Why Do some Labour Alliances Succeed in Politicizing Europe across Borders?

Szabó, I. G., Golden, D. and Erne, R. (2021) 'Why do some labour alliances succeed in politicizing Europe across borders? A comparison of the Right2Water and Fair Transport European Citizens' Initiatives'. Journal of Common Market Studies. DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13279. Full text.

Abstract

Under what conditions can organized labour successfully politicize the European integration process across borders? To answer this question, we compare the European Citizens' Initiatives (ECIs) of two European trade union federations: EPSU's successful Right2Water ECI and ETF's unsuccessful Fair Transport ECI. Our comparison reveals that actor-centred factors matter – namely, unions' ability to create broad coalitions. Successful transnational labour campaigns, however, also depend on structural conditions, namely, the prevailing mode of EU integration pressures faced by unions at a given time. Whereas the Right2Water ECI pre-emptively countered commodification attempts by the European Commission in water services, the Fair Transport ECI attempted to ensure fair working conditions after most of the transport sector had been liberalized. Vertical EU integration attempts that commodify public services are thus more likely to generate successful transnational counter-movements than the horizontal integration pressures on wages and working conditions that followed earlier successful EU liberalization drives.

Bringing EU citizens together or pulling them apart?

Stan, S., Erne, R. and Gannon, S. (2021) 'Bringing EU citizens together or pulling them apart? The European Health Insurance Card, east-west mobility and the failed promise of European social integration'. Journal of European Social Policy 31 (4): 409-423. Full text.

Abstract

Although the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) was meant to bring Europeans together, this study shows that it is amplifying social inequalities across regions and classes. First, we evaluate the effects of east–west EHIC mobility, and of Eastern Europeans’ participation in it, on the practice of EU social citizenship rights to access cross-border care along spatial (east–west) and social class divides. We then assess the impact of these mobilities on healthcare resources in Western and Eastern Europe. Our findings show that the EHIC reinforces rather than reduces the spatially and socially uneven access to social citizenship rights to cross-border care. Moreover, EHIC patient outflows from Eastern to Western Europe result in a much higher relative financial burden for the budgets of Eastern European states than outflows from Western to Eastern Europe do for Western European countries. As a result, east–west EHIC mobility is reproducing rather than reversing healthcare inequalities between the two regions. Hence, the EHIC does not fulfil its promise of European social integration – not, however, because it creates a burden on Western European welfare states as often argued in Eurosceptic tabloids, but because it increases social inequalities both inside and between richer and poorer EU member states.

Bringing society back into our understanding of European cross-border care

Stan, S. and Erne, R. (2021) 'Bringing society back into our understanding of European cross-border care'. Journal of European Social Policy 31 (4): 432-439. Full text.

Abstract

We are pleased to discuss our study on the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and the redistributive effects of EHIC-related east–west patient and payment flows across regions and social classes. Our critics confirm our key finding: EHIC patient outflows from Eastern European (EE) to Western European (WE) countries result in a much higher relative burden for the budgets of EE states than outflows from WE to EE do for WE countries. Starting from what they see as the true mission of social security coordination, however, they also tell us that we should never have studied the redistributive impact of EHIC patient and payment flows in the first place. In this response, we therefore explicate the differences between our empirical sociological perspective and our critics’ normative legal approach. This is important, especially when social facts contradict normative legal assumptions as in our case. The EU laws that govern EHIC patient and payment flows are indeed based on the free movement provisions of the EU’s internal market project, but our empirical findings show that the promise of ‘economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States’ contained in Article 3.3 of the Treaty of the European Union is not realized in practice in the case of east–west EHIC payment flows and patient mobility.

Time for a paradigm change?

Stan, S. and Erne, R. (2021) 'Time for a paradigm change? Incorporating transnational processes into the analysis of the emerging European health-care system'. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 27 (3): 289-302. Full text.

