THE POLITICAL ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADES UNIONS

2013

The contributions of this edited book analyze the role of labour unions as political actors not only in regard to issues like labour rights and wages, but also regarding processes of democratization and the political process in established democracies. (with co-editors Wiebke Friedrich and Sebastian Voigt)

Global Labour Journal, 2014

The nature of globalization's impact on workers is contested. There are two dominant paradigms; the first, the neoclassical liberal paradigm, views a liberal trading order as the main manifestation of globalization and beneficial to the majority of workers. It accepts that there will be job losses and growing wage inequality, and believes the best way for workers in industrial countries to respond is by increasing their human capital through job retraining. The solution to the 'globalization problematic' from a neo-liberal perspective Paul Bowles suggests 'is for the adjustment costs to be minimized perhaps by protection from import surges, but more importantly by longer term retraining programs which shift workers in industrial countries out of those industries in which developing countries have a comparative advantage' (Bowles, 2010: 16). The second paradigm, what Bowles terms anti-neoliberal globalism, starts from the proposition that globalization is a political project to increase the power of capital over the nation state and labor. Workers responses vary from global social democracy to support for 'delinking' from the global capitalist system. The policy instruments for labor include corporate codes of conduct, including the demand for a social clause in trade agreements, global unionism, international minimum wage campaigns, international labor standards, regulation of global capital, and reestablishing the political autonomy of the state (Bowles, 2010: 17-20). There is, however, a third approach, predominantly in the global South, which sees labor as an active agent responding to globalization by developing new forms of organization, new strategies and new sources of power. While Jamie McCullum is located within this third view, he takes the approach a step further in Global Unions, Local Power: The New Spirit of Transnational Labor Organizing by arguing that labor is an agent of global governance. Workers, he suggests, are not simply victims of the global juggernaut; they can change the rules of global engagement. Indeed, he argues that a new form of labor internationalism is emerging through the creation of a new field of rules that enables workers to exercise power at the local level. Global Framework Agreements are part of this strategy to expand the bargaining power of national unions over entire industries by forcing major companies to play by union rules. McCullum illustrates this theoretical argument through an analysis of a global campaign led by the global union,

Tempo Social, 2021

Workers, Unions, and Global Capitalism: Lessons from India, 2011

Introduction to Workers, Unions, and Global Capitalism: Lessons from India, (New York: Columbia University Press and New Delhi: Tulika Books), 2011, pp. 1-8.

International Review of Social History, 1984

Worldwide Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Studies | Published by: Dama Academic Scholarly & Scientific , 2020

We are all aware of the existence of labor unions as part of the socioeconomic structure and the political economy of nations. However, many of us are sometimes confused between whether there exists a need for labor unions especially in the context of the routine bad press they receive as obstacles to progress and economic growth of nations. Indeed, in recent years, thanks to the dominance of the neoliberal policies pursued in the West and beginning to spread across the globe, it is common for capitalists and the media alike to paint the functioning of labor unions in a negative light. However, this was not always the case and there was a time when labor unions were looked upon as necessary and even vital bodies for the healthy functioning of democracy and capitalism.

CEPAL Review

This book analyses the functions of international free trade unions in the post-war period.

justlabour.yorku.ca

Following the Second World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) held from June 21 to 25, 2010 in Vancouver, this article examines the changes undergone by international trade unionism in recent years. The increasing power of multinational corporations, as a result of globalization, has led to a transformation in international trade unionism which has produced a reorganization of its structures and the emergence of new forms of action to ensure the protection of workers' rights worldwide. The key argument of this article is that the evolution of the structures and practices of international trade union organizations over the last two decades has been characterized by the implementation of strategies aimed, on the one hand, at reinforcing trade union unity and, on the other hand, at targeting multinational corporations. Lastly, although the transformation of international trade unionism has given rise to important structural changes, international trade union organizations continue to face formidable challenges in their efforts to effectively contribute to the regulation of the global economy.

2006

2014

Thanks to the International, the workers ’ movement was able to gain a clearer understanding of the mechanisms of the capitalist mode of production, to become more aware of its own strength, and to develop new and more advanced forms of struggle. Th e organization resonated far beyond the frontiers of Europe, generating hope that a diff erent world was possible among the artisans of Buenos Aires, the early workers ’ associations in Calcutta, and even the labour groups in Australia and New Zealand that applied to join it. Conversely, news of its founding inspired horror in the ruling classes. Th e idea that the workers too wanted to play an active role in history sent shivers down their spine, and many a government set its sights on eradicating the International and harried it with all the means at its disposal.

2000

Trade unions in post-communist countries lack the power to defend the interests of their members. This statement is rarely contested. I take issue with three of the most prominent explanations for this labor infirmity: the lack of resources, the lack of a coherent program for defending employees against the contradictory interests of capital ('labor agenda'), and the failure to unite the politically most active -and often ideologically leftleaning -employees. The standard argument holds that trade unions from the former communist countries differ from trade unions in established democracies on all three of the above counts. Comparing union movements in post-communist and established democracies I argue that this dichotomy is overdrawn and that, as well as failing in their role as vanguard of the politically most active employees, Western trade unions also often lack both resources and a labor agenda. Hence the weakness of Eastern trade unions compared to Western trade unions may be due to other reasons, such as the historical decision to give unions a major role in a coordinated market economy, which is based on the logic of mutual recognition and negotiation.

Labour, Capital and Society/ Travail, capital et société