Coordinated employer bargaining and globalisation: a study of the men's clothing industry in Quebec, 1974–2012
Laroche, Melanie Murray, Gregor
Coordinated employer bargaining and globalisation: a study of the men's clothing industry in Quebec, 1974–2012 Journal - Industrial Relations Journal 2012 - Journal article
This article looks at the political economy of employer coordination of collective bargaining in the clothing or apparel manufacturing industry in Canada over three phases of globalisation: from the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 1974 to the impact of the entry of China in the WTO. Although prevailing accounts emphasise the force of exogenous change and the likely decentralisation of bargaining structures and demise of bargaining coordination by employers, this case highlights how unions and employers sought to preserve their institutional model. We find that actor strategies and their interrelations are a central part of the explanation of this apparent institutional stability, despite the real force of economic, organisational and public policy factors. However, it is a dynamic stability in which change processes, reflecting shifting power relations, are leading to important shifts in the nature of employer coordination.
1467-8543
Collective bargaining
Canada
Industrial relations
Journals
Coordinated employer bargaining and globalisation: a study of the men's clothing industry in Quebec, 1974–2012 Journal - Industrial Relations Journal 2012 - Journal article
Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 43 no. 6 (Nov 2012), p. 472-493
Available in the library. See journal shelves.
Available online.
This article looks at the political economy of employer coordination of collective bargaining in the clothing or apparel manufacturing industry in Canada over three phases of globalisation: from the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 1974 to the impact of the entry of China in the WTO. Although prevailing accounts emphasise the force of exogenous change and the likely decentralisation of bargaining structures and demise of bargaining coordination by employers, this case highlights how unions and employers sought to preserve their institutional model. We find that actor strategies and their interrelations are a central part of the explanation of this apparent institutional stability, despite the real force of economic, organisational and public policy factors. However, it is a dynamic stability in which change processes, reflecting shifting power relations, are leading to important shifts in the nature of employer coordination.
1467-8543
Collective bargaining
Canada
Industrial relations
Journals