<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">peter waterman</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:peterwaterman1936@gmail.com">peterwaterman1936@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 8:50 PM<br>Subject: [Networkedlabour] Austerity and Unionism: The Portuguese Case<br>To: <a href="mailto:networkedlabour@lists.contrast.org">networkedlabour@lists.contrast.org</a><br><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:small"><div><div>
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<h3>
<a href="http://column.global-labour-university.org/2014/12/austerity-policies-and-trade-unionism.html" target="_blank">Austerity policies and trade unionism: A glance at Portugal</a>
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<tr><td style="text-align:center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--aDFTu_iWFI/VI7BxTIyt6I/AAAAAAAABes/ZVOFP7bd7uQ/s1600/Costa.jpg" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" target="_blank"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--aDFTu_iWFI/VI7BxTIyt6I/AAAAAAAABes/ZVOFP7bd7uQ/s1600/Costa.jpg" height="200" border="0" width="143"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:small">Hermes Augusto Costa</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align:center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xCcDjhl7xSU/VI7BsZTvymI/AAAAAAAABek/RORU6mhbi94/s1600/Photo%2BEl%C3%ADsio%2BEstanque.JPG" style="clear:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" target="_blank"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xCcDjhl7xSU/VI7BsZTvymI/AAAAAAAABek/RORU6mhbi94/s1600/Photo%2BEl%C3%ADsio%2BEstanque.JPG" height="200" border="0" width="179"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:small">Elísio Estanque</span></b></td></tr>
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<a href="http://columnport.global-labour-university.org/2014/12/politicas-de-austeridade-e-sindicalismo.html" style="clear:right;float:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em" target="_blank"><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AM5LEyKQa4Y/UYl__nOPfqI/AAAAAAAAAtY/HZWC1ccCQAc/s1600/port+sm.jpg" border="0"></a>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Wage labour played and
continues to play a central role in Western industrial societies, not
just on the economic plane but above all as a vital support for social
cohesion and the rule of law. The main advances of the last 200 years
including the building of the welfare state and its important gains in
the field of human rights (e.g. dignified work and social rights) are
examples of the importance of struggles waged by organised wage labour.
The major problem, however, is the imminent civilisational regression in
which we find ourselves, teetering on the brink of a new cycle of
mercantilist barbarism similar to the times of Marx (Estanque and Costa,
2013). In fact, the Portuguese labour context has in recent years been
battered by austerity policies, formally with the entry of the <i>Troika</i>
(International Monetary Fund (IMF)/ European Central Bank (ECB)/
European Commission(EC0) in May 2011 and even beyond its exit n May
2014.
<br><br>
In this text, we initially identify some <i>internal challenges</i> put before unions and the external threats underlying austerity policies. We also set out some <i>tasks</i> for trade unions.
</span><br>
<a name="14a6da761d5a2387_more"></a><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br><b>
Internal challenges</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Over the last few decades, factors in the crisis of trade unionism have multiplied in Western Europe: (i) <i>disaggregation of interests</i>
surrounding the working class, as a result of more differentiated,
segmented and flexible labour markets, of the decentralisation of
production or of more precarious wage relations; (ii) a growing <i>absence of loyalty and solidarity</i>
on the part of workers vis-à-vis unions, as a reflection of the
emergence of individualism, which deviates attention to dispersed
interests; (iii)we have also witnessed a <i>crisis in trade union representativeness</i>, resulting to difficulties when it comes to mobilising workers since union density is low.<span style="font-size:x-small">[1]</span>
<br><br>
Hence it is not surprising that over the last two decades, the trade
union camp has been legitimately confronted with its loss of
representativeness. Some studies centred on Portuguese society have
sought to investigate to what extent people trust unions, what are the
signs of union renewal and their influence in society. In Portugal, this
subject is also connected with the alleged problem of
“instrumentalisation”, bearing in mind that each of the trade union
congresses (CGTP-IN and UGT<span style="font-size:x-small">[2]</span>)
maintain strong links with party-political forces (Communist Party and
Socialist Party, respectively). Added to this, there are some factors of
an internal nature that are not outside the realm of the abovementioned
tendency of weakening: 1) trust in trade unions depends on the
attention they are able to devote to new segments of workers that face
greater difficulties in organising (precarious workers, the unemployed
etc); 2) if unions demonstrated firm signs of renewal (giving more
leadership roles to young people, women and rank-and-file militants, and
strengthening internal and external communications etc) certainly more
workers would trust them; 3) the high level of bureaucratisation of
important trade union sectors, given the weight of older and relatively
unskilled members, among other reasons, postponed for a long time the
adoption of new digital technologies, and revealed their incapacity to
deal with activist networks in cyberspace; 4) the influence of trade
unions depends largely on the concrete success of struggles. But the
effectiveness of trade union struggles is not always immediate, and
often ends up being converted into a quantification exercise (opposing
government/companies and unions) regarding numbers of strikers or
demonstrators, as if this were the only criterion for the validity of
trade union demands.
