Trade Unions, ‘Free Trade’, and the Problem of Transnational Solidarity: An Introduction

Abstract

This article outlines how the expanded ‘free trade’ agenda since the completion of the GATT Uruguay Round in 1994 has further pushed neoliberal restructuring across the world. The second part introduces a discussion of workers' responses to ‘free trade’. While labour movements of the Global South have often experienced ‘free trade’ as resulting in deindustrialisation, Northern trade unions regard ‘free trade’ as a win–win strategy. How can transnational solidarity be established in this situation?

تتناول هذه المقالة كيف أدى التوسع في مهام "التجارة الحرة"، منذ اختتام دورة أوروغواي بشأن "الاتفاقية العامة للتعريفة الجمركية والتجارة" (المعروفة اختصاراً باسم "الجات") في عام 1994 إلى الإسراع بعملية إعادة الهيكلة النيوليبرالية في مختلف أنحاء العالم. ويناقش الجزء الثاني من المقالة ردود فعل العمال إزاء "التجارة الحرة". ففي كثر من الأحيان، أظهرت خبرة الحركات العمالية في دول الجنوب أن "التجارة الحرة" تؤدي إلى الحد من عملية التصنيع. وفي الوقت نفسه، فإن النقابات العمالية في دول الشمال تنظر إلى "التجارة الحرة" باعتبارها إستراتيجية تحقق الربح لجميع الأطراف، وهو الأمر الذي يدعو إلى التساؤل: كيف يمكن في مثل هذا الوضع بناء تضامن عابر للقوميات؟

요약문

이 논문은 1994년 GATT 우루과이 라운드 이래 확대된 ‘자유무역’ 의제가 전 세계에 걸쳐 신자유주의적 변화를 어떻게 더욱 촉진시키고 있는지를 그린다. 두 번째 부분은 ‘자유무역’에 대한 노동자들의 저항을 논의한다. 남반구 노동운동이 ‘탈산업화’의 결과로 ‘자유무역’을 경험하지만, 북반구 노동조합은 ‘자유무역’을 윈-윈 전략으로 간주한다. 이러한 상황에서 초국적 연대가 어떻게 이루어질 수 있을까?

RESUMEN

Este artículo describe en líneas generales, cómo la agenda expandida del ‘libre comercio’ desde la Ronda Uruguay del GATT en 1994, ha impulsado aún más la reestructuración neoliberal por todo el mundo. La segunda parte presenta una discusión sobre las respuestas de los trabajadores al ‘libre comercio’. Mientras que los movimientos laborales del hemisferio sur han experimentado frecuentemente el ‘libre comercio’ como un resultado de la desindustrialización, los sindicatos del norte ven al ‘comercio libre’ como una estrategia que beneficia a todos. ¿Cómo puede establecerse la solidaridad transnacional en esta situación?

Keywords:

• free trade
• labour movements
• trade unions
• transnational solidarity

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the workshop, on which this special issue is based, by the British Academy with a small research grant of £6960 (SG102043) as well as by the University of Nottingham priority group Integrating Global Society with a grant of £1750. Many thanks also to Max Crook for his help with compiling the final manuscript. Finally, the strong support by the journal editor Barry Gills throughout this project is much appreciated.

Additional information

Andreas Bieler is Professor of Political Economy and Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) in the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, UK. He is author of The Struggle for a Social Europe: Trade Unions and EMU in Times of Global Restructuring (Manchester University Press, 2006) and co-editor (with Ingemar Lindberg) of Global Restructuring, Labour and the Challenges for Transnational Solidarity (Routledge, 2010). His personal website is http://andreasbieler.net and he maintains a blog on trade unions and global restructuring at http://andreasbieler.blogspot.co.uk.

John Hilary is Executive Director of War on Want and Honorary Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of numerous reports and articles on international trade policy and its impacts, and of The Poverty of Capitalism: Economic Meltdown and the Struggle for What Comes Next (Pluto Press, 2013).

Ingemar Lindberg is a former researcher and social policy adviser to the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). He has written a number of books and articles on labour and globalisation.