Labour politics in East and Southeast Asia

In East and Southeast Asia, trade unions find themselves in very different relationships with the state, from full incorporation (Singapore) to pluralist competition (Indonesia), marginalisation and exclusion (Malaysia and Thailand). In this paper we will outline the political role organised labour has taken on a range of policy issues including the minimum wage (Indonesia); migrant workers and productivity (Malaysia, Singapore); precarious employment (The Philippines); labour struggles and social movements (Thailand); industrial disputes and the role of unofficial worker representatives in challenging established communist institutions (Vietnam); and claims for distributive justice (Taiwan). We argue that this cross-examination confirms that industrial democracy and development remain a useful heuristic for the study of labour in the region and supports the view that states play a dominant role of 'pacification', with capitalist 'accumulation' being the primary motive and labour conditions subordinated to that agenda.

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22nd Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia: area studies and bBeyond

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