Whether that be WalMart, the tractor or a production line: they all add to the collective wealth as they free up labour to perform other tasks.

FORBES: Of Course WalMart Destroys Retail Jobs: That's The Darn Point Of It All

Fiat has thus made two big breaks with Italy's collective-bargaining tradition, says Roberto Pedersini, a labour-relations expert.

ECONOMIST: Italy worries that its biggest manufacturer may leave

But for others, the move may be seen as a bold - and strategically wise - attempt to defend the carefully constructed and heavily politicised system of collective bargaining, which has been at the heart of South African labour policy since the end of apartheid and which has, over the past few weeks, seemed on the brink of collapse.

BBC: South Africa's mine owners flex their muscles

It was one of the few times an oil sands project received such a designation, which also allows the company to reach a collective agreement with one union--in this case, the Christian Labour Association of Canada, whose members earn less and pay smaller dues than others--and apply it to workers from other unions.

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But the question remains whether the Lib Dem MSPs will have a free vote when the committee reports and if the Labour-dominated cabinet rejected its findings, would the Lib Dem members be bound by collective responsibility.

BBC: From GM to EU

But Labour claimed the report confirmed "institutionalised dysfunction" at the heart of RBS, with a "collective failure of regulation not just in Britain, but around the world".

BBC: Democracy Live site links