Chapter 8: Precariousness and Resistance A Case Study of a Supermarket and a Hypermarket in Argentina (2008?2011)

LONGO JULIETA

Global Management, Local Resistances Theoretical Discussion and Empirical Case Studies

Roudledge

Año: 2014; p. 149 - 166

Since 2003, Argentina´s economic recovery has brought about significant changes in the labor market. The exponential economic growth reversed the trend of massive unemployment. The improvement of the job market was a key factor for the resurgence of the labor movement so that the workplace became a central topic and the trade unions regained power for collective bargaining (Etchemendy and Collier 2007). However, in keeping with the neoliberal years, the current economic model consolidates a fragmented labor market. The main constraint facing the labor market has to do with the high level of unregistered employment, informality and also the predominance of other working conditions, such as temporary employment and subcontracting (Pérez et al. 2010, Salvia and Vera 2011). In the discussion on the expansion of globalization, increasing capital mobility and the fragmentation of the working class have brought about a ?crisis? of the labor movement (Silver 2005); in this chapter I focus on the relationship between precariousness and conflict in the formal sector and, in particular, in retail stores. The analysis is based on a case study in one of the largest retail companies in Argentina. The two questions I ask tackle the embeddedness of precariousness in these workplaces and the form conflicts take. The chapter suggests that fragmentation is not the only mechanism that renders difficult the organization and the possibility of developing workplace collective actions. The relationship between precariousness and conflict is not linear; as a result, it is necessary to analyze other mediations that operate in the labor-capital scheme.