Title

Conceptualizing Labour Union Revitalization

Keywords

Bargaining power; Union density; Union leaders; Union membership

Abstract

The chapter argues that union strength, decline, and revitalization are best understood as multi-faceted processes and furthermore, that these processes are best understood in a comparative context. The chapter offers an overview of existing comparative scholarship on union revitalization and examines the claim that unions continue to have an important function in national economies, societies, and politics. Using empirical data, conventional indicators of union strength and decline are compared in the five cases examined in the book. This chapter then develops a fourdimensional approach to study union revitalization comprising membership density, political power, bargaining power, and institutional vitality. The chapter concludes by pointing to the importance of context in analysing comparative union revitalization since the importance of each of the dimensions is likely to vary across countries given different economic, institutional, and political configurations. Furthermore, the chapter argues that union leaders retain an element of choice in deciding on revitalizing strategies.

Publication Date

8-19-2004

Publication Title

Varieties of Unionism: Strategies for Union Revitalization in a Globalizing Economy

Number of Pages

-

Document Type

Article; Book Chapter

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199270149.003.0002

Socpus ID

84919678267 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84919678267

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