Papers by Pablo Pérez Ahumada
Trabajo en Debate, 2024
En este artículo, se estudia la relación entre el nivel de centralización de la negociación colec... more En este artículo, se estudia la relación entre el nivel de centralización de la negociación colectiva y una serie de indicadores de poder sindical, desigualdad de ingresos y calidad percibida del trabajo. A partir de un análisis de 28 países, se muestra que en los países donde la negociación colectiva es más centralizada, el poder de los sindicatos es mayor, la desigualdad de ingresos es menor y, en algunos casos, los/as trabajadores/as tienen percepciones más positivas sobre la calidad de su trabajo (por ejemplo, sobre su estabilidad y autonomía laboral). Al final del artículo, se discute cómo el poder sindical es el mecanismo fundamental que permite explicar la relación entre negociación colectiva centralizada y mayor igualdad de ingreso y mejor calidad percibida del trabajo. Para concluir, se reflexiona sobre las posibles consecuencias que podría tener en Chile el establecimiento de un sistema centralizado (multinivel) de negociación colectiva.
Latin American Research Review, 2024
En este artículo, estudiamos qué factores individuales y contextuales explican la confianza en lo... more En este artículo, estudiamos qué factores individuales y contextuales explican la confianza en los sindicatos latinoamericanos. Utilizando datos de Latinobarómetro (2018–2020), mostramos que la confianza en los sindicatos es mayor entre personas de clase trabajadora y clase media asalariada, así como entre quienes se identifican con la izquierda y confían más en las instituciones políticas. A nivel contextual, la confianza es mayor en países neo-desarrollistas (por ejemplo, Brasil y Uruguay) y menor en países capitalistas tercerizados (por ejemplo, México y países centroamericanos). Contrario a nuestra hipótesis, también encontramos que la confianza en los sindicatos es alta en Chile (un país liberal-rentista con sindicatos débiles) y baja en algunos países redistributivo-rentistas (Venezuela) y neo-desarrollistas (Argentina). Para explicar estos resultados, analizamos cómo la confianza en los sindicatos depende de aspectos contextuales como la informalidad laboral, el desempleo, la inflación, el poder de los partidos de izquierda y el nivel de movilización social
Business and Politics, 2024
In the last few years, legitimacy has proven to be a fundamental power resource for the business ... more In the last few years, legitimacy has proven to be a fundamental power resource for the business class. Building on the idea of “discursive power,” investigations have demonstrated that when the business class successfully
shapes public discourses and public opinion, its power increases. With this article, we contribute to this research by showing that businesses’ success in building discursive power, as expressed in individual trust in private companies, is limited by individual- and macro-level factors associated with class inequality, class politics, and power. Using data from 15 Latin American countries (2005–2015), we show that in the period studied, the propensity to trust private companies was significantly lower among those in underprivileged class positions (e.g., working-class people or the informal self-employed) and among those who identify with the political left and have less confidence in political institutions. At the macro level, trust in companies was lower in countries ruled by the left or in countries where inequality rose or where citizens’ trust in political institutions improved. At the end of this article, we identify three patterns of business legitimacy in Latin America and show how our results contribute to the recent research on trust, class, and power
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2024
Labor unions play a key role in the defense of workers’ rights and in the construction of more eg... more Labor unions play a key role in the defense of workers’ rights and in the construction of more egalitarian societies. Despite this, few empirical investigations have analyzed how attitudes toward labor unions are shaped by subjective manifestations of inequality. Bringing together the sociological and social-psychological research on inequality, in this article we do so by studying how attitudes towards unions are shaped by class identification and by ideal inequality, understood as the level of inequality that people consider ideal or fair. Using data from the 2020 Latinobarómetro survey for 18 Latin American countries, we find that pro-union attitudes are significantly higher among those who identify with the lower-middle class but not among those who identify with the lower class. We also find a negative relationship between ideal inequality, measured by a pseudo-Gini index of ideal inequality, and pro-union attitudes: those who want less economic inequality have more positive attitudes towards unions. Finally, we find that the effect of class identification and ideal inequality is moderated by individual political orientations. At the end of this article, we explain these findings and show how they contribute to the recent research on subjective inequality and attitudes toward labor unions.
