Glocalising Union Organising: How Access to Power Resources Enables and Constrains Global Union Federation Campaigns in the Global South

Abstract

Global union federations’ (GUFs’) global campaigns are key institutions of labour transnationalism. They aim to enhance the living and working conditions for workers worldwide, including in the Global South. However, existing theory does not fully explain observed patterns in campaign outcomes. In a context where many transnational campaigns fail to achieve substantive gains for workers, what makes some campaigns succeed? Why are such successes rare? This article addresses these questions by drawing on power resource theory as a lens to investigate the successes and limitations of two GUF campaigns in Nestlé and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in India. Campaign successes were the result of the glocalisation of the organising model of trade unionism. This means that campaigns adapted the organising model ideas and practices to local conditions by working with strong local partners. In doing this, they created associational power resources through the iterative development of coalitional and ideational power resources. Therefore, the overall contribution is to show how successful GUF campaigns build union power resources through the glocalisation of the organising model. It also highlights the structural constraints that make it hard for GUFs to scale this approach.