Unions in a Globalized Environment: Changing Borders, Organizational Boundaries and Social Roles

How can American unions survive in our increasingly globalized business environment? Historically, U.S. unions have looked inward for their membership. However, with the trend toward multinational corporations, free trade pacts, and dismantling of import barriers, organized labor has been losing ground in the United States. This book suggests that U.S. unions can look elsewhere to expand their role, by creating ties with workers and unions in other countries, and by including immigrant workers - who are growing in ever-increasing proportion in the United States - in their ranks. How can this be accomplished? Through "social movement unionism," which would change unions' orientation less toward the market and more toward social issues and rights. Unions in a Globalized Environment is divided into three parts. The first two parts examine union attempts a cross-border solidarity with workers and unions abroad, and unions' relations with immigrants. Expanding on these ideas, the third section explores the types of internal transformations needed to revitalize the flagging U.S. labor movement.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables and Figures, 1. The Labor Movement in a New Globalized Environment: An Introduction, Part 1: Cross-Border Organizing and Solidarity, 2. Free Trade and Worker Solidarity in the North American Auto Industry, 3. Four Models of Cross-Border Maquila Organizing, 4. Union Global Alliances at Multinational Corporations: A Case Study of the Ameritech Alliance, Part II: Responding to Immigration, 5. New Workers, New Labor, and the New Los Angeles, 6. Unions and Immigrants in South Florida: A Comparison, Part III: Internal Transformation: Moving Toward Social Movement Unionism?, 7. The Strategic Challenge of Organizing Manufacturing Workers in Global/Flexible Capitalism, 8. Does Neoliberal Restructuring Promote Social Movement Unionism? U.S. Developments in Comparative Perspective, 9. Citizenship Movement Unionism: For the Defense of Local Communities in the Global Age, 10. Concluding Thoughts: Internal Transformation?, About the Editor and Contributors, Index

About the Author :
Bruce Nissen is Program Director at the Center for Labor Research and Studies at Florida International University in Miami. He has published numerous scholarly articles and six books, including Theories of the Labor Movement (coeditor, 1987); Grand Designs: The Impact of Corporate Strategies on Workers, Unions and Communities (coeditor and contributor, 1993); Fighting for Jobs: Case Studies of Labor Community Coalitions Confronting Plant Closings (1995); Unions and Workplace Reorganization (editor and contributor, 1998), and Which Direction for Organized Labor? - Essays on Organizing, Outreach, and Internal Transformations (editor and contributor, 1999). He is coeditor of Labor Studies Journal and an executive board member of the United Association for Labor Education (UALE). Recent research interests include living wage movements and immigrant experiences with organized labor.