Abstract

Health services have long been insulated from the process of European integration. In this article, however, we show that we are witnessing their re-configuration in an emerging EU health-care system. The article uncovers the structuring lines of this system by focusing on three interrelated EU-wide processes influencing the integration of national health-care systems into a larger whole. First, the privatisation of health-care services following the constraints of Maastricht economic convergence and the EU accession criteria; second, health-care worker and patient mobility arising from the free movement of workers and services within the European Single Market; and third, new EU laws and country-specific prescriptions on economic governance that the EU has been issuing following the 2008 financial crisis. The article shows that these processes have helped to construct a European health-care system that is uneven in terms of the distribution of patient access to services and of health-care workers’ wages and working conditions, but very similar in terms of EU economic and financial governance pressures on health care across EU Member States. 

Towards a Socialization of the EU's New Economic Governance Regime?

Jordan, J., Maccarrone, V. and Erne, R. (2021) 'Towards a socialization of the EU's new economic governance regime? EU labour policy interventions in Germany, Italy, Ireland and Romania (2009-2019)'. British Journal of Industrial Relations 59 (1): 191-213. Full text. Download with online appendix.

Trade Union and Precarious Work

Campbell, Iain. 2021. “Trade Union and Precarious Work: In Search of Effective Strategies.” Pp. 93-118 in Democracy, Social Justice and the Role of Trade Unions: We the Working People, edited by Caroline Kelly and Joo-Cheong Tham. London: Anthem Press.  

Sociologias (2021) Digital Platform Work

Sociologias, “Digital Platform Work,” Vol. 23, No. 57, (May – Aug) 2021.

Editors and contributors: Ludmila C. Abílio, Henrique Amorim, Rafael Grohmann

Contributors: Jenny Chan, Cheryll R. Soriano, Earvin C. Cabalquinto, Joy H. Panaligan, Antonio A. Casilli, Matheus Viana Braz, Sofía Scasserra, Flora Partenio.

https://seer.ufrgs.br/sociologias/issue/view/4169/showToc

Tempo Social (V. 33, N. 2, May-Aug 2021)

Tempo Social, revista de sociologia da USP, v. 33, n. 2, May-August 2021

Dossier – Transnational Labor Struggles and Political Repertoires

 

“A joint-effort made by Portuguese and Brazilian labor researchers to reach international audience.”—Leonardo Mello e Silva, Elísio Estanque, Hermes Augusto Costa

 

Presentation: political repertoires in transnational labor struggles and new forms of global labor governance

Leonardo Mello e Silva, Elísio Estanque and Hermes Augusto Costa

 

Building a regional solidarity network of transnational activists: an African Case Study

Warren McGregor and Edward Webster

 

Global economic planning as a challenge for the labour movement

Jörg Nowak

 

The globalization of just transition in the world of labour: the politics of scale and scope

Dimitris Stevis

 

Conditionality and trade union action in the promotion and defence of workers’ rights: the Spanish case

Fernando Elorza Guerrero and Manuel García Muñoz

 

The International Labor Movement as an agent of change: temporary foreign workers and union renewal in Asia

Michele Ford

 

Warring brothers: constructing Komatsu’s and Caterpillar’s globalization

Caleb Goods, Andrew Herod, Bradon Ellem and Al Rainnie

 

Two forms of transnational organizing: mapping the strategies of global union federations

Stefan Schmalz, Teresa Conrow, Dina Feller and Maurício Rombaldi

 

Cross-border trade union networks in transnational corporations: a comparison between sectors

Ricardo Framil Filho, Katiuscia Moreno Galhera and Leonardo Mello e Silva

 

Digital communication as a global challenge for trade unions: lessons from Brazil and Portugal

Hermes Augusto Costa and Bia Carneiro

 

Labor and informal work in North-South relations: a study on Iberian countries and Latin-America

Elísio Estanque and Víctor F. Climent

 

Platform workers in Latin America: transnational logics and regional resistances?

