Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE MCT4002

 
TITLE Labour Unions, Collective Bargaining and Equality Law

 
UM LEVEL 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Media, Communications & Technology Law

 
DESCRIPTION The study-unit provides an overview of the fundamental concepts in collective bargaining within the context of workers' rights without distinction of any kind. The contents of this study-unit introduce students to terminologies used at the negotiating table, as well as their definitions. Students will be provided with a comprehensive overview of the diverse labour market, and the role of trade unions in organising diversity. The study-unit highlights the diversity of the formal labour market including workers with disabilities, older workers, women, etc. and the diversity of informal and atypical workers who are outside the scope of legal and social protection, and vulnerable to precarious working conditions and abuses of workers' rights.

Study-unit Aims:

The primary aims of the study-unit are:
- To sensitize students to Malta's laws pertaining to the labour market and collective bargaining;
- To give students the ability to develop competencies in understanding workers' rights within the context of a diverse labour market;
- To expose students to the multi-facets of industrial relations, the formal and informal economy and solidarity in diversity;
- To encourage students to contribute to contemporary debates from a range of academic disciplines and non-academic sources.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Understand what trade unions can do within their own internal structures and policies to enhance equality;
- Appreciate the importance of promoting workers' rights through the collective bargaining process;
- Understand preparedness for negotiations at the negotiating table in an effort to enter the legal profession with a broad knowledge of workers' rights, with the aim of improving law enforcement, and ensuring punishment in their defence against worker exploitation;
- Think critically about the most important reasons for having specific employment law and the industrial relations Act in Malta.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Critically relate theory to data and vice versa;
- Explore relevant questions in the field of equality, diversity, and workers' rights within the broad area of industrial relations and the labour market;
- Assess evidence and construct coherent arguments on the basis of reasoned analysis at policy level;
- Carry out independent research (library based and/or ethnographic);
- Be proficient in retrieval skills in relation to primary and secondary sources of information.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Lee, S. and McCann, D. (eds) (2011) Regulating for Decent Work: new directions in labour market regulations, International Labour Organisation.
- Working Papers (various), International Labour Organisation, www.ilo.org.
- Global Employment Trends 2014 (download PDF), International Labour Organisation, www.ilo.org.
- Policy Areas: Malta http://www.ilo.org/gateway/faces/home/polareas?_adf.ctrl-state=17tjbh7zvy_239&locale=EN&countryCode=MLT®ionId=5.
- European Journal of Industrial Relations edited by Richard Hyman (London School of Economics and Political Science, UK) http://ejd.sagepub.com/.
- Work, Employment and Society, Sage Journals http://wes.sagepub.com/content/27/3.toc.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Students taking this study-unit need to have a background in law.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork SEM1 No 40%
Seminar Paper SEM1 Yes 60%

 
LECTURER/S

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit