What Fuels Overseas Sit-Down Strikes?

[marmar]

from In These Times:



What Fuels Overseas Sit-Down Strikes?

Friday
January 8
3:18 pm

By Roger Bybee


In sharp contrast to the brass-knuckled capitalism of the U.S., workers in Western Europe enjoy legal protections that corporations must follow before they close or relocate production.

Under the "WARN Act," which was a major leverage point for workers who occupied the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago in December 2008., U.S. workers are merely owed 60 days advance notice of a factory closure. The lack of job protections has allowed employers to shift millions of jobs to the low-wage U.S. South, and increased corporate leverage to ratchet down union wages in the North.

DEPRIVED OF SHIELD—AND SWORD

Not only does U.S. law leave workers without a shield, it also deprives them of one of the most effective swords in stopping shutdowns: the occupation or sit-down strike. A vastly different situation prevails in Europe and elsewhere.

The obligation to meet with workers and public officials to seek alternatives to a shutdown—most notably in Great Britain, Germany, and Sweden—has helped to reinforce the notion that workers' needs are an important societal consideration. In turn, this has contributed to European workers' belief that they, too, have a claim on the resources embodied in a factory. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5392/what_fuels_overseas_sit-down_strikes/