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2. An Independent Union Wins Landslide Victory Among MexicanGM Workers
- Author:
- Dan DiMaggio and Luis Feliz Leon
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
- Abstract:
- The vote by auto workers in Guanajuato to replace the previous employee-friendly union with the National Auto Workers Union in early February is a breakthrough for labor rights.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Industry, Labor Rights, Workforce, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- North America and Mexico
3. On the Experience of the Sudanese Professional Association: Personal Testimonial
- Author:
- Mohamed Nagi Alassam
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- Despite the divisions that plagued the SPA, trade unions and professional associations have since the coup retained a complementary and supportive role to the resistance committees. However, they remain marginal. Despite continuous strikes in various sectors, the collective and joint action of unions has remained underwhelming and failed to meet the hopes and expectations of the Sudanese.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Community, Professionalism, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
4. Sudanese Professionals Association: Structure, Evolution, Roles and Coalitions - Challenges and Future Prospects
- Author:
- Mohamed El Agati, Omar Samir, Abdel Moneim Sayed Ahmed, and Zeinab Srour
- Publication Date:
- 11-2021
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- Strong trade unions and professional associations are among the most important forms of civil society organizations. These organizations are the best suited to contribute to overcoming dictatorships, driving democratic transformation, promoting freedoms, and ensuring that economic and social rights are maintained in the various sectors which they regulate. These include health, education, housing, transportation, labour and employment, freedom of association, as well as the right to protest and strike. Professional associations, such as labour unions, have always been a target for totalitarian regimes in the Arab region. Autocratic regimes aim to control organizations and unions, void them of any substance and goals, and exclude them along with their leadership from professional and political participation that might potentially lead to networks and connections that could threaten those regimes or even advance the interests of union members. Nonetheless, the Arab region has seen a few experiences where efforts were mobilized to organize, overcome the aforementioned context, and impose successful attempts to change it. Among these experiences is the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) – the most prominent organized effort in the protests that led to al-Bashir’s resignation on 11 April 2019 after years of networking attempts among independent trade unions and months of various means of protest. This study explores how we can understand the role of independent trade unions in the democratic transition based on the Sudanese experience. It also looks at the capacity of these organizations to challenge attempts by dictatorial regimes which prevent associations that may drive or lead any social chance that opposes them. This paper will also examine various dimensions of the current experience based on the previous historical context of trade unions in Sudan before the SPA and subsequent mobilization efforts. Additionally, it seeks to analyze the SPA’s structures, alliances, development before, during, and after the December Revolution, as well as decision-making mechanisms. The study also considers the SPA’s role in the movement, negotiations with political forces and the army during the transitional phase, organizational challenges in the current political context, and its structural alignment with the assumed roles as well as potential prospects. This study uses an analytical approach based on desktop research and the analysis of articles and texts concerning the SPA. It also reviews the SPA’s discourse during the transitional period, relationships with other parties based on firsthand accounts, statements and documents it issued, and written views of its members. A series of interviews with some members and key figures have been conducted, taking into account the gender and age diversity within the SPA community.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Professionalism, Professionalization, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
5. Independent Trade Unions: Between Political Developments and Internal Factors - Egyptian Case Study 2004-2015
- Author:
- Shimaa El Sharkawy and Mohamed El Agati
- Publication Date:
- 11-2021
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- Egypt has had a long history of trade union action and labour movements, even long before the January 2011 Revolution. It dates back to several periods during the 19th and early 20th centuries and is marked by mass and diverse union movements, despite various attempts by the State to quell it. However, the movement at times did indeed succumb to the wide control of the State through an institutional framework. As such, the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) was founded in 1957 and was followed by long and significant periods of struggle.1 It is also important to note that the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services (CTUWS) was founded in 1990 by labour leaders who strongly believed in the independence of trade unions. These leaders were born out of the Egyptian Labour Movement, which prospered in the late 1980s outside of the official trade union structure, following the 1986 railway workers strike, and the 1989 iron and steelworkers strike.2 This paper aims to highlight the internal problems that face independent trade unions. It is primarily referring to the trade unions independent from the state-controlled ETUF and explores their activity from 2004 up until 2015. This contemporary period also includes major milestones that have affected independent unions in the Arab world’s most populous country.
- Topic:
- Politics, Labor Issues, Trade Unions, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Egypt
6. A Brief History of South Africa’s Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (1919-1931)
- Author:
- Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
- Abstract:
- The Industrial & Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU) – a trade union, rural peasant movement, and urban squatters’ movement – formed on the docks in Cape Town in 1919. Within a decade, the ICU had expanded across Southern Africa without regard for national borders and counted people from various African countries and the Caribbean in its leadership, as well as people who were Indian and mixed race. The largely forgotten history of the ICU is well worth recovering in a time of escalating chauvinism and xenophobia. Our Dossier #20 offers an introduction to this extraordinary popular movement.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy, Labor Issues, Trade Unions, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- Africa and South Africa
7. Dossier 6: The Story of Solapur, India, Where Housing Cooperatives are Building a Workers’ City
- Author:
- Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
- Abstract:
- The women beedi (thin cigarette) workers of Solapur, a city in the Indian State of Maharashtra, used to live in tiny shanties on rent in slums. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) organised them and led a prolonged struggle to construct houses for them. The result: the government was forced to allocate funds for the purpose and 15,000 houses have been constructed for the workers. Another 30,000 houses are being built for informal sector workers from various industries. With their united struggle and sustained movement, the workers of Solapur are building a city of their own.
- Topic:
- Solidarity, Community, Housing, Trade Unions, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- India and Asia
8. Islam In Economic Organizations
- Author:
- Ayşe Buğra
- Publication Date:
- 08-1999
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- This project approaches the political economy of Islamic resurgence in Turkey by exploring different uses of Islam as a strategic resource. The study is organized in five parts: The first section situates Islamic resurgence in its international and domestic context and shows that Political Islam in Turkey derives its strength largely from its ability to respond to the challenges of the current environment. The second section looks at the manifestations of Islam in business life through an analysis of a) MÜSİAD (The Association of Independent Industrialists and Businessmen) that could successfully bring together a large number of enterprises of different sizes located in different geographical regions of the country, and b) special financial institutions as well as other, more informal arrangements used to generate investment funds on the basis of "relations of trust among the believers". In the third section, marketing strategies directed to Muslim consumers are explored through an analysis of certain advertising agencies and TV channels either owned by sect affiliated groups or known by their closeness to Political Islam represented by RP/FP. In the fourth section, the development of the labor union confederation Hak-Is, an important element in the RP/FP constituency, is discussed. Finally, the conclusion presents a summary of the findings. The findings of the study in these areas suggest that what could be called the economic world of Islam in Turkey is formed by networks of social relations which do not constitute a coherent whole, but appear as separate power blocs which try to reach those groups that feel alienated form the secular westernized political and economic establishment for the generation of investment of funds, for the marketing of specialized products, or in organized interest articulation and representation by business associations and labor unions.
- Topic:
- Economics, Islam, Political Economy, Business, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East