Globalization and trade union strategy: industrial restructuring and humanresource management in the international civil aviation industry

For trade unions, the central problematic of globalization is the growing d isparity between the mobility of capital and labour. The ability of capital to operate on a trans-national basis is widely perceived to have precipita ted a process of cost cutting as international companies seek to cut worker s' remuneration and other conditions of employment. However, systematic emp irical evidence on the impact of globalization on human resource management is hard to find, as is any assessment of the differential impact of global ization on different occupational groups or the response of trade unions to any deterioration in their members' terms and conditions of employment. Fo cusing on the international civil aviation industry, we examine the effects of globalization on human resource management and the national and interna tional strategies developed by organized labour in response. Although the e vidence suggests that there is indeed a concerted effort by major airlines to cut costs, trade unions have been able to retard the pace of change and effectively defend the interests of some occupational groups. Moreover, the future course of globalization will be contested through new international strategies and repertoires of collective action developed by the trade uni on movement.