The ‘iron law of oligarchy’ and North-South relations in global union organisations: a case study of the International Dockworkers Council’s expansion in the Global South

Abstract

Global union organisations face recurrent organisational challenges concerning 1) the tendency towards bureaucratisation and oligarchy as they operate at increasing scales and 2) the tendency to reinscribe unequal relations of power between trade unions in the Global North and the Global South. This double problem is investigated through a case study of the International Dockworkers Council (IDC), an independent global union organisation, which underwent a period of rapid expansion in the Global South, particularly in Latin America, in the 2010’s. The IDC has been remarkably successful in adapting its organisational model, developed in Europe, to the Latin American context, building an effective regional-level organisation of rank-and-file activists while relying more heavily than in Europe on a regional coordinator as denser relationships within the regional network develop. At the same time, at the global level, the story is somewhat more mixed. Latin American activists have the autonomy to develop and carry out their own priorities with appropriate financial, industrial and technical support from the global organisation. Yet, the Global South’s influence on shaping the global organisation as a whole is less evident. In addition, organisational changes brought about by global expansion raise concerns about bureaucratisation and oligarchy at the global level.