IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v11y2005i4p549-568.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade unionism under challenge from offshoring and globalisation

Author

Listed:
  • Sylvie Contrepois

    (Researcher, GERS-CNRS Research Centre, Paris IRESCO; Associate Researcher, Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University.)

  • Steve Jefferys

    (Director, Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University)

Abstract

Trade unionism in western Europe is facing the growing challenge of the relocation of work to other parts of the world. This article focuses on the major banking trade unions in France and the UK. It discusses the unions' responses to globalisation in a sector where information technology has exposed firms to intense competitive pressures and has encouraged not just relocation but also business mergers and concentration combined with widespread outsourcing. The authors find that there is often a tension between the day-to-day defence of the workers and broader trade union aspirations to develop alternatives to the arbitrariness of an economic system where labour power is reduced to a commodity to be bought and sold. The article concludes that the dual purposes of union activity, the defence and improvement of workers' immediate working conditions, and the projection of alternative people-friendly forms of social and economic organisation, are being made more difficult by globalisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Sylvie Contrepois & Steve Jefferys, 2005. "Trade unionism under challenge from offshoring and globalisation," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 11(4), pages 549-568, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:11:y:2005:i:4:p:549-568
    DOI: 10.1177/102425890501100406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/102425890501100406
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/102425890501100406?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. John Grahl, 2003. "Sand in the wheels or spanner in the works? The Tobin tax and global finance," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 27(4), pages 597-621, July.
    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. Photis Lysandrou, 2016. "The colonization of the future: An alternative view of financialization and its portents," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 444-472, October.
    2. Peter Nunnenkamp & Rainer Thiele, 2013. "Financing for Development: The Gap between Words and Deeds since Monterrey," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 31(1), pages 75-98, January.
    3. Andrea Terzi, 2003. "Is a transactions tax an effective means to stabilize the foreign exchange market?," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 56(227), pages 367-385.
    4. Zvirgzdiņš Jānis & Plotka Kaspars & Geipele Sanda, 2018. "Eco-Economics in Cities and Rural Areas," Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 88-99, July.
    5. Stephan Schulmeister, 2009. "Eine generelle Finanztransaktionssteuer. Konzept, Begründung, Auswirkungen," WIFO Working Papers 352, WIFO.
    6. Yiannis Kitromilides & Ana Rosa González, 2013. "The EU Financial Transactions Tax: Antecedents and Current Debate," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 60(3), pages 311-321, May.
    7. Lisa Kastner, 2017. "Business lobbying under salience," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-02187871, HAL.
    8. Jan Toporowski, 2012. "Neologism as Theoretical Innovation in Economics: The case of 'Financialisation'," Working Papers 171, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    9. Stephan Schulmeister, 2014. "A General Financial Transactions Tax. Motives, Effects and Implementation According to the Proposal of the European Commission," WIFO Working Papers 461, WIFO.
    10. Lisa Kastner, 2017. "Business lobbying under salience," Post-Print hal-02187871, HAL.
    11. Annina Kaltenbrunner & Photis Lysandrou, 2017. "The US Dollar's Continuing Hegemony as an International Currency: A Double-matrix Analysis," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 48(4), pages 663-691, July.
    12. John Grahl & Photis Lysandrou, 2014. "The European Commission's Proposal for a Financial Transactions Tax: A Critical Assessment," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 234-249, March.
    13. Yates Nicholas A, 2009. "Revisiting the Tobin Tax, in the Context of Development and the Financial Crisis," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 257-282, November.
    14. Stephan Schulmeister & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger & Oliver Picek, 2008. "A General Financial Transaction Tax. Motives, Revenues, Feasibility and Effects," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 31819.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:treure:v:11:y:2005:i:4:p:549-568. 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: .

    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.