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Power resources and supranational mechanisms: The global unions and the OECD Guidelines

Author

Listed:
  • Michele Ford

    (The University of Sydney, Australia)

  • Michael Gillan

    (The University of Western Australia, Australia)

Abstract

This article uses the power resources approach to analyse the Global Union Federations’ (GUFs) use of the specific instances mechanism associated with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. While this mechanism has serious limitations, it has proved to be a useful tool when combined with public campaigns and the exercise of other power resources at multiple scales. This is so, we argue, because the fact that multi-national enterprises themselves operate across national boundaries creates an incentive to engage power resources at a supranational level, as well as within the countries where they, or their suppliers, are present. As this finding suggests, consideration of unions’ power resources benefits from deeper consideration of the multi-scalar and interrelated character of union action and of the role that intermediary coordinating organizations like GUFs play in supporting the exercise of power at the supranational level.

Suggested Citation

  • Michele Ford & Michael Gillan, 2021. "Power resources and supranational mechanisms: The global unions and the OECD Guidelines," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(3), pages 307-325, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eurjou:v:27:y:2021:i:3:p:307-325
    DOI: 10.1177/0959680120988238
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bradon Ellem & Caleb Goods & Patricia Todd, 2020. "Rethinking Power, Strategy and Renewal: Members and Unions in Crisis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 424-446, June.
    2. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan & Htwe Htwe Thein, 2020. "Supranational grievance mechanisms and firm‐level employment relations," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 262-282, July.
    3. Ruggie, John & Nelson, Tamaryn, 2015. "Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: Normative Innovations and Implementation Challenges," Working Paper Series rwp15-045, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Urs LUTERBACHER & Andrew PROSSER & Konstantinos PAPADAKIS, 2017. "An emerging transnational industrial relations? Exploring the prospects for cross†border labour bargaining," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 156(3-4), pages 307-343, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Søren Jeppesen & Andries Bezuidenhout, 2024. "The Nexus Between Sources of Workers’ Power in the Garment Manufacturing Industries of Lesotho and Eswatini," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(2), pages 283-298, November.
    2. Joey Soehardjojo & Rick Delbridge & Guglielmo Meardi, 2023. "The hidden layers of resistance to dominant HRM transfer: Evidence from Japanese management practice adoption in Indonesia," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 679-702, August.
    3. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan, 2022. "Understanding global union repertoires of action," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 559-577, November.

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