Economic and Political Strikes: A Social Movement Unionism Hypothesis

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 We do not address the rise of new technologies, social media platforms, and remote work and their impact on strikes although these have shifted the dynamics of labour relations as well.2 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; 2017). Collective Bargaining in OECD and Accession Countries: Industrial Disputes. http://www.oecd.org/employment/collective-bargaining.htm3 During the last decade, the institutional power of unions has significantly weakened for two main reasons: the change in the regulatory environment; and the inclusion of movement actors in liberalized industrial relations field who lack legitimacy of the trade unions (Bondy Citation2022).4 We only focus on types 1, 2 and 4 of our typology as type 3 is very rarely found in our data and thus does not allow us to be examined in depth.5 Data tools to find and download labour statistics. (n.d.). ILOSTAT. Retrieved August 17, 2023, from https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/6 Density in a 2-mode network is the number of ties divided by n*m, where n is the number of collective actions (events) and m is the number of unions and other groups mobilizing workers, one classic measure of network-level cohesion. Fragmentation is calculated as the proportion of vertices that cannot reach each other. See Borgatti (n.d.).7 The steel plant in Taranto was at the centre of an environmental scandal in 2012 which led to the conviction of some of the owners – the Riva family – and the transfer and control of the company to ArcelorMittal, the world largest steel producer.