Union Formation Research Articles

Girls’ Education and Child Marriage in Central Africa | Insights from Qualitative Fieldwork Part II: The Republic of Congo

Child marriage is defined as a formal or informal union before the age of 18. As in much of sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of child marriage remains high in the Republic of Congo (RoC), in part because educational attainment for girls is low. Based on qualitative fieldwork, this article looks at communities’ perceptions of child marriage and girls’ education and their suggestions for programs and policies that could improve outcomes for girls. The article also discusses potential implications for Catholic and other faith-based schools, as well as faith leaders.

Girls’ Education and Child Marriage in Central Africa | Insights from Qualitative Fieldwork Part I: The Democratic Republic of Congo

Child marriage is defined as a formal or informal union before the age of 18. As in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of child marriage remains high in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in part because educational attainment for girls is too low. Based on qualitative fieldwork, this article looks at communities’ perceptions of child marriage and girls’ education and their suggestions for programs and policies that could improve outcomes for girls. The article also discusses potential implications for Catholic and other faith-based schools, as well as faith leaders.

‘Love knows no (spatial) boundaries?‘: Investigating diversity in the residential location choices of rural-residing couples upon union formation

This paper focuses on the residential location choices made by rural-residing couples with diverse residential biographies at union formation. We explore how this decision-making process is navigated and negotiated as a newly formed household. The study is informed by prior research that has aided our understanding of the relational nature of moving and staying processes, and the integral role of life course transitions in shaping residential decisions. We use data from the wider STAYin(g)Rural project, including a large household survey and in-depth interviews with individuals living in rural Northern Ireland (specifically, the case study site of the Clogher Valley, County Tyrone) who have undergone union formation, and decided to either move to, or stay within, the area. We find that, despite considerable heterogeneity within and between couples in their residential biographies, several common, often inter-related, themes dominated their rural residential location choices. Underpinning much of the desire to live and stay in the rural was a strong sense of belonging and attachment to the area, with a complex interplay of economic, environmental, geographical, and social factors acting to enable staying. Clear generational differences in the decision-making process emphasise the importance of exploring distinctions between and across life course stages in studies that aim to understand the process of (rural) staying.

Commitment or Conspiracy? A Historical Exploration of Freedom of Association in the Readymade Garment Industry of Bangladesh

The historical texture of the trade union movement in Bangladesh is the struggle for survival and subordination. Now garment workers are enjoying the rights of eight-hour working days, weekly holiday leave, maternity leave, and so on, thanks to the struggle of the trade union movement. But the trade union movement in Bangladesh was historically weakened by its division into multiple federations, each aligned with a different political party as its labour front. This study will seek to understand the factors that restrict the freedom of association of garment workers in Bangladesh. The necessity of finding and analysing obstacles regarding the formation of unions in the garment industry and ensuring the environment to foster effective trade unionism in garments can be determined through the outcomes of this research. This article presents a brief historical overview of trade union movement conditions under different regimes, from British India to modern Bangladesh. It also incorporates a clarification of the workers’ freedom of association barriers and the recent changes in perceptions in this regard. The objective of the study was to learn about the practise of trade union organising in the garment industry in Bangladesh. This study will be significant for establishing the right to associate for workers in our society. This article also contributes to the debate on how national legislation undermines workers’ freedom of association.

The general aspects of collective labour rights for workers in Turkey

After Turkey's political system was transformed to a multi-party democracy, legally interpreted collective labour rights were introduced to the system by legal instruments. The first Trade Unions Act was enacted in 1947. Depending on the articles related to collective labour rights, stated in 1961 Constitution, the Turkish National Assembly passed two particular legislation in 1963, numbered 274 and 275. These codes governed labour unions and collective bargaining, as well as grievance procedures such as strikes and lockouts. The 1982 Turkish Constitution established collective bargaining and strike action as fundamental rights as well as the prior Constitution. For nearly three decades, collective labour rights have regulated by two different legislation, numbered 2821 and 2822. In 2012, new legislation was proposed to regulate collective labour relations and meet the necessities of the social parties. The Law of Trade Unions and Collective Labour Agreements (law numbered 6356) is the current principal legislative tool for dealing with trade unions and collective labour agreements, as well as strike and lock-out. In Turkish system, the formation of trade unions and employers' associations is based on a voluntary and free basis and requires no previous approval from administrative bodies. Employers' organizations and trade unions both have legal personality. A double threshold approach for trade unions to conduct collective bargaining has been criticized by the ILO on several occasions. Strikes are infrequently utilized as an industrial action, despite the fact that they are protected by the Constitution and the Law numbered 6356.

