Transforming the Latin American Automobile Industry. Unions, Workers and the Politics of Restructuring.

TUMAN John P. and MORRIS John T. (eds.), Armonk (N. Y.), M.E. Shape, 1998, 226 p.

This book presents an international comparison of transformations underway in the Latin American automobile industry since the liberalization movement of the 1980s through the prism of two axes. First of all, the evolution of public policy and new production organizational modes in the framework of a free market and regional integration are examined. Next, an analysis centers on the introduction of flexible production methods in work organization and worker relations, new ways of mobilizing the workforce, the attitudes of unions, and salary compromises achieved between unions, firms, and the State. Following a general introduction, specific chapters are devoted to Argentina (Ana Maria Catalano and Marta S. Novick), Brazil (Glauco Arbix and Iram Jácome Rodrigues), Venezuela and the case of Renault (Mauricio Cárdenas P.), Mexico (John T. Morris), in particular its old plants (John P. Tuman), and finally Venezuela (Héctor Lucena). With regard to these two axes, John Morris and John Tuman make several general conclusions.
Regional agreements stimulated exchange within each zone, Nafta, Mercosur, and the Andin Group. These commercial regrou-pings demonstrate the impact of free market exchange agreements and encourage multinationals to adapt their production and regional redistribution systems, at least as an initial step towards eventual globalization. Foreign investments have centered on Mexico and Brazil, and to a lesser extent on Argentina. These countries experienced a high growth level in their production capacities, and as such constitute the main poles of a regional production and distribution structure.
New implantations in Mexico and Brazil avoided central industrial centers and often built "green plants" surrounded by equipment suppliers (often foreign) towards whom a great deal of activity is often transferred so as to reduce salaries. This has given rise to a number of entirely new automobile complexes. Faced with changes in work organization, unions were less enthusiastic than managers and politicians. According to each case involved, they either thwarted or gave bad press to the spread of so-called "Japanese methods". In Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, worker agreement accepting new work organizations was often linked to job level security guarantees or to future of salary policy, especially to State responsibility in agreements established with firms. When State authorities and employers refused to confirm these guarantees, or failed to apply agreements, workers relied on strategies of implementing immediate demands. In the final analysis, corporatist links between unions and the State continue to play an important role in the Latin American context.

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This book presents an international comparison of transformations underway in the Latin American automobile industry since the liberalization movement of the 1980s through the prism of two axes. First of all, the evolution of public policy and new production organizational modes in the framework of a free market and regional integration are examined. Next, an analysis centers on the introduction of flexible production methods in work organization and worker relations, new ways of mobilizing the workforce, the attitudes of unions, and salary compromises achieved between unions, firms, and the State. Following a general introduction, specific chapters are devoted to Argentina (Ana Maria Catalano and Marta S. Novick), Brazil (Glauco Arbix and Iram Jácome Rodrigues), Venezuela and the case of Renault (Mauricio Cárdenas P.), Mexico (John T. Morris), in particular its old plants (John P. Tuman), and finally Venezuela (Héctor Lucena). With regard to these two axes, John Morris and John Tuman make several general conclusions.
	Regional agreements stimulated exchange within each zone, Nafta, Mercosur, and the Andin Group. These commercial regrou-pings demonstrate the impact of free market exchange agreements and encourage multinationals to adapt their production and regional redistribution systems, at least as an initial step towards eventual globalization. Foreign investments have centered on Mexico and Brazil, and to a lesser extent on Argentina. These countries experienced a high growth level in their production capacities, and as such constitute the main poles of a regional production and distribution structure.
New implantations in Mexico and Brazil avoided central industrial centers and often built "green plants" surrounded by equipment suppliers (often foreign) towards whom a great deal of activity is often transferred so as to reduce salaries. This has given rise to a number of entirely new automobile complexes. Faced with changes in work organization, unions were less enthusiastic than managers and politicians. According to each case involved, they either thwarted or gave bad press to the spread of so-called "Japanese methods". In Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, worker agreement accepting new work organizations was often linked to job level security guarantees or to future of salary policy, especially to State responsibility in agreements established with firms. When State authorities and employers refused to confirm these guarantees, or failed to apply agreements, workers relied on strategies of implementing immediate demands. In the final analysis, corporatist links between unions and the State continue to play an important role in the Latin American context.