VOLKSWAGEN STRIKE (1979): THE AWAKENING OF A NEW UNIONISM, METHODS OF CONTROLLING THE WORKING CLASS LIFE

Abstract

From the starting point of the causes that lead to the metalworking employees strikes in 1979, this paper investigates the information and control networks created by the company to monitor and punish workers, and also seeks to understand the logic of support and cooperation developed between public and private agents. Its macro objective is to analyse the consequences of the economic and political crisis of the late 1970s and early 1980s and to study the elements that helped consolidate the methods and practices of a new trade unionism and, as a specific objective, to analyse the documents produced by the Volkswagen Safety Department in collaboration with state agents.