in such circumstances are (1) undervalued by the organization (constituting distributive injustice); (2) disrespected by customers (constituting interactional injustice); and (3) self‐undermined by organizational policies (constituting procedural injustice). We then argue for bringing light to the dark side of emotional labor with a “modest proposal”: Organizations and customers should abandon formalized emotion display expectations and replace such efforts with more humanistic practices that support and value employees, engendering positive climates and an authentically positive workforce. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The social and spatial distribution of temperature-related health impacts from urban heat island reduction policies

Cities are developing innovative strategies to combat climate change but there remains little knowledge of the winners and losers from climate-adaptive land use planning and design. We examine the distribution of health benefits associated with land use policies designed to increase vegetation and surface reflectivity in three US metropolitan areas: Atlanta, GA, Philadelphia, PA, and Phoenix, AZ. Projections of population and land cover at the census tract scale were combined with climate models for the year 2050 at 4 km × 4 km resolution to produce future summer temperatures which were input into a comparative risk assessment framework for the temperature-mortality relationship. The findings suggest disparities in the effectiveness of urban heat management strategies by age, income, and race. We conclude that, to be most protective of human health, urban heat management must prioritize areas of greatest population vulnerability.     

SPECULATIVE POLICY MAKING IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL ARENA1

ABSTRACT: The development of policy in the American political system has been characterized by incremental change, creation of support, bargaining, compromise, pluralistic group interplay, development of social support and political support, technical input, review and consideration. Incrementalism, as it is called, allows policy to develop in tandem with technical knowledge, legislative and executive support, political advantage, and presumably greater certainty concerning the impact of a particular choice. Environmental policy development, one scholar has hypothesized, followed this basic pattern until the late 1960's when policy aspirations began to escalate much faster than the knowledge, organizational arrangements and political support upon which policy implementation depends. This “escalation” hypothesis is examined in this paper, with particular attention given to policy development in West Virginia.     

跨流域调水的公正问题——基于环境正义的分析视角

水资源时空分布不均造成的水资源短缺问题已成为阻碍区域发展的重要因素。为了应对区域间的水资源短缺问题,跨流域调水工程作为不同流域水资源优化配置的一种手段,被广泛用于解决水资源分配不均和区域需水不平衡问题。调水工程虽然短期内缓解了水资源压力,平衡了区域间用水需求,但其建设和运营过程对工程所涉区域的地方经济、地理环境、人文环境以及生态环境也造成不同程度的压力。本文通过对当前世界范围内跨流域调水工程的文献回顾,围绕跨流域调水工程所引发的社会公平正义层面的争议,借助环境正义理论的分析方法,通过对国内外调水案例的实践分析,追踪相关环境不公的现象和争议,剖析当前社会—生态冲突的产生机制。最后从我国水生态文明建设实际出发,提出以建立健全水权交易市场,构建"赋权—认同—合作"参与机制和树立"人类命运共同体"理念的解决对策,以期降低调水工程对环境和社会所造成的负面影响,推进水生态正义体系的建设。