The Makings of a Paradox: Unionization of Subcontracted Labor in Chilean Copper Industry

Latin American labor power has decreased dramatically in the 1990’s. In spite of this phenomenon, Chilean subcontracted laborers in the copper industry organized and forced the government to increase social protection for temporary workers. What circumstances allowed for the successful unionization? I argue that the unionization of subcontracted workers is due to a change in the labor institutions and group solidarity. I evaluate the case of subcontracted laborers in the Chilean copper industry from 1990 until 2008, demonstrating how the interaction of endogenous circumstances at the El Teniente mine with national political changes created favorable conditions for the unionization of subcontracted workers.