Economic integration, at both global and regional levels, calls for the redefinition and the reorientation of past practices on the part of social actors in general, and on the part of the trade union movement in particular. If States, international organizations and transnational corporations represent the main vectors of economic integration, other social forces do make themselves heard in new and original ways. The paper sets up a theoretical framework in order to understand and analyze these initiatives. After having briefly reviewed contributions by Leslie Sklair and Douglass C. North on this matter, the authors turn towards two issues: first, the international framework set up after World War II and past practices, second, the present terms of globalization as they affect the transnationalization of trade unions practices. This historical and theoretical presentation is illustrated with references to trade unions initiatives within the Americas, both in the North and in the South, as they have evolved in the wake of NAFTA, MERCOSUR and the FTAA.
Trade union practices; Transnationalization; Globalization