Incoming

Incoming Files.

Once Again, Nike's Voice Looms Larger Than That of Its Workers by dave — last modified 2004-03-25 19:30

Jeff Ballinger is the founder and director of Press for Change, which hosts the site: www.nikeworkers.org

Jeff Ballinger on Kasky by dave — last modified 2004-03-25 19:34

 

Behind Label Comments by dave — last modified 2004-03-25 19:38

 

Globalisation, Labour and…Transnationalism? by dave — last modified 2004-03-29 16:25

Review of "Ronaldo Munck (ed), Labour and Globalisation: Results and Prospects. Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2004. 254 pp." by Peter Waterman

Conceptualising the World Working Class by dave — last modified 2004-03-29 16:29

A review of "v.d. Linden, Marcel. 2003a. ‘Conceptualising the World Working Class’", in K.P. Kannan and Mario Rutten (eds), Labour and Transformation in Asia. Critical Reflections and Empirical Studies. New Delhi: Permanent Black.

Labour and New Social Movements in a Labour and New Social Movements in a Globalising World System by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 17:06

Review of the 39th session of the International Conference of Labour and Social History (ITH in German), Linz, Austria, September 11-14, 2003 by Peter Waterman

An Enfant Terrible of Communist Internationalism by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 18:59

A review of "Sean McMeekin, The Red Millionaire: A Political Biography of Willi Münzenberg, Moscow’s Secret Propaganda Tsar in the West. Yale University Press, New Haven. 2003. Pp. 397." by Peter Waterman

Notes on Trade Unions and the Informal Sector by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 10:59

An International Symposium on Trade Unions and the Informal Sector, organized by the Bureau for Workers’ Activity of the ILO ( was held in Geneva from October 18 to 22, 1999. The meeting was attended by 31 trade unionists from as many countries (Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America), 16 observers from five ITSs, the ICFTU and the WCL, moderators (from the ILO), speakers (from the ILO, ITSs, ICFTU and WCL) and ILO officials. The following notes are a contribution by WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing) to the discussion. They were prepared by Dan Gallin (Global Labour Institute) with contributions from Martha Chen (Harvard University), Renana Jhabvala (Self Employed Women’s Association, India) and Jane Tate (HomeNet, UK).

Nike s Voice Looms Large by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 10:47

 

The ideological legacy of the social pact by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 11:17

The trade union movement in Europe is on the defensive. Not only that, it is also in a deep political and ideological crisis. The general picture is that the trade unions, for the time being, are not able to fill their role of defending the immediate economic and social interests of their members. They have lost ground in all sectors and industries. The strongest and most influential trade union movement in the capitalist world in the post W.W.II period is thus today openly confused, lacks a clear vision and hesitates in its new social and political orientation. The strange thing is that it is the same theories, analyses and policies which gave it its strength in the post War period that has now become its heavy burden. The ideological legacy of the social pact policies is now leading the trade union movement astray. Article by Asbjørn Wahl

Edo Fimmen - Internationalist Pioneer by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 17:04

Labour's Alternative by Edo Fimmen

Organized Labor as a Global Social Force by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 13:23

Within the framework of the 1999 meeting of the International Studies Association in Washington D.C. an interdisciplinary workshop entitled IR² (International Relations plus Industrial Relations) was organized on February 20 by Jeffrey Harrod (RECIPE, University of Amsterdam) and Robert O’Brien (University of Sussex (UK) and McMaster University (Canada)). Its purpose was to bring together specialists from international relations and industrial relations fields to exchange ideas and approaches on how the two disciplines might relate to each other, perhaps engendering a new field: international industrial relations. Seventeen specialists from universities and from the labor movement (from Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US) participated. Dan Gallin contributed the paper given below.

International Labour and Labour Internationalism in the Light of Globalisation and Global Civil Society by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 18:49

The purpose of this note is to suggest a possible orientation toward and outline for a jointly-authored chapter to be contributed to Global Civil Society 2004, published from the London School of Economics (Glasius, Kaldor and Anheier. 2002).

