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Which way to global unionism?

The usual suspects are pretty much agreed: unions need to start organizing globally. They've been trying a number of approaches, some of them dating back 100 years. Are we there yet? How much further? Hell, will we even know it if we arrive? And while we're at it, what exactly do we mean by 'we'? These questions aren't as daft as they sound. Union leaders are pretty much agreed: the key voice that has been missing from the discussion is that of working people themselves.

Over the last few years, here's what some of our elected representatives and erstwhile spokespeople have been saying:

• What we have today won't get the job done. We need a new trade union internationalism.
  Guy Ryder, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
  
  
• The fight for workers' rights in one country has to be a fight for workers' rights in every country.
  Sharan Burrow, ITUC President, 2007
  
  
• Friends, global offshoring is a reality. We need Global Union Alliances to ensure rights are respected at home and at the destination.
  Philip Jennings, General Secretary UNI
  
  
• National unions have dealt with national companies. To deal with international companies you need international unions.
  Derek Simpson, Unite
  
  
• ...in a global economy, we have no alternative but to build truly global unions. Unions with the ability to confront corporate power wherever it rears its head, whether it's a call center in Bangalore, a shoe factory in Vietnam, or a coal mine in Colombia.
  Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President

• Capital went global; trade went global; finance went global. It's impossible for unions to stay local or regional... 'Workers of the world, unite!' isn't ideological anymore. It's practical.
  Andy Stern, SEIU President
  
  
• Global unionism is the answer to global capitalism. There is no other answer.
  Former labor leader and U.S. Under Secretary of Labor Jack Henning
  

• It would appear to be self-evident that if business and capital go global, then... labour should follow suit.
  Andreas Breitenfellner, International Labour Review
  
  
• Unless unions devote more resources to international organisation and begin to develop global super-unions – so that they respond to events as speedily and concertedly as the financial markets – they will be unable to redress the power imbalance between labour and capital.
  Peter Wilby, writing in the New Statesman
  
  

All this apparent consensus, however, conceals some pretty deep differences on how to proceed. Do we build on existing representative structures, or do we seek more participative forms? Do we need to (re)define our goals, or is this a goal in itself?

As the great Anon once said: "The best map in the world will not get you anywhere. Only going will get you there." With these words in mind, let's look at the prime movers (if not quite shakers) in the struggle to build global unionism. Firstly, there is a relatively new body called the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). It appeared after a merger of two global bodies in 2006, and currently lays claim to a membership of about 175 million workers in 155 countries.

Linked to the ITUC, but autonomous, are the global union federations. These seek to unite unions along sectoral lines. There's one for transport workers, one for energy workers, one for public service workers, one for journos, one for building workers... And of course, it's never that simple. There are industrial overlaps... coverage disputes... factions... personality clashes... all those things we find at the national level, projected onto a larger screen.

There are also scores of inter-regional federations, such as the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU), the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) and the Russian-based the General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU).

Rather more mysteriously, there are ideology-centred groups such as the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), the International Workers of the World (IWW, or Wobblies) and the International Workers' Association (IWA). These tend to keep details of their affiliation and membership very quiet.

For more on each of these groups, including membership numbers, wikis, links to websites and contact details etc, see: http://www.younionize.info/directory/index.php?show=int

To initiate an open discussion on global unionism, the New Unionism Network presents this review by Richy Leitch of last year's book 'Global Unions Global Business', by Richard Croucher and Elizabeth Cotton. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to post them in the box top right. Once we assess the level of interest in this topic, we'll ask what folks want to do next. If you'd like to be a part of this discussion, add your contact details in the form below:

Global Unions Global Business
reviewed by Richard Leitch, January 2010

The discussion of union renewal has produced a growing literature, however 'Global Unions Global Business' is the only book I have ever come across which makes a serious case for the existing global union organisations as key players in future developments.

For an introduction to the work of the global union federations (GUFs), some of which have been around for a hundred years or so, click here.

Croucher and Cotton provide a comprehensive analysis of the role of the GUFs within the international trade union movement, examining their relationhips with multinational companies (MNCs) and the process of globalisation. The authors believe that the GUFs play a crucial role -- providing invaluable support to national unions -- but that they stand in need of deep reform if they are to fulfill their mandate.

The authors explain and illustrate the little understood role that GUFs play, and advocate for their further development - especially in terms of their superiority over other forms of international solidarity, such as bilateral relationships. Their argument is based on first hand empirical evidence.

Croucher and Cotton consider the GUFs to be essential coordinating bodies in today's global economy. They link together the efforts of national unions and facilitate their relations with major multinational companies. They have three main functions: the defence of existing union rights; the creation of new rights through processes of collective bargaining; and the development of union capacities to exercise such rights, primarily through educational programmes.

