IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v34y2020i6p1062-1078.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade Union Power Resources within the Supply Chain: Marketisation, Marginalisation, Mobilisation

Author

Listed:
  • Pedro Mendonça

    (Nottingham Trent University, UK)

  • DragoÈ™ AdăscăliÈ›ei

    (Sheffield University, UK)

Abstract

This article examines how pressures stemming from the structure and dynamics of supply chains shape employment relations at the workplace level. Using qualitative data from two organisational case studies operating within the same supply chain, it highlights that supply chains can constrain or enhance trade unions’ capacity to organise and mobilise. Supply chain rationalisation is found to be a key determinant in the reconfiguration of labour and labour process with significant consequences for working conditions. However, trade unions can also use supply chain structures to effectively mobilise and defend the interests of their constituents. The article finds that trade union effectiveness develops against the articulation of an agenda that goes beyond the workplace and transcends organisational boundaries. In particular, strategies that rely on building coalitions and lobbying different actors across the supply chain are found to be effective and contribute to better working conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro Mendonça & DragoÈ™ AdăscăliÈ›ei, 2020. "Trade Union Power Resources within the Supply Chain: Marketisation, Marginalisation, Mobilisation," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(6), pages 1062-1078, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:6:p:1062-1078
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017020906360
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017020906360
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017020906360?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lone Riisgaard & Nikolaus Hammer, 2011. "Prospects for Labour in Global Value Chains: Labour Standards in the Cut Flower and Banana Industries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 168-190, March.
    2. Paul Thompson & Diane van den Broek, 2010. "Managerial control and workplace regimes: an introduction," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(3), pages 1-12, September.
    3. Abigail Marks & Patricia Findlay & James Hine & Paul Thompson & Alan McKinlay, 1998. "The Politics of Partnership? Innovation in Employment Relations in the Scottish Spirits Industry," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 209-226, June.
    4. Robin Price, 2016. "Controlling routine front line service workers: an Australian retail supermarket case," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(6), pages 915-931, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alex J Wood, 2018. "Powerful Times: Flexible Discipline and Schedule Gifts at Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(6), pages 1061-1077, December.
    2. Elena Baglioni, 2022. "The Making of Cheap Labour across Production and Reproduction: Control and Resistance in the Senegalese Horticultural Value Chain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(3), pages 445-464, June.
    3. Nicolas Bacon & Paul Blyton, 2004. "Trade union responses to workplace restructuring: exploring union orientations and actions," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 18(4), pages 749-773, December.
    4. Simon Schaupp, 2022. "Algorithmic Integration and Precarious (Dis)Obedience: On the Co-Constitution of Migration Regime and Workplace Regime in Digitalised Manufacturing and Logistics," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(2), pages 310-327, April.
    5. Christina Stringer & Steve Hughes & D Hugh Whittaker & Nigel Haworth & Glenn Simmons, 2016. "Labour standards and regulation in global value chains: The case of the New Zealand Fishing Industry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(10), pages 1910-1927, October.
    6. Philip James & Lilian Miles & Richard Croucher & Mark Houssart, 2019. "Regulating factory safety in the Bangladeshi garment industry," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(3), pages 431-444, September.
    7. Peter Samuel, 2007. "Partnership consultation and employer domination in two British life and pensions firms," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(3), pages 459-477, September.
    8. Céline Louche & Lotte Staelens & Marijke D’Haese, 2020. "When Workplace Unionism in Global Value Chains Does Not Function Well: Exploring the Impediments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 379-398, March.
    9. Maureen Benson-Rea & Christina Stringer, 2015. "Small Firm Specialisation in Global Value Chains: Evidence from the Cut Flower Industry," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 14(1), pages 43-62, June.
    10. Christina Niforou, 2015. "Labour Leverage in Global Value Chains: The Role of Interdependencies and Multi-level Dynamics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 301-311, August.
    11. Gregory Jackson & Virginia Doellgast & Lucio Baccaro, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Labour Standards: Bridging Business Management and Employment Relations Perspectives," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 3-13, March.
    12. Wenchuan Liu & James P. Guthrie & Patrick C. Flood & Sarah Maccurtain, 2009. "Unions and the Adoption of High Performance Work Systems: Does Employment Security Play a Role?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(1), pages 109-127, October.
    13. Maja Tampe, 2018. "Leveraging the Vertical: The Contested Dynamics of Sustainability Standards and Labour in Global Production Networks," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 43-74, March.
    14. Meike Rombach & David L. Dean & Nicole J. Olynk Widmar & Vera Bitsch, 2021. "The Ethically Conscious Flower Consumer: Understanding Fair Trade Cut Flower Purchase Behavior in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, November.
    15. Kelly Pike, 2020. "Voice in Supply Chains: Does the Better Work Program Lead to Improvements in Labor Standards Compliance?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(4), pages 913-938, August.
    16. Veronika Dehnen, 2013. "Across Boundaries: The Global Challenges Facing Workers and Employment Research 50th Anniversary Special Issue," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 577-600, September.
    17. Sarkar, Santanu & Kuruvilla, Sarosh, 2020. "Constructing transnational solidarity: the role of campaign governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101164, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Annelien Gansemans & Céline Louche & Marijke D'Haese, 2021. "Planting Seeds for Social Dialogue: An Institutional Work Perspective," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(1), pages 84-113, March.
    19. Gharyeni, Abdellatif, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility through global value chains : behaviour of lead companies and new dynamics of industrial relations," MPRA Paper 101332, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Jul 2020.
    20. Juliet McMahon & Michelle O’Sullivan & Sarah MacCurtain & Caroline Murphy & Lorraine Ryan, 2021. "“It’s Not Us, It’s You!”: Extending Managerial Control through Coercion and Internalisation in the Context of Workplace Bullying amongst Nurses in Ireland," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:6:p:1062-1078. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.