Building Global Labor Solidarity in a Time of Accelerating Globalization ed. by Kim Scipes (review)

This collection put together by longtime scholar and activist Kim Scipes addresses labour internationalism in a time of accelerated globalization. The perspective is critical and dialectical, in the sense that it considers globalization as both a vector for neoliberalism and an opportunity for a renewed resistance, in particular from trade unions. The book does not take the labour movement as a homogenous bloc, though, and it explicitly focuses on cases of progressive unions and on their potential to build labour internationalism from below. The volume offers seven case studies, based on unions in North America (Canada, Mexico, and the US), Latin America and Asia (the Philippines and Bangladesh). Although the chapters vary greatly in terms of scope and approaches, they provide valuable insights and reflections on a crucial issue.

The book starts with a theoretical chapter signed by the editor. Those already familiar with Scipes' work will recognize his concern for "globalization from below" inspired by Nederveen Pieterse. Also typical of his approach is the association between the types of unionism practiced at the local/national level and at the international level. Whereas business unionism is considered an obstacle to genuine international labour solidarity, social justice unions are the ones to consider when searching for a more egalitarian, inclusive, and bottom-up internationalism. The chapter provides an interesting distinction between three levels of internationalisms, depending on how transformative they aim at being. That leads to a typology of nine types of labour internationalisms mostly based on their goals, from improving wages to broader political objectives.

Katherine Nastovski's chapter will be of particular interest to the Canadian readership. Her extensive study of labour internationalism in Canada in the 1970s and 1980s draws a clear distinction between what was done at the Canadian Labour Congress (clc) International Department, and various initiatives taken within the rank-and-file. Whereas the clc's international orientations were still rooted in anticommunism, the grassroots initiatives, in particular vis-à-vis the war in Vietnam and the coup in Chile, led to a much more transformative and class-based model of solidarity. Nastovski provides a thorough set of criteria to define and analyze such models, and also recognizes the limits of these types of initiatives, such as left nationalism.

Three chapters deal more directly with the US. Jenny Jungehülsing makes a compelling argument about the role of migrant workers in transnational solidarity. Her well researched comparison between Salvadorian members of a Service Employees International Union (seiu) local in Los Angeles and Mexican members of an Illinois and Indiana United Steelworkers (usw) district highlights how those dynamics can differ. Salvadorian workers had maintained stronger political ties to their country of origin, in particular with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, and played a crucial role in pushing the seiu towards establishing connections with that group. Mexican members of the usw, on the other hand, contributed to reinforcing the support for the Mexican Mine Workers Union (the Mineros) mostly because of their general attachment to their homeland, rather than political convictions.

David Bacon's chapter on solidarity across the US-Mexico border tackles similar issues. After reminding us of the tumultuous history of the relations between US and Mexican unions, in particular since napta, he points at several long-lasting ties built between unions, specifically the usw-Mineros alliance, and the emblematic case of the Mexican Electricity Workers union. The role of migrant workers is highlighted in his study of the alliance between the United Farm Workers and the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations from Oaxaca (Mexico), and the interactive effects it had on both sides of the border.

Michael Zweig's text focuses on the internal dynamics of the US labour movement, in particular the tensions between the national leadership of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (apl-cio) and more progressive sections of the movement. He develops the example of labour opposition to war both to show how the position of the apl...