Abstract
While the prospects for a global labor movement are ripe, working people and their supporters may fail to take full advantage of this historical opening. A potential barrier is the existence of a strategic myopia when it comes to the role of preexisting labor organizations at the national and international levels. Specifically, these higher-tier institutions are often viewed by labor activists and the rank-and-file as inherently autocratic and imperialistic, and are thus deemed to have little value for efforts at fostering global labor solidarity. A consequence is that many in the labor movement concentrate their energies solely at a local or community level, with the idea that it is only here that true progressive change can result. In terms of broader solidarity and resistance, it is felt that cross-regional and cross-national linkages will eventually develop to expand the struggle to a truly global level. In effect, it is presumed by many that a global labor movement will, and in fact must, be built strictly from the "bottom-up" ( e.g. Brecher and Costello, 1994).
Highlights
While the prospect~ for a global labor movement arc ripe, working people and their supporters may fail to take full advantage of this historical opening
I by no means wish to undermine the value of bottom-up strategics for furthering the development of a global labor movement
Taking the AFL-CIO a~ one example, it is certainly understandable why rank-and-file workers even in the United States, let alone in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, would resent and mistrust collaborating with this organization
Summary
While the prospect~ for a global labor movement arc ripe, working people and their supporters may fail to take full advantage of this historical opening. In recent years gra~s-roots initiatives and struggles have undeniably been enormously more successful in resisting capitalist exploitation, furthering local interests, and establishing equitable linkages between working peoples around the world than their counterparts at the national and international levels. Such bottom-up strategics do need to be complemented by "top-down" initiatives a~ well, including such actions a~ the implementation of global labor standards, accelerated cross-border organizing by national and international unions, and transnational coordination and cooperation between various peak-level labor confederations.
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