From international solidarity to the institutionalization of partnership: the experience of Word Works Council of Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG

Author(s)

Ariella Silva Araujo

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2019-04-10

Examining board members

José Dari Krein; José Ricardo Garcia Pereira Ramalho; Andréia Galvão; Marilane Oliveira Teixeira; Paula Regina Pereira Marcelino

• Advisor: José Dari Krein

Abstract

This thesis analyzes, comparatively, the development of the World Works' Council (WWC) of the Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG. Organized initially in the 1950s, through the International Federations, the World Companies Councils were the first networking experiences of trade unionists who set themselves up in various sectors to face the growing internationalization process of multinational corporations. The internationalization and the challenges the trade union movement would face with the decrease of affiliates led us to reflect on the following questions: What causes the unions to demand participation in these new consultation and information structures? Why have companies invested in WWC? To what extent are these participation structures different from those signed in the post-Second World War? Based on these questions, the research conducted involved the study of primary sources in conjunction with conducting 52 interviews with union leaders, representatives of the workers and the company. Based on the thesis that WWC are a reflection of the industrial relations of parent company, mediated by union identities of representatives participating in committee meetings, the results of the research revealed that WWC have played a different role from their initial proposition. From the company's point of view, they have been funded as vehicles to converge managerial practices of parent companies into their subsidiaries to pave the way for success in the race for world leadership. In addition, the WWC have fostered a new type of partnership, which aims to harness the skills and competencies of workers and bring them closer to the interests of the company. On the side of the trade union movement, the exchange of information and consultation contributed little to the creation of common strategies to counter whipsawing practices. Many representatives, even, have used these structures to act in favor of private interests in contentious situations and thus reinforce relations of asymmetry and power at the local level. In spite of this evidence, the case studies demonstrated the potential of the WWC with the possibility of concluding transnational company agreements (TCA); transnational mobilization; reject production and agreement of strike plants; and even of the distribution of production to secure jobs and avoid redundancies in other locations (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/24615-7 - Union Network International: the World Committee of Workers of Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz
• Grantee: Ariella Silva Araujo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate