Les stratégies syndicales face aux restructurations d’entreprises : une étude comparative des contre-pouvoirs syndicaux dans le secteur des équipementiers automobiles en France et au Canada

Cette thèse tente de comprendre l’impact des restructurations des entreprises multinationales sur les stratégies syndicales. Les acteurs syndicaux locaux sont-ils déterminés par l’appartenance à des régimes nationaux et à des contingences organisationnelles ou peuvent-ils influencer des décisions objectives comme les restructurations ? Cette recherche s’insère dans une problématique large qui fait la jonction entre la mondialisation économique sur une base continentale, la réorganisation productive des entreprises multinationales et l’action syndicale. Au plan théorique, nous confrontons trois grandes approches analytiques, à savoir : le néo-institutionnalisme et les structures d’opportunités ; l’économie politique critique et la question du pouvoir syndical ; la géographie économique critique mettant de l’avant les contingences, l’encastrement et l’espace concurrentiel. Sur la base de ces trois familles, nous présentons un modèle d’analyse multidisciplinaire. Au plan méthodologique, cette thèse est structurée autour de quatre études de cas locales qui ont subi des menaces de restructurations. Cette collecte a été effectuée dans deux pays (la France et le Canada) et dans un secteur particulier (les équipementiers automobiles). Trois sources qualitatives forment le cœur empirique de cette thèse : des statistiques descriptives, des documents de sources secondaires et des entretiens semi-dirigés (44), principalement avec des acteurs syndicaux. L’analyse intra et inter régime national éclaire plusieurs aspects de la question des stratégies syndicales en contexte de restructurations. Les principales contributions de cette thèse touchent : 1. l’impact des facteurs relationnels et des ressources de pouvoir développées par les syndicats locaux sur les structures d’opportunités institutionnelles; 2. l’importance des aspects « cognitifs » et d’envisager le pouvoir de manière multi-niveaux; 3. l’importance de l’encastrement social et des dynamiques relationnelles entre syndicats et patronats; 4. l’influence de la concurrence internationale/nationale/régionale/locale dans le secteur des équipementiers automobiles; et 5. l’importance des arbitrages et des relations entre les acteurs de l’entreprise par rapport à la théorie de la contingence pour comprendre les marges structurelles des syndicats locaux. Notre recherche invite les acteurs sociaux à repenser leur action dans le cadre des restructurations. En particulier, les syndicats locaux se doivent d’explorer de nouveaux répertoires stratégiques pour répondre aux nombreux défis que posent le changement économique et les restructurations.

A memória e a identidade do sindicato de trabalhadores em educação das redes pública e estadual e municipais do Maranhão - SINPROESEMMA, São Luís, Maranhão Brasil

Esse estudo refere-se à construção da Memória e da Identidade do Sindicato de Trabalhadores em Educação das Redes Pública Estadual e Municipais do Maranhão – SINPROESEMMA, entidade reconhecida oficialmente pela categoria como seu legítimo representante em todo Estado do Maranhão. Reconstruir a Memória e a Identidade do SINPROESEMMA, naqueles que lhe deram origem, pois, a memória permite a relação do corpo presente com o passado e, ao mesmo tempo, interfere no processo “atual” das representações. A memória aparece como força subjetiva ao mesmo tempo profunda e ativa, latente e penetrante. A memória desse sindicato que não deve ser pensada apenas como resgate do passado, mas como marco referencial a partir do qual os docentes, a sociedade acadêmica e a própria comunidade redescobrem valores e experiências. Portanto se a memória e a identidade do SINPROESEMMA forem entendidas como ferramenta de comunicação e de organização dos trabalhadores, então poder-se-á afirmar que se transforma em conhecimento útil a história e a experiência acumulada em sua trajetória. Uma das características da memória, que é essencial ao pesquisador, é o fato de, apesar de resguardar sua dimensão subjetiva, também expressar, no que tange ao SINPROESEMMA, sua constituição de bases coletivas. Este trabalho mostrará como as condições básicas objetivas e subjetivas do mesmo estão relacionadas à luta dos trabalhadores do ensino público das redes municipais e estadual do Estado do Maranhão - Brasil.

