Transnationalised labour struggle – workers’ conflict on the move? The case of striking truck drivers in Gräfenhausen

While transnationalisation of work typically has been to the advantage of capitalists, hopes have been uttered that workers could also organise and act transnationally. Yet until now the successes of transnational labour struggles have been limited. This article, however, presents a case where workers successfully used the transnational dimension of work as well as international value chains in their collective action. By drawing on both transnational labour governance and the transnational dimensions of their labour struggle, a group of striking truck drivers and their supporters managed to secure the payment of outstanding wages. Power ressources theory contributes to explain how this success was possible by the interaction with existing institutions and organisations, including unions that went outside their normal modus operandi to accommodate the workers’ struggle.

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Publication Details

Journal
VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet)
Published
2026-01-01
Primary Topic
Labor Movements and Unions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Transnationalised labour struggle – workers’ conflict on the move? The case of striking truck drivers in Gräfenhausen

Georg Barthel, Bjarke Refslund
VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet)
Labor Movements and Unions
article

Transnationalised labour struggle – workers’ conflict on the move? The case of striking truck drivers in Gräfenhausen

Georg Barthel, Bjarke Refslund
article en

Abstract

While transnationalisation of work typically has been to the advantage of capitalists, hopes have been uttered that workers could also organise and act transnationally. Yet until now the successes of transnational labour struggles have been limited. This article, however, presents a case where workers successfully used the transnational dimension of work as well as international value chains in their collective action. By drawing on both transnational labour governance and the transnational dimensions of their labour struggle, a group of striking truck drivers and their supporters managed to secure the payment of outstanding wages. Power ressources theory contributes to explain how this success was possible by the interaction with existing institutions and organisations, including unions that went outside their normal modus operandi to accommodate the workers’ struggle.

VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet)
Decent work and economic growth
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Labor Movements and Unions
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