Editorial

The issue opens with a paper by Michele Tiraboschi and Lisa Rustico on the highly topical issue of 'green jobs' and the green economy.Environmental problems are a global concern and this undoubtedly gives rise to new challenges for employment in terms of the acquisition of new 'green' skills.In this connection, two crucial concerns arise: the issue of women's employment, which is seen as problematic, as 'green jobs' tend to be created mainly in male-dominated sectors, and the need for workers to acquire new vocational skills and qualifications.Special attention is also paid to the role of industrial relations and social dialogue.In his mainly theoretical paper, He lio Zylberstajn focuses on two conflicting approaches in labour economics, the neoclassical one, associated with the supply-side view, and the institutional one, linked to the demand-side approach.While underlining profound ideological differences between them, the author argues that the two approaches appear to be converging in relation to the link between the employment relationship and the nature of job-related knowledge.Public policy implications and organizational policies are discussed.Lindy Heinecken draws attention to the question of military unions, offering a comparative overview of the situation in South Africa, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom.With due regard to the strategic nature of the armed forces, she examines different approaches to the issue of military unionism in relation to the national context.In the author's opinion, regardless of national traditions there is a growing need for participation in decision-making and for representation in the military services.Daiva Petrylaite `reflects upon the right to strike and its theoretical and practical aspects in the comparative context.In particular, she addresses a key question, asking why workers in EU Member States make different use of this fundamental right to express their dissatisfaction with working conditions.In analysing the forms of legal regulation of strikes in various Member States of the EU, the author highlights the fact that a number of factors influence the decision of employees to go on strike, such as the economic situation and, last but not least, national culture, traditions, and values of the society.Rosalind Chew and Chew Soon-Beng propose the important concept of trade union social responsibility that they see as particularly relevant in the period of the global economic crisis.Their main argument is that globalization and increasing competition impose on the social partners the need to rethink their strategies in order not only to survive but also to create win-win situations for all stakeholders.In particular, according to the authors, trade unions must abandon egoistic short-term approaches in favour of more socially responsible long-term strategies and consequently reconsider issues that go beyond

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