Women, workplace militancy and political subjectivity in Britain, 1968-1985

This thesis examines the experiences and political subjectivity of women who engaged in workplace protest in Britain between 1968 and 1985. The study covers a period that has been identified with the ‘zenith’ of trade-union militancy in British labour history. The women’s liberation movement also emerged in this period, which produced a shift in public debates about gender roles and relations in the home and the workplace. Women’s trade union membership increased dramatically and trade unions increasingly committed themselves to supporting ‘women’s issues’. Industrial disputes involving working-class women have frequently been cited as evidence of women’s growing participation in the labour movement. However, the voices and experiences of female workers who engaged in workplace protest remain largely unexplored. This thesis addresses this space through an original analysis of the 1968 sewing-machinists’ strike at Ford, Dagenham; the 1976 equal pay strike at Trico, Brentford; the 1972 Sexton shoe factory occupation in Fakenham, Norfolk; the 1981 Lee Jeans factory occupation in Greenock, Inverclyde and the 1984-1985 sewing-machinists’ strike at Ford Dagenham. Drawing upon a combination of oral history and written sources, this study contributes a fresh understanding of the relationship between feminism, workplace activism and trade unionism during the years 1968-1985. In every dispute considered in this thesis, women’s behaviour was perceived by observers as novel, ‘historic’ or extraordinary. But the women did not think of themselves as extraordinary, and rather understood their behaviour as a legitimate and justified response to their everyday experiences of gender and class antagonism. The industrial disputes analysed in this thesis show that women’s workplace militancy was not simply a direct response to women’s heightened presence in trade unions. The women involved in these disputes were more likely to understand their experiences of workplace activism as an expression of the economic, social and subjective value of their work. Whilst they did not adopt a feminist identity or associate their action with the WLM, they spoke about themselves and their motivations in a manner that emphasised feminist values of equality, autonomy and self-worth.

Dyskusja programowa na łamach czasopism Międzyzakładowego Komitetu Założycielskiego i Zarządu Regionu Wielkopolska NSZZ "Solidarność" w latach 1980-1981

This article analyses the programme discussion in the trade union’s press supported by the trade union’s regional structures: the Inter-Enterprise Founding Committee, and subsequently the Wielkopolska Regional Board of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarność”. The press of „Solidarność” in the Wielkopolska region is distinguished by two groups of articles: reprints from other independent papers and first-time published articles. This article only interprets the latter group of publications. Those articles mainly focused on dominant topics such as discussions on the trade union’s current programme and its organization, the economic reform, the preparation to local self-government elections and the trade union’s global strategy.

Bogusław Śliwa (1944-1989) - działacz opozycji demokratycznej i "Solidarności" w Kaliszu

