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Can global unions build local power? If so, how? McCallum's central thesis is that effective global unionism requires reciprocity with local actors. In Global Unions, Local Power, the author strikes a middle ground between the optimism about the prospects for authentic labour internationalism and the pessimism of its demise, by carefully investigating and dissecting the overlapping and complex mechanisms of the 'governance struggles' that lie at the heart of transnational unionism. To illustrate his argument McCallum researches the case of a global campaign targeted at a private security firm called Group for Securitor (G4S)—the world's largest employer after Walmart—by the Union Network International (UNI), a global union federation, and its relationship with the North American trade union Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The analysis is enriched by two cases studies, in South Africa and India, where private security guards are workers in a precarious industry, and their struggles to improve their conditions have been marked.

Die regionalen und multilateralen Banken spielen heute im wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Kontext in den lateinamerikanischen Ländern eine wichtige Rolle. Sie sind ein bedeutender Aspekt bei politischen Entscheidungen sowie bei der Bereitstellung von öffentlichen Gütern. Im Artikel wird argumentiert, dass die Entwicklungsländer angesichts der internationalen Krise mehr Freiheit für ihre Geld-, Handels- und Steuerpolitiken benötigen, um Mittel in die Beseitigung der Armut, die Einkommensumverteilung und die stärkere soziale Kohäsion kanalisieren zu können. Dafür ist eine neue internationale Architektur, die die finanzielle Stabilität garantiert, ausschlaggebend. (Nueva Soc/GIGA)

ABSTRACTThis article conceptualizes contemporary abolitionism as a commodifying cause characterized by multiple processes of marketization. It demonstrates how concerns about the unethical commodification of labour form the basis of a variety of marketization projects and processes. Three processes of marketization in this arena are identified: making relations of advocacy and activism more market‐like; seeking to rehabilitate and/or reform markets in the face of 'supply chain slavery'; and pursuing abolitionism through commodification. Drawing on project data, and supplemented with empirical observations, interventions to address 'slavery', human trafficking and/or forced labour in supply chains are identified and analysed. Marketization is employed as a lens to understand the diverse field of contemporary abolitionism and its relationships to (ideas of) the market. The article highlights how ongoing efforts to reconcile 'slavery' and the market posit ethical markets as the solution to the unethical commodification of labour. These efforts are marked by tensions and contradictions, however, necessitating discursive work to position 'slavery' as emerging from outside the market.

RésuméLe Fair Food Program constitue un mécanisme permettant aux travailleurs agricoles de faire entendre leur voix de façon collective au sein des chaînes de valeur. Il met ainsi à l'honneur un modèle de responsabilité sociale qui dépend des travailleurs, plutôt que des entreprises. Les autrices détaillent les grandes composantes de ce système adaptable en montrant comment il a permis de répondre aux problèmes d'une population de travailleurs agricoles migrants spécifique aux États‐Unis. L'étude de cas prouve le potentiel du programme, qui semble capable de remédier aux atteintes aux droits des travailleurs sur les marchés du travail transnationaux et pourrait être reproduit dans d'autres contextes.

AbstractThe Fair Food Program (FFP) provides a mechanism through which agricultural workers' collective voice is expressed, heard and responded to within global value chains. The FFP's model of worker‐driven social responsibility presents an alternative to traditional corporate social responsibility. This article identifies the FFP's key components and demonstrates its resilience by identifying the ways in which the issues faced by a new group of migrant workers – recruited through a "guest‐worker" scheme – were incorporated and dealt with. This case study highlights the important potential presented by the programme to address labour abuses across transnationalized labour markets while considering early replication possibilities.

ResumenEl Fair Food Program (FFP), creado por la Coalición de Trabajadores de Immokalee (Florida, Estados Unidos), brinda un mecanismo a través del cual la voz colectiva de los trabajadores agrícolas se expresa, se escuchay se responde en una cadena mundial de valor. El modelo de Responsabilidad Social Impulsada por los Trabajadores del FFP ofrece una alternativa a la RSE corporativa tradicional. Se identifican aquí los componentes clave del FFP y se demuestra su resiliencia al ser aplicado a un nuevo grupo de trabajadoras y trabajadores migrantes estacionales. Se pone así de relieve el gran potencial del programa para reducir los abusos laborales en los mercados de trabajo transnacionalizados. También se proponen ideas sobre la posibilidad de reproducibilidad del FFP.

This chapters uses labour force data and qualitative studies to document the hazards or insecurities experienced by specific groups of key workers. An analysis of the major deficiencies is carried out for each of the eight key occupational groups.

How key workers are valued is reflected in their pay and other working conditions. This chapter draws on labour force data from 90 countries to assess deficiencies in the following working conditions: OSH, contractual arrangements, working hours, pay, union representation, social protection and training, comparing outcome for key v non‐key workers.