scholarly journals A Most Curious Lack of Curiosity: Global Unions as the Missing Link in Labour Movement Studies

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Huxtable
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
History Of ◽  
Future Research Project ◽  
Future Direction

This paper is based on the author’s contribution to ‘The Research Agenda for the Left Today’ panel held during the Society for Socialist Studies 2006 conference. It argues that, despite the recent renewal of academic interest in labour movements, there is a gap in contemporary research on organized labour around the existence of and potential future role for actually existing global trade unions. The purpose of this paper is to spark an interest amongst left academics in a future research project on the organizations which comprise the recently created Council of Global Unions, and in particular the recently created International Trade Union Confederation. After a brief introduction to the history of these organizations and an outline of their activities, the author offers a number of questions that may prove interesting for those concerned about the future direction of organized labour at the global level.

Globalisation and the dilemmas of international trade unionism

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Trade Union Movement ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Union Movement ◽  
Economic Developments

This article presents the author's reflections on the possibilities of a restructuring of the international trade union movement, on the basis of a collective research project to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) which seeks to open a debate within the movement over the lessons to be learned from its history as a guide for its future action. The most important question facing the trade union movement today is what is generally called 'globalisation', a phenomenon that goes back many years, both in terms of economic developments and labour struggles. From this perspective, the paper examines the basis for the existing divisions of the international labour movement, before going over the work of the ICFTU and of the International Trade Secretariats (ITSs) to achieve the regulation of the multinational corporations and of the international economy, and concluding on the prospects for unity of action in the unions' work around the global economy.

scholarly journals Trade Union Representation in the Philippines

2020 ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
Ralph Buiser
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Maritime Trade ◽  
Focal Points ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Union Representation ◽  
History Of

AbstractThis chapter discusses the various characteristics of maritime trade unions in the Philippines within the wider context of the history of the country’s industrial relations and labour movement. The main historical focal points in the country’s labour environment and how these shaped industrial relations today is introduced in the first section. In the second section the development of seafarers’ representation in the country and the profile of their trade unions in the context of the country’s labour history is discussed. The final section concludes with a discussion of the trends and challenges faced by unions representing Filipino seafarers today.

History of the Workers' Museum in Denmark

2009 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ludvigsen
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
General Council ◽  
Governing Board ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
Prime Location

The Workers' Museum in Copenhagen was formally inaugurated on April 12, 1982, at a meeting held at the historic Workers' Assembly Hall at Rømersgade in Copenhagen, the prime location near the Royal Gardens and Rosenborg Palace where the museum is located. At that time the museum had a governing board with representatives of The National Museum, The Museum of Copenhagen, The Library and Archives of the Danish Labour Movement, The University of Copenhagen, the National College of the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), the Friends of the Workers' Museum, and the General Council of the Federation of Trade Unions.

scholarly journals Colliery Deputies in the British Coal Industry Before Nationalization

1994 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ackers
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Coal Industry ◽  
National Union ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
Union History

SummaryThis article challenges the militant and industrial unionist version of British coal mining trade union history, surrounding the Miners' Federation of Great Britain and the National Union of Mineworkers, by considering, for the first time, the case of the colliery deputies' trade union. Their national Federation was formed in 1910, and aimed to represent the three branches of coal mining supervisory management: the deputy (or fireman, or examiner), overman and shotfirer. First, the article discusses the treatment of moderate and craft traditions in British coal mining historiography. Second, it shows how the position of deputy was defined by changes in the underground labour process and the legal regulation of the industry. Third, it traces the history of deputies' union organization up until nationalization in 1947, and the formation of the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers (NACODS). The article concludes that the deputies represent a mainstream tradition of craft/professional identity and industrial moderation, in both the coal industry and the wider labour movement.

scholarly journals From Global Unions to the Shop Floor: Trade Union Networks in Transnational Corporations in Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Framil Filho ◽  
Leonardo Mello e Silva
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
Local Labour ◽  
Transnational Connections ◽  
Union Action ◽  
Traditional Structures ◽  
Labour Power

This article analyses the origins, development and organisation of cross-union, company-based trade union networks in transnational corporations in the metal and chemical industries in Brazil. Collectively developed by local, national, foreign and international trade union organisations, this kind of union action was introduced in the country in the early 2000s as a way to connect local labour representatives organising workers in different locations within the same company. Networks strengthen local labour power and stimulate transnational connections. Promoting solidarity among workers across multiple factories, they offer the perspective for a global unionism connected to shop-floor organisation. Despite these achievements, networks face important challenges. Power imbalances, the reliance on restrictive social dialogue arrangements and the compromise with traditional structures limit the reach of the strategy.  KEY WORDS: globalisation; trade unions; new labour transnationalism; trade union networks; Brazil