Pablo Miguez and Nicolas Diana Menendez

 

Labour and globalisation: complexity and transformation

Ronaldo Munck

 

ARTICLES

Culture and society in the first Critical Theory

Ricardo Musse

 

Memory and military dictatorship: remembering human rights violations

Myrian Sepúlveda dos Santos

 

The end of the old division? Public and private in the internet age

Luis Felipe Miguel and Adriana Veloso Meireles

Women in the Social Economy: at the heart of action, far from the decision

Alcides A. Monteiro

 

To “decolonize” the common: a critical essay on the work of Dardot and Laval

Rafael Afonso da Silva

 

INTERVIEW

The (auto)biographical method. Interview with Jean Peneff

By Christophe Brochier and Luciano Rodrigues Costa

 

REVIEW

Maria Luiza Tucci Carneiro, Impressos subversivos: arte, cultura e política no Brasil 1924-1964

By Luiz Armando Bagolin

 

Global Labour Journal (Vol. 12, No. 3) Sep 2021

Global Labour Journal Vol. 12 No. 3 (2021): Sep 2021 (Special Issue)

FRONT MATTER

Informal Workers and the Politics of Working-class Transformation in the Americas

Ruth Felder, Viviana Patroni

 

ARTICLES

Precarising Formality: Understanding Current Labour Developments in Chile

Gonzalo Durán, Karina Narbona

 

The Dynamics of Labour Informality in Brazil, 2003-2019

Marcelo Manzano, José Dari Krein, Ludmila C. Abílio

 

Rethinking Working-class Politics: Organising Informal Workers in Argentina

Maisa Bascuas, Ruth Felder, Ana Logiudice, Viviana Patroni

 

Reproductive Work, Territorial Commons and Political Precarity in Peripheral Extractive Sites in Ecuador and Bolivia

Cristina Cielo, Elizabeth López Canelas

 

The Fragility of the Labour Corridors to Costa Rica and the United States: Precarious Migrant Workers in Central America

Abelardo Morales-Gamboa

 

 

GLOBAL ISSUES

Mall Attacks and the Everyday Crisis of the Working Class in South Africa

Trevor Ngwane

 

The Politics of Unionisation in Hong Kong: An Interview with Dr Bill Taylor

Hong Yu Liu

 

BOOK REVIEWS

Anne Lisa Carstensen (2019) Das Dispositiv Moderne Sklavenarbeit. Umkämpfte Arbeitsverhältnisse in Brasilien

Laurin Blecha

 

Alessandra Mezzadri (2017) The Sweatshop Regime: Labouring Bodies, Exploitation and Garments Made in India

Natalie J. Langford

 

Benjamin Selywn (2017) The Struggle for Development

Jenny Chan

 

Intan Suwandi (2019) Value Chains: The New Economic Imperialism

Madhumita Dutta

 

Adrian Wilkinson and Michael Barry (eds.) (2020) The Future of Work and Employment

Vicente Silva

 

OBITUARY

In Memoriam: Aziz Choudry (1966-2021)

Evelyn Encalada Grez, Katherine Nastovski

Jörg Nowak (2021) Towards an integral theory of workers' power

Nowak, Jörg. 2021. “Towards an Integral Theory of Workers’ Power: Workers in Logistics and the 2018 Truckers Strike in Brazil.” Global Labour Column, 21 September.

Recently, there has been considerable debate about the potential power of workers in logistics and their access to choke points that can slow down or halt the flow of goods. An investigation of the 2018 truckers’ strike in Brazil is a good case to test this hypothesis since about 400 000 truckers erected 700 blockades for 11 days, according to numbers provided by Brazilian police. The economic damage is considered to have been enormous for the national economy, since not only did many shops and pharmacies run out of food and medical drugs, but also many animals used for food production had to be culled due to the lack of animal feed.

In spite of the apparent success in blocking the flow of goods, the Brazilian truckers only gained short-lived relief in the form of lower diesel prices. The measure ran out after six months, and minimum freight prices imposed by the government, a kind of minimum wage for truckers, were never implemented.  In other words, the enormous amount of power of Brazilian truckers to block the flow of goods – their structural workplace power – did not translate into political power to ameliorate their conditions. 

This raises the question about the necessary intermediate strategies needed in order to transform the power to block production or road traffic, and what exactly impeded the Brazilian truckers from succeeding in this transformation.

FULL TEXT: https://globallabourcolumn.org/2021/09/21/towards-an-integral-theory-of-workers-power-workers-in-logistics-and-the-2018-truckers-strike-in-brazil/

Manuel Rosaldo (2021) “Problematizing the ‘Informal Sector’"

Rosaldo, Manuel. 2021. “Problematizing the ‘Informal Sector’: 50 Years of Critique, Clarification, Qualification, and More Critique.” Sociology Compass. First published: 20 July.