ИНТЕГРАЦИОННЫЙ ПОДХОД КАК ОСНОВА ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ЭКОСИСТЕМЫ В УСЛОВИЯХ ТРАНЗИТИВНОЙ ЭКОНОМИКИ

The article considers theoretical aspects of ecosystem formation; describes theoretical ap-proaches to the essence, terminology, and classification of ecosystems; systematizes the results of re-search on the types and purpose of ecosystems; clarifies the definition of ecosystem, forms of network interaction of subjects in an ecosystem; presents the process and stages of ecosystem formation and de-velopment; systematizes factors affecting partnerships in the format of integration; and proposes a model of coordination of interests for building partnerships of ecosystem entities on the terms of integration. It is obvious that in the conditions of modern realities with a focus on the multipolarity of international re-lations, the integration approach to the formation of economic unions on the terms of mutually beneficial partnership is fundamentally important, since economic, logistical, financial, foreign trade and other fac-tors have changed significantly, and adaptation to the new conditions of the transforming world politics and economy, which are irreversible, is necessary. The results of this study are recommended for imple-mentation when coordinating the conditions of interaction of subjects in the format of regional and inter-national economic relations, as well as the implementation of projects for the creation and development of cluster economic systems.

Investigating the Region of Metohija in Kosovo through an Interactive Digital Ethnolinguistic Atlas

The article advocates for the imperative need to compile an interactive digital ethno-linguistic atlas of the Metohija region in Kosovo (Alb. Rrafshi i Dukagjinit, “Dukagjin Plain”). Over the course of two millennia, this area has been a unique arena for interaction among diverse ethnic and linguistic groups, including paleo-Balkan tribes, Romans, Albanians, Balkan Romance speakers, South Slavs, Rumelian and Anatolian Turks, as well as Roma (Romani, Ashkali, and “Egyptians”), among others. Remarkably, the languages and cultures of this region are still studied independently, often in isolation from one another. The formation of a comprehensive Russian scientific discourse on a range of Metohija ethnolinguistic issues is deemed a crucial task within Balkan studies. The term “ethno-linguistic,” in line with the overarching synthesizing and aggregating approach of Balkan linguistics, is proposed to be employed in both its accepted meanings in Russian academia ― ‘ethnolinguistic’ (e.g., ethnolinguistic groups of people) and ‘investigating language in relation to culture’ (e.g., Moscow Ethnolinguistic School).The article raises the question of the specificity of the linguistic, ethnolinguistic, and cultural-anthropological landscape of Metohija against the backdrop of the broader Balkan context. It queries whether, due to centuries of close contacts between its ethno-linguistic groups, a linguistic and cultural union has evolved on this territory. To address this issue, an areal study is proposed, investigating the linguistic, dialectal, and cultural- anthropological micro-differentiation of all languages and cultures within the region in relation to local ethnic and social processes, focusing on interethnic, social, interfaith, cultural, and linguistic interactions. The proposed atlas program includes ethnolinguistic and sociolinguistic inquiries, cove-ring ethnic self-identification, migrations, linguistic aspects of marital strategies, etc. Subsequently, it encompasses questions reflecting all levels of language structure across the known Metohija territorial varieties and social dialects. Additionally, it addresses questions of ethnolinguistics in the traditional sense within Russian scientific understanding.The atlas aims to provide insights into the reasons, processes, and mechanisms behind the formation of linguistic and cultural unions or the hindrance of such convergent processes in specific micro-areas of the Balkan Peninsula.

Управление системой развития производственного потенциала субъектов промышленных отраслей Киргизской Республики в современных экономических условиях

The article highlights issues related to the management of the development of the production potential of the industrial sectors of the Kyrgyz Republic. In market conditions, the development of scientific and technological progress, which led to a new round of socialization of production of the entire world system based on the formation of transnational monopolies and integration unions, created qualitatively new conditions for international relations. These conditions expand opportunities for cross-country technology exchange and specialization development. Therefore, in the search for a system, one should not limit oneself exclusively to the mechanisms of adaptation of the national economy to world economic relations. Based on this strategic guideline, the main task of the Kyrgyz processing industry in the coming years is to prioritize the development of this sector, which, by its importance, reveals the internal potential of the national economy to the greatest extent.

