Labour movements in the age of globalisation

The era of globalisation has given way to a labour movement in which Nations no longer have the comfort of focusing their own issues in the labour market. With the rise in Multinational and transnational corporations (let’s call them MNCs and TNCs), countries can no longer run this risk of not communicating. The trade union movement allows for unions to compete in the global market/workforce. By making international links, unions could join together and help each other out. In an article by the Huffington post (link below), Rachel Mendleson explains that trade unions are banding together to ‘capitalise on the very forces that for years have been employed against them’. She also quotes Sid Ryan (the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour) who states ‘there’s only one way we can fight globalization, and that’s to reach out to unions around the globe’. I found this article interesting because it explains that some MNCs and TNCs are exploiting workers (it’s almost like the bigger MNCs and TNCs get, the more they think they can just do what they please- i.e. cutting wages, leaving little room for bargaining, etc) and that unions need to openly communicate more and support both unionised and non-unionised workers so that MNCs and TNCs do not get away with it. 

Mendleson used an example of an Illinois-based MNC called Caterpillar (a heavy machinery manufacturing giant), who locked out workers (who were a part of the CAW union) at it’s London plant when the union refused to accept a deal that would cut wages from $35 to $16.50 (I’m guessing that’s per hour). There was even evidence to believe that Caterpillar were planning to shift operations to India, where workers would earn way less than what they company wanted to pay them in London ($16.50). How Ridiculous!!  Upon hearing about this, a delegation of union members from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) – made the trip to London to support the CAW union members. A spokesperson for UE stated that ‘when it comes to fighting these multinationals, widespread cooperation among unions is a must’. The end of the article by Mendleson quotes Labour expert Maurice Mazzerolle saying that ‘power will evade workers until they can mount a campaign that affects the company’s bottom line’. I think this is a great point. MNCs are just going to keep on going the way they have been until something drastically affects their bottom line. This is why the trade unions movement needs to go global. The more unions work together, the more chance they have at stopping MNCs from exploiting workers around the world. 

I know there is much more to this topic, but I found this article really interesting. Let me know what you guys think :)


Here is the link to the article if anyone is interested. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/27/labour-globalization-unions-international_n_1236103.html