The New Unionism and the New Bargaining Agenda: UNISON–Employer Partnerships on Workplace Learning in Britain

A model of new unionism has been developed which is characterized by features such as the servicing of members as customers and a shift to co‐operative industrial relations. The UNISON–employer partnerships in workplace learning in the UK initially appear to fit such a model. This paper outlines the model of new unionism and cautions against interpreting these partnerships as evidence of its development. The paper concludes that this initiative is organized within a collective framework and may provide a basis for the development of workplace trade union activism rather than being indicative of its decline.     

Political Activism and Workplace Industrial Relations in a UK 'Failing' School

The paper draws on a qualitative case study of workplace industrial relations in an inner–city secondary school identified as 'failing' and subsequently closed. It considers the way unionized teachers and their representatives interpret, influence and resist the impact of centralized managerial and educational change. The local implementation of such change leads to an engagement with the debates on union renewal. In particular, the paper explores the dynamic interrelationship between political and trade union activism and the tension between workplace relations and formal union organization.     

The Union Makes Us Strong? A Study of the Dynamics of Workplace Union Leadership at Two UK Manufacturing Plants

This paper draws on qualitative case study evidence to investigate the way in which union leaders involved in two workplace organizations deal with the process of managing their role within the employment relationship. In particular, the influence of their leadership style on the commitment and participation of rank-and-file members is considered. The paper highlights the dialectical relationship between local leaders and members in terms of trade union democracy and local leadership style.     

Marching to Different Tunes: Commitment and Culture as Mobilizing Mechanisms of Trade Unions and Community Organizations

This study examines mobilizing mechanisms using a British community organization and a British trade union as exemplars. Although there has been substantial work on union revitalization on the one hand, and the emergence of alternative, community organizations on the other, no study has compared the challenges these organizations face in encouraging member mobilization. The findings illustrate how the trade union engages in a service‐driven culture, cultivating instrumental commitment between the members and the union. The community organization, in contrast, engages in a relational culture and exemplifies a form of social commitment between the members and the group. As a result, different types of commitment and organizational cultures help explain why sustained member mobilization within a trade union is harder to achieve than within a community organization.     

Ballots and Union Government in the 1980s

During the 1980s the Conservative government argued that trade unions' leaders and policies did not accurately reflect the views of their members. Accordingly, the Trade Union Act 1984 required that all voting members of union principal executive committees be periodically elected by individual members in a workplace or postal ballot, and the Employment Act 1988 required that all executive committee members and all officers in attendance for the purpose of policy deliberation and formulation be periodically elected by members in a postal ballot. This legislation has left an indelible mark upon the processes of union government but it has failed to initiate a transformation in the political complexion of union leadership or a redirection of union policy.     

Does Strike Action Stimulate Trade Union Membership Growth?

Most of the literature on strikes has addressed one of four issues: causation, variation between sectors and countries, trends over time and the relationship between strikes and other forms of collective and individual protest. Very little research has addressed the equally important questions of strike outcomes and trade union membership despite the substantial body of research on the causes of trade union membership decline and strategies for membership growth. In this paper we reverse the usual sequence of trade union membership as a causal factor in the genesis of strikes and examine the impact of strikes on trade union membership levels. After setting out the relevant theory and hypotheses, we use a unique seven‐year dataset of trade union membership joiners and leavers from a major British trade union with a substantial record of strike activity. Controlling for other possible determinants of trade union membership, we find that months in which there is strike action, whether national or local, are associated with a significantly higher rate of membership growth, measured both by the number of joiners and by the ratio of joiners to leavers. Data from new union members suggest that perceived injustice and perceived union effectiveness both motivate the decision to join.     

The Nature of Some Recent Trade Union Modernization Policies in the UK

This article draws on recent research to present findings concerning the nature of some recent trade union modernization policies in the UK. In response to decline, it can be seen that the unions have increasingly been encouraged to represent and service members more as individuals than as part of a collective. This appears to be consonant with the frequently expressed view that greater individualism, both in employment and in society more generally, has largely been responsible for recent union weaknesses, and that if they are to endure the unions should adapt to it. Using data generated from interviews with full-time officers from a number of unions and from a case study of Unison organization within a local authority, the paper identifies two crucial problems with such an approach. First, it is argued that the substantial difficulties that the unions have experienced recently have been caused by a process of decollectivization in employment relations, and not one of individualization. Second, an indication of the complexity of the relationship between individualism and collectivism within trade unionism is given, something that is entirely ignored by proponents of the thesis that unions should concentrate solely on appealing to individuals.     

