While democratization translates labor's suppressed grievances into expectation, neoliberal globalization limits options available to the democratic regime. This kind of contradiction aggravates as the left comes into state power. In Chile, it was und...
While democratization translates labor's suppressed grievances into expectation, neoliberal globalization limits options available to the democratic regime. This kind of contradiction aggravates as the left comes into state power. In Chile, it was under the left government when the general strike broke out for the first time since the start of democratization and the radical forces within the labor movement initiated anti-government mobilization, resulting in organizational split. It is the aim of this study to explain labor's dilemma under the left government by analyzing the reason why labor movement engaged in the general strike against the left government and the process how the organized labor got divided.
Contrary to the findings of preceding studies, Chilean workers went through decline in unionization rate and collective contract coverage rate as well as worsening labor conditions including rampant massive dismissals and irregularization of labor force. The ever-accelerating workers' expectation couldn't avoid severe sense of betrayal. Since the source of troubles lie in the economic-labor policies of the left government, workers' discontent came to burst into the general strike.
Labor's outraged struggle, however, fell short of success, and it represents the dilemma which labor faced under the left government. If the labor's struggle entails successful mobilization, it verifies the lack of governing capacity in the left party and brings about socioeconomic instability, which mights ends up with the ascendency of moderate forces inside the Concertacion as well as the strengthening of anti-Concertacion rightist parties. On the other hand, labor's attempt of general strike finds difficulty in mobilization, because unionization rate fell to ground and polarization between unionized regular workers and ununionized irregular workers within the Chilean working class.