Bensusán and Middlebrook 2012

Bensusán and Middlebrook 2012

Overview

• Partisan alternation of power has not resulted in any significant transformation of state-labor relations (5)
  
  • Unions weaker at mobilizing political power
    
  • All parties find this regime convenient for them
    
• BIG, CONTINUING STORY: Labor unions weak politically
  
• CH. 2: Contradictory terms of corporatist agreement
  
  • Initial bargain: labor peace for subsidies and labor power
    
  • Became: Entrenched leaders and political control for subsidies, clientelism
    
• CH 3. Economic Restructuring and Political democratization hurts unions
  
  • ISI: business and union interests converge
    
  • Financial crisis, ISI breaks: business and union interests diverge
    
    • Shift to privatized business limits government control over business and labor
      
  • Labor tries to, and does, block legal flexibilization, so employers use informal means to achieve their goals
    
  • Unions pact with government, workers cannot effectively fight wage drops because leaders not responsive
    
  • UNT fragments labor movement, despite best intentions
    
  • Labor gets many fewer candidates in primary system
    
    • SNTE (PANAL) and union representing UNAM staff (PRD) the only two exceptions
      
  • Most unions simply deploy their (much reduced) political influence to block policy reforms. Even then, did not reverse long-term erosion of labor power.
    
• CH. 4:
  
  • Fox and Calderón dependent on old-guard labor leaders who promise to toe the line
    
  • Mineros, Electricistas
    
  • Labor law reform:
    
    • fails in 2001-2
      
    • Almost goes through in 2011
      
      • PRI agrees with PAN
        
      • PRI holds back for 2012 elections
        
• CH. 5
  
  • Possibilities of international help
    
  • NAALC, FAT/UE alliance, etc. etc.
    
• Conclusions:
  
  • Official unions declining
    
  • Independent unions doing OK?
    
  • CT/UNT divides labor movement, but allows some need pluralism
    
  • PRI still dominant labor party, no other party has developed systematic labor support, few labor delegates in PRD or PAN (99)
    
  • Growing autonomy of judicial branch helpful
    
    • Supreme Court coming down against local boards that are acting incorrectly (101)
      
  • Low wage model has no future, unions have no future in low wage model.
    

Quotes:
“Most unions remained dominated by leaders whose entrenched position was underpinned by labour law provisions that effectively blocked rank-and-file efforts to hold them accountable.. This same legal regime granted government officials extensive controls over both formation of unions and their actions…” (1)
“…parties across the entire partisan spectrum have found political advantage in preserving the institutional controls on worker participation that are embedded in the established labour relations regime.” (6)
“The PRI’s Chamber delegation in 2009 included more labour representatives…than all other parties combined.” (42-43) (except for PANAL, 70%) PRI: 8.4%, PT: 7.7%, PRD 4.3%, PAN 3.5%