The question is whether outsourcing or insourcing is good/bad for the working class under the conditions of capitalism.
Outsourcing can be seen as a division of labor, which in the meantime also takes place internationally. This is not a bad thing but in principle a good thing, only the capitalists are interested in saving personnel costs. This is equivalent to an increased surplus value. Under socialist conditions, the international division of labor leads to a much higher specialization of industries in the respective regions of the world. With the right to work and that everyone should work who can work, it does not have the problems that arise in capitalism.
In capitalism this leads to several conflicts.
- the bourgeois principle of nation states stands in the way of the development of productive forces. Through imperialist action, for example, attempts are made to prevent the development of other industries (a good example is the trade war of the USA against China).
- outsourcing of production is also done at the expense of the local population. People who have done the job for a long time become unemployed.
- outsourcing is not only at the expense of the working class, but also at the expense of the environment. Especially if the country to which the outsourcing takes place has poor environmental protection.
This then also affects trade unions, whose role does not go beyond trade unionism anyway, takes on a national role and then also becomes reactionary. The German union IG Metal railed at the time against the “Chinese steel” and later came the punitive tariffs in the EU on certain types of steel from China and Russia. IG Metal liked that, but it was not enough and would like more. The EU safeguards, which is the name of these tariffs, include among others steel products from Turkey, USA and Indonesia.
In the case of outsourcing steel production, the working class of the European countries together with the US, Russian, Turkish, etc. States must stand together and united. Prevent plant closures, strike, organize beyond trade unionism. The question of whether to insource or outsource must not be thought of nationally, but must be linked to the struggle for a socialist international revolution.
For more on the subject, see Lenin’s “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism” and also highly recommend Rosa Luxemburg’s “Reform or Revolution”.
The topic is very extensive and I can only touch on it very roughly, so I can only encourage you to read the works I mentioned. If Lenin is too difficult for you, try the work of Luxemburg. It is very easy to read and understand.
