Strikes in the age of globalisation

The Romanian car manufacturer Dacia, which belongs to the French Renault group, has been on strike since Sunday. The company's 13,000 employees want a slice of the company's growing profits and a 65-percent pay rise. Caterina Nicolae comments: "The demand for a monthly wage of 550 lei [150 euros] is the highest to have been made in Romania in several years. Workers for Ford, Nokia and other multinationals that want to set up production facilities here in Romania will probably learn from Dacia's experiences. However, the multinationals will only stay in Romania as long as the wages don't have a negative impact on their profit margins. If salaries rise to Western levels, these companies will move to cheaper countries - a practice known as 'caravan capitalism'. That's why there's only one solution for the richer French and the poorer Romanians: 'trade unions all over the world, unite!'".

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