<br><br><b>
External threats: Civilisational regression driven by austerity</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">The evolution of some
labour market indicators – high rates of unemployment, proliferation of
precarious work, growing numbers of fixed-term contracts, wage
reductions, facilitation of dismissals – employers’ are often despotic
and the political decisions of governments are some of the external
factors that condition and limit the strength of unionism. All of this
occurs in an atmosphere of the reinforcement of the neoliberal ideology
and consequently ideological prejudice meant to stigmatise the trade
union camp as a “conservative” force or a force “blocking” reforms and
the “flexibilisation” of the labour market. Furthermore, governments and
economic groups impose upon public discourse the idea of “good”
unionism (that which negotiates and yields) against “bad” unionism (that
which advocates the “rigidity” of labour laws). For example, the
European Summit of December 8 and 9, 2011, opened up a period of
disenchantment for actors from the world of work because of the “six
pack” legislative package aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline. This was
confirmed at the next summit on January 30, 2012, with the signing of
the “European budgetary pact” by 25 member states of the European Union.
In essence, this entails pay cuts and freezes, reductions in social
security entitlements, shrinking employment, lower labour costs etc. In
sum, it is the culmination of a succession of measures that seek to
dismantle the welfare state and impoverish the general population, as if
the economy could be miraculously re-launched from that basis.
<br><br>
In this setting (in which there is an estimated 1.2 million precarious
workers in Portugal, according to data released on October 20, 2014 by
the <i>Associação de Combate à Precariedade – Precários Inflexíveis</i>),
the uncertainties regarding the future of trade unionism become more
complex. In the case of Portugal, as a result of the Memorandum of
Understanding with the <i>Troika</i> (May 2011), of the social pact
(January 2012), of the changes in the labour legislation (Law 23/2012,
in force since August 1, 2012), there is a series of threats that are
being imposed on the trade union movement and this has also been
enhanced by the crisis: individualisation of labour relations and
destructive collective hiring; weakening of the power of unions in
social dialogue; reduction in the rights and duties regulated by
collective bargaining, which is attested by the abrupt drop in the
issuing of “extension decrees” from 101 in 2009 to 9 in 2013 (Costa,
2012; Marques, 2014: 3).
<br><br>
Ultimately, as a result of austerity policies and alterations in labour
legislation, one has witnessed a process of income transfer from labour
to capital, exemplified by: a reduction by half of overtime pay,
implying an average cut in workers’ total remuneration of between 2.3%
and 2.9% in 2013; a 75% reduction in holiday pay; an 1-hour increase in
the working day for no extra pay i.e. workers have given their employers
between 7.9 and 12.8 working days per year without any additional pay;
amounting to an extra €2.1-2.5 billion in terms of gross operating
surplus (Leite <i>et al.</i>, 2014).
