When big trade unions abandon their precarious workers

The global capitalist network is free to move its productive activities between countries and regions in search of profit, but its workers have families and responsibilities and cannot move. The new capitalism has disconnected from or allied with the unions which used to represent the workers. Finding solidarity will require creativity.

Globalisation, outsourcing, sub- contracting and zero-hours contracts are the keywords of the new industrial age. The impact of the last two is especially severe on workers in service industries, as we saw in Coline Grando's interview last week. Manufacturing and other heavy industries are hit by globalisation of ownership and outsourcing, and the film "Perplexed ants" follows the progress of disputes in Spain at the Airbus factory in Puerta Real, Cadiz (headquartered in Amsterdam), and in the Cadiz shipyard of Navantia. Both company websites highlight their corporate responsibility towards employees, but the strikes uncovered the exploitative capitalist ethic behind their functioning when conflict arose.

Ants are highly organized insects, but when the big trade unions don't support their members, solidarity disappears and the workers become perplexed, 'atomized', at the mercy of the forces of late capitalism. There were also questions of conflict between different unions, and in the circumstances the workers, especially the women were very courageous to continue the struggle.

Unlike service industries, manufacturing does not lend itself to employee self-management or cooperatives, and the way forward is not clear. As Mercedes says: "We will have to be very imaginative to defend ourselves against the implacable dynamic of capitalism".

I met her after her film was shown at DocLisboa, and she spoke to The Prisma about aspects of the workers' situation, their struggles and about "Perplexed ants".

The full conversation with links and images was published in The Prisma Multicultural Newspaper in December 2023, and can be read here: https://theprisma.co.uk/2023/12/04/when-big-trade-unions-abandon-their-precarious-workers/