Protection of trade union rights in Nigeria: Lessons from other jurisdictions

The Constitution gives Nigerian workers the inalienable right to form or join a trade union for the protection of their employment interests at the workplace. International instruments recognize this right. The International Labour Organization (ILO) in its Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right to Organize Convention No. 87 of 1948 recognized the right to organize and the right to strike as core trade union rights. In spite of these provisions, trade unions in Nigeria have continued to suffer mistreatment and violation of their rights by government and its agencies, which includes unfair labour practices. This paper examined the protection of trade union rights in Nigeria, specifically the right to organize and the right to strike. It also examined the factors militating against the protection of these rights. The paper drew lessons from other jurisdictions and found that the high threshold required for the formation of a trade union is contrary to ILO standards and that there is no positive right to strike in Nigeria. It further found that the wide definition of essential service by the Nigerian law denies many workers the right to strike. The paper recommends, among others, legislative reforms by amending the Constitution and the Trade Union Act to provide for the right to strike and reduce the number of persons required to register a trade union from 50 to 10 respectively.

Классикалық геосаясат негіздері: германдық мектептің эволюциясы

The relevance of the research topic is characterized by the importance of studying the foundations of classical geopolitics. In the article, the authors reveal the meaning of geopolitics and its importance. The main goal of the article is to consider the main theories and views that form the theoretical basis of geopolitics as a science. The territory occupied by the state, its size, composition, and configuration is the main geopolitical factor. Thus, geopolitics, from a theoretical point of view, is primarily a science of the territorial interests of the state. In the context of recent events, the geopolitical interests of peoples must be realized in a democratic and civilized way, through peaceful coexistence and unity in the commonwealth on the basis of new forms of state structure and state unions. Initially, geopolitics as a science was formed by ideas about the possibility of neutralizing and compensating for the unfavorable moments of the spatial situation through external economic and political activity. There were attempts to theoretically justify military aggression against other states, for example, such a period occurred in Germany, and it was characterized by the beginning of the First World War. This fact determined a negative attitude toward geopolitics. Today, many experts agree that geopolitics is the foundation of politics, historically confirmed when large organized groups of people in primitive societies determined their location, activities, and relationships with other primitive social communities. In this article, the authors review the foundations of classical geopolitics, and the meaning of the term, and explore the evolution of the views of Western scholars. To achieve this goal, the authors use methods and analyze various works of Western researchers.

“Workers do not liberate themselves other than with their own hands”—The Political Experience of Workers' Committees in the Industrial District of Beirut (1970–1975)

AbstractFrom the end of the 1960s until the outbreak of the Civil War (1975), Lebanon experienced a phase of relatively sustained industrial expansion. Albeit the “boom” did not modify significantly Lebanon's tertiarized economic structure, it was anyway sufficient to create the structural conditions for the emergence of a new militant working-class able to become one of the most relevant contentious actors of its time. This new working class was made primarily of very young and recently urbanized unemployed of rural origin, brutally injected in a crude and hyper-exploitative productive cycle where formal labor unions were, for the most part, absent or scarcely effective. The input for their grassroots, transgressive organization into factory-based Workers’ Committees came from the Organization for Communist Action in Lebanon (OACL), i.e. the most important force of the so-called Lebanese New Left, within the framework of a broader process of militant penetration of the “revolutionary classes” produced by the contradictions of Lebanese capitalism. This created the precondition for the Committees to affirm themselves not only as the radical avant-garde of the Lebanese labor movement but also as an integral part of a broader process of contestation of the existing status quo by the subaltern groups emerged from - or activated by - the structural and cultural changes that the country was experiencing. By retrieving the forgotten history of the Workers’ Committees, the article wants to examine the forms and the trajectories whereby such a new working class became an integral part of this process. In particular, by adopting a Gramscian methodology, the article will first expose the structural changes in the Lebanese industrial sector in the examined period and their labor implications. Then, it will focus on the dynamics which superseded the Committees' birth and affirmation, reserving particular attention to the role played by the OACL. Finally, it will conclude by examining the impact of their agency on the political developments that the country was experiencing. The paper contends that the emergence and the affirmation of counter-hegemonical and transformative working-class activism on the eve of the Civil War, along with representing a direct by-product of structural stresses and constraints, was significantly debtor also of the new ideological and militant infrastructures that the emergence of an Arab New Left had contributed to popularize and deploy. The paper wants also to intervene in the historiographical debate on the Lebanese Civil War, stressing the importance of both subaltern actors and class phenomena in its outbreak, which have generally been widely disregarded by the dominant understandings of the conflict.