Bogusław Śliwa was born in Lvov on 6 October 1944. He graduated in law studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in 1969. Following the completion of his prosecutor’s apprenticeship he worked, among others, in Wolsztyn, Świebodzin and – from 1975 – in Kalisz. On 22 August 1978 Śliwa was fired from the public prosecutor’s office because he had attempted to detect a person who murdered during the robbery committed by a Civic Militia officer. That time he established and maintained close contacts with activists of the Workers’ Defence Committee (KOR), among others: Jacek Kuroń, Mirosław Chojecki, Adam Michnik, Bronisław Geremek, Jan Lityński, Zofia Romaszewska and Zbigniew Romaszewski. In 1978 he began to cooperate with the Kalisz group of the Movement for the Defence of Human and Civil Rights (ROPCiO). In the early 1979 this group started to publish “Wolne Słowo” in which Śliwa was a co-editor. On 28 June 1979 in Poznań he was involved in founding the Social Self-Defence Club of the Wielkopolska and Kujawy Region. In September 1980, during strikes at the FWR “Runotex” and KZKS “Winiary” in Kalisz Śliwa was an expert representing the workers. On 29 September of that year, he arranged in Kalisz a meeting of representatives and delegates of enterprises in Kalisz aimed at appointing the Board of the Inter-Enterprise Founding Committee of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union. He became the secretary. Bogusław Śliwa also engaged in setting up and developing an information team. He was informally responsible for developing an information and printing base. Bogusław Śliwa set up “NSZZ Solidarność” magazine where he published his own articles. He also founded the “Solidarność” Workers’ Community Centre in Kalisz. it is noteworthy that it was the only community centre in Poland established by „Solidarność”. In December the Nationwide Liaison Commission of „Solidarność” appointed him to the Committee for the Defence of Prisoners of Conscience established on 10 December of that year. He participated in the information meeting of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Independent Farmers “Solidarność Wiejska” held in Staw, in Szczytniki commune. During that meeting “Solidarność Wiejska” led by Mieczysław Walczykiewicz requested the authorities to liquidate the “Świt” Agricultural Production Cooperative in Cieszyków, in Szczytniki commune. Bogusław Śliwa was involved in this successful event. It was the first liquidation of cooperative in Poland. On 11 January 1981 Śliwa co-organized the 1st Regional Convention of „Solidarność” Wiejska in Kalisz. Following the so-called Bydgoszcz events of 19 March 1981 he advocated the general strike. Due to his attitude, Śliwa was listed as one of 146 „Solidarność” activists executed by the 3rd “A” Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the authorities those activists presented radical views. On 30 June 1981 at the 1st General Delegates Convention of the Kaliskie province, Śliwa, as a delegate of the Kaliskie province, was appointed to the Regional Board of „Solidarność” – Southern Wielkopolska. In July Śliwa set up in Kalisz the underground branch of the Polish Democratic Party. In 1981 Śliwa was a delegate to the 1st National Delegates Convention of „Solidarność” and co-edited with Jan Lityński the document entitled: “Message to the Working People of Eastern Europe” originated by Henryk Siciński and adopted by the 1st National Delegates Convention. On 22 November he participated in the Warsaw-held meeting founding the Self-Governing Republic Clubs “Liberty – Equality– Independence” and signed the founding declaration. On 28 of that month he co-organized with Antoni Pietkiewicz a founding meeting of the Club in Kalisz. When martial law was declared he began to hide in Kalisz. Śliwa was arrested on 25 February 1982 and interned in Ostrów Wielkopolski and then in Gębarzew and Kwidzyn. After being released on 25 November 1982, he was immediately involved in the activity of the underground movement of „Solidarność”. He edited the first two issues of “Nasza Solidarność” magazine published in Kalisz. Śliwa co-invented and co-organized the 1st May march that was independent from the authorities’ one held in Kalisz in 1983. Consequently, he was temporarily arrested and detained in Ostrów Wielkopolski. On 7 June 1983 he was released from custody. The amnesty declared on 21 July 1983 caused that the investigation against him was discontinued. In July of the same year he co-founded the Inter-Regional Coordination Commission of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarność” Kalisz-Konin-Sieradz. As he could not find any work and he and his family were exposed to psychological harassment, he emigrated to Sweden on 30 December 1983. He worked, among other positions, as bookbinder. He was the board secretary of the Congress of Poles in Sweden. In 1984 he commented the death of priest Jerzy Popiełuszko in “Dagens Nyheter” daily. He was also interviewed by Radio Liberty. Śliwa commenced cooperating with representatives of the „Solidarność” Coordination Office in Paris, Brussels and Stockholm. On 18 April 1985 the Military Garrison Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław initiated investigations against Śliwa, charging him with activities detrimental to political interests of the People’s Republic of Poland. Subsequently, on 10 July 1985 this public prosecutor’s office decided to issue an arrest warrant for him. On the same day the public prosecutor suspended criminal proceedings against him. In December 1985, after the courageous escape of two brothers, Adam and Krzysztof Zieliński, from Poland to Sweden, he helped them prevent their deportation and stay in their new homeland. He expressed his opinion on this issue on Swedish television and in “ Dagens Nyheter” daily. His intervention helped them legally stay in Sweden. In 1989 he arrived in Poland. During this short visit he met and talked with his colleagues from the so-called first „Solidarność”. Bogusław Śliwa died in Stockholm on 23 November 1989. He was buried there on 7 December 1989. On 18 October 2006 he was posthumously honoured by Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland, with the Order of Polonis Restitution. On 15 June 2007 Bogusław Śliwa was posthumously granted the title of an Honorary Citizen of Kalisz by the Town Council of Kalisz.