Trade Union Membership in Europe, 1960–1990: Rediscovering Local Unions

This article compares union density rates in seven Western European countries between 1960 and 1990. In contrast to conventional analyses, the paper argues that, in countries where workplace union organization is well developed, and where unions have managed to turn the official institutions for workers' participation such as works councils into extensions of their operations, they fared better during the 1960s and 1970s than in countries where this was not the case. This difference in the fate of unions was even more pronounced during the 1980s. Unions with strong locals lost few members or actually gained some, while unions without strong local structures saw union density drop by between one-quarter and one-third.     

Trade Unions and Political Participation in the European Union: Still Providing a Democratic Dividend?

Decline in electoral participation is a feature of many Western democracies. In this paper, we focus on the relationship between trade union membership and political participation. Workplace authority structures, trade union membership and union presence have been identified as important influences on electoral participation. Based on a survey of employees in 15 member states of the European Union, we test for a relationship between political participation, union membership and union workplace presence. The independent effect of trade union membership on political participation was found to be both significant and positive and is associated with higher levels of political activism and electoral participation. Furthermore, an institutional context that facilitates high levels of union density seems likely to have an overall positive effect on citizen participation.     

'Under the Clock': Trade Union Responses to Cmputerised Control in US and Australian Grocery Warehousing

In contrast to optimistic interpretations of contemporary work reorganisation, the example of computerised work monitoring in US and Australian grocery warehousing highlights a far more negative picture of work intensification, job stress and low trust relations. Despite significant variation in trade union response, the article argues such examples reinforce the need for strong and independent trade union regulation to limit the worst excesses of workplace rationalisation.     

Institutions and Strategies: Trends and Obstacles to Recruiting Workers into Trade Unions in Poland

In this article, we examine the role of institutional context, organizational structures and trade union strategies in tempering membership decline in the number of trade unions in Poland. Empirical data include membership statistics collected for NSZZ Solidarno?? and 54 affiliates of two other largest trade union confederations (OPZZ and FZZ) supplemented by semi‐structured interviews with union leaders. In a decentralized collective bargaining system in Poland, a centralized trade union confederation (NSZZ Solidarno??) can more easily shift resources to efficiently organize workers than decentralized confederations, OPZZ and FZZ, whose development is mostly driven by competing trade unions representing narrower occupational groups. In conclusion, this observation is put in a broader context of the debates about trade union renewal in Eastern Europe.     

Exclusion and Disarticulation: The Transport and General Workers' Union in the Road Haulage Industry, 1979–1998

The attrition of trade union organization and collective bargaining in the UK is accepted as having been a principal feature of industrial relations since 1980, but there is no general agreement as to the causes. This paper explores trade union disarticulation and exclusion in a 1979–98 study of the Transport and General Workers' Union Road Transport Commercial trade group, which organizes in the road haulage industry. It emphasizes the importance of the legal framework established by the Conservative government in inhibiting union power at a time of the ongoing restructuring of road haulage, providing companies with the opportunity and incentive to exclude trade union organization and fragment union bargaining power.     

Enabling ‘managed activism’: the adoption of call centres in Australian,British and US trade unions

This article examines how trade unions in different country settings have utilised call centre technologies. Rather than viewing union call centres as simply a means of service delivery, our research suggests they can also enable a more strategic approach to workplace organising. We explore the implications of union call centres for debates on servicing and organising models of trade unionism.     

Decentralized Wage Formation in Sweden

Recent Swedish collective bargaining agreements have incorporated provisions for local pay review talks and opportunities for individuals to negotiate their own wages. Using trade union data, we show that members who participate in local pay review talks and members who negotiate their own wages have significantly higher monthly wages than those who do not. Pay decentralization either improves an individual's bargaining position or attracts more productive trade union members. Either way, trade union wage policies to increase individual‐level wage variance are achieving their intended effects.     

