The return of the shop-floor unionism in the 2000s. On two Argentine experiences

Abstract

In this paper we try to show the importance that the presence and the activity of the trade union structures in the workplace has in Argentina. This way, we present some fundamental milestones in which the trade union delegates have been involved throughout decades. Particularly we will stop in the events in the 2000s, moment of return of the shop-floor trade union activity. We will show and analyze two paradigmatic cases of last decade: the struggle of the Buenos Aires underground shop stewards and the conflict developed by the Hospital Garrahan workpeople (one of the most important pediatric hospices of the country). To finish we examine the principal sources of power of these trade union structures, which have allowed and they even allow numerous trade union and political advances.