This education module on capital mobility explains the capitalist crisis, and assesses the impact of capital mobility on workers and trade unions. The module also provides stories of workers in the global supply chains and their struggles.
This book describes the struggles of workers fighting for their basic rights in the electronics industry with a focus on the operations of Samsung Electronics and its Asian suppliers, including those in South Korea, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan. It also discusses the overall situation of the electrical appliance and electronics industries in Japan where workers have been hit hard by factories relocations.
The book provides an analysis that capital mobility has become major and underlying factor of the precarity of workers in Asia. The chapters - case studies on Japan, China, Philippines and Thailand - illustrate that workers’ collective bargaining power has declined which can be seen in the intensification of irregularisation, union busting actions, company closures, and massive dismissal of workers reported across the region. In many cases, this condition has resulted in the weakening of militancy of workers in countries that used to be dynamic actors in the labour rights movement.
This meeting took place 6 months after the first researchers meeting and it was along with ATNC Annual conference in the Philippines in September 2010. Following the meeting earlier, the researchers investigated the financialisation process in two sectors namely automotive and electronics. And those findings were shared and discussed in the second meeting.
This meeting was facilitated by AMRC to bring together NGOs, trade unions and activists from 10 countries in Asia to discusses the significance and trend of capital mobility, covering the situation before and after the global financial crisis. The discussion exercises over arching issues of mobile capital in East Asia, including financialisation of the economy, global supply chains and trends in policy measures. The report tries to touch upon trends and patterns of capital flow in various sectors, its impact on workers, and the possible explanations.