Right to Work and Michigan Labour

Roland Zullo

The incorporated right to work (hereafter RTW) movement has scored a victory in Michigan. On the heels of the 2012 election, during a lame duck session in which house Republicans held a 64 to 46 advantage over Democrats, the Michigan legislature passed two bills; one to enact RTW for public sector unions and the other for private sector unions. The private sector bill passed 58 to 52, with no votes from Democrats, and was quickly signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder without any formal public discussion or debate. Nefariously, the law was attached to an appropriations bill, which by Michigan law prevents opponents from taking the issue to a popular referendum.[1] This effectively means RTW will be central to the partisan dialogue leading up to the 2014 elections, when organised labour will try to “reward friends and punish enemies” at the ballot box in a repeal effort.

India: Nation-wide Strike on 20-21 February 2013

Sharit Bhowmik

All trade union centres in India have decided to organise a two-day strike on 20-21 February 2013. The trade unions have 10 demands that constitute the major problems facing the working class. What is significant is that all trade unions have come together to fight for the rights of labour. This itself is a significant advance for the working class in the country that is badly divided. Let us examine the situation as it exists.

Trade unions are the main organisations that could counter the government’s anti-worker, anti-employment policies. Unfortunately the labour movement is fractured as workers are divided into a huge number of trade unions. Apart from the 11 trade union centres there are hundreds of thousands of trade unions, most of whom are fighting each other rather than tackling problems with employers or the state.

Issues before the labour movement
The problem with the labour movement is not merely that of the multiple trade unions but it is also that most of the unions are appendages of political parties. This seriously affects their independence. Unions aligned to the ruling party become less assertive in putting forth the demands of their members. For example, there have been attempts in the past to unify the diverse trade unions for united action against certain policies of the ruling Congress government but the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) of the Congress Party never joined in the protests. In fact INTUC was the largest trade union at the time when structural adjustment policies were introduced but it remained silent. Similarly when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government was in power the Bharatiya Mazdur Sangh (BMS), which became the largest trade union at that time, refused to question the policies of the government. There have been noticeable changes during the last few years as INTUC and BMS have decided to form a common front. Other trade unions such as those of regional parties, some of whom were averse to joining hands with left trade unions, have also agreed to join the front.

Unpacking the Marikana Massacre

Crispen Chinguno

The heartless killing of 34 striking miners at Marikana on 16 August 2012 by the South African police startled the world both in the manner and period it happened. Almost 20 years after the demise of apartheid, it evoked memories of the past and raised questions about the post-apartheid socioeconomic and political order and the integrity of industrial relations. This paper argues that Marikana is a crisis linked to the intersection of precariousness and fragmentation of workers. In explaining the choices by different stakeholders, it is imperative to unpack the political, historical, social and economic context.

The Marikana tragedy was, in fact, the zenith of a strike wave that had kicked off in January 2012 at Impala platinum mine following action by disgruntled rock drill operators (RDOs) after being excluded from a retention allowance awarded to mine blasters. This later spread beyond the platinum sector and was characterised by similar claims, violence and repertoires. The workers set uncompromising demands such as R12 500 per month for RDOs through independent workers’ committees directly to management disregarding industrial relations structures. Their militancy was unprecedented and from the onset rejected by the majority union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

Modelling a Global Union Strategy. The Arena of Global Production Networks, Global Framework Agreements and Trade Union Networks

Michael Fichter

For the past decades of economic globalisation, unions around the world have been on the defensive; their role as voices of the political and economic interests of working people has been marginalised. In a climate of outsourcing, offshoring, flexibilisation and casualisation of work, the loss of union power and the deregulation of labour markets has flourished and opened the way for increasing precariousness and agency work - the "triangular trap"[1].

While continuing to fight to protect their hard-won regulatory instruments within their national domains, trade unions have also begun to look for transnational approaches to combat unfettered international competition that is fed by a race to the bottom over labour costs. The challenge is in developing a strategy that will serve as a political and organisational answer to the dilemma they face – namely, how to bring the power of unions, as locally or nationally organised entities, to bear on the transnational regulation gap in labour relations.