When Does the Police Repress Workers? Police Action during Strikes in Chile

This article studies the responses of the Chilean state to labor strikes through police actions. It analyzes 552 strikes taking place between 2010 and 2015 and collected by the Labor Strike Observatory (UAH-COES). The results suggest that the decision of whether or not to send policemen to protest s...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Velásquez Orellana, Diego, Somma, Nicolás
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/68277
Acceso en línea:https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/rmcpys/article/view/68277
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:represión policial
huelga laboral
posición estratégica
trabajadores externos
Chile.
police repression
labor strike
structural power
outsourcing workers
Descripción
Sumario:This article studies the responses of the Chilean state to labor strikes through police actions. It analyzes 552 strikes taking place between 2010 and 2015 and collected by the Labor Strike Observatory (UAH-COES). The results suggest that the decision of whether or not to send policemen to protest sites is shaped by political- economic considerations aimed at protecting the production of companies. Specifically, the chances of police presence increase for strikes taking place in strategic economic areas, involving a larger number of protesters, demanding workers’ control of the productive process and employing disruptive tactics (beyond the strike itself). Once policemen are present, they act more violently the more workers involved, the more disruptive their tactics and the more outsourcing workers are among the protesters.