Transnationalisierung von Arbeitskonflikten Beispiele aus dem NAFTA-Raum

Abstract

After sketching out some aspects of the transformed ‘postfordist’ contradictions in the field of labour regulation, the article will examine two typical examples of transnationalized labour conflicts. Both are localized in the NAFTA-area, using – among other forms of activity – a new multilateral and, therefore, prototypical institutional form, the ‘North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation’. The first case refers to oppressive practices against independent trade unions in an export orientated plant in Mexico during an organisation campaign. It was taken up for a campaign by the broadest transnational coalition of trade unions and NGO. The second one concerns a similar occasion – this time in the USA. Yet, the specific dynamic of that conflict derives from discriminatory practices against migrant workers. Finally, it’s is argued that it’s not ingenious to look for any ‘idealtypical’ characterisation of those conflicts. Rather the multitude of the spatial contexts as well as the heterogeneity of actors and its specific strategies indicate a qualitative transformation in another sense. It is the spatial dispersion and the heterogeneization of social conflicts in ‘postfordism’ which characterize the contemporary situation and which challenge political practice as well as critical theory.