Movilización legal: una estrategia sindical con efectos ambivalentes

Abstract

Resumen: Desde la recuperación de la democracia en 1990, la movilización legal se ha vuelto una estrategia clave en el repertorio de acción del movimiento sindical chileno. Los sindicatos recurren cada vez más a la Dirección del Trabajo o los tribunales para contestar el poder de los empresarios y presionar al Estado para lograr cambios en el orden laboral heredado de la dictadura. En base a entrevistas a distintos actores, este artículo evalúa los efectos de este fenómeno para los trabajadores. Defiende que la movilización legal ha permitido a los sindicatos ganar ciertos derechos y ampliar su margen de maniobra en las empresas. Sin embargo, no ha generado cambios sustanciales en el orden laboral chileno. El artículo identifica dos causas de esto: 1) los efectos no deseados del uso de esta estrategia en la fuerza de la organización sindical; 2) los cambios en la orientación de la DT y los tribunales.Abstract: Since the recovery of democracy in 1990, legal mobilization has become a key strategy for the Chilean union movement. Trade unions increasingly turn to the Labor Department or the courts for challenging the employers' power and putting pressure over the State to make changes on the labor order. Based on interviews with different labor actors, this article evaluates the effects of this phenomenon for workers. It argues that legal mobilization has allowed unions to gain certain rights and expand their margin of action in companies. However, this strategy has not produced substantial changes in the inherited labor order. The article identifies two causes of this: 1) the undesirable effects of the use of this strategy on the strength of the trade union organization; 2) changes in the orientation of the Labor Department and the courts.

Repeat Players, the Law, and Social Change: Redefining the Boundaries of Environmental and Labor Governance Through Preemptive and Authoritarian Legality

“…The new law “prohibits the replacement of striking workers” instead of prohibiting the hiring of workers during a strike. This pro‐labor shift in the Supreme Court is also noted in the unificación de jurisprudencia rulings in which workers won nearly 70 percent of their cases in 2014, as compared to 18 percent in 2013; and private employers did not win any cases in 2014, as compared to 45 percent in 2013 (Gutiérrez Crocco and Gutiérrez Crocco ). Procedural changes and a shift in the court's composition have made the courts a more viable option for change for workers.…”

“…In Arica, the ambiguity of precedent did not affect the firm's legal strategy, as it pursued several, arguably frivolous, lawsuits without worrying that they would set a negative precedent. However, the quasi‐binding precedent of unificación de jurisprudencia did play a long‐term role in making the need for legal reform more visible and ultimately in providing a political opening for legal change to happen (Esteban and Matías ; Gutiérrez Crocco and Gutiérrez Crocco ). For example, if a precedent is counter to current cases in which judges do not agree on the interpretation of the law, this tension may be used to support legislative efforts to change the law so that the wording of the code represents its meaning.…”

“…It relied on a preexisting bias within the legal system—a system known to be unfriendly to unionization—in order to oppress the threat that the strike held for the company. Appeals Courts do not have specialized labor training, which some scholars conclude is one of the reasons they tend to rule less favorably for workers (Gutiérrez Crocco and Gutiérrez Crocco ). In addition, the Supreme Court in Chile is known for its conservative and pro‐business stance and formalist interpretation of the law (Couso ; Hilbink ; Gutiérrez Crocco and Gutiérrez Crocco ).…”

“…Appeals Courts do not have specialized labor training, which some scholars conclude is one of the reasons they tend to rule less favorably for workers (Gutiérrez Crocco and Gutiérrez Crocco ). In addition, the Supreme Court in Chile is known for its conservative and pro‐business stance and formalist interpretation of the law (Couso ; Hilbink ; Gutiérrez Crocco and Gutiérrez Crocco ). Second, because the civil law tradition is built on statues and codes, not case law, the firm had little to lose if the case was not interpreted in its favor.…”

The relationship between Unions and Innovation in Chile

“…Moreover, unions assemble more than 20% of the workforce in economic branches such as transportation, financial intermediation, community services, fishing, mining, social services and health (Dirección del Trabajo, 2016b). In most of these branches, union activity has increased over the last decade (Observatorio de Huelgas Laborales, 2018; Gutiérrez and Gutiérrez, 2017).…”