First published: 20 July 2021

Abstract

Since its coining in 1971, the concept of the “informal sector” has been used to draw scholarly, political, and philanthropic attention to hundreds of millions of workers who lack basic labor protections. But as the term proliferated, so too did its detractors. Critics claim that the label of “informal” homogenizes the world's poor and distorts understandings of the sources of and solutions to their economic woes. What are the origins of the concept's contradictory nature? What strategies have scholars used to increase the likelihood that it will be used to illuminate and uplift, rather than to distort and denigrate? This article analyzes how scholars have resignified and retheorized the informal economy in response to five conceptual challenges: stigmatization, definitional fuzziness, homogenization, an either/or fallacy, and the presumption of “formalization” as the solution. Such efforts have preserved the concept's analytic potency and political relevance. In the longer term, however, a true testament to the concept's value would be if it outlives its own utility; that is, if it mobilizes enough recognition and resources to the invisibilized majority of the world's workers that scholars and state bureaucrats no longer feel the need to lump them together under a misleading catchall label.

https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12914

Yunxue Deng and Xiaoli Tian (2021) “Triadic Interaction and Collective Bargaining of Autoworkers in South China.”

Deng, Yunxue and Xiaoli Tian. 2021. “Triadic Interaction and Collective Bargaining of Autoworkers in South China.” Journal of Contemporary China. Published online: 15 August.

ABSTRACT

A study of autoworkers in Guangzhou, China found that Chinese workers successfully negotiated wages through collective bargaining. The emergence of collective bargaining comes from the triadic interaction among three conflicting agents: workers, local state and employers. The intention of the local state to shift labor-intensive industries towards more value-added industries and the tendency of the local police to avoid the use of violence have contributed to more political opportunities for the workers. To improve their own position and control labor unrest, regional unions form a vertical coalition with workers while autoworkers invoke their workplace bargaining power by engaging in strikes. At the same time, workers develop low risk strike strategies to reduce potential state suppression and employ anti-Japanese rhetoric to reduce pressure from management.

• https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2021.1966908

Chan et al. (2021) "After the Foxconn Suicides in China"

Chan, Jenny, Greg Distelhorst, Dimitri Kessler, Joonkoo Lee, Olga Martin-Ortega, Peter Pawlicki, Mark Selden and Benjamin Selwyn. “After the Foxconn Suicides in China: A Roundtable on Labor, States and Civil Society in Global Electronics.” Critical Sociology. First published: 24 August.

https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205211013442

Abstract

We seek to tackle myriad problems of a global production system in which China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of consumer electronics products. Dying for an iPhone simultaneously addresses the challenges facing Chinese workers while locating them within the global economy through an assessment of the relationship between Foxconn (the largest electronics manufacturer) and Apple (one of the richest corporations). Eight researchers from Asia, Europe and North America discuss two main questions: How do tech behemoths and the Chinese state shape labor relations in transnational manufacturing? What roles can workers, public sector buyers, non-governmental organizations and consumers play in holding multinational corporations and states accountable for human rights violations and assuring the protection of worker interests? We also reflect on the possibility that national governments, the electronics industry and civil society groups can collaborate to contribute to improved labor rights in China and the world.

Keywords 

Suicide, global electronics production, global value chains, labor rights, migrant workers, student interns, corporate responsibility, public procurement, the Chinese state

Jenny Chan (2021) Hunger for Profit

Chan, Jenny. 2021. “Hunger for Profit: How Food Delivery Platforms Manage Couriers in China.” Sociologias 23(57): 58-82.

