Transnational organizing: a case study of contract workers in the Colombian mining industry

NoThis article examines recent organising successes in the Carbones del Cerrejón coal mine, reversing the organisational crisis of the Colombian mining union, Sintracarbon. Using Wever's concept of ‘field-enlarging strategies’, we argue that these events were facilitated by the dissemination of organising experiences between affiliates of a Global Union Federation, International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which recently merged to form IndustriALL. Additionally, we argue that this articulation between international and national unions, based on the principle of subsidiarity, was facilitated through sustained ICEM educational project activity, providing multiple entry points for Sintracarbon to operationalise its strategy and re-establish bargaining with multinational employers

Managing European cormorant-fisheries conflicts: problems, practicalities and policy

This article focuses on transboundary conflicts between great cormorants, Phalacrocorax carbo L., and European fisheries interests. Two races of this species commonly occur in Europe; the ‘Atlantic’ Phalacrocorax carbo carbo and the ‘Continental’ P. c. sinensis. This migratory fish-eating bird has steadily expanded its European range and many consider this a nature conservation success. However, fishery representatives see the birds as harmful to their business and way of life, considering European Union (EU) legislation to be blocking the most intuitive and effective solution to the cormorant problem, namely co-ordinated, pan-European population reduction. This article argues that cormorant-fisheries conflicts and their resolution and management cannot be characterised as, or reduced to, a simplistic ‘pan-European’ vs ‘local’ argument. The nature of cormorant-fisheries conflicts is explored, key issues of cormorant ecology examined, and consideration is given to how impacts on fisheries might be measured. Discussions then focus on whether current policy prevents balanced and constructive solutions or whether better use of available instruments at local-national levels could actually be a vital step to a sustainable management solution