Multinational Corporations and Trade Union Development in Malaysia

This article presents the author's reflections on the possibilities of a restructuring of the international trade union movement, on the basis of a collective research project to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) which seeks to open a debate within the movement over the lessons to be learned from its history as a guide for its future action. The most important question facing the trade union movement today is what is generally called 'globalisation', a phenomenon that goes back many years, both in terms of economic developments and labour struggles. From this perspective, the paper examines the basis for the existing divisions of the international labour movement, before going over the work of the ICFTU and of the International Trade Secretariats (ITSs) to achieve the regulation of the multinational corporations and of the international economy, and concluding on the prospects for unity of action in the unions' work around the global economy.

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The Transformation of International Trade Unionism in the Era of Globalization

Just Labour ◽

10.25071/1705-1436.28 ◽

1969 ◽

Author(s):

Reynald Bourque ◽

Marc- Antonin Hennebert

Keyword(s):

International Trade ◽

Multinational Corporations ◽

Trade Union ◽

Global Economy ◽

Structural Changes ◽

The Other ◽

World Congress ◽

Trade Unionism ◽

The One ◽

Second World

Following the Second World Congress of the International Trade UnionConfederation (ITUC) held from June 21 to 25, 2010in Vancouver, this articleexamines the changes undergone by international trade unionism in recent years.The increasing power of multinational corporations,as a result of globalization,has led to a transformation in international tradeunionism which has produced areorganization of its structures and the emergenceof new forms of action toensure the protection of workers’ rights worldwide.The key argument of thisarticle is that the evolution of the structures andpractices of international tradeunion organizations over the last two decades has been characterized by theimplementation of strategies aimed, on the one hand, at reinforcing trade unionunity and, on the other hand, at targeting multinational corporations. Lastly,although the transformation of international tradeunionism has given rise toimportant structural changes, international trade union organizations continue toface formidable challenges in their efforts to effectively contribute to theregulation of the global economy.

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A Trade Unionist View of Multinational Corporations

Worldview ◽

10.1017/s0084255900032149 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 18 (11) ◽

pp. 31-35

Author(s):

Ben Sharman

Keyword(s):

Multinational Corporations ◽

Trade Union ◽

Multinational Corporation ◽

Job Security ◽

Employee Relations ◽

Trade Union Movement ◽

Union Movement ◽

Labor Legislation ◽

Trade Unionist ◽

The Usa

Of books and studies on multinational corporations there is, apparently, no end in sight. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to the various factors that cause employee-corporation relations to vary from country to country.From my trade union experiences in the USA and parts of the developing world I have learned that employee relations are heavily influenced by factors such as the strength of the trade union movement, national labor legislation, the labor market, and conditions affecting job security. Because these factors differ from place to place, it is impossible to generalize about the employee relations of any single multinational corporation; we often find multinational corporations with good employee relations in one country and poor relations in another.

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International Framework Agreements: global industrial relations between rights and bargaining

Transfer European Review of Labour and Research ◽

10.1177/102425890501100404 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 511-530 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

Nikolaus Hammer

Keyword(s):

Supply Chains ◽

Multinational Corporations ◽

Trade Union ◽

Industrial Relations ◽

Codes Of Conduct ◽

Global Supply Chains ◽

Works Councils ◽

Labour Rights ◽

Key Issues ◽

Global World

This paper examines the emergence and the main features of International Framework Agreements (IFAs). IFAs originated in the 1980s and proliferated after 2000. They aim to secure core labour rights across multinational corporations' global supply chains. Global Union Federations, as well as other global (World Company and Works Councils), regional (European Works Councils or European Industry Federations) and national trade union structures, are parties to IFAs. Based on various features of international trade union activity, such as World Company Councils, codes of conduct, the trade and labour rights campaign or international social dialogue, IFAs constitute an important and innovative tool of international industrial relations. An analysis of the substantive and procedural provisions of IFAs leads to an analytical distinction between ‘rights' agreements and ‘bargaining’ agreements. The article assesses the substantive and procedural aspects of the 38 IFAs concluded before June 2005. Finally, key issues such as the scope of agreements, trade union capacity, and global supply chains are discussed in the context of international labour's campaigning, organising and negotiation activities.

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