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Indie Unions, Organizing and Labour Renewal: Learning from Precarious Migrant Workers

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  • Davide Però

Abstract

This article examines the organizing practices of indie unions – the emerging grassroots unions co-led by precarious migrant workers. It draws on an embedded actor-centred approach involving extensive multi-sited ethnography. The article shows how workers normally considered un-organizable by the established unions can build lasting solidarity and associational power and obtain material and non-material rewards in the context of precarity, scarce economic resources and a hostile environment. Here, I argue that the organization of workers into ‘communities of struggle’ geared towards mobilization facilitates their empowerment, effectiveness and social integration. The article contributes to labour mobilization theory by redefining the concept of organizing in inclusionary terms, so that the collective industrial agency of precarious and migrant workers organizing outside the established unions can be adequately recognized and accounted for.

Suggested Citation

  • Davide Però, 2020. "Indie Unions, Organizing and Labour Renewal: Learning from Precarious Migrant Workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 900-918, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:5:p:900-918
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017019885075
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jamie Woodcock, 2014. "Precarious workers in London: New forms of organisation and the city," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 776-788, December.
    2. Maite Tapia, 2013. "Marching to Different Tunes: Commitment and Culture as Mobilizing Mechanisms of Trade Unions and Community Organizations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 666-688, December.
    3. Richard Sullivan, 2010. "Labour market or labour movement? The union density bias as barrier to labour renewal," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(1), pages 145-156, March.
    4. Maurizio Atzeni & Juan Grigera, 2019. "The Revival of Labour Movement Studies in Argentina: Old and Lost Agendas," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(5), pages 865-876, October.
    5. Ana Lopes & Timothy Hall, 2015. "Organising migrant workers: the living wage campaign at the University of East London," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 208-221, May.
    6. Gabriella Alberti & Davide Però, 2018. "Migrating Industrial Relations: Migrant Workers’ Initiative Within and Outside Trade Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 693-715, December.
    7. Bob Carter, 2006. "Trade union organizing and renewal," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 20(2), pages 415-426, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Verdin, Rachel & O'Reilly, Jacqueline, 2021. "A gender agenda for the future of work in a digital age of pandemics: Jobs, skills and contracts," WSI Studies 24, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    2. Lorenzo Frangi & Sinisa Hadziabdic & Anthony C. Masi, 2022. "In the interest of everyone? Support for social movement unionism among union officials in Quebec (Canada)," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 446-465, September.
    3. Saerom Han, 2023. "Mobilizing within and beyond the Labor Union: A Case of Precarious Workers’ Collective Actions in North Africa," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 674-696, August.
    4. Gabriella Cioce & Ian Clark & James Hunter, 2022. "How does informalisation encourage or inhibit collective action by migrant workers? A comparative analysis of logistics warehouses in Italy and hand car washes in Britain," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 126-141, March.

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