Abstract How do food delivery platform firms, such as Meituan (operated by Tencent) and Ele.me (owned by Alibaba), manage couriers through service contracting rather than formal employment? How do couriers experience control and autonomy at work? Using observation and interviews, the author finds that a combination of data-driven surveillance systems and customer feedback mechanisms are incentivizing workers’ efforts. Corporate utilization of both manual and emotional labor is critical to realizing profits. Individual freedom is framed in a way that crowdsourced couriers are not required to work a minimum amount of time. Flexibility enabled by the algorithmic management, however, cuts both ways. When there is less demand, the platform corporations automatically reduce their dependence on labor. With variable food orders and piece rates, workers’ minimum earnings are not guaranteed. In the absence of Chinese legal protections over the fast-growing food delivery sector, informal workers are desperately struggling for livelihood.◊ 

Keywords: informal work, algorithmic management, emotional labor, food delivery workers, rural migrants, China.

* The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. 

◊ This project is funded by the Early Career Scheme of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (RGC Project No. 25602517) and the Start-Up Research Fund of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU Project No. P0000548).

Sociologias, Porto Alegre, ano 23, n. 57, mai-ago 2021, p. 58-82.

Andreas Bieler and Adam David Morton (2021) Is Capitalism Structurally Indifferent to Gender?

Bieler, Andreas and Adam David Morton. 2021. “Is Capitalism Structurally Indifferent to Gender?: Routes to a Value Theory of Reproductive Labour.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. First published: 19 July. 

https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X211031572

Abstract

The contributions of Ellen Meiksins Wood to social property relations arguments have facilitated an enhanced understanding of the historical specificity of capitalism and its structuring conditions. Yet such arguments also have some questionable assumptions when it comes to theorising gender and so-called ‘extra-economic’ identities, most noticeably regarding capitalism as indifferent to gender relations. This article delves into such issues by delivering a set of quandaries about various aspects of the social property relations approach and its relevance to wider debates on economy and space. We contend that debates in Marxism Feminism and social reproduction theory therein should be elevated to centre stage in considerations of political economy and economic geography. Consequently, it is possible to dispense with the notion that capitalism is structurally indifferent to gender, which mars the social property relations approach. At the same time, however, there are tensions within Marxism Feminism, not least revolving around questions of value, the role of unpaid labour in the household, and wider theorising on the relationship between ‘market’ conditions and extra-economic relations of ‘state’ power. We explore two major contending routes to what we call a value theory of reproductive labour within Marxism Feminism and conclude that this reconnaissance provides an opportunity to initiate enhanced discussion on future political struggles against capital's requirements.

Keywords 

Marxism Feminism, gender, social property relations, social reproduction theory, value theory

Jörg Nowak 2021 Do Choke Points Provide Workers in Logistics with Power? (Review of International Political Economy)

Nowak, Jörg. 2021. “Do Choke Points Provide Workers in Logistics with Power? A Critique of the Power Resources Approach in Light of the 2018 Truckers’ Strike in Brazil.” Review of International Political Economy. Online First, 29 June.

Abstract

Choke points in transport and logistics have been identified as devices of the power of workers in these sectors. The 11 day long strike of around 400,000 Brazilian truck drivers at more than 750 blockades in May 2018 exercised an effective blockade of the national economy but only led to meagre results. The article asks how this mismatch between the power to block the flow of goods and the lack of power to achieve significant improvements of the truckers’ situation can be explained. It demonstrates that analyses with a focus on the power resources of workers fail to understand the larger dynamics at play. The article proposes a political economy of labour as an analytical device that incorporates global economic relations, the characteristics of social formations and political-ideological relations into its ambit. It claims that in order to understand the economic and political leverage of workers in transport and logistics, one has to look at capital as a broader social relation which includes long term development strategies and material constraints like energy systems and infrastructure.

Jörg Nowak 2021 Brazil (Socialist Project, 23 July)

Nowak, Jörg. 2021. “Brazil: Between Pandemic Incompetence, Institutional War and Growing Polarization.” Socialist Project, 23 July.

Three critical issues recently infused themselves on Brazilian politics. First, a parliamentary commission by the Brazilian Senate to investigate the government’s handling of the pandemic is in the process of uncovering a vast network of corruption linked to the purchase of vaccines with the, at least, indirect involvement of president Jair Bolsonaro.

.....

Jörg Nowak (2021) Brazil after the Collapse (SP)

Nowak, Jörg. 2021. “Brazil after the Collapse.” Socialist Project. 13 April.

