Documento de trabajo
Unable to Shape the Political Arena: The Impact of Poor Quality Employment on Unions in Post-Transition Chile
Fecha
2012Registro en:
Banco Central de Chile. Documentos de Trabajo Nº4 | October 2012
Autor
Sehnbruch, Kirsten
Institución
Resumen
This article examines why, after 20 years of government by a centre-left coalition, the
political position of unions in Chile has probably weakened. The academic literature
has predominantly focused on the political and sociological factors that have shaped
labour legislation and potential reform.
This paper complements these perspectives with empirical evidence and argues that,
in addition to the political and sociological factors that the literature has highlighted,
the increased use of flexible forms of employment makes it impossible for unions to
recover a position of strength with their current methods of organisation and
mobilisation, and therefore concludes that Chile's unions need to find new ways of
acting in the political arena.