Global Labor Strategies

How Workers Run Argentina's “Recuperated Workplaces”

In a previous post, we described the process by which workers in 200 workplaces in Argentina occupied their workplaces and began running them themselves.  In this post we will examine how the workplaces are actually run and how their workers are dealing with the managerial, economic, legal, and political questions that arise when workers try to run their own workplaces.  Much of our information comes from a new book edited by Marina Sitrin called “Horizontalism: Voices of Popular Power in Argentina” (Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2006).

After workers had occupied their workplaces and, if necessary, warded off the efforts of former bosses and police to take them back, what happened next?

Argentina's “Recuperated Workplaces”

What happens when a group of workers take over their workplace and try to run it without private owners, professional managers, or the government?  10,000 workers in 200 workplaces in Argentina are trying to find out.

Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein’s movie “The Take” provided many non-Argentineans an introduction to Argentina’s movement of “recuperated factories.”  But beyond that information has been difficult to get.  Now a new book edited by Marina Sitrin called “Horizontalism: Voices of Popular Power in Argentina” (Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2006) provides a revealing portrait of the movement.

Philippine Toyota Workers – an Update

Almost a year ago we reported on the struggle of a group of auto workers employed by Toyota’s subsidiary in the Philippines. Their actions involved some highly innovative approaches to the problems globalization.

The backstory: In March, 2001 the Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation Workers Association (TMPCWA) won a certification election granting them the right to be recognized as sole bargaining agent for the rank and file workers of the Toyota Philippines Corporation.  Toyota subsequently unlawfully dismissed 233 workers, including the entire union executive committee.

China’s Emerging Labor Movement

Trade unionists in the US and elsewhere have long argued that there is no labor movement in China.  They rightly point out that Chinese workers lack even the most basic human rights protections, including the rights to strike and join an independent union.

But there's more to the story: Ten years ago, according to the China’s Minister of Public Security, there were on average 10,000 large-scale collective protests each year.  By 2004, the government recorded 74,000 large-scale protests. Late last year, the Minister of Police announced protests had increased to 87,000 last year, involving well over four million workers.

China’s Emerging Civil Rights Movement

In April of this year, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China met to discuss “The Lot of Chinese Workers: Do China’s Labor Laws Work?” It’s a fascinating read and is available here.  The CECC is a government body created by Congress in 2000 to monitor human rights and the rule of law in China. At the committee's most recent hearing, they took testimony from Han Dongfang and Robin Munro of the China Labour Bulletin, concerning China’s emerging rights defense movement – the so-called Wei Quan Movement, which translates in English to “Defending Rights.”

While rooted in Tiananmen Square protest movement, according to Robin Munro “this is the most significant development” in the last 25 years.

Alternative Worker Organizations: Taking the Alliance Global

On August 10th, the AFL-CIO reached what is being heralded as "a historic partnership agreement" between the Federation and the National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON).  The hope is that this pledge of cooperation "will pave the way for AFL-CIO central labor councils and state federations and NDLON’s day laborer worker centers to work together on issues ranging from workplace rights to immigration to health and safety and other job-related concerns."