Cross-border Trade Union Networks in Transnational Corporation: A comparison between sectors

Autori

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2021.184497

Parole chiave:

Union networks, Transnational corporations, Cross-border organizing

Abstract

This article analyses cross-border trade union networks in Transnational Corporations (TNCs) in the metal and chemical, garment, retail, and commercial banking sectors in Brazil. Conceptualized as global union responses to the growing reach of TNCs, such networks have been established in different settings in the country and have engaged major corporations outside of traditional industrial relations frameworks, venturing into the controversial field of social dialogue, corporate responsibility, and private governance. From different research backgrounds, our findings suggest that union networks in TNCs can be used to rearrange union prerogatives across different levels but remain embedded in previous institutional structures. In this sense, such unions incorporate existing union boundaries, including the exclusion of relevant groups of workers, even as they can scale up the scope of trade union action.

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Biografie autore

  • Ricardo Framil Filho, Universidade de São Paulo

    PhD candidate in sociology at the University of São Paulo. His interests centre on globalization, labour, and social movements, and his doctoral research focuses on struggles within transnational corporations. His latest publications include “From global unions to the shop floor: Trade union networks in transnational corporations in Brazil”, Global Labour Journal, 10 (3), 2019, and “Trabalho, sindicatos e proteção social na pandemia de 2020: notas sobre o caso brasileiro”, Ciências Sociais Unisinos, 5 (2), 2020. 

  • Katiuscia Moreno Galhera, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados

    Professor at the Graduation Program of Sociology at the Federal University of Metropolitan Dourados (UFGD), in Brazil. Her areas of specialization are gender, labor, social movements, transnational corporations, global supply chains and Latin American political economy. She holds a postdoc in Sociology of Work from Londrina State University (Brazil) (2019). Last publication includes the book Labor contestation in Walmart Brazil: Limits of global diffusion in Latin America, London, Palgrave, 2021 (co-authored with Scott Martin e João Paulo Veiga). 

  • Leonardo Mello e Silva, Universidade de São Paulo

    Professor of sociology at University of São Paulo, Brazil. His researches and areas of interest cover the world of labour in a wide sense: labour process, labour market, unionism, industrial relations, globalization and social movements. He has supervised regularly graduate students interested in those domains.

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Pubblicato

2021-08-16

Fascicolo

Sezione

Dossiê - Lutas trabalhistas transnacionais e repertórios políticos

Come citare

Framil Filho, R. ., Galhera, K. M., & Silva, L. M. e . (2021). Cross-border Trade Union Networks in Transnational Corporation: A comparison between sectors. Tempo Social, 33(2), 163-182. https://doi.org/10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2021.184497