Building Power from Below: Chilean Workers Take On Walmart

197 Pages·2017·1.947 MB·English

by  Carolina Bank Muñoz

Building Power from Below

Building Power
from Below
Chilean Workers Take On Walmart
Carolina Bank Muñoz
ILR Press
an imprint of
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2017 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2017 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bank Muñoz, Carolina, 1975– author.
Title: Building power from below : Chilean workers take on Walmart /
Carolina Bank Muñoz.
Description: Ithaca : ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press,
2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017011395 (print) | LCCN 2017013993 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501714689 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501714771 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781501712883 | ISBN 9781501712883 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781501712890 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Wal-Mart (Firm)—Employees—Labor unions—
Organizing—Chile. | Discount houses (Retail trade)—Employees—
Labor unions—Organizing—Chile. | Labor unions—Organizing—
Chile. | Labor movement—Chile.
Classification: LCC HF5429.215.C5 (ebook) | LCC HF5429.215.C5 .B36
2017 (print) | DDC 331.88/113811490983—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017011395
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible
suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing
of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks
and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly
composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website
at cornellpress.cornell.edu.
Cover design: Richanna Patrick
For the Chilean Walmart workers who have dedicated their lives to
organizing from below.
For Emilio who on a daily basis gives me hope for the future.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Acronyms xiii
1. Beating the Bully 1
2. Walmart in Chile 27
3. Leveraging Power: Two Models of Successful Unionism 56
4. Strategic Democracy: Walmart’s Warehouse Workers 86
5. The Flexible Militancy of Walmart Retail Workers 108
6. Looking Back and Going Forward 134
References 157
Index 169

Acknowledgments
All research projects benefit from the participation and encouragement
of many different people and institutions, this project is no different.
This book would never have come to fruition without the participation
of dozens of Walmart Chile workers, union leaders, and suppliers. I am
indebted to all those workers who took many hours out of their busy
schedules to allow me to interview them, observe their workplace envi-
ronment, and participate in union meetings. I am especially thankful to
Sandra Neida, Natalia Duque, Cristian González Santibáñez, Juan Ver-
gara, Esteban Zúñiga, Rodrigo Villagra, and Jorge Pizarro who not only
opened doors, but a whole new world. I would also like to thank organiz-
ers and researchers at the UFCW who put me in initial contact with peo-
ple in the Chilean labor movement. Although I am often critical of the
union, it comes from a deep commitment to building a better labor move-
ment in the United States.
Over the course of five years, I have participated in two different
writing groups. Tamara Mose and Greg Smithsimon—my colleagues at