Occupations, not Occupy!. (October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gall, Gregor
• Is Part Of: Capital & class. Volume 42:Number 3(2018)
• Page Start: 393
• Page End: 401
• Publication Date: 2018-10
• Subjects: industrial action -- occupations -- redundancy -- strikes -- unions; Economics -- Periodicals; Socialism -- Periodicals; 330.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0309816818785083
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0309-8168

Abstract

Although vastly outnumbered by strikes, workplace occupations were a relatively well-used tactic in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, because they allowed workers to exercise more influence from inside the workplace than outside the workplace. Yet the tactic has been little used in the new millennium when workplace closures abounded. A successful occupation by workers at Burntisland Fabrications in late 2017 is used as a lens by which to reconsider the tactic's utility and the frequency of its usage. This is critical to understanding the specific contexts of when the process of occupation can result in a positive outcome for workers as well as for what particular purposes it is now used.