China's Labor Question

The Honda workers’ strike in 2010 attracted world wide attention. It was one of thousands of labor disputes that happen every year in China, but it was the first major calling for the right of workers to represent themselves in collective bargaining. The question of representation is therefore the main topic of the book. The various contributors to this volume share the view that the Chinese party-state takes the protest against social inequality seriously. It has enacted many laws aimed at channeling dissatisfaction into safe channels. The implementation of these laws, however, lags behind and these laws do not include the right of freedom of association. Without this right, super-exploitation will persist and the system of labor relations will remain prone to eruptive forms of protest. The first part of the book provides an overview of the economic context of Chinese labor relations, the transformation of class-relations, the evolution of labor law, and government policies intended to set a wage floor. Based on extensive field research, the second part looks at the evolution of labor relations at the industry level. In the third part, the focus shifts to the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda in China. The final part looks at the connection between land reform and social inequality.

The Pursuit of Alternatives

Stories of peoples’ struggles across the globe are testaments to their determination to resist exploitation and injustice, and to imagine and construct their own narratives of economic and political difference. These stories of emancipatory moments demonstrate that something radically different in terms of dominant socio-economic relations and mental conceptions of the world may arise out of and beyond capitalism. The Pursuit of Alternatives: Stories of Peoples’ Economic and Political Struggles Around the World presents a fresh and new perspective on how the ‘process of becoming’ alternatives might take place based on peoples’ lived experiences. The chapters here, by labour activists and academics, explore how various forms of peoples’ economic and political initiatives and struggles in six countries – Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Nigeria, the Philippines, and South Korea – might become ‘actually existing’ spaces and moments for the development of critical consciousness and transformative capacities which are both central in challenging the dominant social, economic and political relations. The stories in this book bring to light today’s language of peoples’ struggles; what inspires people to create their own emancipatory moments and spaces for transformative self-change. While this book does not aim to propose an alternative to capitalism per se, it makes a stimulating contribution to the continuing debate on what alternatives to capitalist relations and arrangements might look like by grounding these alternatives in the everyday lives and struggles of workers, women, aboriginal peoples, the unemployed, and the poor.

The Food Crisis: Implications for Labor

Food prices have gone up to prohibitive levels for many of the world’s poor. The vast majority of those who are hungry in the world today are working in agriculture, either as small landholders or as waged agricultural workers. The majority of the food producers have not benefited from rising prices. Apparently, the bargaining power of many producers, just as that of the end consumers, has been weakened vis-à-vis the buyers and retailers of agricultural produce. This powerlessness is also in the face of governments that fail to provide an appropriate infrastructure for smallholders and social protection. The first part of the book provides an introduction to the immediate and structural causes of the food crisis. The second part contains contributions that not only highlight the plight of rural labour but also develop tools for measuring the decent work deficit. The last part emphasizes income security as a major precondition for food security. It looks at the experiences of Brazil and India with the extension of social protection for the poor.

Re-Framing Trade

Given the substantial and increasing encroachment of trade agreements into almost every aspect of economic and social life, there is a pressing need for research that provides a more coherent framework for understanding the source and effectiveness of organised labour ’s power and capacity to influence international trade policy. Taking the union protests against the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as a case study, this research uses core concepts derived from social movement theory to analyse the opportunities that existed for unions to influence these trade negotiations and their capacity to identify and take advantage of such opportunities. Importantly, it adds a power analysis designed to reveal the sources of power that unions draw on to take action. The research demonstrates that even where unions faced considerable constraints they were able to re-frame trade issues in a way that built broad support for their position and to utilise opportunities in the trade negotiation process to mobilise resistance against the GATS and further liberalisation of services. The theoretical framework developed for the research provides conceptual tools that can be developed for improving strategic campaign planning and for analytical assessment of past campaigns. The theoretical framework developed for this research has potential for further application as an analytical and strategic planning tool for unions.

The Impact of Electricity Sector Privatisation on Employees in Argentina and Brazil

This book investigates country-specific responses to privatisation by examining two of the most important Latin American examples of the 1990s, the Argentine and the Brazilian programmes, and one essential public service sector, electricity. In doing so, it aims to: identify the impact of privatisation on electricity sector employees in Argentina and Brazil during the 1990s; explore how the impact came about; and analyse the reasons for this impact. A multi-dimensional perspective provides a comparative analysis of privatisation processes, regulatory contexts, and results, striving to capture the phenomenon by combining insights from political and economic analysis.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

The United States of America and the European Union are currently negotiating a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It is one of the most ambitious free trade and investment initiatives, going much further than eliminating tariffs. TTIP mainly aims at reducing “non-tariff barriers”. While tariffs on goods have been imposed with an eye to foreign competition, most of the non-tariff barriers are the laws and regulations that are the result of social struggles for the protection of consumers and workers. It is therefore certain that TTIP will impact workers. This volume provides a preliminary assessment of the likely consequences for labor by: - providing an overall introduction to the TTIP negotiations; -assessing the reliability of the studies claiming employment gains; - highlighting specific problematic proposals such as the investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism; - presenting the position of organized labor from both sides of the Atlantic. / Among the contributors are Stefan Beck (Kassel), Lance Compa (Ithaca, New York), Pia Eberhardt (Brussels) and Werner Raza (Vienna).

Visibility and Voice for Union Women

A new collection of Case studies about gender and trade unions in nine countries, ranging from Turkey to India, Brazil to Africa, the Philippines and New Zealand. Researched and written by insider/outsider union activists and officers, the book is the culmination of five years of collaborative research by the Global Labour University Gender and Trade Unions Research Group.

Reforming Cooperative Credit Structure in India for Financial Inclusion

In the drive for financial inclusion in India, cooperative banks assume prime importance as they are much more accessible to the rural poor than commercial banks. While more accessible, cooperative banks' financial health is rather poor and, therefore, might not be able to serve the needy in a sustained manner. A committee led by Prof. Vaidyanathan has outlined a revival package for cooperatives. Besides suggesting an infusion of funds, it called for the adherence to certain stringent norms to ensure the financial viability. The recommendations provided in the committee’s report are under various stages of implementation in India. The book examines the progress of this reform drive in Bihar, a state in Eastern India. It discusses the background for appointing the committee and its recommendations and also presents the findings of a field study conducted in this regard. The findings inform further policy suggestions which are of general interest to the drive for financial inclusion also in other countries.

Pursuing a Developmental State Trade Agenda in a Neo-Liberal Context

This book explains why it was possible for the Worker’s Party (PT) in Brazil and the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa to pursue a developmental state trade policy, in spite of neoliberal constraints. The major theoretical lenses are three-fold. It applies state theory (macrolevel), policy network analysis (meso-level) and theories on political parties with emphasis on factional politics (micro-level). This book highlights the socio-political relevance of comparatively progressive policy frameworks and expands the debate on how to re-gain national policy space for progressive reform policies even under neoliberal constraints.