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Labor
Is Stephen Roach correct here or is this just an illusion?
Pro-Labor Politics
Courtesy of globalization, in conjunction with diminished unionized bargaining power and technology-led labor displacement, workers in the high-wage developed economies are being squeezed as never before.
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All this frames the time-honored tug-of-war between capital and labor in a very different context. With the labor shares of national income at historical lows for the major economies of the industrial world and the shares accruing to the owners of capital at equally high extremes, the stage is set for a pro-labor shift in the pendulum of economic power [..]. Yet the outcome points to more of a political backlash than a worker backlash. Lacking the wherewithal for collective action, workers in the industrial world have little or no choice other than to put pressure on their elected representatives to take actions on their behalf.
Recent political developments in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Australia are especially intriguing in this regard. In all these cases, the pendulum of political power is now in the process of shifting to the Left. Lacking in bargaining power in increasingly globalized labor markets, it shouldn’t be surprising that workers are now exercising political power in the polling booth. No, the increase in the minimum wage is not going to break the back of US cost control [..]. However, I suspect there is a good chance this action could well qualify as the proverbial canary in the coal mine — the beginning of what could be an important and enduring increase in labor’s slice of the pie in the rich countries of the industrial world.
I don’t have not much trust in any political power of workers. I also do not see a significant swing of the pendulum to the Left. Especially not in systems where the financing of political campaigns depends on large donors.
Unionization is still the preferable way for workers to achieve a fair share of the cake they are baking. That of course is the reason why it is fought so much by the capital side.
Not all hooey – there has been a mild swing to the left (what left, one may ask?) after a previous move to the right; but the opposite exists as well (eg. Holland.) Do these movements benefit workers (outside of S America)? Moot. Look at the US and the recent Democrat win. Etc. Each country is different, impossible to generalise …In Spain, false flag terrorism that the Spanish saw through got rid of Aznar, labor issues / taxes were not a mainspring.
In the past 20 years, in Europe, imho, workers have been disadvantaged:
a, proximate) because bosses became lackeys for shareholders, rather than people who shared a stake, with the workers, in making their enterprise viable, lasting, profitable for those involved
b, ideological) because Gvmts., (who directly or otherwise employ large numbers) adopted a ‘market’ mantra, went for ‘privatization’ and ‘outsourcing’, their rationale being efficiency and ‘economy’ and the lowering of taxes. (Not realized – though many local counter examples do exist.) They either became infeodated to ‘big biz’ through material or ideological corruption, or imagined it was clever to shoot themselves in the foot, relinquish control, and join the real movers and shakers, thereby throwing workers into opaque, difficult, insecure situations. Posturing Technocrats helped this process along.
c, systemic) because of growing competition generally – need for rise in productivity, etc. Peak oil per capita (energy drives the economy and without it you scrabble in the dust or mud) is long past – it dates from 79 or 80. (Jerome will know.) A stranglehold that is tough to overcome for the West, and implies that world wide, the poor must become poorer if the rich are to remain rich (short version). It is, in fact, why ‘globalisation’ in its modern version of slave labor far away caught on, putting pressure on local workers, etc.
d, one outcome) Unions lost their footing; they did not understand theses forces and themselves became part of the current conventional power play, allied with the bosses through fear of loss of their own position, influence, finances, and trying to save what could be saved. Playing both sides. Workers are not fools. Where I worked until recently, there were TWO Unions, in competition with each other! Result: both unions became tools of management and could not obtain new adherents.
So workers have turned to national politics, and in France for example, have voted the extremes: the far left and the far right, as both hold promise for them. In that way, the vote is split. Very good for the PTB.
Posted by: Noirette | Jan 15 2007 18:16 utc | 4
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