From Towns to Hotels: Changes in Mining Accommodation Regimes and Their Effects on Labour Union Strategies

A radical shift in the spatial organization of the global mining industry has occurred over the last three decades. I argue that the shift from the traditional mining town, where workers lived close to the mine, to the new model of long distance commuting, where workers are transported in from distant cities for their shifts, transforms labour union strategies. Drawing on an in-depth case study from Peru, I show that long distance commuting reduces workers’ capacity to mobilize locally by affecting the dynamics in three social spaces: the mining camp, the home and the union hall. Moreover, and in contrast to prior research, I detail how mining unions have developed new compensatory strategies to maintain their bargaining power.