Edlira Xhafa holds a PhD in Labour Studies from the University of Milan, Italy. She also finished the Masters in Labour Policies and Globalisation of the Global Labour University (Germany). Since 2000, she has been engaged with national trade unions in her own country Albania, as well as in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Myanmar. She has worked for and collaborated with a number of international trade unions and labour organisations such as Education International, Public Services International, Building and Woodworkers International, International Labour Organization, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, and others. Edlira authored and co-authored a number of book chapters, journal articles, discussion papers and research reports. She has also co-edited two books. Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Global Labour University Online Academy.

Her areas of research include: public services, inequality, collective bargaining, workers’ rights, global supply chains and alternatives beyond capitalism.

Xhafa, E. (2019). The state of public sector workers’ rights in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Africa.

Xhafa, E. (2019). Against all odds: Precarious workers as actors and authors of their drama. GLU Working Paper. Geneva: ILO

Xhafa, E. (January 2017). The right to strike struck down? An analysis of recent trends. Global Labour Column. https://global-labour-university.org/wp-content/uploads/fileadmin/GLU_Column/papers/no_259_Xhafa.pdf

Xhafa, E. (2016). The (im)possible developmental model of Albania: A labour perspective. In A. Truger, E. Hein, M. Heine and F. Hoffer (Eds.), Monetäre Makroökonomie, Arbeitsmärkte und Entwicklung: Festschrift für Hansjörg Herr (pp. 407-424). Marburg: Metropolis-Verlag.

Xhafa, E. (2016). The right to strike struck down? A global survey of recent trends. FES Briefings. Berlin: FES, (translated in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese).

Serrano, M. and Xhafa, E. (2016). From ‘precarious informal employment’ to ‘secure employment’: The ‘positive transitioning effect’ of trade unions. GLU Working Paper No. 42. Geneva: ILO.

Xhafa, E. (2015). Collective bargaining and non-standard forms of employment: Practices that reduce vulnerability and ensure work is decent. ILO Issue Brief. Geneva: ILO.

Serrano, M. and Xhafa, E. (2014). Closing the Representation Gap in Micro and Small Enterprises: Some Critical Factors. Philippine Journal of Labor and Industrial Relations.  

Xhafa, E. (2014). Trade Unions and Economic Inequality: Perspectives, Policies and Strategies. International Journal of Labour Research, The challenge of inequality, 6 (1), 35-55 (translated in Turkish).

Xhafa, E. (2013). Alternative Ways of Organising Public Services and Work in the Public Sector: What Role for Public-Public Partnerships? Working Paper of the Kolleg Postwachstumsgesellschaften. Jena: University of Jena.

Serrano, M. and Xhafa, E. (Eds.) (2012). The Pursuit of Alternatives: Stories of Peoples’ Economic and Political Struggles around the World. Mering, Germany: Rainer Hampp Verlag.

Serrano, M. and Xhafa, E. (2012). Grounding thinking utopia. Labor History, 53(2), 284-291.

Serrano, M., Xhafa, E. and Fichter, M. (Eds.) (2011). Trade unions and the global crisis: Labour’s Visions, strategies and responses. Geneva: International Labour Office.
 

Serrano, M. and Xhafa, E. (2011). Beyond the capitalist logic: Theoretical debates and social experiences. In M. Serrano, E. Xhafa and M. Fichter (Eds.), Trade unions and the global crisis: Labour’s Visions, strategies and responses (pp. 4-19). Geneva: International Labour Office.

Serrano, M. and Xhafa, E. (2011). The Quest for Alternatives beyond (Neoliberal) Capitalism. Global Labour University Working Paper No. 14. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Serrano, M., Xhafa, E., Webster, E. and Birschoff, C. (2010). Strategies for Closing the Representation Gap in Micro and Small Enterprises. Global Labour University Working Paper No. 10. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Webster, E., Bischoff, C., Xhafa, E., Lins, J.P., Deane, D.D., Hawkins, D., Bhowmik, S.K., More, N., Otani, N., Park, S., James, E.I., Serrano, M., Viajar, V.D., Certeza, R.A., Yilmaz, G., Karadağ, B., Toren, T., Sinirlioğlu, E. and Volynets, L. (2008). Closing the Representation Gap in Micro and Small Enterprises. Global Labour University Working Paper No. 3. Berlin: Global Labour University.

Xhafa, E. (2007). Global Health in Intensive Care Unit: The Strategic Role of the Trade Unions in Achieving ‘Health for All’. Geneva: ILO.