Global unions, global business; global union federations and international business.

9781904750628

Global unions, global business; global union federations and international business.

Croucher, Richard and Elizabeth Cotton.

Middlesex Univ. Press

2009

146 pages

$30.30

Paperback

HD6476

The authors (both of Middlesex U. Business School, UK) examine the work of global union organizations. They first outline the context in which national unions and internationals operate, explaining why nationals are increasingly turning to global union federations for assistance and the opportunities created by the end of political divisions symbolized by the recent creation of the International Trade Union Confederation. They then examine challenges of internationals' resources and governance, particularly the internal problems weighted towards developed country unions and major financial issues; the strategy of international framework agreements, which they believe useful but hampered by processes that reflect the negative power relationships they've just described; and the company and regional industrial networks established through the global union federations. The role of global union federations in educating memberships is then presented as one of the most important activities open to international unions and this argument is demonstrated through an extended case study examining educational work in Africa and Latin America.

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