Dockworkers of the World Unite: Worker Power and Trade Union Strategy in a Global Economy By Caitlin Fox-Hodess A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Peter Evans, Chair Professor Dylan Riley Professor Cihan Tugal Professor Richard Walker Summer 2018 Abstract Dockworkers of the World Unite: Worker Power and Trade Union Strategy in a Global Economy by Caitlin Fox-Hodess Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of California, Berkeley Professor Peter Evans, Chair This dissertation examines contemporary transnational organization and strategy among dockworkers unions through a global organizational ethnography of the International Dockworkers Council (IDC), an independent global union organization. The research draws on 80 in-depth interviews and participant observation at a dozen international meetings of union activists, while the analysis relies on nested comparisons. In Part I, Chapter 2 examines the IDC’s regional-level organization in Europe, while chapter 3 examines three European country case studies (Portugal, Greece and England). In Part II, Chapter 4 examines the IDC’s regional- level organization in Latin America, while chapter 5 examines two Latin American country case studies (Chile and Colombia). Olin Wright (2000) and Silver’s (2003) theory of worker power would suggest that dockworkers in general have a high degree of ‘structural power’ – the power accruing to workers as a result of their position in the economic system -- because of their central role in the global circulation of commodities and capital. Nevertheless, I find that dockworkers’ ‘structural power’ is heavily conditioned by the state, suggesting that frameworks that partition the economic basis of worker power off from its political and social basis may be insufficient. Instead, comparative research at the national and regional levels demonstrates that dockworkers’ structural power varies considerably in different parts of the world as a result of differing political and social conditions, with significant consequences for sectoral labor internationalism. Within Europe, dockworkers’ power at the point of production is supported by strong industrial relations frameworks protecting the right to organize and take industrial action free from the threat of state-sanctioned or state-sponsored violence. Consequently, dockworkers have developed a strong regional-level network that provides effective mutual aid during disputes through industrial solidarity at the point of production. In contrast, within Latin America, dockworkers’ structural power in many countries, particularly outside of the Southern Cone, is effectively quite weak, despite their central position in the economic system, as a result of unfavorable industrial relations frameworks and pervasive violence at the national level. As a result, dockworkers have struggled to develop a cohesive regional-level network capable of delivering solidarity actions that are effective in the wide variety of national contexts for trade unionism found within the region. These national and regional-level observations are used to examine the challenges workers face in developing strong, cohesive and effective organizations that are truly global. 1 Dedication For my grandparents, Gertrude and Rubin Hodess, who first instilled in me the value of working-class internationalism. i Acknowledgements As any good union organizer knows, a successful strike or campaign cannot be carried out by a few dedicated individuals alone but instead is always the result of the collective labor of many people whose efforts often go unnoticed. The same is true of a PhD dissertation. This project would never have been possible without the generosity of fellow trade union activists, labor researchers and many others who I’ve had the pleasure of learning with and from over the course of many years. My experiences working with activists from myriad backgrounds within the labor movement have been just as formative for me as my academic training has been and this dissertation is the better for the creative tension generated through weaving in and out of these two worlds. Growing up in a union family with a father who was a blue-collar trade union leader for most of childhood meant that I was immersed in the world of the labor movement for as long as I can remember. I would therefore like to thank my parents, Sue Fox and Aram Hodess, and my paternal grandparents, Gertrude and Rubin Hodess, all union members and life-long activists, for sparking my interest in trade unionism and internationalism from an early age and teaching me the value of solidarity. In addition to parties at the union hall, visits to picket lines and rallies, and fierce debates around the dinner table, I had the opportunity as a young person to learn about the anti-sweatshop movement, the damaging affects of free trade and racism, the value of labor- environmental alliances and feminism, and the legacy of US imperialism in Latin America and beyond. The worldview that these experiences fostered led me to this