ABSTRACT
The organisation of transnational solidarity has long been the Achilles heel of (international) trade unionism. In today’s world, this predicament is particularly evident in regard to the unprecedented growth and power of transnationally operating corporations (TNC). While TNCs can use diverse employment conditions in different countries and localities to arbitrage labour costs, local trade union resistance is often undermined by the threat— real or perceived—of relocation or substitution. Moreover, a lowering of standards in one place generates downward pressure on the level of standards in general, contributing in the context of widespread deregulation to undercutting, whipsawing and an international ‘race to the bottom’.