Journal of Industrial Relations, 2024
Empirical studies have shown that union members are more likely to participate in collective acti... more Empirical studies have shown that union members are more likely to participate in collective actions than nonunion members. However, we still know little about the mechanisms that explain why this occurs. In this article, we aim to fill this gap in the literature. Using data from the World Values Survey for Argentina and Chile (2006–2018), we employed the Karlson–Holm–Breen mediation analysis to analyze the degree to which the relationship between union membership and participation in demonstrations and strikes is explained by union members’ higher levels of politicization and stronger left-wing orientation, as hypothesized in previous studies. We found that in the two countries these two mediators explain more than 30% of the relationship between union membership and participation in demonstrations. We also found that these two mediators explain around 20% of the
relationship between union membership and strike participation in Argentina, and nearly 40% of such relationship in Chile. At the end of the article, we offer some explanations for these findings and show how they contribute to the literature on trade unions, class politics, and industrial relations.
Estudios Sociológicos, 2024
En los últimos años, las protestas de personas repartidoras de plataformas digitales se han multi... more En los últimos años, las protestas de personas repartidoras de plataformas digitales se han multiplicado en el mundo. Sin embargo, los estudios que expliquen la evolución desigual de estas movilizaciones en distintos contextos nacionales aún son escasos. Este artículo compara la actividad de
protesta de personas repartidoras de plataformas en Argentina y Chile entre 2018 y 2023. Sostiene que el argumento centrado en las condiciones de trabajo o las decisiones estratégicas de las organizaciones de trabajadores, propuesto para analizar la emergencia de la acción colectiva en este sector económico, es insuficiente por sí solo para explicar las diferencias encontradas entre ambos países. El examen del sistema de relaciones industriales es importante para entender las decisiones de estas personas trabajadoras y sus organizaciones respecto a la continuidad de la movilización después de la pandemia de COVID-19.
International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 2023
In this article, I explain why pro-labor reforms succeed or fail. Focusing on the cases of Argent... more In this article, I explain why pro-labor reforms succeed or fail. Focusing on the cases of Argentina and Chile, I show that labor reforms are more successful in extending trade union rights when unions successfully build associational power and employers are less able to do so. Consistent with this argument, a quantitative analysis of time-series cross-sectional data from 78 countries suggests that the level of class power disparity is negatively correlated with the extension of workers’ collective rights. At the end of the article, I discuss how these results have implications for the study of labor reforms and power resources.
International Labour Review,, 2023
The number of strikes in Chile has increased substantially since the late
2000s. This article ana... more The number of strikes in Chile has increased substantially since the late
2000s. This article analyses this development from the point of view of a key aspect of the Chilean model of industrial relations: trade union pluralism. Drawing on a representative survey of private sector companies, the authors estimate logistic regression models indicating that trade union pluralism significantly increases the probability of strike action. The analysis does not, however, indicate that the positive effect of trade union pluralism can be explained by inter-union competition, as is suggested in some of the international literature.
Revista Internacional del Trabajo, 2023
La incidencia de las huelgas en Chile ha aumentado sustancialmente
desde finales de la década de ... more La incidencia de las huelgas en Chile ha aumentado sustancialmente
desde finales de la década de 2000. En este artículo analizamos la actividad
huelguista centrándonos en un aspecto clave del modelo de relaciones laborales chileno: el pluralismo sindical. A partir de una encuesta representativa de las empresas del sector privado, estimamos modelos de regresión logística que indican que el pluralismo sindical incrementa significativamente la probabilidad de huelgas en las empresas. Sin embargo, nuestro análisis no permite concluir que el efecto positivo del pluralismo sindical se explique por la competencia entre sindicatos, tal como sugiere parte de la bibliografía internacional.
Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2023
This article studies how organizational commitment is shaped by individual and macro-level factor... more This article studies how organizational commitment is shaped by individual and macro-level factors. Drawing upon data from the 2015 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and using multilevel modeling, the article shows that workers have less organizational commitment than employers. The article also presents evidence indicating that strong trade unions are positively correlated with organizational commitment. Finally, contrary to the hypothesis derived from previous studies, cross-level interactions suggest that in countries with strong corporatist industrial relations (IR) institutions, union members have lower levels of organizational commitment than non-union members. The article discusses how the findings contribute to the literature on class, neo-corporatism, and power resources. In addition, it reflects on how the findings contribute to the recent debate on the 'neoliberal convergence' of IR systems.
European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2022
This article studies how perceptions of worker-management conflict are shaped by individual-level... more This article studies how perceptions of worker-management conflict are shaped by individual-level and macro-level variables. Drawing upon data from 33 countries from the 2015 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), it uses multilevel models to examine how individual perceptions of worker-management conflict are affected by social class, union membership status, and the country-level protection of collective labor rights. The evidence supports the hypothesis that workers and union members perceive more conflict than employers and non-union members. The results also show that, as hypothesized, perceived workplace conflict is lower in countries with stronger protection of workers' collective rights. Finally, contrary to an initial hypothesis, cross-level interactions suggest that in countries where collective rights are more strongly protected, union members perceive more worker-management conflict than non-union members. Contributions to the literature on class and power resources as well as to the recent debate on the "neoliberal convergence" of industrial relations (IR) systems are discussed.
Current Sociology, 2021
Over the past decade, there has been a revival of social protest and labor union activity in Chil... more Over the past decade, there has been a revival of social protest and labor union activity in Chile. In this article, we examine the effects of this phenomenon to analyze its influence on working-class identity. Using International Social Survey Programme surveys from 2009 and 2019, we investigate whether class location and union membership affect people's subjective identification with the working class and how that effect may have changed over the decade. Our findings suggest that subjects who are situated in a 'subordinated' class position (unskilled workers or informal self-employed workers) are more likely to identify with the working class compared to subjects located in a privileged class position (employers, experts, or managers). However, surprisingly, our analysis does not indicate that working-class identity is reinforced by union membership. In addition, our results do not demonstrate that the effect of class or union membership has strengthened over the past decade. At the end of this article, we offer some possible explanations for these findings.
Clase, proceso de trabajo y reproducción social: ampliando las perspectivas de los estudios laborales, 2021
Durante décadas, los analistas creyeron que la expansión del sector
de servicios llevaría a una s... more Durante décadas, los analistas creyeron que la expansión del sector
de servicios llevaría a una sociedad de “clase media”. A fines del siglo
XX los estudiosos de las clases sociales y del proceso de trabajo pusieron
en duda este argumento: mostraron que las distinciones tales
como la que existe entre el trabajo de “cuello blanco” y de “cuello
azul” no capturaban las dinámicas de control y explotación que ocurren
dentro del proceso productivo. Sin embargo, en Chile y parte de
Latinoamérica, las investigaciones aún sostienen que la expansión del
empleo en las actividades de servicios en el sector privado aceleró la
consolidación de una “nueva clase media”. Este capítulo pone en
cuestión tal idea: a partir de los conocimientos del análisis neomarxista
de las clases y la teoría del proceso de trabajo, este capítulo compara
las percepciones de control sobre el proceso de trabajo de los trabajadores
de diferentes industrias, sectores económicos y posiciones de clase. La evidencia cuantitativa y cualitativa sugiere que las conclusiones
más importantes de los estudios recientes deberían ser puestas
en duda.
Revista Temas Sociológicos, 2021
En la última década, Chile ha experimentado un renacer de la política contenciosa, cuyo punto más... more En la última década, Chile ha experimentado un renacer de la política contenciosa, cuyo punto más alto se observó durante el Estallido Social de octubre de 2019. Una serie de investigaciones han estudiado la revitalización de las protestas en Chile, mostrando cómo ellas son el resultado del malestar generado por los altos niveles de desigualdad socioeconómica y de poder del país. A pesar de esto, pocas investigaciones han analizado cómo los chilenos y chilenas perciben el conflicto entre clases. En este artículo estudiamos cómo las percepciones de conflicto entre empresarios y trabajadores varían según la clase social, el nivel de privación económica percibido y la identificación con el continuo izquierda-derecha. Los hallazgos indican que estos tres factores afectan significativamente las percepciones de conflicto de clases. Por ejemplo, ser un trabajador o trabajadora no calificada e identificarse con la izquierda refuerza significativamente la percepción de oposición de clase. Nuestros análisis sugieren que la percepción de conflicto también se ve reforzada por el hecho de no identificarse con el continuo izquierda-derecha. Al final del artículo ofrecemos una explicación de estos hallazgos y reflexionamos acerca de sus implicancias para el estudio del conflicto político y de clases en el país.
Journal of Latin American Studies, 2021
Since Chile returned to democracy in 1990, centre-left governments have tried to reform the provi... more 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.
Current Sociology, 2018
Class identity is a key mechanism in the explanation of class-based collective action. For decade... more Class identity is a key mechanism in the explanation of class-based collective action. For decades, this was particularly relevant in Latin America, where objective class inequality was persistent and there was a long history of collective action, originating in the workplace and expressed through unions and labor parties. Despite persistent inequalities in the region, since the 1990s scholars increasingly claimed that the relation between objective class position and subjective class identification weakened significantly, and that class dynamics centered on work were no longer central to explain group formation and collective action among the popular sectors. While in countries like Argentina scholars have explained these processes by focusing on the effects of the de-industrialization of the economy and the informalization of the job market, in Chile analysts have done so by emphasizing the growth of the service sector and the emergence of a middle-class society where 'old-fashioned' working-class identities have become irrelevant. This article questions these arguments based on a comparative analysis of the relationship between objective class position and subjective class identification in Argentina and Chile in 2009. The results show that class still matters. In both countries, people with a working-class position or a working-class trajectory are significantly more
Resumen En este artículo se analiza el efecto de la intersección entre clase y género sobre la ca... more Resumen En este artículo se analiza el efecto de la intersección entre clase y género sobre la calidad del empleo en Chile. La medida de posición de clase utilizada está basada en la propuesta de Erik O. Wright y la calidad del empleo en una medida multidimensional, que incluye un índice de condiciones objetivas de empleo y dos índices de condiciones subjetivas (motivación en el trabajo y percepción del control sobre el proceso de trabajo). Los resultados demuestran que la clase y el género determinan diferencias significativas en la calidad objetiva y subjetiva del empleo. Sin embargo, los datos también indican que el género (particularmente, el hecho de ser mujer) no actúa necesariamente como " amplificador " de las desigualdades de clase observadas en el mercado laboral. A partir de esto, al final del artículo se plantean algunas reflexiones sobre cómo opera la intersección entre clase y género en el mercado laboral chileno. Palabras clave Empleo, mercado de trabajo, género, investigación sobre el género, clases sociales, condiciones de trabajo, medición, Chile
For several decades, the distinction between 'white-collar' (non-manual) and 'blue-collar' (manua... more For several decades, the distinction between 'white-collar' (non-manual) and 'blue-collar' (manual) work occupied a central place in the analysis of working-class consciousness. According to many scholars, the expansion of non-manual employment was key to dismantling traditional working-class identities. Although several analysts noted the irrelevance of the white-collar/bluecollar distinction as a determinant of class consciousness, the most recent research on class in Chile continues on the traditional argument. However, the empirical research supporting such a contention has been scarce. In this paper I test that hypothesis. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, I show that the distinction between manual and non-manual labor does not lead to significant variations in workers' class consciousness. Therefore, its use in recent research on class (e.g. the contention that non-manual employment reinforces a 'middle-class' consciousness among workers) is deemed questionable.
