Unions and corporate social responsibility in a liberal market context: The case of Ford’s shutdown in Australia

Abstract

Within many coordinated market economies, labour unions have demonstrated to be key actors in shaping corporate social responsibility. Researchers have, however, paid surprisingly little attention to the role of unions in shaping corporate social responsibility strategies and responses in liberal market contexts. This article extends the emerging research on unions and corporate social responsibility through a case study which investigates union influences over corporate social responsibility within the liberal market context of Australia. We conceptualise the role of unions in corporate social responsibility in this context through an industrial relations lens with particular reference to collective bargaining. Drawing on qualitative data, the case study examines the Ford Motor Company’s recent closure of its Australian assembly operations which was hailed by a wide range of stakeholders as an exemplar of ‘best practice’ in their assistance of displaced workers. We conclude that, while highly socially responsible, Ford’s actions were far from voluntary but influenced by a combination of union influence and a ‘subsidised’ corporate social responsibility, where the state, unable and/or powerless to legislate good corporate social behaviour, chose to financially underwrite its cost to the firm. The study represents one of the first studies to demonstrate how unions shape corporate social responsibility strategies of firms in liberal market contexts and how ‘subsidised’ corporate social responsibility becomes an alternative political solution within such a context.