Intervening in globalization: the spatial possibilities and institutional barriers to labour’s collective agency

Andrew Cumbers, David Featherstone, Danny MacKinnon, Anthony Ince and Kendra Strauss

Journal of Economic Geography, 2016, vol. 16, issue 1, 93-108

Abstract: Trade unions are facing a series of challenges around place-based forms of work in industries such as construction, transport and public services. New spatial strategies by employers involving corporate reorganization, increased outsourcing and the use of migrant labour, allied to a deepening of neoliberal governance processes are accelerating a race to the bottom in wages and conditions. Drawing upon the experience of two recent labour disputes in the UK—at Heathrow Airport and Lindsey Oil Refinery—we explore the potential for workers to intervene in such globalizing processes. We highlight both the ability of grassroots workers to mobilize their own spatial networks but also their limitations in an increasingly hostile neoliberal landscape.

Date: 2016
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