Radnička (ne)moć u automobilskoj industriji u Srbiji: fabrički režimi rada i razgradnja strukturne moći radništva

Abstract

Rad pokušava eksplorativno da osvetli nemoć radništva u pogledu promene sopstvenog lošeg položaja u automobilskoj industriji u Srbiji. U radu se tvrdi da sklop odnosa između podružnica, centrala, klijenata i dobavljača u industriji generiše određene elemente režima rada u pojedinim fabrikama koje smanjuju, sakrivaju i fragmentišu strukturnu moć radništva. U tim okolnostima, poslovodstvo može da primenjuje tehnike intenziviranja proizvodnje i učestalog oslanjanja na prekovremeni rad bez otpora radništva. Primenom koncepata teorije resursa moći, režima rada, globalnih proizvodnih mreža, i globalnih lanaca vrednosti, u radu se situira odnos između različitih preduzeća koja čine tu industriju, i radništva u Srbiji. Konkretni elementi režima rada kojim se postižu ovi efekti zavise od pozicije firme u automobilskoj industriji i njene poslovne strategije, što dovodi do heterogene situacije unutar i između fabrika analiziranih u ovom radu. Organizacija proizvodnje dovodi i do mogućnosti rasta, otkrivanja, i ukrupnjavanja latentne ili neiskorišćene strukturne moći, i u radu su identifikovane neke njene instance. Na osnovu te analize, u zaključku su ponuđene smernice za dalje istraživanje koje se tiču povezivanja analize industrije sa njenim širim socijalnim okruženjem, preciznije i sistematičnije analize same industrije, i položaja i uloge sindikata u odnosu između rada i kapitala u automobilskoj industriji u Srbiji.

Workers’ rights are systematically violated in Serbia. On the other hand, the perception of these violations does not lead to sustained attempts at building workers’ power that could resist these violations and change their working conditions. This paper explores the industry-engendered conditions that inhibit the building of workers’ power by looking at four automotive subsidiaries of foreign companies in Serbia. This is done by identifying several ways in which the relationships between subsidiaries, headquarters, clients, and suppliers inhibit sources of workers’ power, in particular their structural power. The paper employs the conceptualization of sources of workers’ power developed in the tradition of power resource theory: structural, associational, institutional, and societal. In particular, the focus is on the structural source of power as it is most closely related to the point of production: structural power refers to the power that can be generated by the position of workers in the labor market, and by their position in the organization of production - within particular factories and the network of relations between different companies in the industry. Four automotive subsidiaries of foreign investors in Serbia are analyzed to identify labor regimes they set up, and the elements of those labor regimes that are constituted in relationship with the headquarters, their clients, and suppliers. Labor regimes refer to the wider social set-up in which the relationship of exploitation is embedded. These labor regimes, and the inter-firm relationships that engender the elements of those regimes, constitute the strategic environment in which workers’ power would be built, and engender the problems for various segments of the workforce that building workers’ power could address. These four subsidiaries differ in their position in the global production networks of the automotive industry and are caught up in different governance patterns as conceptualized by the global value chains approach. Several ways in which the structural power of workers is decomposed are identified, which operate in different ways depending on the position of the particular subsidiary in the automotive industry and vis-a-vis its headquarters and clients, as well as related to their business and management practices. Subsidiaries of large multinational companies compete with other subsidiaries in other countries to get assigned the execution of contracts struck by the headquarters. Production lines are prone to being moved between different subsidiaries, thus giving rise to the more targeted threat of production relocation. Decision-making on the composition and parameters of particular production lines can be divided between the company headquarters and clients. Companies can locate various business functions at the same plant, positioning different segments of the workforce in different chains of command and supply to different clients, thus generating further differentiation of problems those groups face. Companies coordinate over wages through following labor market research which defines global pay grades for different job positions in different geographic locations. The flow of information about the production processes and business strategies between the management and workers is minimal. These and other elements contribute to diminishing, obscuring, and fragmenting the structural power of workers, which allows for techniques of forced overtime and work intensification to be implemented unopposed. This also helps in preventing workers from acting upon the increases in their latent structural power, which could arise from the importance of a particular group of workers for performing a particular production process, accumulation of useful knowledge about the place of particular production processes in wider employers’ business strategies, or logistical difficulties of shifting different production processes, or the spread of general problems that might make it easier for workers to identify common interests toward which realization they can direct the building of workers’ power. The paper concludes by identifying ways in which the automotive industry in Serbia can be studied in greater depth to identify more precisely conditions in which latent structural power can rise, and in which the study of industry can be linked to other relevant societal and environmental processes that can generate increase in other sources of workers power, resources, and capabilities for defending and furthering their interests.