research project. As a recent college graduate in 2006, I had the good fortune to be placed as a summer intern through the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s Labor Summer program with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), where I went on to work as an organizer in 2006- 2007 on a campaign to organize workers at the Blue Diamond almond factory in Sacramento. The community and labor organizing experiences I gained, as well as the opportunity to organize international solidarity actions in Spain, were formative for me. I will always be grateful to the incredible team of experienced activists in the ILWU’s organizing department who I learned so much from at that time and since: Peter Olney, Carey Dall, Agustin Ramirez, Amy Willis and Marcy Rein. Outside of the academy, no one has had a greater influence on my intellectual trajectory than Peter and so I would particularly like to thank him for his generosity, incisive feedback and many thought-provoking conversations over the years. I returned to graduate school in 2009 after a two-year stint living in Chile and quickly got caught up in the excitement of the post-economic crash student movement. At Berkeley, the organizing energy first generated through the student movement soon coalesced among graduate students into Academic Workers for a Democratic Union (AWDU), a reform caucus within UAW 2865 (the UC Student Workers Union). AWDU’s central principles included a committed to union democracy, a more emboldened approach to contract negotiations and social justice unionism. My experiences as an AWDU activist and elected leader in the union over the course of several years provided an invaluable foundation for thinking through many of the questions that came to the fore in my dissertation research. There are far too many friends and comrades to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for the learning and struggle we underwent together to list here, but foremost among them, I would like to express my deep thanks to Amanda Armstrong-Price, Blanca Misse, Sara Silverman-Smith, Brenda Medina-Hernandez, Nick Kardahji, Shane Boyle, ii Zachary Levenson, Shannon Ikebe, Josh Williams, Adam Hefty, Josh Brahinsky, Duane Wright, Michelle Glowa, Beezer de Martelly, Munira Lokhandwala, Mandy Cohen, Megan Wachpress, Emma Silverman, Sarah Cowan, Jessica Taal, Eli Friedman, Barry Eidlin, Pablo Gaston, Manuel Rosaldo, Jessica Smith, Kfir Cohen, Eran Zelnick, Rachel Lesser, Seth Leibson and Dustianne North. I was also fortunate to have an excellent dissertation committee. Peter Evans, my dissertation chair, has not only provided invaluable guidance over the past nine years but has always done so with a great deal of infectious enthusiasm for the project. In particular, I’ve learned so much from his unparalleled ability to move from international comparative analysis at the national level towards building a genuinely global understanding of contemporary labor issues. It’s no mean feat – particularly for such a senior academic -- to make even the most critical feedback feel supportive and constructive, and Peter is a true role model in this regard. The coursework, teaching assistant work and qualifying exam I did with Dylan Riley provided me with a stellar education in social theory which has informed my dissertation every step of the way. Cihan Tugal has been a steadfast supporter of the project and I’ve appreciated his consistent interest in grounding the research not only in relevant intellectual debates but also in pressing political questions of the day. Dick Walker’s yearlong reading group in Capital gave me the confidence to engage more deeply with political economy and his encouragement to incorporate insights from geography has benefited the project. Finally, my experience at Berkeley would not have been complete without the support and encouragement of close friends and family over the years. In particular, I would like to thank my sister, Ana Fox-Hodess, a fellow trade union activist; my brother-in-law Francisco Nunez; my aunt, Beth Hodess; and dear friends Gowri Viyajakumar, Louise Ly, Lauren Bundy, Zachary Levenson, Carter Koppelman, Josh Williams, Amanda Armstrong-Price and Blanca Misse for everything we’ve shared together. When I began my fieldwork full time in 2013, I never could have anticipated how much I would come to feel part of the International Dockworkers Council’s community of activists from around the world. From the very beginning, I was struck by the warmth, openness and good nature of the group I encountered, and that continues to be true five years later. Traveling on my own across cities, countries and continents for the research could have been a very lonely and trying endeavor, but thanks to the IDC family, I was made to feel at home wherever I went. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who not only gave their time to be interviewed for the project but so often went far above and beyond in sharing their workplaces, union offices and local dockworker haunts with me during my travels.