Collective labor relations and juridification: A marriage proposal

Abstract

Contributing to debates over relations between the collective and juridified regulation of labor, this article analyzes a rich case study in the Israeli construction sector to claim that juridification can spur unions and employers’ associations to initiate strategic and inclusive change. By subsuming processes of juridification into traditional IR frameworks and embracing its logic and practices, the corporatist social partners broaden the relevance of collective labor relations to workers otherwise excluded from direct union representation. In this way, while not increasing union density or improving wages, these ‘traditional’ IR actors reassert their monopolistic control over worker and employer representation, as well as over the sectoral labor market.

Conflicting Imperatives? Ethnonationalism and Neoliberalism in Industrial Relations

“…Israel constitutes an ideal case for such an investigation, with its history of strong IR institutions intimately connected to the nationalist state-building project, a firmly "complimentarity" (between new and traditional IR actors) in the context of corporatist IR; Bondy and Preminger (2021) contribute to the literature on juridification, and explore the logics underlying the modes of action of IR actors.…”

“…Farsakh 2005), since the early 1990s it has dramatically increased, as affirmed also by our interviewees (interview 1, 2, 9, 15 and 16), and since the early 2000s, independent litigation has reached an unprecedented scale (interview 1). This form of representation opened space for Palestinian resistance to precarity and exploitation outside the traditional (and exclusionary) collective IR institutions and an alternative path to access their rights (Bondy and Preminger 2021). This form of resistance, which began piecemeal during the 1990s, become a flood in the 6 "Juridification" is "the process of establishing mandatory legal norms that substitute for extra-legal regulation of social or economic relationships" (Mundlak, 2007: 154).…”

“…In taking these steps, the Histadrut reinforces the social citizenship of non-citizen Palestinian workers-not according to an individualized logic of human rights, as promoted by the new IR actors, but according to a collectivist logic, now partially stripped of its exclusionary features. As emphasized by Bondy and Preminger (2021), this inclusion is only partial as the Histadrut still refrains from actively organizing and empowering non-citizen workers, or from addressing their grievances regarding the all-encompassing military control over their lives-the ethnonational imperative. Moreover, by refraining from addressing workers' grievances about the wider constraints on their mobility, the Histadrut also failed to address the recruitment fees, which were illegally collected from Palestinian workers.…”

“…At a national level, Preminger (2017) has analyzed the path to participation within IR institutions for those previously excluded, which he frames in terms of the contradictory imperatives of economic inclusion and political exclusion. Similarly, Sa’ar (2015) analyzed the placement of (citizen) Palestinian women into the workforce, emphasizing the discursive dominance of the idea of workplace participation (the neoliberal imperative to economic inclusion) together with continued ethnonationalist exclusion, in what she calls “exclusionary integration.” Finally, Bondy and Preminger (2021) have investigated the development of non-citizen Palestinians’ inclusion within the traditionally nationalist-exclusive institutions of IR, spurred by Israel’s neoliberal transformation and a new form of social activism. This emerging body of work shares a concern with the extent to which one form of participation or inclusion (economic) can also open space for the emergence of another form (political)—or neutralize efforts to obtain broader citizenship rights.…”

“…Scholars of democratic transitions and regime change, 20th-century corporatism, civil society organizations, and day-to-day union activity have long recognized IR institutions as a bulwark against the impacts of neoliberalism and as an important channel for such citizenship struggles. Therefore, in this article, we not only explore the joint impact of ethnonationalism and neoliberal capitalism on IR institutions and the regulation of the 1 Findings presented in this article are part of a multi-year study, 2015-2018. Material from this study has been published in three articles to date: Bondy (2021a) discussed the relationship between traditional and new IR actors and their impact on the representation of precarious workers; Bondy (2021b) developed the concept of ''complimentarity'' (between new and traditional IR actors) in the context of corporatist IR; and Bondy and Preminger (2021) contributed to the literature on juridification and explored the logics underlying the modes of action of IR actors. employment relationship but also investigate their implications for ''effective citizenship'' and the exercise of rights.…”