Labour as a Transnational Actor: Alliances, Activism and the Protection of Labour Rights in the Philippines and Pakistan

This article highlights how and why the dynamics of transnational labour activism are not fully captured in theories of transnational advocacy networks (TANs). The article develops a new theoretical framework for analysing labour transnationalism that takes into account the unique capacity of workers to physically disrupt production by withdrawing their labour (structural power) and the unique capacity of organized labour to invoke employment relations institutions at the national and international levels (institutional power). It demonstrates the utility of this theoretical framework through an analysis of transnational labour campaigns spearheaded by factoryworkers in the Philippines and Pakistan. The case studies reveal that while transnational labour alliances (TLAs) do share some characteristics in commonwith TANs, themechanisms through which TLAs sustain and escalate transnational campaigns can only be understood with reference to the unique structural and institutional capacities of labour.