Regulation for the Rest of Us? Global Social Activism, Corporate Citizenship, and the Disappearance of the Political by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 14:05

In the context of globalization, transnational social regulation is increasingly the product of private (as opposed to public) interventions into the sphere of global trade. In recognition of the widespread failure of corporations to sufficiently address the socioeconomic externalities borne by workers (inadequate wages, poor working conditions, forced overtime, child labor, and lack of the right to free association), various nongovernmental organizations have begun to design and implement systems of rules intended to influence corporations and bring to an end a transnational "race to the bottom." Drawing on publicly available materials, interviews, and fieldwork in Southeast Asia, I propose that what matters as much as improvements to life on the factory floor are "spillover" effects whose force extend beyond building walls into the broader society of the host country. I question whether consumer behavior alone can create the conditions in which workers will be free to exercise their rights as guaranteed by both domestic law and International Labor Organization conventions. I conclude that what is needed is greater interaction between global civil society and trade unions. For the moment, the basis for effective labor law and regulation more generally lies within states. Activists and civil society should focus on improving legal, political, and social conditions for workers in the host countries, rather than trying to affect corporate behavior through consumer pressure.

Towards a fair distribution of wealth by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 19:14

Contribution to a Seminar at ESF Paris, ‘United in defence of social protection’, 14 nov. 9-12 hr, Ivry sur Seine, Cinema Quai d’Ivry – salle 9. Speaker: Jan Müter, on behalf of the Dutch Euromarches.

Open grenzen, rechtsongelijkheid en sociale zekerheid by dave — last modified 2004-04-04 19:17

Binnen Bureau Zwartwerk woedt al enige tijd een discussie over de/een nieuw te varen koers. Die discussie beperkt zich overigens niet alleen tot de direct betrokken. We zijn een keer met ‘externen’ bijeen geweest om over de toekomst van het bureau van gedachten te wisselen. Daarin zijn vorderingen gemaakt, maar een samenhangend perspectief is nog niet geformuleerd. Zolang hebben we de tijd genomen om onze gedachten op een rijtje te krijgen en onderwijl het bureau op een lager pitje door te laten draaien.

OUTSOURCE THIS? American Workers, the Jobs Deficit and Fair Globalization by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 17:03

This paper argues that the outsourcing of service and technical jobs represents a new phase in globalization. For the first time, the majority of American workers are now being forced to grapple with outsourcing as a threat to their own livelihood and the future prospects of their children. The current debate over outsourcing is trapped in a centuries-old debate between free trade, fair trade and protectionism. None of these positions is adequate to understand or to fix the contemporary jobs problem. Today s global economy can no longer be understood as a system of national economies trading with each other. Rather, it is a system of global markets, corporations, and institutions that cut across national boundaries. Fair trade is not enough, fair globalization is needed.

Rendezvous at Mumbai by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 16:59

The fourth World Social Forum, in the neoliberal capital of the global South. Soaring elite consumption, widening inequality and anti-Muslim pogroms of Shining India, with the New Hindu Right set for fresh electoral victory. Article by Achin Vanaik

Public World by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 16:57

Public World is a London-based international non-profit business focused on the social and labour dimensions of privatisation and public service reform and committed to policies derived from basic rights and collectively developed knowledge.

Consolidated bibliography: Unions and the internet. John Hogan, 25/10/2003 by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 18:49

The development of information communication technologies has hosted the emergence of substantial levels of e-collectivism within the last half decade. The significance of global communications technologies for organising local and international civil political action has begun to register with both grassroots and government. This site provides on line resources for tracing, analysing and advancing this development.

CRIMT - Inter-University Research Centre on Globalization and Work by dave — last modified 2004-04-18 14:08

The Inter-University Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) or le Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la mondialisation et le travail) is a Canadian-based inter-university research centre on the theoretical and practical challenges of institutional renewal for work and employment in a global era.