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2014
Class consciousness is a central element of the sociological analysis of class inequality. It ind... more Class consciousness is a central element of the sociological analysis of class inequality. It indicates the mechanisms through which inequality creates subjective-level outcomes as dissimilar class identities and material interests. Despite its importance, class consciousness has been largely unexamined in current neoliberal society. With a few exceptions, the basic sociological question of how inequality brings about consequences at the subjective level has not been addressed in recent research. In this paper I address this question by analyzing the patterns of class consciousness in Chile. To do so, I examine how class location and class origins (as indicator of class experiences) shape the two main components of class consciousness: class identity and class interests. The results suggest that the identity component depends on both class experiences and class position, as well as on the way that the latter creates subjective experiences of economic inequality (i.e. inequality in individual resources). On the other hand, the second component of class consciousness—oppositional class interests—depends on both class experiences and class location, and on the way in which the latter brings about subjective experiences of opposition in the terrain of the relations of production.
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Papers by Pablo Pérez Ahumada
shapes public discourses and public opinion, its power increases. With this article, we contribute to this research by showing that businesses’ success in building discursive power, as expressed in individual trust in private companies, is limited by individual- and macro-level factors associated with class inequality, class politics, and power. Using data from 15 Latin American countries (2005–2015), we show that in the period studied, the propensity to trust private companies was significantly lower among those in underprivileged class positions (e.g., working-class people or the informal self-employed) and among those who identify with the political left and have less confidence in political institutions. At the macro level, trust in companies was lower in countries ruled by the left or in countries where inequality rose or where citizens’ trust in political institutions improved. At the end of this article, we identify three patterns of business legitimacy in Latin America and show how our results contribute to the recent research on trust, class, and power
relationship between union membership and strike participation in Argentina, and nearly 40% of such relationship in Chile. At the end of the article, we offer some explanations for these findings and show how they contribute to the literature on trade unions, class politics, and industrial relations.
protesta de personas repartidoras de plataformas en Argentina y Chile entre 2018 y 2023. Sostiene que el argumento centrado en las condiciones de trabajo o las decisiones estratégicas de las organizaciones de trabajadores, propuesto para analizar la emergencia de la acción colectiva en este sector económico, es insuficiente por sí solo para explicar las diferencias encontradas entre ambos países. El examen del sistema de relaciones industriales es importante para entender las decisiones de estas personas trabajadoras y sus organizaciones respecto a la continuidad de la movilización después de la pandemia de COVID-19.
2000s. This article analyses this development from the point of view of a key aspect of the Chilean model of industrial relations: trade union pluralism. Drawing on a representative survey of private sector companies, the authors estimate logistic regression models indicating that trade union pluralism significantly increases the probability of strike action. The analysis does not, however, indicate that the positive effect of trade union pluralism can be explained by inter-union competition, as is suggested in some of the international literature.
desde finales de la década de 2000. En este artículo analizamos la actividad
huelguista centrándonos en un aspecto clave del modelo de relaciones laborales chileno: el pluralismo sindical. A partir de una encuesta representativa de las empresas del sector privado, estimamos modelos de regresión logística que indican que el pluralismo sindical incrementa significativamente la probabilidad de huelgas en las empresas. Sin embargo, nuestro análisis no permite concluir que el efecto positivo del pluralismo sindical se explique por la competencia entre sindicatos, tal como sugiere parte de la bibliografía internacional.