Health experts warned about it for weeks. In early March, the Brazilian health system entered a state of collapse under the weight of a nationwide spike in COVID-19 infections. Hospitals were not able to attend to all patients who needed treatment. By the end of March, all over Brazil, more than 6000 people were waiting for an ICU bed, most of them in overcrowded health centres and emergency wards without the necessary equipment and personnel for treatment.

...

Nora Räthzel (2021) “Trade Union Perceptions of the Labour - Nature Relationship” (Environmental Sociology)

Räthzel, Nora. 2021. “Trade Union Perceptions of the Labour - Nature Relationship.” Environmental Sociology. First Published 25 March, pp. 1-12.

ABSTRACT

This paper is based on research with environmentally engaged trade unionists in India. It follows their trajectories into the trade union and explores their environmental engagements. A short presentation of the history of Indian trade unionism, aims to understand its ‘multi-unionism’. Analysing three exemplary life-histories of unionists, their motivations to engage in unions and their relationships to workers and to poor people, three models of perceiving the labour-nature relationship are offered: the container model, nature as a mediator of survival, and the nature-labour alliance. I show that the way in which unionists perceive the labour-nature relationship is shaped by their practices and influences their environmental policies. Furthermore, trade unions who seek alliances with other social movements on equal terms, develop a more comprehensive perception of the labour-nature relationship and thereby the development of more wide-ranging environmental policies. I conclude suggesting that the conditions enabling a more comprehensive perception of the labour-nature relationship could become possible if workers along the value chain could collaborate to learn from each other about their working conditions and the natures they transform.

KEYWORDS: 

Environmental Labour Studieslabour-Nature Allianceworker environmentalismsocial movement unionism

Mark Levinson, with Jenny Chan (2021) "Dreams and Defiance in Foxconn" Dissent (Spring)

Levinson, Mark, with Jenny Chan. 2021. “Dreams and Defiance in Foxconn City: An Interview with Jenny Chan.” Dissent (Spring): 33-40. 

China’s rapid economic growth is built on a factory system that relies on hundreds of millions of exploited workers. In the face of repression, those workers have found creative ways to resist.

Bradon Ellen (2021) Labour and Megaprojects (The Economic and Labour Relations Review)

Ellem, Bradon. 2021. “Labour and Megaprojects: Rethinking Productivity and Industrial Relations Policy.” The Economic and Labour Relations Review. First Published 12 January, pp. 1-18. 

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has brought industrial relations policy to the centre of attention in many countries. In 2020, the Australian government convened tripartite bodies to address policy in several areas, one being for agreement-making to cover labour on ‘megaprojects’. This initiative revisited criticisms of unions for driving costs up and productivity down on these worksites, the most expensive of which had been Chevron’s Gorgon site, a liquefied natural gas project off the north-west Australian coast. Drawing on four usually siloed literatures – on industrial relations policy, megaprojects, the economic geography of resources and labour process – this article explains concerns about costs, delays and productivity in terms of project work itself. This approach leads to a different understanding of the merits of changing policy to address megaproject’s problems and productivity more broadly.

JEL Codes: J52, J58, L71

Keywords Agreement-making, economic geography, industrial relations policy, labour, labour process, liquefied natural gas, megaprojects, productivity, unions

Chris Rhomberg and Steven Lopez (2021) “Understanding Strikes in the 21st Century” Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change

Rhomberg, Chris and Steven Lopez. 2021. “Understanding Strikes in the 21^st Century: Perspectives from the USA.” Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change 44: 37-62.

Abstract

After decades of declining strike rates in the industrialized world, recent years have seen a surge of militant walkouts in the global South, political strikes in Europe, and unconventional strikes in nonunion sectors in the United States. This new diversity of strike action calls for a new theoretical framework. In this paper, we review the historical strengths and limits of traditions of strike theory in the United States. Building on the emerging power resources approach, we propose a model based on a multidimensional view of associational power, power resources, and arenas of conflict in the economy, state, and civil society. We demonstrate the utility of our approach via a case analysis of strikes in the “Fight for $15” campaign in the United States.

