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UNION ELECTIONS AND DEMOCRACY IN MEXICO: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

1982; Wiley; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1467-8543.1982.tb00098.x

1467-8543

Mark R. Thompson, Ian Roxborough,

Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America

British Journal of Industrial RelationsVolume 20, Issue 2 p. 201-217 UNION ELECTIONS AND DEMOCRACY IN MEXICO: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE Mark Thompson, Mark Thompson Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of British Columbia.Search for more papers by this authorIan Roxborough, Ian Roxborough Department of Sociology, London School of Economics.Search for more papers by this author Mark Thompson, Mark Thompson Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of British Columbia.Search for more papers by this authorIan Roxborough, Ian Roxborough Department of Sociology, London School of Economics.Search for more papers by this author First published: July 1982 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1982.tb00098.xCitations: 5AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL REFERENCES 1 We wish to acknowledge financial assistance for this project from the Social Science Research Councils in New York and London, respectively, and adminstrative support from the Centro de Estudios Sociológicos, El Colegio de México. Valuable research assistance was provided by Tomáas Martines Sánchez and Miguel Zenker. This paper benefited considerably from comments on earlier versions at a seminar sponsored by the Centro de Estudios Sociológicos and at the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, 1979, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, and from Professor Kenneth Coleman, Department of Political Science, University of Kentucky. All views expressed here are the responsibility of the authors. 2 Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Industrial Democracy, London: Longmans, 1901. 3 John Hemingway, Conflict and Democracy: Studies in Trade Union Government, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978, p. 4. 4 Martin Lipset, ‘ The Political Process in Trade Unions: A Theoretical Statement, in Walter Galenson and Seymour Martin Lipsett (eds.), Labor and Trade Unionism: an interdisciplinary reader, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1960, p. 216. 5 See, for example, Seymour, Martin Lipset, Martin Trow, James Coleman, Union Democracy, Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1962; 6 or Lloyd Ulman, The Government of the Steel Workers' Union, New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1962. The United Mine Workers in the U. S. during the 1970's was transformed from a highly oligarchical union into one whose national leadership could exercise little influence or control over the membership. 6 The classic study of these issues is: Robert Michels, Political Parties, New York: Dover Publications, 1959 (ed.); a summary of subsequent research is Lipset, ‘The Political Process in Trade Unions: A Theoretical Statement’, loc cit.. 7 George Strauss, ‘Union Government in the U. S.: Research Past and Future’, Industrial Relations, Vol. 16, No. 2, May 1977, pp. 240– 241. 8 For instance, William A. Faunce, ‘Size of Locals and Union Democracy’, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. XVIII, No. 3, November 1962, p. 297; 10 Arnold S. Tannenbaum and Robert L. Kahn, Participation in Union Locals, Evanston, III.: Row Petersen, 1958, p. 200; 11 but see Roderick Martin, ‘Union Democracy: An Explanatory Framework’, Sociology, Vol. 2, No. 2, May 1968, pp. 205– 220. 9 J. David Edelstein and Malcolm Warner, Comparative Union Democracy: Organization and Opposition in British and American Unions, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1975. 10 J. David Edelstein and Malcolm Warner, ‘Research Areas in National Union Democracy, Industrial Relations, Vol. 16, No. 2, May 1977 p. 189. 11 Mark Thompson, ‘Collective Bargaining in the Mexican Electrical Industry’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. VIII, No. 1, pp. 55– 68. 12 Statements of this view include: José Luis Reyna, ‘ Redefining the Authoritarian Regime’, in Jose Reyna and Richard Weinert, (eds.) Authoritarianism in Mexico, Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1977, pp. 155– 172; 16 Evelyn P. Stevens, ‘ Mexico's PRI: The Institutionalization of Corporatism?’ in James M. Malloy (ed.) Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, Pa., 1977, pp. 227– 258, esp. p. 232; 17 Manual Camacho, ‘ Control sobre el movimiento obrero en México’, in Centro de Estudios Internacionales, Las Fronteras del Control del Estado Mexicano, Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico, 1976, pp. 83– 114. 13 Cf Lorenzo Meyer, ‘ Historical Roots of the Authoritarian State in Mexico, in Authori-tarianism in Mexico, loc. cit., pp. 33– 34. 19 Julio Cotler, ‘ State and Regime: Comparative Notes on the Southern Cone and the ‘Enclave’ Societies,’ in David Collier, (ed.), The New Authoritarianism in Latin America. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1979, p. 270; 20 Francisco Zapata, ‘ Las organizaciones sindicales,’ in Ruben Katzman and Luis Reyna Jose, (eds.), Fuerza de Trabajo y Movimientos Laborales en América Laiina, Mexico City: El Colegio de México, 1979, p. 214. 14 For example, Silvia Gómez Tagle and Marcelo Miguet, ‘ Integration o democracia sindical: el caso de los electricistas,’ in Tres Estudios Sobre el Movimiento Obrero en México, Jornadas 80, Mexico City: El Colegio de México, 1976, pp. 151– 199. 15 Cf Mark Thompson, ‘ The Development of Unionism in the Mexican Electrical Workers’, unpublished dissertation, Cornell University, 1966; 23 Howard Handelman, ‘Oligarchy and Democracy in Two Mexican Labor Unions: A Test of Representation Theory’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 30, No. 2, January 1977, pp. 205– 214. 16 Edelstein and Warner, ‘ Research Areas in National Union Democracy’, loc cit., pp. 187– 188; 25 Edelstein and Warner, Comparative Union Democracy, loc cit., p. 65. 17 See, Thompson, ‘ Collective Bargaining in the Mexican Electrical Industry,’ loc. cit.. 18 For a brief description of this union, see Frederic Meyers, ‘ Party, Government and the Labour Movement in Mexico: Two Case Studies,’ in Arthur M. Ross, (ed.), Industrial Relations and Economic Development, London: Macmillan, 1966, pp. 146– 152. 19 The experience of the Dina union and Local 200 of the Miners among others, is reviewed in Victor Novelo and Augusto Urteaga, La industria en los magueyales: Trabajo y sindicatos en Ciudad Sahagun, Mexico City; Editorial Nueva Imagen, 1979. 20 Unlike North America, the phrase ‘company union’ does not refer to the quality of representation by a union in Mexico, only the extent of its representation. The Mexican equivalent of the North American ‘company union’ is ‘white union’, (sindicato blanco), i. e. a union dominated by management. In fact, some Mexican unions choose to be independent company unions to avoid incorporation in and domination by larger federations or national industrial unions. 21 For similar findings from a large sample of Canadian local unions, see John C. Anderson, ‘A Comparative Analysis of Local Union Democracy’, Industrial Relations, Vol. 17, No. 3, October 1978, p. 287. 22 Interestingly, the GM union passed through these stages and then regressed to a less structured form of politics. The 1977 elections featured twelve slates, with considerable duplication of candidates. 23 A. Urteaga, ‘ Los Sindicatos de sahagun’, unpublished Masters Thesis, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia, Mexico City, 1977; 33 Novelo and Urteaga, La industria de los magueyales: Trabajo y sindicatos en Ciudad Sahagun, loc cit., pp. 158– 160. 24 Officers of a local representing steelworkers at Las Truchas, Mich., were expelled because they lacked the required four years' seniority in the Union. Since the local was barely four years old, and had grown rapidly, most members were effectively deprived of the right to hold office. Ian Bizberg, ‘Origen y desarrollo de la seccion 271 del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros y Metalurgicos de la República Mexicana,’ unpublished manuscript, El Colegio de México, n. d., pp. 55– 58. 25 Cf Silvia Gómez Tagle and Marcelo Miquet, ‘ Integración o Democracia Sindical: El Caso de los Electricistas’, loc cit.. 26 Cf Angel Fojo, ‘ Estudio de un conflicto industrial: el caso Automex.’ Mimeo, 1973. 27 For any union with a closed shop agreement, expulsion normally carries automatic loss of a job since union membership is a condition of employment. 28 See El Nacional, April 24, 1976. 29 Excelsior, May 14, 1976. 30 Thompson, ‘ The Development of Unionism in the Mexican Electrical Industry’, loc. cit. pp. 247– 248. 31 Edelstein and Warner, Comparative Union Democracy, loc. cit., p. 96. 32 Tenure of Union Officers’, Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 94, No. 2, February 1971, p. 62. 33 Karen S. Koziara, ‘Landrum-Griffin and Union President Turnover. Industrial Relations, Vol. 11, No. 1, February 1972, pp. 118– 119. 34 Gary N. Chaison and Joseph B. Rose, ‘An Analysis of Annual Turnover Rates for Canadian Union Presidents’, Relations Industrielles, Vol. 32, No. 4, 1977, p. 557. 35 William A. Faunce, ‘Size of Locals and Union Democracy’, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. LXVII. No. 3, November 1962. p. 296. 36 Edelstein and Warner, Comparative Union Democracy, loc. cit., pp. 190– 193. 37 See Handelman Oligarchy and Democracy in Two Mexican Unions: A Test of Representation Theory,’ loc. cit.. 38 Henry Landsberger, ‘ The Limits and Conditions of Peasant Participation in Mexico: A Case Study’, in William P. Glade and Stanley R. Ross, (eds.) Criticas constructivas del sistema politico mexicano, Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, 1973, pp. 87– 94. 39 The most notable study emphasising these variables is Lipset, Trow– Coleman, Union Democracy, loc. cit.. 40 Arnold S. Tannenbaum and Robert L. Kahn, Participation in Union Locals, loc. cit., pp. 180– 185. 41 Ibid., p. 185 and Andersen, ‘ A Comparative Analysis of Local Union Democracy,’ loc. cit., pp. 281– 289. 42 Thompson, ‘ Collective Bargaining in the Mexican Electrical Industry’, loc. cit.. Citing Literature Volume20, Issue2July 1982Pages 201-217 ReferencesRelatedInformation