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The Politics of Privatisation and Trade Union Mobilisation: the Electricity Industry in the UK and Argentina

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The Politics of Privatisation and Trade Union Mobilisation: the Electricity Industry in the UK and Argentina Ghigliani, Pablo The Politics of privatisation and trade union mobilisation: The Electricity industry in the UK and Argentina Ghigliani, P (2010). The Politics of privatisation and trade union mobilisation : The Electricity industry in the UK and Argentina. Bern : Peter Lang. (Trade unions past, present and future ; 3). En Memoria Académica. Disponible en: http://www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/libros/pm.646/pm.646.pdf Información adicional en www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar Esta obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ To Mariana, who knows why; to Catalina and Teresa, who will; and to Tecla, who won’t. Contents List of Tables ix List of Abbreviations xi Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter twO Developing the Analytical Framework 7 Chapter three Research Strategies and Methodologies 29 Chapter fOur Privatisation as Counter-Mobilisation 45 Chapter five The Driving-forces of Privatisation in the UK and Argentina 63 Chapter six Comparative Industrial Relations and Mobilisation Theory 75 Chapter seven The Anti-Privatisation Campaigns in the Light of Mobilisation Theory 95 viii Chapter eight List of Tables The Forms of Counter-Mobilisation: The Politics of Money 137 Chapter nine Privatisation and Collective Bargaining 169 Table 1 Detail of Case-Studies 35 Chapter ten Table 2 Distribution of Interviews among Trade Unions 37 Organisational Change, Leadership Styles and Decision-Making 207 Table 3 Main Primary Sources 39 Chapter eleven Table 4 Proceeds from Privatisation, 1990–6 (in US$ millions) 56 Concluding Remarks 241 Table 5 Proceeds from Privatisation, 1979–90 (in £ millions) 57 Table 6 Peronist MPs with Trade Union Background 116 Bibliography 255 Table 7 Percentages of Positive Image of Trade Unions and Privatisation Policy (Opinion Polls) 124 Index 275 Table 8 Mass and Lay Reps Meetings in LyF MDP and LyF CF 132 Table 9 Job Loss in the Electricity Industry between 1990–1 and 1995–6 (United Kingdom) 138 Table 10 Job Loss over the First Year of Privatisation (Argentina) 140 Table 11 Introduction of Company Agreements 171 Table 12 Evolution of Trade Unions Claims Via CIAPs 190 List of Abbreviations AEEU Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union AEU Amalgamated Engineering Union AFJP Aseguradora de Fondos de Jubilaciones y Pensiones APEX Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff ART Aseguradora de Riesgos de Trabajo BEC Branch Executive Committees BIRF Banco Internacional de Reconstrucción y Fomento CCT Convenio Colectivo de Trabajo CEGB Central Electricity Generating Board CGA Comisión General Administrativa CGD Cuerpo General de Delegados CGT Central General de Trabajadores CIAP Comisión Interna Auto-composición del Personal CTA Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina DEBA Dirección de Energía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires DESTUC Divisional Electricity Supply Trade Union Councils EDELAP Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora La Plata EDENOR Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte EDESUR Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Sur EdF Electricité de France EETPU Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbers Union EMA Engineers’ and Manager’s Association EPEA Electrical Power Engineers’ Association ESEBA Empresa Social de la Energía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires ESI electricity supply industry ESOP Employee Stock Ownership Plan xii List of Abbreviations List of Abbreviations xiii ESTUC Electricity Supply Trade Unions Council SWEB South Western Electricity Board FATLyF Federación Argentina de Trabajadores de Luz y Fuerza TEIS Tarifa Eléctrica de Interés Social FeNTOS Federación Nacional de Trabajadores de Obras Sanitarias TGWU Transport and General Workers’ Union FeTERA Federación de Trabajadores de la Energía de la República TTB two-table bargaining Argentina TUC Trade Union Congress FTO Full-time Officer UOCRA Unión Obrera de la Construcción de la República FUSE Federation of Unions Supplying Electricity Argentina GMBATU General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union UOM Unión Obrera Metalúrgica IMF International Monetary Fund WB World Bank IPCTT Internacional de Personal de Correo, Telégrafos y Teléfono YCF Yacimientos Carboníferos Fiscales LyF CF Luz y Fuerza Capital Federal LyF MDP Luz y Fuerza Mar del Plata MNC Multinational Corporations NALGO National and Local Government Officers’ Association NEC National Executive Council NGC National Grid Company NJB National Joint Board NJC National Joint Council NJIC National Joint Industrial Council NJMC National Joint Managerial and Higher Executive