ՃԱՆԱՊԱՐՀԱՅԻՆ ՑԱՆՑԻ ԳՈՐԾԱՐԿՈՒՄԸ ԲՐՈՆԶ-ԵՐԿԱԹԵԴԱՐՅԱՆ ՍՅՈՒՆԻՔՈՒՄ՝ ԽՈՇՈՐ ԲՆԱԿԱՎԱՅՐԱՅԻՆ ԱԳԼՈՄԵՐԱՑԻԱՆԵՐԻ ԳՈՅՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՊԱՅՄԱՆՆԵՐՈՒՄ (ՀԱՅ.) / THE FUNCTIONING OF THE ROAD NETWORK IN SYUNIK CONDITIONED BY EXISTENCE OF LARGE SETTLEMENT AGGLOMERATIONS DURING THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES

Since the 2nd millennium BC, in the Armenian Highlands and, in particular, in the Syunik- Artsakh region, a system of regions separated by natural boundaries is being formed. These settlement systems included a central fortified settlement, satellite settlements of an open type, economic and ideological infrastructure. Thus, a multifunctional complex was being formed, including fortification systems, economic and religious complexes. Naturally, the functioning of such complexes would be impossible without the existence of stationary means of communication. The roads connected not only separate areas of the Syunik region, but were also laid in the direction of high mountain pastures. The protection of the roads was carried out both by the construction of fortresses and watchtowers along the roads, and in the sense of sacred protection: i.e., location of cemeteries and places of worship along the roads. The functioning of an extensive road network ensured the viability of large settlement agglomerations, and also contributed to the formation of unions and confederations.

Закрепление права на труд в нормативных правовых актах Восточной Германии в 1945–1990 гг.

The Constitutions of the states and provinces that were part of the Soviet occupation zone of Germany can be divided into two groups. The Constitutions of Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg and Saxony included a section on basic rights, and also enshrined the right to work. In contrast, the Constitutions of Thuringia and Brandenburg contained neither a section on basic rights nor the right to work. While considering the period 1945-1949 attention should also be paid to the acts of both the Soviet Military Administration in Germany and the German authorities, which, among other things, were aimed at overcoming unemployment, secured the right to form trade unions, regulated the content of the collective agreement, and established measures to improve occupational safety. In the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic of 1949 the right to work was enshrined in Article 15. At the same time, the text of this article shows clear similarities with the norms of the Weimar Constitution, as well as the Constitutions of Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg and Saxony. In the GDR Constitution of 1968, the right to work is enshrined in Article 24. The basic right to work was developed by the provisions of such acts as the Labor Law of 1950, the Labor Code of 1961 and the Labor Code of the GDR of 1977. The GDR Constitution of 1968 and the GDR Labor Code of 1977 establish a legal duty to work. At the same time, in earlier normative legal acts, in particular in the Labor Code of 1961, this duty was characterized by the legislator as moral.