Precarious Workers Adrift by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 16:56

Precarias a la deriva" (Precarious women workers adrift) is a collective project of investigation and action. The concerns of the participants in this open project converged the 20th of June 2002, the day of the general strike called by the major unions in Spain.

The International Labour Movement: History and Ideologies by dave — last modified 2004-04-22 18:53

Paper presented by Dan Gallin, Global Labour Institute, at the Center Praxis Conference: "The Anti-Totalitarian Left: Between Past and Future", Moscow, June 21-22, 2003

Trade Union Essentials: Art of Solidarity and Participatory Democracy by dave — last modified 2004-06-04 11:51

This paper by Janaka Biyanwila is a modified chapter from his PhD "Trade Unions in Sri Lanka under Globalisation: Reinventing Worker Solidarity" completed at the University of Western Australia, in March 2004. The dissertation analysed the Sri Lankan trade union resistance to the post 1977 Export Oriented Industrialisation strategies and the unfolding neo-liberal market-driven politics. In Emphasising the cultural and the movement dimensions of unions, the study looked at the ways unions can regain their role as civil society actors or "swords of justice" on the basis of building worker solidarity. Please forward all comments to janaka@biz.uwa.edu.au.

Marxist Thought And The Analysis Of Work by dave — last modified 2004-06-01 20:56

Marx was anything but a detached academic observer of the world of work: he was passionately engaged in the struggles of the emergent labour movements within, and against, the new capitalist society in which wage-labour was becoming the dominant form of work. As he famously declared, the task was not only to interpret the world but to change it. The unity of theory and practice was to be a fundamental maxim of all variants of Marxism – of which there were many – and hence intellectual and political controversies were intermingled. The writings by, and about, Marx are voluminous. In a short overview it would be impossible to reference every argument; the reader is advised to seek more detailed information elsewhere. (Working Draft from Richard Hyman. To be eventually published as 'Marxist Thought and the Analysis of Work' in Paul Edwards, Marek Korcynski and Randy Hodson, eds, Social Theory at Work, Oxford: OUP, 2004)

FEMINISM’S CHALLENGE TO UNIONS IN THE NORTH: POSSIBILITIES AND CONTRADICTIONS by dave — last modified 2004-06-13 15:45

In most advanced capitalist societies, the feminist challenge to labour unions began well over twenty five years ago. This essay examines the history of the ambivalent relationship between women and unions and assesses the difference feminism has made in terms of the structure, practices and overall vision of unions’ role and goals. Has feminism helped to renew union movements across the capitalist world and moved them at all towards socialism? The answer to this is complex and involves assessing both the different strands of feminist influence and the way these were interwoven with the attack on unions and working people that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. Article by Rosemary Warskett

Social dialogue, social pacts Social dialogue, social pacts or a social Europe? by dave — last modified 2004-07-11 12:14

A "social Europe" has been a standing demand of the European trade union movement on the governments and on the EU for many years. If the integration of Europe should be successful, it had to be accompanied by a strong social dimension – a people’s Europe. This, also, was the expressed aim of the European social democracy – to regain control of capital forces and create the «social Europe» through the European Union. Now, social democratic or social democratic dominated governments for the first time since the establishment of the EEC, have been dominating the EU for some years. The «social Europe», however, is still in store. Article by Asbjørn Wahl, published Monthly Rewiew, Vol. 54, No. 2 2002, New York.

The brutalisation of work under neo-liberalism by dave — last modified 2004-07-11 12:24

Increasing exclusion from the labour market, an all-time high in sick leave and disability retirement, increasing stress at the work place, less influence over one’s work situation: the signals that something dramatic is about to happen to our labour market and our whole relationship to work are many. And yet, although ten thousands are excluded from employment every year, there is little focus on the real reasons and driving forces behind this development. Most politicians and employers are staring blindly at the symptoms. Even the trade unions are not willing to go under the surface.