New unions in the UK: the vanguard or the rearguard of the union movement? (original) (raw)
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Not a Typical Union but a Union all the same: New Unions Under the Employment Relations Act 2000
New Zealand , 2007
This paper reports on a small exploratory study of factors significant to the formation, and rapid proliferation of new predominantly workplace-based unions, or New Unions, under the Employment Relations Act 2000. Specifically, it examines the motivations and interests of workers who decided to form and join those unions and the role of other parties, notably employers, in that decision. Workers’ dissatisfaction with and mistrust of existing unions were factors significant to their decision to form New Unions, while the role of employers was found to be less influential and less dominant than previously thought. Overall, this paper argues that New Unions may be a predominantly employee, not an employer, driven phenomenon.
The past few decades have seen a marked decline in the influence of trade unions. While membership density stood at 55.6% of the workforce in 1979, it currently stands at around 27%. The membership level has been especially poor in the private sector, with just 14% of the workers being members of unions. While, at a point there were ‘closed shop agreements’ where joining a union was a pre-condition to employment at a few workplaces, now a good number of employers don’t even recognize unions. This decline can be attributed to various economic, legal and political factors and to changes in workplace relations. The trade unions have been trying to reinvent themselves in an effort to reverse this trend or to at least arrest it. While there have been a few instances of radical unionism, there has been a general shift towards greater co-operation and partnership with employers. For trade unions to regain their lost glory, they should first try and increase membership. This will only happen if they can convince workers that there is a clear benefit in joining them. This is tricky in the current scenario as they don’t enjoy the same kind of legal and political protection they once had.
Union Workers, Union Work: A Profile of Paid Union Officers in the United Kingdom
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Twelve years ago, Working for the Union presented an analysis of paid trade union officers working for UK unions. This paper returns to the themes of this earlier study using a fresh survey of union officers carried out in 2002. It provides limited support for two of the principal findings of the earlier research: that union work is performed differently by officers with different demographic and attitudinal characteristics and that union management systems can be effective in encouraging officers to respond to a new bargaining and organizing agenda.
Have Unions Turned the Corner? New Evidence on Recent Trends in Union Recognition in UK Firms
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This paper reports results from a recent survey conducted on unionization in over 650 firms in the private sector in the UK. The survey shows that since 1997 there has been a slight fall in derecognition, but a relatively large increase in union recognition. This increase in new recognition agreements is consistent with the idea that the incoming Labour government had a positive effect on the ability of unions to gain recognition, either through the 1999 legislation or more indirectly through changing the political climate.
Union Renewal and the Organizing Model in the United Kingdom
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This paper summarizes research that focuses on the process of "union renewal" currently underway in many unions. The research is based on survey responses and interviews involving United Kingdom (U.K.) union officers and staff and uses information gathered dur ing late 2000 and early 2001. This paper also addresses the related issue of "organizing model" adoption in the United Kingdom. Most U.K. unionists see organizing the unorganized as a critical aspect of union renewal, but many are skeptical about the value of the organizing model as a guiding philosophy or model. Most of them are, however, optimistic about their unions' futures, especially when they see their leadership committed to organizing and union re newal. Conversely, where pessimism exists, leadership is often cited as a key problem. A final section of the paper considers the find ings in relation to alternative theoretical perspectives on unions.
Trade union revitalisation: Where are we now? Where to next?
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In this article, we review and assess research on the role of trade unions in labour markets and society, the current decline of unions and union revitalisation. The review shows three main trends. First, trade unions are converging into similar strategies of revitalisation. The ‘organising model’ has spread far beyond the Anglo-Saxon countries and is now commonplace for unions as a way to reach new worker constituencies. Thus, even in ‘institutionally secure’ countries like Germany and the Nordic countries, unions are employing organising strategies while at the same time trying to defend their traditional strongholds of collective bargaining and corporatist policy-making. Second, research has shown that used strategies are not a panacea for success for unions in countries that spearheaded revitalisation. This finding points to the importance of supportive institutional frameworks if unions are to regain power. Third, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, unions are building externa...