Back-to-Work Order: Outdated legal boundaries of the fundamental labour rights

Back-to-Work Order:Outdated legal boundaries of the fundamental labour rights Aelim Yun (bio) On 24 November 2022 the Owner-Truckers' Solidarity Union (hereafter "TruckSol") went on a national strike. Just after a few hours, President Yoon and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated their intention to issue a 'Back-to-Work Order' to the striking owner-truckers, violation of which carries heavy fines or prison sentences and revocation of licence for trucking transport service. On 29 November, the Korean Government actually issued the Back-to-Work Order to bulk-cement trailer drivers whose strike could disrupt construction work. Even before the strike, the Government has decried owner-operators' collective action as illegal. The public authority has long maintained that owner-operators cannot do legitimate collective action as they are not "employees" under Korean labour laws. Moreover, the Government has directly cracked down on the strike of TruckSol since their collective action could disturb logistics in which large corporations have a dominant position. In this article, I explain legal and political debates over an "employee" under labour regulations in Korea. Further explanation about the criteria for the "legitimate collective action" under labour regulations will follow. In conclusion, I explore the implications of legal tools such as the Back-to-Work Order for suppressing freedom of association and the right to strike. Legal debates over an "employee" in Korea In Korea, an "employee" is entitled to labour law protection. Traditionally, the definition of an "employee" in labour laws was basically interpreted as a person working in an employment relationship. While various indicators regarding the existence of an employment relationship were listed in judicial precedents, the courts traditionally noted such factors as whether the employer exerted direction or supervision over the performance of work, and whether the employer offered remuneration for the price for labour. In other words, many judicial precedents have interpreted the existence of direction/supervision as exerting detailed directions over performance of work, for example, asking whether or not a hirer instructed drivers to take specific roads. Moreover, the courts quite often denied a worker the status of "employee" in cases where the worker owned the work tools such as a truck or provided his/her labour for multiple hirers. Such a narrow interpretation of the employment relationship has contributed to an increase in "bogus self-employed". In the Korean road freight transport sector, for example, most trucking companies forced their drivers to become "independent contractors" since the 1990s. Additionally, the government legitimated previously illicit practices of the trucking transport business in the use of owner-operators through the amendment of the Trucking Transport Business Act (TTBA) in 1997. In such regulatory changes, trucking companies were not required to own trucks or hire drivers, and they just contracted out the entire performance of carriage to other subcontractors or owner-operators. As a result, the trucking transport sector is characterised by a multi-layered structure of subcontracting and the widespread use of owner-operators. A survey in 2020 found that the level above the tri-level of subcontracting accounted for 20.3 percent in the trucking sector. It was also reported in 2018 that these owner-operators accounted for over 91.5 percent of all truck drivers1. As these owner-operators have their own trucks and bear the expenses of the operation of vehicles, they have been regarded as "independent contractors" or the "self-employed". In reality, however, they are dependent on the particular freight transport companies or transport buyers, and they drive trucks by themselves without employing others. Commercial pressures passed down through multi-layered subcontracting lead to reductions in truck drivers' rates. Owner-operators are the most vulnerable, as they often must absorb the costs of ownership, maintenance, and other vehicle-operating costs, while they may not be protected from labour protection such as statutory minimum wage and working hours regulation. Against this, owner-operators attempted to form trade unions to improve their working conditions. In 2002, owner-operators in the trucking transport sector formed a union – called "Cargo Truckers' Solidarity Union" (TruckSol), which was a special branch of the existing union (the Korean Cargo Transport Workers Federation)2. Under Korean labour laws, all...

Coercion, Consent, and Class Consciousness: How Workers Respond to Amazon’s Production Regime

Although the “logistics revolution” has powerfully transformed contemporary capitalism, little is known about how logistics workers view such changes. To address this gap, the authors explore how Amazon’s labor practices shape workers’ orientations toward their jobs and class positions. Using a mixture of in-depth interviews and survey data, the authors find that Amazon’s production regime has contradictory effects on workers’ orientations. Digital surveillance augments managerial coercion, fostering an alienated relation toward work and a heightened sense of exploitation. Yet the company’s ability to hire precariously situated workers supplies it with workers who clearly consent to such labor practices. These results underscore the duality of managerial regimes among warehouse workers and begin to explain the ordeal of union formation, as workers adopt sharply distinct views of the working conditions they confront.

The Paleocene Horse Creek florule, Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, southeastern Montana, USA

We investigated leaf, cone and fruit impressions preserved in a siltstone deposit between coal seams in the late Paleocene Tongue River Member near Otter, southeast Montana, to assess the floristic diversity and composition. We document the presence of Taxodium based on seed cone scales as well as foliage branches and associated pollen cones, and a low-diversity angiosperm assemblage of about 15 genera dominated by Platanaceae (Platanus, Macginitiea, Macginistemon) and Cornales (Cornus, Davidia, Amersinia, Browniea), cf. Trochodendraceae (Zizyphoides, Nordenskioeldia), augmented by Aesculus, Trochodendroides, Ulmites and Porosia. Most of these genera were widespread in the Paleocene of the Northern Hemisphere. The low diversity of this florule is consistent with that of Tiffanian assemblages elsewhere in Montana and Wyoming. The leaf known as Phyllites demoresii Brown is proposed as a likely candidate to correspond with the extinct fruits called Porosia verrucosa (Lesquereux) Hickey emend. Manchester et Kodrul.

