Posted Worker Voice and Transnational Action

Abstract

Chapter 4 shifts the perspective to power and mobilization theory to demonstrate how workers foster community and media support to address contentious workplace issues within the transnational space. Through an exemplary case, this chapter traces the process and explores the conditions under which re-territorialization can evolve in these transnational workspaces. The case examines an alliance in the meat industry between transnational posted workers, a local civil society organization, and the trade union. From an analytical perspective, the chapter considers these coalitions as examples of re-territorialization that is a form of resistance in increasingly de-territorialized labor markets. The case demonstrates that the transnational nature of posted workers’ employment relationship and living situation requires a different approach to organizing resistance beyond the traditional institutional perspectives on German trade unionism. The case goes against arguments that German trade unions traditionally refrain from forming coalitions because of their institutional position and Germany’s strong employment law.