Community unionism: looking backwards, looking forwards

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie Mayo ◽  
Pilgrim Tucker ◽  
Mat Danaher
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
History Of ◽  
Development Workers ◽  
Community Unionism ◽  
Contemporary Context

The importance of building alliances based upon shared community and trade union interests is a theme with resonances from the history of community development, both in Britain and beyond. This chapter starts by summarising the lessons from previous approaches to building such alliances. The issues arising have even more relevance for community development workers in the contemporary context, the chapter argues, drawing on the findings from the authors’ work by way of illustration. The chapter then moves on to explore the experiences of the two largest trade unions in Britain: UNITE and UNISON. Both have their successes to share. Both have also faced challenges, however, illustrating some of the tensions inherent in building alliances between organisations and movements with differing histories and cultures. The chapter concludes by summarising the implications for building solidarity and developing alliances based upon mutual trust and understanding, rooted in shared values for social justice.

Women and the Labour Movement in France, 1869–1914

1986 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia J. Hilden
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Workers ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
European Trade

In histories of European trade union movements, the observation that women industrial workers were rarely found among the membership has become axiomatic. In virtually every developed nation, it seems that once the industrial order was established, predominantly male trade unions were everywhere the rule, and female unions and trade unionists everywhere notable exceptions.

Union Actors and Socio-environmental Problems: The Trade Union Confederation of the Americas

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 109-124
Author(s):  
Cecilia Anigstein ◽  
Gabriela Wyczykier
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Union Movement ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Latin Americanization

The Trade Union Confederation of the Americas is analytically interesting because international trade unions have promoted the framework of a “just transition” to protect workers’ rights during the shift to sustainable energy and the response to climate change and because the confederation has undertaken something of a “Latin-Americanization” of the just-transition notion that is nurtured by the environmental/territorial turn of social struggles on the continent. The current convergence between unions and social movements (peasant, feminist, environmentalist) has contributed to an important renewal of the union movement in Latin American environmental matters. La Confederación Sindical de las Américas reviste interés analítico porque las organizaciones sindicales internacionales promovieron una “transición justa” para resituar y visibilizar a los trabajadores en las negociaciones multilaterales del clima y procesos de transición energética y porque la confederación ha emprendido una “latinoamericanización” de la noción de la “transición justa” nutrida de un giro eco-territorial de las luchas sociales en el continente. El actual proceso de convergencia entre sindicatos y movimientos sociales (campesinos, feministas, ambientalistas) ha contribuido a una importante renovación de la narrativa del movimiento sindical en materia medioambiental en América Latina.

scholarly journals The International Trade-Union Movement and the Founding of the International Labour Organization

2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiner Tosstorff
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
International Labour Organization ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Trade Union Movement ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
Union Movement

Accounts of the founding of the International Labour Organization (ILO) usually emphasize the role of social-reformist intellectuals and politicians. Despite the indisputable role of these actors, however, the international labour movement was the actual initiator of this process. Over the course of World War I, the international labour movement proposed a comprehensive programme of protection for the working classes, which, conceived as compensation for its support of the war, was supposed to become an international agreement after the war. In 1919, politicians took up this programme in order to give social stability to the postwar order. However, the way in which the programme was instituted disappointed the high expectations of trade unions regarding the fulfilment of their demands. Instead, politicians offered them an institution that could be used, at best, to realize trade-union demands. Despite open disappointment and sharp critique, however, the revived International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) very quickly adapted itself to this mechanism. The IFTU now increasingly oriented its international activities around the lobby work of the ILO.

scholarly journals The Emergence of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford

1975 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Reynolds ◽  
K. Lay Bourn
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Union Support ◽  
Domesday Book ◽  
History Of

Opening the 21st anniversary of the ILP in Bradford in April 1914, J. H. Palin, one of Bradford's most prominent trade unionists, remarked: “Of ordinary historical association, Bradford has none. In Domesday Book, it is described as a waste, and the subsequent periods of capitalist exploitation have done little to improve it. […] The History of Bradford will be very largely the history of the ILP.”1 Palin's remark – unjust as it is, perhaps, to a distinguished list of Victorian philanthropists – stands as testimony to the authority and influence which the labour movement in Bradford had acquired by that date. It also provides a clue to the origins of that authority and influence, for it demonstrates the importance which he and other Bradford trade unionists attached to their association with the independent labour movement. Whatever the reactions of trade unionists in the rest of the country, in Bradford, trade unionists were vital to its success. Indeed, strong trade-union support proved to be an essential corollary of effective independent working-class political action.

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