de servicios llevaría a una sociedad de “clase media”. A fines del siglo
XX los estudiosos de las clases sociales y del proceso de trabajo pusieron
en duda este argumento: mostraron que las distinciones tales
como la que existe entre el trabajo de “cuello blanco” y de “cuello
azul” no capturaban las dinámicas de control y explotación que ocurren
dentro del proceso productivo. Sin embargo, en Chile y parte de
Latinoamérica, las investigaciones aún sostienen que la expansión del
empleo en las actividades de servicios en el sector privado aceleró la
consolidación de una “nueva clase media”. Este capítulo pone en
cuestión tal idea: a partir de los conocimientos del análisis neomarxista
de las clases y la teoría del proceso de trabajo, este capítulo compara
las percepciones de control sobre el proceso de trabajo de los trabajadores
de diferentes industrias, sectores económicos y posiciones de clase. La evidencia cuantitativa y cualitativa sugiere que las conclusiones
más importantes de los estudios recientes deberían ser puestas
en duda.
shapes public discourses and public opinion, its power increases. With this article, we contribute to this research by showing that businesses’ success in building discursive power, as expressed in individual trust in private companies, is limited by individual- and macro-level factors associated with class inequality, class politics, and power. Using data from 15 Latin American countries (2005–2015), we show that in the period studied, the propensity to trust private companies was significantly lower among those in underprivileged class positions (e.g., working-class people or the informal self-employed) and among those who identify with the political left and have less confidence in political institutions. At the macro level, trust in companies was lower in countries ruled by the left or in countries where inequality rose or where citizens’ trust in political institutions improved. At the end of this article, we identify three patterns of business legitimacy in Latin America and show how our results contribute to the recent research on trust, class, and power
relationship between union membership and strike participation in Argentina, and nearly 40% of such relationship in Chile. At the end of the article, we offer some explanations for these findings and show how they contribute to the literature on trade unions, class politics, and industrial relations.
protesta de personas repartidoras de plataformas en Argentina y Chile entre 2018 y 2023. Sostiene que el argumento centrado en las condiciones de trabajo o las decisiones estratégicas de las organizaciones de trabajadores, propuesto para analizar la emergencia de la acción colectiva en este sector económico, es insuficiente por sí solo para explicar las diferencias encontradas entre ambos países. El examen del sistema de relaciones industriales es importante para entender las decisiones de estas personas trabajadoras y sus organizaciones respecto a la continuidad de la movilización después de la pandemia de COVID-19.
2000s. This article analyses this development from the point of view of a key aspect of the Chilean model of industrial relations: trade union pluralism. Drawing on a representative survey of private sector companies, the authors estimate logistic regression models indicating that trade union pluralism significantly increases the probability of strike action. The analysis does not, however, indicate that the positive effect of trade union pluralism can be explained by inter-union competition, as is suggested in some of the international literature.
desde finales de la década de 2000. En este artículo analizamos la actividad
huelguista centrándonos en un aspecto clave del modelo de relaciones laborales chileno: el pluralismo sindical. A partir de una encuesta representativa de las empresas del sector privado, estimamos modelos de regresión logística que indican que el pluralismo sindical incrementa significativamente la probabilidad de huelgas en las empresas. Sin embargo, nuestro análisis no permite concluir que el efecto positivo del pluralismo sindical se explique por la competencia entre sindicatos, tal como sugiere parte de la bibliografía internacional.
de servicios llevaría a una sociedad de “clase media”. A fines del siglo
XX los estudiosos de las clases sociales y del proceso de trabajo pusieron
en duda este argumento: mostraron que las distinciones tales
como la que existe entre el trabajo de “cuello blanco” y de “cuello
azul” no capturaban las dinámicas de control y explotación que ocurren
dentro del proceso productivo. Sin embargo, en Chile y parte de
Latinoamérica, las investigaciones aún sostienen que la expansión del
empleo en las actividades de servicios en el sector privado aceleró la
consolidación de una “nueva clase media”. Este capítulo pone en
cuestión tal idea: a partir de los conocimientos del análisis neomarxista
de las clases y la teoría del proceso de trabajo, este capítulo compara
las percepciones de control sobre el proceso de trabajo de los trabajadores
de diferentes industrias, sectores económicos y posiciones de clase. La evidencia cuantitativa y cualitativa sugiere que las conclusiones
más importantes de los estudios recientes deberían ser puestas
en duda.
enfoque en el bienio 2022-2023.