Health, Sports, and Authoritarianism in Mexico’s Educational Project, 1930–1940

The objective of this article is to illustrate the changes in the project of physical education and sports in Mexico as it was beginning a process of reconstruction after a revolutionary movement that affected principally rural and peasant communities. The Department of Education incorporated into this project the teaching of sports of Anglo-Saxon origin like track and field while also rescuing dance and folklore to preserve the meaning of being Mexican. That teaching programme was implemented by the Cultural Missions that visited rural communities where the educational authorities perceived backwardness and monotony. The teachers were essential in that project because they became leaders of those rural communities, entrusted with the task of transmitting a proposal for health and physical exercise in which children and adults would spend more time learning outside the classroom, including during sports festivals. In the early years, a link was proposed between the school and the rural community. In contrast, the decade of 1930–1940 saw the emphasis shift to the formation of peasant organizations and labour unions as the ‘body of the nation’ was transformed in response to an authoritarian decision by the Party that transformed physical activity and sports into spectacles presented outside the school.

The meaning of the canonical form of the celebration of marriage since the Second Vatican Council and CIC 1983

The matrimonial agreement is the form through which the institution of marriage and family is born. Both, the Church and the state are called to contribute to the elaboration of those specific conditions by which the notion of the marriage covenant is consolidated and clarified. The form of the marriage celebration is one of the aspects that generated and generates deep analyses and positions in front of what is and represents the way of manifesting the agreement, as well as its role. The crisis of the institution of marriage, the diversity of forms of conjugal union as well as the effects that derive from them, create the specific environment for an analysis and debate that questions the role and function of the canonical form in achieving that conjugal union that is based on the free act, the consent of the bride and groom as the will of the spouses to live together with the requirement to be transformed into a formal act, a legal expression by which the accord of the spouses fulfils all the normative aspects with a view to legal validity and implicitly with a view to the birth of the marriage. In this sense, the pre-conciliar, conciliar and post-conciliar debates reach a unitary expression in the vision of the 1983 Code of Canon Law.

Opting out of Marriage? Factors Predicting Non-Marriage by Midlife across Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

Over the last few decades, a growing proportion of Americans have never married. Factors contributing to adolescent expectations for marriage and the likelihood of non-marriage by midlife, however, remain understudied. We explore attitudinal and economic factors associated with non-marriage among a sample of White, Black, and Hispanic men and women in their early 30s through early 40s. Data are from Waves I, II, IV, and V of Add Health ( n = 7,297). We use logistic regression analysis to assess how adolescent expectations to remain unmarried in adolescence and economic factors in adulthood are associated with never marrying among respondents approaching their fourth decade of life. Negative adolescent expectations regarding marriage are highly predictive of non-marriage in later life, particularly among White adults. Economic factors, such as educational attainment, educational mobility, earnings, and job instability, are more predictive of non-marriage for Black adults, and for men. Our findings suggest how ideational and structural factors challenge the institution of marriage at different times in the life course. Adolescent expectations for marriage are important predictors of subsequent union formation, but economic factors continue to differentiate union outcomes among older adults.

Any Labour Geographies in Urban Theory? Workers Meet Lefebvre and Harvey (Yet Again)

AbstractThis paper examines the urban theory of Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey to construct anurbanperspective on labour geographies. Lefebvre understood work in a work–nonwork continuum beyond binarism, and Lefebvre and Harvey hailed the outpouring of working‐class agency from cities. However, they may have obscured the role of labour movements in urbanisation when identifying the living‐place (such as streets, neighbourhoods, or housing) as the primary seat of urban agency. Learning from labour geographers in the 1990s, I query this ambiguity to enhance the urban theory of Lefebvre and Harvey, conceive of the urban scale as the site ofunfinishedindustrial/urban dialectics, and conceptualise labour agency as a producer of transformative continua in urbanisation. Interpreting Toyota’s factories as rescaled pivots of industrial urbanisation, I explore how Japanese labour movements challenged just‐in‐time production, its union form, and its work/nonwork divides, producing new urbanising continua—even planetary ones—between different transformative agencies.