Nevertheless, the authors recognise that there are deep seated problems with the ways GUFs currently operate. There is a severe and growing funding crisis with their national affiliates, threatening the material basis of GUF operations. Some of them are perceived as hopelessly bureaucratic and/or removed from union struggle and the conditions faced by workers. They continue to prioritise the creation of abstract framework agreements over other more pressing issues, and need to make multilateralism a live entity rather than an empty commitment, through regionally focused strategies. In some ways, these global union bodies now face an unparalleled opportunity. Devoid of the divisions and political factions that marked the last century, and with growing memberships, they are developing a genuinely global reach as more of the ex-Second and Third world states are brought into the orbit of capitalist production. There is plenty of work to be done - but big changes are needed first if the GUFs are to fulfill their potential.

In terms of the context GUFs face today, huge challenges have been thrown up by the processes of globalisation, and the associated increase in the power of MNCs. A global maelstrom of free market economic reform and neo-liberal political programmes has wreaked havoc on existing forms of economic regulation. It has also undermined union constituencies and the social protections they had established.

The list of factors involved here is long, but two stand out. Changing employment relations, especially the explosion of informal work within multinational's global supply chains (the so called 'externalisation' of labour) confront GUFs with the challenge of organising billions of geographically dispersed and socially divided workforces. Only 1% of the world proletariat are directly employed by MNCs, and in many states the majority of the labour force lacks formal status. On top of this, the incorporation of the ex-Soviet Bloc, India and China into capitalist production cycles has massively increased the availability of cheap exploitable labour.

Global capital and its MNCs are, of course, the major beneficiaries of these changes. The multinationals are the major adversaries of the GUFs, and relations between the two sides are variable. Whilst US firms are hostile, their European counterparts have engaged with unions, creating space for GUFs to perform a coordinating role. Croucher and Cotton illustrate the potential of this with a case study of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) / Anglo American Mining Corporation (AA) relationship, drawing on their own personal involvement with the project.

Here the GUF worked with senior management, at parent and affiliate level, and with national union affiliates to establish relationships in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Their focus was on healthcare, health and safety and trade union rights. In Africa ICEM signed an agreement with an AA mining affiliate to deliver HIV/AIDS detection and treatment programmes in Ghana and South Africa (funded by the employer). Their success was crucial in subsequent negotiations ICEM undertook in Colombia to revive collective bargaining by its local affiliates, and to gain some protection for their negotiators in conditions of extreme hostility.

ICEM had to undertake substantial educational work in the Colombian context to overcome inter-union divisions and to modernise union structures prior to engaging with employers. Initially the ICEM played a mediating role in negotiations, which brought tangible benefits for unions in terms of pay, pensions and workplace safety. The key thing to note, say the authors, is that none of the national unions involved had effective working relations with the MNC, prior to the involvement of the GUF. And the success of ICEM in Africa led the company to engage more willingly in negotiation and bargaining among its Latin American affiliates.

The main part of 'Global Unions Global Business', however, is taken up with a more general analysis of GUF structures and functions. As structures, they are dominated by their European affiliates, and are marked by a number of tensions. Their expansion beyond the European heartlands has thrown up problems of power and resources. Specifically, the affiliation of more unions from the ex Second and Third World countries has placed increasing demands on GUFs to build capacity for representation, bargaining and organising in structures that have previously had little experience of the basic operations of independent trade unionism. Realistically, this requires the dominant Euro GUF members to vastly increase their donations - a step they are not willing to take. Indeed, the authors note a worrying trend amongst the major GUF financial backers - that of shifting funding to independent bilateral international projects, and excluding GUFs.

These federations also face growing demands for regional autonomy amongst their affiliates. Croucher and Cotton argue that a regional focus is the key factor in boosting the potential of GUFs. In place of increased centralisation (or merger between GUFs) they suggest a 'minilateral' approach: regional groupings working together on common problems (with linguistic and geographical barriers held to a minimum). They see this as the best way to make the multilateralism of the GUFs a functional reality. These projects can work both within and between GUFs, and cover educational and organising dimensions as well. One thing is clear - the authors are adamant that multilateralism cannot be replaced by bilateral union projects. These suffer from a number of limitations: they are of short duration; they are typically restricted to the well-unionised heartlands of the West; and they are unable to build effective long-term relationships with employers. Their power and focus is necessarily more limited than the global scale GUFs operate at, and the latter have the capacity to exercise leverage over MNCs through high levels of 'international connectedness'.

International collective bargaining has long been considered the primary goal of the GUFs but the authors argue that this is a mistaken priority. These organisations have tried to inject bargaining arrangements into their relations with MNCs by establishing International Framework Agreements (IFAs): statements of fundamental rights based on the ILO Core Labour Standards that provide a context for affiliated unions to develop their own local bargaining with employers. Over 60 of these IFAs now exist. Despite this growth, Croucher and Cotton voice a number of criticisms over their scope and operation.

IFAs do not cover substantive bargaining (with the single exception of the shipping industry). They are a rights-based framework, but have no supporting legal regulations to boost union powers. At worst they can slide to being little more than a vague statement of corporate intent. And in the era of global supply chains, participating MNCs have strongly resisted any extension of IFAs to their suppliers, drastically limiting their reach.

