It’s a trending topic on social networks and has caught the attention of experts like Nicholas Kristof in his column for the New York Times and Lydia Saad in Gallup’s digital newsletter. The great union mobilizations, that Jura monster that had been in danger of extinction since the end of the 20th century, would experience an unexpected boost after the pandemic. In recent months, we’ve seen a sitting President of the United States join a strike line against Detroit’s Big Three, Hollywood studios brought to their knees after a 145-day writers’ union strike supported by actors , and French union centers have been in a fertile field of struggle against their government, drivers or precarious employees of digitalized and disruptive companies who are organizing for the first time to improve their working conditions. Even members of the women’s soccer team are turning to the Futpro union to coordinate their efforts in the fight with the Spanish federation.
Kristof affirms that picketers like the one in Detroit, traditionally accused of “destroying the automobile industry with their stubborn blindness,” are now recognized as a “powerful actor in the fight for justice,” the only containment dam that prevents less-skilled workers are treated “like doormats”. Saad provides data: 67% of Americans believe union action is “necessary and positive,” a figure that contrasts with the meager 48% approval in 2010 or 56% in 2016.
In Spain, according to Beltrán Roca, professor of sociology at the University of Cádiz, “the number of members continues to stagnate at around 13 to 14%, but at least it has stopped falling and the social perception of labor demand is improving,” which we note could that “we are facing a positive turning point that would leave behind the trend of increasing demobilization of the last 25 years.” Roca attributes this to the coincidence of phenomena such as “inflation, rising real estate prices and the emergence of new production processes and new work sectors.” back. In this context of “accelerating change and increasing precarity,” workers would feel the need to “start from scratch and resort to new strategies for negotiating collective and sectoral agreements.” According to Beltrán, this is a “firm” trend both in Spain and around the world. “This is happening in almost all major Western economies.”
For the sociologist and political scientist Antonio Antón from the Autonomous University of Madrid, there are “symptoms of union reactivation” that mainly affect “new groups of workers, especially in the service sector, as well as among women and the youngest.” Antón specifies that this new, rejuvenated and feminized trade union movement “has some different characteristics than the conventional trade union action of the industrial working class and large companies”. The new mobilizations are “less institutional.” They are “grassroots” movements with a “remarkable capacity for public response.” Sometimes, “as was the case in Spain with the education and health issues, they have achieved large participation and aroused broad solidarity and sympathy throughout society.”
Lis Gaibar, associate professor and expert on associations and the third sector at Miguel Hernández University, believes that there is a rise in “collectivism or associations, but not necessarily unionism”, forced by circumstances. This is because the most recent and prominent labor mobilizations, such as those of “domestic workers, housekeepers, or riders,” are promoted by associations, not unions. In other words, we are witnessing a mobilization against systematic labor abuse, led by the victims of precarious work and the associations that support them. The main actors of this collective action are “young people for whom the labor market does not offer the opportunity to build a life project that corresponds to their desires”. Their frustration gives rise to “a confrontational attitude” that is very rarely channeled through traditional unions.
For Gaibar, the new generations would provide new blood to meet the work demands. In particular, “a dose of fatigue and a greater ability to see the seams of a system that has been able to hide them for years.” Beltrán Roca adds that, in his opinion, the future of collective mobilizations lies in “creating new structures that fight the vacuum of representation , from which the most precarious workers suffer in small companies such as the hospitality industry, where this is not the case.” are unionized and industry agreements are not respected.” The solution is “to create union representation structures at mid-level, such as the Local councils starting to grow in the UK.” The old formula – unity is strength – must lead to “less rigid, more flexible strategies adapted to the specific circumstances of each sector to channel discontent and continue to be effective. “
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