Les coalitions comme stratégie de renouveau syndical : un cas aux Philippines

Cette recherche fait état de la crise du syndicalisme qui affecte la capacité d’action et l’efficacité des pratiques des organisations syndicales à travers le monde. Elle dresse un portrait complet des éléments de crise qu’elle décline sous les niveaux économique, politique et social. Cette recherche expose ainsi la nécessité d’un renouveau syndical pour porter précisément sur les coalitions, hétérogènes notamment, comme stratégie de renouveau syndical. Au plan analytique, elle évalue l’impact de l’identité et de la capacité organisationnelle d’une organisation syndicale aux Philippines sur son choix de se coaliser, mais aussi l’influence de ses objectifs et du contexte national dans lequel elle évolue. Les données empiriques pour mener cette étude proviennent principalement de près de 24 entrevues semi-dirigées, tenues auprès de représentants de l’une des plus grandes organisations syndicales des Philippines, de représentants d’organisations non syndicales alliées et de répondants externes à celle-ci. Premièrement, nos résultats montrent qu’une identité collective sociétale forte influence favorablement le choix de l’organisation syndicale étudiée de se coaliser. Elle confirme également le rôle essentiel de l’identité dans l’orientation de son action collective. Deuxièmement, nos résultats permettent de conclure qu’une capacité organisationnelle forte influence favorablement le choix de cette organisation syndicale de se coaliser, considérant qu’elle permet à celle-ci d’identifier les opportunités d’action, de mettre en œuvre de nouvelles stratégies et d’assurer la légitimité et la mobilisation des membres quant aux actions entreprises. De nos résultats ressort l’importance de l’éducation sur l’accroissement de la capacité organisationnelle et, particulièrement, sur la formation et le renforcement de l’identité collective de l’organisation syndicale étudiée. Plus encore, nos résultats exposent l’interaction entre les dimensions de l’identité et de la capacité organisationnelle : précisément, nous avons observé une relation de renforcement positif entre ces deux variables. Troisièmement, nos résultats mettent de l’avant l’interaction entre les différents niveaux de transformations résultantes de sa participation à différents types de coalitions. Ainsi dans le cas observé, l’obtention de transformation au plan intraorganisationnel permet à rebours d’obtenir des transformations au plan extraorganisationnel et vice-versa. Finalement, le contexte répressif des Philippines et les objectifs de l’organisation syndicale étudiée apparaissent favorables à son choix de se coaliser à différents niveaux (local, régional, national et international).

Solidarity, the network and the history of workers' self-management from the Gdańsk Agreement to shock therapy

This PhD thesis is an empirical research project in the field of modern Polish history. The thesis focuses on Solidarity, the Network and the idea of workers’ self-management. In addition, the thesis is based on an in-depth analysis of Solidarity archival material. The Solidarity trade union was born in August 1980 after talks between the communist government and strike leaders at the Gdansk Lenin Shipyards. In 1981 a group called the Network rose up, due to cooperation between Poland’s great industrial factory plants. The Network grew out of Solidarity; it was made up of Solidarity activists, and the group acted as an economic partner to the union. The Network was the base of a grass-roots, nationwide workers’ self-management movement. Solidarity and the self-management movement were crushed by the imposition of Martial Law in December 1981. Solidarity revived itself immediately, and the union created an underground society. The Network also revived in the underground, and it continued to promote self-management activity where this was possible. When Solidarity regained its legal status in April 1989, workers’ self-management no longer had the same importance in the union. Solidarity’s new politico-economic strategy focused on free markets, foreign investment and privatization. This research project ends in July 1990, when the new Solidarity-backed government enacted a privatization law. The government decided to transform the property ownership structure through a centralized privatization process, which was a blow for supporters of workers’ self-management. This PhD thesis provides new insight into the evolution of the Solidarity union from 1980-1990 by analyzing the fate of workers’ self-management. This project also examines the role of the Network throughout the 1980s. There is analysis of the important link between workers’ self-management and the core ideas of Solidarity. In addition, the link between political and economic reform is an important theme in this research project. The Network was aware that authentic workers’ self-management required reforms to the authoritarian political system. Workers’ self-management competed against other politico-economic ideas during the 1980s in Poland. The outcome of this competition between different reform concepts has shaped modern-day Polish politics, economics and society.

