Trade union revitalization and economic austerity: A comparative study of workplace occupation as labor struggle in a context of restrictive economic policies (Argentina 2015-2017)

HAIDAR, JULIETA; MIGUEL AGUSTINA

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 36º International Labour Process Conference ?Class and the labour process?; 2018

CEIL-CONICET, IIGG-UBA y FSOC-UBA

In the last ten years, research on labor relations in Argentina and neighboring countries of Latin America (Brazil, Uruguay) had studied the revitalization of the union movement as one of its main themes. This concept had been used in the United States and some of the European countries to refer to union strategies to confront policies that destroy employment and worsen working conditions, and, therefore, led to a crisis of union´s organizational and representation capacities (Heery, Kelly & Waddington, 2003, Fairbrother, 2005, Baccaro, Hamann & Turner, 2003, Hamman & Martínez Lucio, 2003, etc.).In Argentina, however, the concept was used to analise strengthening of unions in the context of progressive governments (2003-2015) that allowed the reversal of neoliberal policies and the union crisis of the 1990s (Atzeni & Ghigliani, 2008 , Etchemendy & Collier, 2007, Senén & Haidar, 2009, etc.).Since 2015 a new government reintroduced policies against the working class, what is an opportunity to study trade union revitalization in an adjustment context in Argentina. In this context, the objective of this paper is to analyze the occupation of establishments as a strategy carried out by Shop-floor committees (comisiones internas) against the offensive of capital and the government.In order to carry out this research, we will compare three cases of occupations of establishments promoted by Shop-floor committees between 2016 and 2017 in Argentina: AGR-Clarín (graphic industry), Pepsico (food industry) and Ministry of Science and Technology Nation (State).The proposal is to compare the following dimensions of analysis: decision-making mechanisms (union democracy), relations with other trade union or political organizations, relations between Shop-floor unions and the branch´s trade union, political traditions of Shop-floor committes and the trade union, the effects on employment and working conditions, the effects on the union model. This research analyses publications of the trade unions, news reports on conflicts, interviews with trade union leaders, union shop stewards and workers.The comparison of cases in Argentina will allow to find similarities and differences, to weight the most explanatory dimensions and to redefine the concept of "union revitalization".