Chris Rhomberg (2020) “The Struggle for a New Labor Regime: The U.S.” Tempo Social

Rhomberg, Chris. 2020. “The Struggle for a New Labor Regime: The U.S.” Tempo Social (Sao Paolo, Brazil) 32(1): 99-118. 

Tempo Social

Print version ISSN 0103-2070On-line version ISSN 1809-4554

Tempo soc. vol.32 no.1 São Paulo Jan./Apr. 2020  Epub May 11, 2020

https://doi.org/10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2020.164863 

DOSSIÊ – SINDICALISMO E NEOLIBERALISMO

The struggle for a new labor regime: The US

A luta por um novo regime de trabalho: o caso norte-americano

Chris Rhomberg^* 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0662-0521

^*Fordham University, Bronx, NY, Estados Unidos.

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ABSTRACT

This essay examines the American labor movement since the 2008 economic crisis. I begin with a brief review of the structural, institutional, and organizational conditions for labor before the crisis, including changes in employment and the labor force, the conflict between New Deal and anti-union labor regimes, and the emergence of new repertoires in the labor movement. These form the context for the financial crash, and the failure of policy to challenge corporate power. I then discuss the conservative political offensive against unions and movement initiatives at state and local levels. The conflicts have intensified under the Trump administration, with a resurgence of strike activity and the polarization of institutions governing labor and civic life.

Key words: USA; Unions; Great recession; Strikes

Pablo Pérez Ahumada (2021) “Why Is It So Difficult to Reform Collective Labour Law?” Journal of Latin American Studies

Pérez Ahumada, Pablo. 2021. “Why Is It So Difficult to Reform Collective Labour Law? Associational Power and Policy Continuity in Chile in Comparative Perspective.” Journal of Latin American Studies 53(1): 81-105.

Abstract

Since Chile returned to democracy in 1990, centre-left governments have tried to reform the provisions on collective bargaining, strikes and unions established by the Pinochet dictatorship. Between 2015 and 2016 President Michelle Bachelet made the latest attempt to reform them. Despite favourable conditions, the changes were modest. This article explains why this is so. Drawing upon the notion of ‘associational power’ and through comparisons with labour reforms in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, this article suggests that the imbalance between workers’ and employers’ collective power is key for explaining why pro-labour reforms fail.

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Spanish abstract

Desde que Chile retornó a la democracia en 1990, gobiernos de centro-izquierda han tratado de reformar las estipulaciones sobre pactos colectivos, huelgas y sindicatos establecidos por la dictadura de Pinochet. Entre 2015 y 2016 la presidenta Michelle Bachelet hizo el último intento por reformarlas. Pese a existir condiciones favorables, los cambios fueron modestos. Este artículo explica por qué. Partiendo de la noción de ‘poder de asociación’ y mediante comparaciones con reformas laborales en Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay, este artículo sugiere que el desequilibrio entre el poder colectivo de los trabajadores y el de los empleadores es clave para explicar por qué las reformas en pro de los trabajadores han fracasado.

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Portuguese abstract

Desde o retorno do Chile à democracia em 1990, governos de centro-esquerda tentam reformar as medidas sobre negociações coletivas, greves e sindicatos, estabelecidas durante a ditadura de Pinochet. Entre 2015 e 2016, a presidente Michelle Bachelet realizou a última tentativa de reforma. Apesar do momento apresentar condições favoráveis, as mudanças foram apenas modestas. Este artigo explica as razões pelas quais isso aconteceu. Mobilizando o conceito de ‘poder de associação’ e comparando a reforma chilena com as reformas trabalhistas na Argentina, Brasil e Uruguai, o artigo sugere que o desequilíbrio entre o poder coletivo dos trabalhadores e dos empregadores é a chave para compreender o fracasso das reformas pró-trabalhadores.

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Keywords

collective labour lawlabour reformassociational poweremployersworkersChilelegislación del pacto colectivoreforma laboralpoder de asociaciónempleadorestrabajadoresChilelei de trabalho coletivoreforma trabalhistapoder de associaçãoempregadorestrabalhadoresChile

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Type

Research Article

Information

Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 81 - 105

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X20000978[Opens in a new window]

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press