<br><br><b>
The tasks of trade unionism</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Therefore, the tasks
facing trade unions in Portugal are very demanding. On the one hand,
they have to look “inwards” so as to meet certain challenges from the
past. On the other, they have to look “outwards”, reacting to (and
surviving) austerity policies. The main tasks facing the trade union
movement may be summarised in the following points:
</span><br>
<ul><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Reinforcing vigilance as to how and under what conditions work gets done;</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Organising groups
that are underrepresented in unions (young people, women, the
unemployed, precarious workers, ethnic minorities etc);</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Creating partnerships and/or forms of regular activity with non-union organisations that have an interest in the labour sphere; </span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Reinforcing trade union representativeness in the more vulnerable sectors, particularly in commercial activities; </span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Strengthening
unions’ internal democracy, whilst not allowing trade union activity to
be conditioned by the presence of party-political forces or to become
their tool; </span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Investing in trade
union activist and leadership education by means of programmes and
partnerships with universities and research centres with recognised
competence in these fields, thus encouraging critical and self-critical
analyses of trade unionism; </span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Following through with the wave of social protest that has intensified in Portugal in recent years; </span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Intervening nationally, transnationally and in network mode; </span></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Adding dynamism to electronic trade unionism and ascribing the due importance to activism in “cyberspace”. </span></li></ul>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:x-small">[1] See Rosanvallon, 1988; Waddington, 2005; Costa, 2008; Estanque, 2011; Sousa, 2011; Estanque and Costa, 2011; 2013
<br>[2] The general confederation of portuguese workers-intersindical and General Union of Workers </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:x-small"> </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:x-small"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/fileadmin/GLU_Column/papers/no_190_Costa_Estanque.pdf" target="_blank">Download this article as pdf</a></span><br>
<hr>
<div style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><b><i>Elísio Estanque and
Hermes Augusto Costa are sociologists at the Centre for Social Studies,
School of Economics, University of Coimbra.
</i></b></span></div>
</div>
<hr>
<b><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">References</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Costa, Hermes Augusto (2008), <i>Sindicalismo global ou metáfora adiada? Discursos e práticas transnacionais da CGTP e da CUT</i>. Porto: Afrontamento, 347 pp.</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Costa, Hermes Augusto
(2011), “Do enquadramento teórico do sindicalismo às respostas
pragmáticas”, in E. Estanque and H. A. Costa (eds.), <i>O sindicalismo português e a nova questão social: crise ou renovação?</i> Coimbra: Almedina, 13-48.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Costa, Hermes Augusto
(2012), “From Europe as a model to Europe as austerity: the impact of
the crisis on Portuguese trade unions”, <i>Transfer – European Review of Labour and Research</i>, 18 (4), 397-410. </span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Estanque, Elísio (2012), “Trabalho, classe média e sindicalismo”, in E. Estanque and Leonardo Mello e Silva (eds.), <i>Facetas do Trabalho na Contemporaneidade: Diálogos Luso-Brasileiros</i>. Curitiba: Editora Appris.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Estanque, Elísio (2012), <i>A classe média. Ascensão e declínio.</i> Lisbon: Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Estanque, Elísio; Costa, Hermes Augusto (eds.) (2011), <i>O sindicalismo português e a nova questão social – crise ou renovação?</i> Coimbra: Almedina, 181 pp.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Estanque, Elísio; Costa, Hermes Augusto (2012), “Labour relations and social movements”, in Denis Erasga (ed.), <i>Sociological Landscapes: Theories, Realities and Trends</i>. Rijeka/Croatia: INTECH/Open Access Publishing, 257-282 [available at <a href="http://www.intechopen.com/articles/show/title/labour-relations-and-social-movements" target="_blank">http://www.intechopen.com/articles/show/title/labour-relations-and-social-movements</a>]. </span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Estanque, </span><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Elísio; Costa, Hermes Augusto (2013), “O sindicalismo europeu no centro do vulcão: desafios e ameaças”, </span><i style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Janus – Anuário de Relações Exteriores,</i><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> 16, 176-177.</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Leite, Jorge; Costa,
Hermes Augusto; Silva, Manuel Carvalho; Almeida, João Ramos (2014),
“Austeridade, reformas laborais e desvalorização do trabalho”, in
Observatório sobre Crises e Alternativas (ed.), <i>A economia política do retrocesso: crise, causas e objetivos.</i> Coimbra: Almedina/CES, 127-188.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Marques, Fernando (2014), “Os salários e a contratação coletiva face à crise” (paper presented to <i>Oficina Direitos Laborais na Encruzilhada: OIT e Portugal</i>). Lisbon: CES-Lisbon.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Rosanvallon, Pierre (1988), <i>La question syndicale.</i> Paris: Calmann-Lévy.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Sousa, Henrique (2011), <i>Sindicalização: a vida por detrás das estatísticas (alguns problemas metodológicos</i>) (working paper). Lisbon: FCSH, Universidade Nova.
