New Frontiers of Regulation: Domestic Work, Working Conditions, and the Holistic Assessment of Nonstandard Work NormsComparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

By Deirdre McCann on September 01, 2012

Abstract:
This paper discusses how unions in different countries can create a more equal economic order in the wake of the Great Recession. In the first half, the author describes the public policy basis for unionism: that labor is not a commodity and that economic equality can be achieved through collective bargaining. The author then describes neoliberalism, and argues that neoliberalism is fundamentally at odds with unionism because it treats labor as a commodity and sees labor relations as a zero-sum game between capital and labor. To win in a labor dispute, the prevailing party must be able to leverage their economic position against their opponent’s. To illustrate this point, the author describes two strikes, one at a Motts Applesauce plant in New York State, and the other at four Honda plants in China. In China, the tight labor market and high demand for cars gave striking workers an economic advantage, while in New York, a low regional demand for labor and the manufacturer’s product enabled the employer to withstand the strike and ultimately prevail. From these case studies, the author determines that if unions are to maintain relevancy in the wake of the Great Recession, they must do so by influencing entire industries so that their leverage is not dependant on fluctuations in regional labor markets. Unions can do this by opposing globalization entirely or working to correct the aspects of globalization that are unfair. The author argues that unions also should organize entire employment sectors transnationally, and points to the success of the International Transport Workers' Federation and the United Auto Workers as examples of unions that are beginning to reach across national boundaries.

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