Marieke Riethof

Labour involvement in national and regional transformation processes: The case of Chile

This article argues that regionalisation should be analysed as a multi-layered process. Such an analysis shows the complexities of current transformation processes at the global, regional and national level. A perspective on labour issues is especially useful as it provides a focus on one of the most important aspects of globalisation-changes in production structures across borders. It also points to how labour movements are affected by these changes and how they readjust their strategies. The case of Chile is chosen as an early example of the so-called neoliberal model. Furthermore, regionalisation and strategies of integration into the world economy are central to Chiles economic model. This article intends to show the interconnections between national and regional processes of transformation in a global perspective, with a focus on the issue of labour and trade unions .

The international human rights discourse as a strategic focus in socio-environmental conflicts: the case of hydro-electric dams in Brazil

This article examines the mobilisation of human rights in campaigns against hydro-electric dams in Brazil. The symbolic and legal power of human rights has allowed activists to challenge official accounts of the impact of dams while deploying domestic and international legal frameworks. Although the politicisation of natural resources in Brazil has limited the effectiveness of anti-dam mobilisations, an appeal to the human rights agenda has translated into a powerful critique of the social impact of Brazil’s development agenda, thereby making a moral and legal claim for justice.

Labour Strategies and the Left in Power: Moderation, Division, and Renewed Militancy from Lula to Dilma

While Brazilian unions had struggled with the effect of economic crisis and ever-tightening macroeconomic reforms during the 1990s, the presidential election campaigns in 2002 provided unionists with new prospects for political change. However, after Lula’s breakthrough election victory, the PT’s emphasis on radical social transformation during the 1980s made way for a more pragmatic agenda, including the maintenance of the previous government’s economic policies, supported by a new programme of social policies aimed at poverty reduction. In this new political environment, significant sections of the trade union movement benefitted from increased access to political influence as unions moved closer to the government agenda and several senior trade unionists took up ministerial posts, thereby absorbing the party’s electoral and governmental logic. Yet the new union-party relations with the PT in power proved controversial as new unionism’s close ties with the party sparked significant conflicts in terms of pursuing either radical or gradualist strategies. By examining these conflicts during the PT-led governments (2003–2016), this chapter moves away from the emphasis on political moderation evident in much of the literature. Instead, the argument proposed here is that while the drive towards moderation was strong during this period, disagreements about political agendas and strategies as well as changing economic conjunctures sparked not only divisions but also a new wave of labour militancy from 2009 onwards.

Labour and the State: Corporatism and the Left, 1930–1977

This chapter situates Brazilian labour politics in the historical context of state-led industrialization, corporatism, and authoritarianism. The Brazilian government’s interventionist industrialization policies during the mid-twentieth century contributed to the emergence of a large urban working class whose militancy opened a space for organized labour’s political role. The political arrangements that emerged in this period contained the seeds of both resistance and accommodation, while shaping Brazilian labour politics far into the future.

Economic Crisis, Reform, and the Pragmatic Left, 1989–2001

The union movement’s success in influencing the transition left a legacy that emphasized the virtues of militancy and mobilization, one that viewed negotiation with the government, and “defensive” forms of bargaining with employers with suspicion. However, the economic crisis and the neoliberal reform programme of the 1990s limited the opportunities for this type of trade union opposition. The political debate no longer dealt with the deepening of democratic participation as the economic crisis focused government attention on macro-economic stabilization and institutional reform, which precluded the extension of social and labour rights. Widespread fears of joblessness also constrained the successful organization of strikes, while public sector reform and privatization undermined some of the most important constituent groups in the union movement. The consolidation of neoliberal reforms in the aftermath of democratization therefore created a paradoxical situation in which many unions developed a more flexible approach to capital-labour relations, but it also tried to maintain its identity built on the political successes of the 1980s. This paradox underlines the argument presented in this book that past experiences of successful militancy shaped union strategies, while political ideas began to shift from class conflict to a more accommodationist approach based on the new economic and political circumstances. Throughout the 1990s the balance between militant and moderate strategies therefore shifted, derived less from a deliberate choice than a response to an increasingly challenging economic and political context, posing novel challenges to the new unionist agenda.

New Unionism: Protest, Mobilization, and Negotiating the Transition to Democracy, 1978–1988

The strike movement that emerged in the late 1970s challenged state intervention in labour relations, thereby linking wage demands with the struggle for democratization. Its focus on worker mobilization and militancy, both in the workplace and in its engagement with national and local politics, created the new unionist movement. Where this movement differed from the unionism that had developed before the 1964 coup was in its pursuit of democratic workplace relations, autonomy from the state, and stronger connections with social movements, working-class communities, and the PT. New unionism’s history of militancy also became a history of political success, which trade unionists continued to reference as a benchmark for successful labour action. However, as this chapter argues, the struggle to become both a legitimate political actor and a genuine representative of workers created internal tensions between militant strategies and political participation.

Conclusion: Labour and the Ambiguities of Power

The fortunes of the Brazilian union movement have reflected the country’s recent political history in many significant respects, particularly the conflicts that emerged from labour’s active participation in a rapidly changing political environment. Although trade unions became a formidable opponent to military rule in the 1970s and 1980s, like many other labour organizations around the world, they also faced the debilitating effects of the economic crisis which continued into the 1990s. In the 2000s, this political dynamic changed when Lula was elected to the presidency, providing union representatives with unprecedented access to political influence, but also creating intractable conflicts when government policies clashed with labour interests. Since the late 2000s, Brazilian politics has witnessed a renewed wave of labour mobilization and political polarization, which spread to the wider Brazilian population during the mass demonstrations that have taken place from 2013 onwards. The concluding chapter focuses on the argument that the political dilemmas evident in organized labour’s political agenda can explain these waves of political polarization and moderation. The union movement’s political engagement has therefore shaped key political events, as evident in organized labour’s key political role from the democratic transition to the left coming to power. Instead of facing inevitable decline in the face of globalization, workers’ political influence should therefore not be discounted.

Labour Movements, Globalization, and the Dilemmas of Development

Latin American trade unions have faced a range of challenges as a result of globalization and the particularities of the region’s politics and societies. Labour and globalization research often reaches the pessimistic conclusion that unions have lost the power to bargain and represent workers. This chapter contests this negative interpretation, arguing that this linear narrative obscures episodes of renewed labour militancy. Instead, trade union action should be considered inherently political, as evident in the union movement’s role in the region’s democratization processes. Using insights from labour and social movement theories, this chapter develops a framework to understand militancy and moderation in Brazilian labour politics.