Sociology 293: Jobs, Unemployment & Social Welfare

Country Research Web Project

Assignment #3: Organized Labor

Introduction

When government policy-makers contemplate introducing "reforms" that shift the balance of power between those who buy and sell labor, they try to anticipate the role that organized labor might play in either facilitating or stalling these reforms.  There are, generally, two modes of engagement -- so-called "parliamentary" and "extra-parliamentary" activities -- that organized labor uses -- or might use -- to promote its interests.

When organized labor uses parliamentary means to advance its agenda, it develops temporary, issue-specific lobbying relationships and/or, more traditionally, enduring alliances and loyalties that tend to blur the distinct boundaries between labor organizations and political parties.  In this manner, organized labor tries to use the formal legislative (and/or executive) instruments to influence the shape of social policy. 

Sometimes, however, organized labor uses extra-parliamentary means to advance its agenda.  Whether linked to political parties or not, organized labor might "take to the streets" in work-stoppages (often referred to as "general strikes" or simply "protests") that explicitly aim to influence policy -- not only in relation to a single employer, but often in relation to government social policies, more generally.

The structure of labor organizations varies, depending on the country.  Generally, however, there are two relatively distinct levels of labor organization.  There are labor unions that represent employees in direct relations with specific employers.  There are also labor federations -- alliances, amalgamations, associations, etc. -- composed of specific labor unions.  In some countries there are many labor unions, but only one labor federation.  In other countries there are many labor federations, each with parallel -- and often competing -- sets of labor unions for each industry.  These structural variables can profoundly affect the way in which organized labor tends to mobilize its forces in relation to specific employers and government policy-makers.

Like political parties, labor unions and labor federations sometimes split into warring factions or even breakaway unions.  This is especially true when labor unions are pressured by political party allies or others to embrace social welfare policies that are unpopular with union members.

Assignment Questions:

• What is/are the major labor federation(s)?  Who are the major leaders within organized labor?

• What is/are the "program" of the labor federation(s) in relation to questions of jobs, unemployment, and social welfare?  When union leaders engage in policy debates, how do they position themselves?  How is/are the labor federation(s) -- and its position on social welfare issues -- perceived by financial markets?  Are they considered "cooperative" reformers by financial markets, or are they characterized as leftwing "hard-liners," etc.?

• How is/are the major labor federation(s) positioned in relation to political parties?

• Does organized labor -- or, do particular labor federations -- tend to engage in parliamentary and/or extra-parliamentary activities?  What is the recent, significant history of such activities?

• If there are multiple labor federations, do they compete with one another for members?  Are they aligned with rival political parties?

• What are the tensions within labor unions and labor federations?  Are the divisions within the leadership?

• What are the mechanisms (internal union elections, representation elections that determine which organization(s) are recognized as representatives in dealing with employers and government, etc.) by which leaders are either made accountable to union members or are insulated from membership demands for responsive representation?

• Does organized labor -- its specific structures and ideologies -- tend to facilitate or obstruct demands for neo-liberal social policy reforms?

Formatting and Publishing Assignment #3

Please refer to the Technical Information documentation for instructions regarding the formatting and publishing of this assignment.

Your contribution to the Country Group "Labor Organizations" section should be the equivalent of approximately two-to-three pages of regular (double-spaced) text -- roughly 500 -600 words.  But the quality of your contribution (in terms of the sophistication of your research,  your analysis and your synthesis) is at least as important as the "mere" quantity of words at this stage of the project.  Organized labor is a more "obscure" -- but also smaller -- area of research than political parties; it requires more original research, and demands greater reliance on newspaper sources.

Assignment #3 is due "on the web" at 5pm on Friday, March 28th.  Your Country Group is strongly urged to develop a group division of labor, based on preliminary investigation by group members, in advance of Spring Break.