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Mobilizing within and beyond the Labor Union: A Case of Precarious Workers’ Collective Actions in North Africa

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  • Saerom Han

Abstract

Drawing on a qualitative analysis of a group of mobilized precarious workers in Tunisia’s public sector, the author asks how workers’ collective actions are shaped by and, at the same time, can act upon labor unions’ responses to them. Findings suggest that unions can enable and simultaneously constrain precarious workers’ collective actions. More important, workers learn from their interactions with the union, and this learning process can contribute to innovations in workers’ mobilizing structure and repertoire of actions. The Tunisian case contributes to the debate on the relationship between precarious workers and institutionalized actors as well as to the study of mobilized precarious workers by elucidating the ways in which the workers’ embedded and innovative agency plays out within and beyond a well-established labor union.

Suggested Citation

  • Saerom Han, 2023. "Mobilizing within and beyond the Labor Union: A Case of Precarious Workers’ Collective Actions in North Africa," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 674-696, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:76:y:2023:i:4:p:674-696
    DOI: 10.1177/00197939221146778
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Dina Bishara, 2023. "Introduction to a Special Issue on Labor in the Middle East and North Africa: Precarity, Inequality, and Migration," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 627-645, August.

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