One promising development here has been the work of the IUF, who have tried to negotiate 'Labour Recognition Agreements' with multinationals, to assist building union capacity outside the European theatre. This is the best way forward, in the view of the authors. In terms of their current operation, IFAs are of limited significance: many do not extend far beyond their European HQ states, and exclude unions from the Global South in their original design. This restricted implementation is often compounded by weak monitoring systems -  a particular problem where long supply chains are involved. Efforts to develop company networks of union activists as monitoring bodies (favoured by federations like ICEM, IUF and IMF) have key advantages here - in particular, functioning to build union capacity in affiliates across the Global South. This can convert IFAs into more effective organising tools.

These company cross-border networks are the backbone of international solidarity action, and are therefore crucial to GUF strategy. Once again, the authors note that the potential of GUF activity is sadly limited. Functional networks are not large in numbers, and there are no truly global examples that relate directly to existing IFAs. To be sure there are difficulties involved in building cross-border networks. There is a shortage of resources, and employers often obstruct or prevent substantive international negotiations. Even in their current weakened state, however, these networks embody a vital dynamic: moving from information-sharing and dialogue, to organising, coordination and solidarity action. This is what the authors are wishing to encourage. The small-scale minilateral regional strategy they favour fits well with such networks, using an educational programme to build union capacity and to gain full participation from unions in the Global South.

One example of this they cite is that of the ICEM Caspian Energy Network. Here, a long-term relationship between Russian, Azeri and Norwegian energy sector unions laid the foundation for a regional network that developed successful organising drives in the hitherto unorganised Azeri private sector. This led to the establishment of negotiating rights. Similar lessons flow from the experiences of the BASF network, which flourished on a regional basis in Asia and Latin America, establishing dialogue with regional management and then progressing to coordinated regional bargaining.

In order to build such effective networks, GUFs and their affiliates draw upon the strong traditions of educational work within international trade unionism. The authors are clear that the drive to build union capacity outside Europe is the main challenge for GUFs today, supplanting IFA / collective bargaining approaches. Long-term educational relationships lie at the heart of this approach, using collective problem-solving methods and informal exchanges of experience to build expertise in representation, bargaining and organising. Croucher and Cotton cite research from GUF programmes in the former Soviet Union that show this approach can bring real advances. Once again, they argue for a delimited regional focus as the basis for such international union education programmes - noting that the major funders of GUFs, who are currently moving in the direction of bilateralism, will lose the accumulated historical knowledge and expertise the GUFs embody.

' The global unions are the only institutions that can develop the collective experience, articulation and collaboration between unions in the ways demanded by globalisation' (p 119).

On reflection, 'Global Unions Global Business' provides an in-depth discussion of the constraints upon and possibilities for international trade unionism in the era of globalisation. The authors make a determined case for regional minilateralism as the best way forward for the GUFs, neither an abstract multilateralism nor 'rank and file' bilateralism. Having said that, some fundamental concerns remain. The social partnership approach underpinning GUF work (establishing dialogue with MNC / affiliate management and building union capacity to create and exercise workers rights) clearly only works where employers will recognise unions. Outside of Europe, especially in the Americas, this is seldom the case. So what happens here?

Secondly, and relatedly, the authors' favoured approach of regional minilateralism is not well supported by evidence. 'Rank and file' bilateralism may have some of the limitations noted by Croucher and Cotton - but there are examples of long-run strategic efforts to build effective cross-border organising in the hostile conditions outside the Euro zone. These suggest there may be more than one way to cash in the currency of international trade unionism in the context of globalisation. The example of the alliance between the US United Electrical workers union (UE) and Mexico's Authentic Labor Front (FAT), certainly bears consideration here. It is an alliance that has expanded into a regional network, in its public sector organising, drawing in allies from Canada and Japan.

Other approaches

'Global Unions Global Business' recommends a coordinated shift towards regional organising among global union federations. The global union federations run a shared website here. What are some of the other approaches on offer? It's hardly fair to summarise the good work of so many people in a series of bullet points, but here are a few comments and links which might help you explore further:

• The International Trade Union Confederation runs all kinds of global campaigns, convenes international meetings and fora, and argues strongly for the International Labour Organisation's "Decent Work" model.
  
  
• An approach which has developed over the last 10 years is that of 'global alliances', whereby unions leaders (and/or rank and file members) come together in more-or-less informal networks to cooperate on specific organizing projects. These are usually centered around a single employer. You'll find some examples here.
  
  
• UNI, although normally considered one the the global union federations, styles itself as a global union. In doing so it focuses on negotiating global agreements, and consciously promotes global alliances (see above). In some cases UNI has also helped coordinate global networks.
  
  
• Then there is Workers Uniting, which bills itself as the world's first global union. Click here for more. Will this kind of incremental merger build a new form of global unionism?

There are other approaches we could discuss as well, such as New Unionism's principles-based networking and the IWW's 'one big union' strategy. More recently, labour academic Guy Standing has called for the creation of occupational networks on top of existing union structures. But at this point let's pass the microphone over to the readers. Tell us what your thoughts are here.