</span><br>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><br></span>
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Waddington, Jeremy (2005), <i>La syndicalisation en Europe. Étendue du problème et éventail des réponses proposées par les syndicats.</i> Brussels: ETUI-REHS.
</span><br>
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<span>Posted in: <a href="http://column.global-labour-university.org/search/label/Fiscal%20Austerity" rel="tag" target="_blank">Fiscal Austerity</a>,<a href="http://column.global-labour-university.org/search/label/Neoliberalism" rel="tag" target="_blank">Neoliberalism</a>,<a href="http://column.global-labour-university.org/search/label/Struggle" rel="tag" target="_blank">Struggle</a>,<a href="http://column.global-labour-university.org/search/label/Trade%20Unions" rel="tag" target="_blank">Trade Unions</a></span><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span></div></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>-- <br><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><ol><li><div style="text-align:left"><font size="1"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(246,178,107)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span></span><font color="#0000ff"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font color="#ff0000">2014. </font>From Coldwar Communism to the Global Justice <span></span>Movement: Itinerary of a Long-Distance Internationalis<span></span>t.</span> <span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"></span></font></span></span></b></font><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1"><font color="#0000ff"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"> <a href="http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/from_coldwar_communism_to_the_global_emancipatory_movement/" target="_blank">http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/from_coldwar_communism _to_the_global_emancipatory_movement/</a><font color="#0000ff"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,0,0)"><span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font color="#ff0000"> (Free, in two formats) <br></font></span></span></span></font></span></font></font></span></b></div></li><li><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1"><font color="#0000ff"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><font color="#0000ff"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,0,0)"><span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font color="#ff0000"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font color="#ff0000">2014. </font>Interface Journal Special (Co-Editor), December 2014.</span> <a href="http://www.interfacejournal.net/current/" target="_blank">'Social Movement Internationalisms'.</a><br></font></span></span></span></font></span></font></font></span></b></li><li><div style="text-align:left"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1"><span><span><font color="#ff0000">2012. </font>EBook:</span> <a href="http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/recovering_internationalism/" target="_blank">Recovering
Internationalism</a>. </span><span><font color="#ff0000">[A compilation of papers from the new millenium. Now free in two download formats]</font></span><span><span></span></span></font></span></b></div></li><li><div style="text-align:left"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1"><span><span><font color="#ff0000">2013. </font>EBook (co-editor), February 2013: World Social Forum: Critical Explorations <a href="http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/" target="_blank">http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/</a></span></span><span><span></span></span><span></span></font></span></b></div></li><li><div style="text-align:left"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1"><span><font color="#ff0000">2012. </font>Interface
Journal<span> Special (co-editor), November 2012:</span></span><b><span> </span><span style="font-weight:normal"><a href="http://www.interfacejournal.net/current/" target="_blank"></b><b>For the Global Emancipation of Labour </a></span></b><span lang="NL"></span></font></span></b></div></li><li><div style="text-align:left"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font size="1"><span lang="NL"><font color="#ff0000">Ongoing. </font>Blog:</span><span lang="NL"> <a href="http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman." target="_blank">http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman.</a></span></font></span></b></div></li><li><div style="text-align:left"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font color="#ff0000" size="1"><a href="http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interface-1-2-pp255-262-Waterman.pdf" target="_blank"></font></font></font></span></font><font color="#000000"><font color="#ff0000">2005-????. Needed: a Global Labour Charter Movement<span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><font color="#000000"> <font color="#ff0000">(2005-Now!)</a></font></span></b></div></li><font color="#ff0000"></font><li><div style="text-align:left"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><font color="#ff0000" size="1"><font color="#000000"><a href="http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/under-against-beyond/" target="_blank"></font><font color="red"><b>MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "www.into-ebooks.com" claiming to be</b></font> <font color="#ff0000">2011. Under, Against, Beyond: Labour and Social Movements Confront a Globalised, Informatised Capitalism </a>(2011) <font color="#ff0000">(c. 1,000 pages of Working Papers, free, from the 1980's-90's</font>).</font></font></span></b></div></li></ol></div><div><table cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table><font size="1">
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<br></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan" target="_blank">http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan</a> </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div></div>
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