Beyond multinationalism

While there has been continuing debate about the operations of foreign firms in Third World countries, there has been practically no research on the actual impact of multinational companies on industrial relations in the Third World. Establishing a new
level of analysis, this book provides a detailed comparison of employment conditions and labour relations in establishments of the same multinationals in Europe and India. It draws on several years of contact with managers and trade unionists, using information not available elsewhere in published form.
The study demonstrates that foreign companies in Bombay have created a section of the labour force whose combative and seIf-
reliant styles of unionism are rooted in their consciousness of working for international firms. On the other hand, it also shows that
conditions in the European and Indian plants of the same companies diverge considerably. This is related to a headquarters
management strategy (which the authors call 'multi nationalism') of insulating crucial decisions on restructuring and investment
(which are internationally centralized) from collective bargaining (which continues to be fragmented). The authors argue that while
multinationals have created the basis for an international trade union movement, their way of handling the labour relations func-
tion prevents this potential from being .realised; hence the importance of trade union responses which attempt to go beyond multinationalism. The outcome of a uniquely practical research process, this book addresses issues which are of concern to internationa1 managements; managers in Third World subsidiaries; trade unionists; a wide range of academics (particularly those concerned with industrial relations and labour and social conditions); and anyone at all concerned about the contemporary evolution of the Third World.