Bargaining for Skills: Trade Unions and Training at the Workplace

Training and development have featured as key issues on the 'new bargaining agenda' outlined by the TUC. Although evidence suggests that union successes in achieving a role in training decisions at the workplace have thus far been limited, few studies have sought to examine the impact of union involvement on training outcomes. Drawing on a survey of members and representatives from the Manufacturing Science and Finance union, this paper demonstrates that union involvement in training decisions is associated with relatively superior training activities and outcomes at the workplace.     

Negotiating ‘Difference’: Representing Disabled Employees in the British Workplace

Drawing on qualitative interviews with disabled employees, union officers and disability‐related organizations, this article examines employee attempts to negotiate workplace adjustments and associated issues of workplace representation. UK employment law utilizes an individual medical model of disability, which conflicts with traditional collective approaches favoured by trade unions, which has implications for disabled employees and union representation. We explore the different strategies available to unions and conclude that, despite the role played by disability‐related organizations in supporting employees, unions are the only workplace actors who are capable of reconfiguring the ‘personal as political’ and integrating disability concerns into wider organizational agendas.     

Restructuring and Workplace Unionism at Manchester Airport

This paper provides evidence from empirical case-study research into the impact of compulsory competitive tendering on workplace union organization among the baggage-handling workforce at Manchester Airport. It documents the main processes of development within an historical context, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of workplace unionism during the 1980s, the recent challenge posed by managerial restructuring in the early 1990s, and the wider implications for debates about the 'state' of workplace unionism in Britain today.
Compared with the union resilience displayed by the baggage handlers during the 1980s, the nature of shop-stewards' organization appears to have changed drastically to managemenťs advantage during the last few years. However, continuing underlying tensions in worker-management relations suggest that this situation may not necessarily amount to a fundamental and irreversible transformation in the nature of workplace unionism in the manner in which those who use the vocabulary of the 'New Industrial Relations' would suggest.     

Justice and Union Participation: An Extension and Test of Mobilization Theory

Heeding John Kelly's call to reorient the field of industrial relations towards the study of injustice, we employ mobilization, social exchange and organizational justice theories to specify and test a model of union participation. Using individual‐level survey data from public‐sector union members to test our model, we find that differences in worker perceptions of workplace injustice and union justice explain slightly more variation in members’ union participation than more traditional measures of job satisfaction and union instrumentality perceptions. The implications of our analysis for researchers and union practitioners are also discussed.     

Twin Tracks—Employee Representation at Eurotunnel Revisited

The introduction of the European Directive on Information and Consultation and the recent implementation of the Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations into United Kingdom (UK) law have increased the focus on workplace representation arrangements. This paper examines the interplay between nonunion and union representative arrangements at Eurotunnel (UK) and assesses their effectiveness in representing the needs of employees over a 5‐year period. Importantly, the paper also examines the opportunities and challenges of both nonunion representation (NER) and union voice arrangements. The findings show that the effectiveness of nonunion structures as bodies representing the interests of employees in filling the lack of representation is questionable. However, union recognition through an employer–union partnership agreement has also raised important issues regarding the effectiveness, impact, and legitimacy of unions at Eurotunnel. The main implication of this research is that the existence of a mechanism—union or nonunion—for communication between management and employees at the workplace may not be a sufficient condition for effective representation of employee interests. In addition, while trade unions may provide greater voice than nonunion arrangements (thus the reluctance of management to accept such voice arrangements), the strength of voice is dependent on the legitimacy and effectiveness of trade unions in representing employees’ interests at the workplace. And that in turn depends on the union being perceived by the workforce as both representative and able to act independently. If the union cannot, it will not meet the needs of either employees or management—and could run the risk of being supplanted under the provisions of the new EU Directive on Information and Consultation with tougher requirements for compliance in terms of procedures for consultation and information disclosure.     

Unionization,Inequality and Redistribution

This article explores the implications of the OECD‐wide decline of union density for earnings inequality and income redistribution by looking at aggregate (country‐level) data. Over the period 1975–95, countries that experienced relatively large declines in union density also experienced relatively large increases in earnings inequality. In addition, governments apparently became less willing to engage in ‘compensatory redistribution’ in these countries. Since the early 1990s, however, union decline has become less closely associated with rising earnings inequality and redistributive policy changes. I argue that the declining relevance of unionization has to do with changes in the position of union members in the income distribution. In most OECD countries, the average union member has become relatively better off as union density has declined and union members have probably become less supportive of wage solidarity and redistributive government policies.