Global Production Networks and Labour: Trade Unions in the Automotive Industry of Czechia and Slovakia

This doctoral thesis focuses on the role of labour in global production networks using the example of the automotive industry in Czechia and Slovakia. Drawing on the agent-based approach, I combine the conceptual framework of global production networks with the trade unions' power resources concept to understand the mechanisms which allow labour to improve working conditions within the integrated periphery of global automotive industry production networks. I base my evidence on qualitative interviews with trade unions' representatives operating at final assembly firms and suppliers, and I complement them with other respondents, such as company managers, sector level and regional level labour union representatives. I conclude that trade unions in the integrated periphery are structurally weak, which poses challenges for future industry development in terms of employment impacts related to decarbonization strategies and the ongoing digitalization of production. The doctoral thesis is composed of four publications where I study trade union strategies and responses related to upcoming changes in the automotive industry. KEY WORDS Automotive industry, trade unions, labour, global production networks, Czechia, Slovaki