Les stratégies syndicales face aux restructurations d’entreprises : une étude comparative des contre-pouvoirs syndicaux dans le secteur des équipementiers automobiles en France et au Canada

Cette thèse tente de comprendre l’impact des restructurations des entreprises multinationales sur les stratégies syndicales. Les acteurs syndicaux locaux sont-ils déterminés par l’appartenance à des régimes nationaux et à des contingences organisationnelles ou peuvent-ils influencer des décisions objectives comme les restructurations ? Cette recherche s’insère dans une problématique large qui fait la jonction entre la mondialisation économique sur une base continentale, la réorganisation productive des entreprises multinationales et l’action syndicale. Au plan théorique, nous confrontons trois grandes approches analytiques, à savoir : le néo-institutionnalisme et les structures d’opportunités ; l’économie politique critique et la question du pouvoir syndical ; la géographie économique critique mettant de l’avant les contingences, l’encastrement et l’espace concurrentiel. Sur la base de ces trois familles, nous présentons un modèle d’analyse multidisciplinaire. Au plan méthodologique, cette thèse est structurée autour de quatre études de cas locales qui ont subi des menaces de restructurations. Cette collecte a été effectuée dans deux pays (la France et le Canada) et dans un secteur particulier (les équipementiers automobiles). Trois sources qualitatives forment le cœur empirique de cette thèse : des statistiques descriptives, des documents de sources secondaires et des entretiens semi-dirigés (44), principalement avec des acteurs syndicaux. L’analyse intra et inter régime national éclaire plusieurs aspects de la question des stratégies syndicales en contexte de restructurations. Les principales contributions de cette thèse touchent : 1. l’impact des facteurs relationnels et des ressources de pouvoir développées par les syndicats locaux sur les structures d’opportunités institutionnelles; 2. l’importance des aspects « cognitifs » et d’envisager le pouvoir de manière multi-niveaux; 3. l’importance de l’encastrement social et des dynamiques relationnelles entre syndicats et patronats; 4. l’influence de la concurrence internationale/nationale/régionale/locale dans le secteur des équipementiers automobiles; et 5. l’importance des arbitrages et des relations entre les acteurs de l’entreprise par rapport à la théorie de la contingence pour comprendre les marges structurelles des syndicats locaux. Notre recherche invite les acteurs sociaux à repenser leur action dans le cadre des restructurations. En particulier, les syndicats locaux se doivent d’explorer de nouveaux répertoires stratégiques pour répondre aux nombreux défis que posent le changement économique et les restructurations.

Hien's shed: (re)framing images of female immigrant home-based clothing workers

Campaigns in support of home-based clothing workers (or ‘outworkers’ as they are more commonly known in Australia) deploy powerful images of the exploitative underside of fashion. The migrant woman huddled over her machine has become the quintessential image of campaigns directed against this exploitation. This article engages critically with the politics of such image-making. By examining how frames simultaneously shrink and magnify the image produced it raises questions about what these images exclude or expel and whether and how this matters. It also offers an alternative frame of the female immigrant outworker – an up-close portrait of Hien, a Vietnamese woman who works at home sewing clothes in her suburban shed. The article introduces Hien through a condensed collection of her self-narratives, before moving on to consider how a trade union and community-based movement against outworker exploitation mobilised images of suffering and injured Vietnamese women to promote its cause. It asks how these images speak for and represent women like Hien and suggests that their political ‘success’ relies to some extent on the women being ‘unseen’ and made to ‘unspeak’. Finally, through the metaphor of space, it proffers an expanded dimension to the already framed images invoking Hien’s shed as a space that both produces and disciplines her: ultimately, a ‘transitional space’ between the external and internal worlds that shape and constrain her.

The Diminishing Returns to Trade Policy in the European Union

The notion that the EU is a trade power is central to studies of the Union’s international presence. Credible threats to withhold access to Europe’s markets are said to provide the Union with leverage in respect of other trade partners. This paper queries the continuing ability of the European Union to act effectively this way. The current Doha malaise is a symptom of deeper changes in the international trade system. As emerging markets become more affluent and participate in foreign direct investment, their interest in market access per se become less important relative to other areas of regulation.