Grades Committee NORWEB North West Electricity Board PAG Professional and Administrative Grade PJ Partido Justicialista PPP Programa de Propiedad Participada PRP performance related pay PSBR Public Sector Borrowing Requirement REC Regional Electricity Company SEEB South Eastern Electricity Board SEGBA Servicios Eléctricos del Gran Buenos Aires SOE state-owned enterprise STB single table bargaining Sutecba Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Estado de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires SWALEC South Wales Electricity Chapter One Introduction This book has two main objectives. On the one hand, it aims to explore, empirically, the relationships between privatisation and workers’ collec- tivism. On the other, it is intended as a test of the utility of mobilisation theory for such purposes. As to the former, the research focuses on the privatisation of the electricity supply industry (ESI) in two countries, the United Kingdom (UK) and Argentina, and more specifically, on how pri- vatisation conditioned trade unions’ ability to act and how ESI unions have effectively responded to the privatisation challenge. As for the latter, due to differences in the national contexts, the comparative approach compels the analysis to pay attention to intermediate variables that influence the empirical manifestation of the categories of mobilisation theory; in turn, the scope of the study means to incorporate multiple levels of analysis, whereas most works have confined the theory to the micro-level. The research arose at a point of thematic convergence in the diverse scholarly literature. It comprised studies on the rationale and driving-forces behind the development of privatisation worldwide, and in particular about the privatisation programmes in the UK and in Argentina; the relationships between privatisation and organised labour; and lastly, the use of mobilisa- tion theory in the field of labour studies. The forthcoming chapters review these strands in the litera ture, where appropriate. Still, a few introductory remarks are nec es sary to situate the research. From a mobilisation perspective, the main deficit of the vast main- stream literature on privatisation worldwide is its tendency to approach privatisation as a technical response to an economic problem (Dinerstein 2001). Nevertheless, many scholars have stressed that privatisations were not technically inevitable, but politically driven as part of a wider strategy for overcoming obstacles to capital accu mulation (Cook and Murphy 2002; 2 Chapter One Introduction 3 Dinerstein 2001; Thwaites Rey 1994). In this sense, privatisation is at the Almost all these works share a preference, particularly when they draw heart of a particular phase of capitalist counter-mobilisation. Indeed, for heavily on mobilisation theory, for microanalytical levels. This suggests mobilisation theory, privatisation may be viewed as a counter-mobilising that, as George Gall (2000) stressed in his review of the book Rethinking force in itself, and hence highly disruptive for organised labour. Chapters Industrial Relations, there is still a lack of intellectual engagement with Four and Five will discuss this perspective, concomitantly justifying the the theoretical framework developed by Kelly at meso- and macroanalyti- em pirical focus of the book. cal levels. This research is partly intended as a step toward balancing this As for the relationships between privatisation and labour, scholars deficiency. concentrate mostly on the impact of privatisation on job loss, industrial The core idea of the research is, thus, that a focus on the consequences relations issues and collective bargaining (Báez-Camargo 2002; Cook and of privatisation on organised labour is appropriate to link both levels of the Murphy 2002; Colling and Ferner 1995; Luca 1998; Ferner and Colling mobilisation theory as outlined by Kelly (1998): the long-run account of 1991; 1993a; 1993b; O’Connell Davidson 1993; Hall 2000, 2005; Murillo the alternating periods of workers’ mobilisation and capital counter-mobi- 2001; Ogden 1993; Pendleton and Winterton 1993; Pripstein Posusney lisation and the set of ex planatory categories for the analysis of collective and Cook 2002; Riethof 2002; Van der Hoeven and Sziraczki 1997; Wallis action in the medium- and short-term: opportunity-to-act (or opportu- 2000; among many others). Chapter Three addresses this literature, insofar nity structure), mobilisation / counter-mobilisation, organisation, interest as it relates to the aims of this research. This book, instead, aims to study definition, and collective action. how this type of change (and others) conditions workers’ collectivism, a The research conceptualises privatisation as not only a part of but also topic rather neglected in the literature. in itself a process of counter-mobilisation, which decreased the opportunity Lastly, mobilisation theory, as promoted by Kelly (1998), has been for trade unions to
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