IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/brjirl/v47y2009i1p27-54.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transforming a Trade Union? An Assessment of the Introduction of an Organizing Initiative

Author

Listed:
  • Jeremy Waddington
  • Allan Kerr

Abstract

In 1995 Unison implemented a National Recruitment Plan, and, in 1997, a National Organizing and Recruitment Strategy, with the objective of reversing the decline in union density in the public sector. This article traces the development of these initiatives and assesses their results. The article shows that there is limited involvement of lay representatives in the National Organizing and Recruitment Plan, but that there is a positive relationship between participation in union programmes intended to promote organizing and the performance of individual branches.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Waddington & Allan Kerr, 2009. "Transforming a Trade Union? An Assessment of the Introduction of an Organizing Initiative," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(1), pages 27-54, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:47:y:2009:i:1:p:27-54
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00707.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00707.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00707.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon R. de Turberville, 2004. "Does the ‘organizing model’ represent a credible union renewal strategy?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 18(4), pages 775-794, December.
    2. Andy Charlwood, 2004. "Influences on Trade Union Organizing Effectiveness in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(1), pages 69-93, March.
    3. Edmund Heery, 2006. "Union Workers, Union Work: A Profile of Paid Union Officers in the United Kingdom," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 44(3), pages 445-471, September.
    4. Jeremy Waddington, 1992. "Trade Union Membership in Britain, 1980–1987: Unemployment and Restructuring," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 287-324, June.
    5. Alex Bryson & Rafael Gomez, 2005. "Why Have Workers Stopped Joining Unions? The Rise in Never‐Membership in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(1), pages 67-92, March.
    6. John Kelly, 1990. "British Trade Unionism 1979-89: Change, Continuity and Contradictions," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 4(5), pages 29-65, May.
    7. Bob Carter, 2000. "Adoption of the Organising Model in British Trade Unions: Some Evidence from Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF)," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 14(1), pages 117-136, March.
    8. Simon de Turberville, 2007. "Union organizing: a response to Carter," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(3), pages 565-576, September.
    9. Christopher L. Erickson & Catherine L. Fisk & Ruth Milkman & Daniel J. B. Mitchell & Kent Wong, 2002. "Justice for Janitors in Los Angeles: Lessons from Three Rounds of Negotiations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 40(3), pages 543-567, September.
    10. Paula B. Voos, 1984. "Trends in Union Organizing Expenditures, 1953–1977," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 38(1), pages 52-63, October.
    11. Sue Fernie & David Metcalf, 2005. "Trade Unions: Resurgence or Demise?," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 178, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. Metcalf, David, 1991. "British Unions: Dissolution or Resurgence?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 18-32, Spring.
    13. Bob Mason & Peter Bain, 1993. "The Determinants of Trade Union Membership in Britain: A Survey of the Literature," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(2), pages 332-351, January.
    14. Jeremy Waddington & Colin Whitston, 1997. "Why Do People Join Unions in a Period of Membership Decline?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 515-546, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gerry Looker, 2019. "Union organising and Full‐time Officers: acquiescence and resistance," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(5-6), pages 517-531, November.
    2. Pannini, Elisa, 2023. "Winning a battle against the odds: a cleaners’ campaign," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112569, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeremy Waddington & Allan Kerr, 2015. "Joining UNISON: does the reform of a union organising strategy change how members perceive their recruitment?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 187-207, May.
    2. Nickolaos Giovanis & Efstratios Giovanis, 2020. "Assessment On The Change Of Union Density Rate By Means Of Macroeconomic Indicators: A Quantitative Research," Noble International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Noble Academic Publsiher, vol. 5(6), pages 63-73, June.
    3. David Peetz & Barbara Pocock, 2009. "An Analysis of Workplace Representatives, Union Power and Democracy in Australia," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 623-652, December.
    4. Glynne Williams & Martin Quinn, 2014. "Macmillan's children? Young workers and trade unions in the early 1960s," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 137-152, March.
    5. Cedric Dawkins, 2010. "Beyond Wages and Working Conditions: A Conceptualization of Labor Union Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 129-143, August.
    6. Blanchflower, David G., 2006. "A Cross-Country Study of Union Membership," IZA Discussion Papers 2016, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Alex Bryson & Richard Freeman & Rafael Gomez & Paul Willman, 2017. "The Twin Track Model of Employee Voice: An Anglo-American Perspective on Union Decline and the Rise of Alternative Forms of Voice," DoQSS Working Papers 17-13, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    8. Christina Cregan & Timothy Bartram & Pauline Stanton, 2009. "Union Organizing as a Mobilizing Strategy: The Impact of Social Identity and Transformational Leadership on the Collectivism of Union Members," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 701-722, December.
    9. Schnabel, Claus, 2002. "Determinants of trade union membership," Discussion Papers 15, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    10. Francis Green & Stephen Machin & David Wilkinson, 1999. "Trade Unions and Training Practices in British Workplaces," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(2), pages 179-195, January.
    11. Philip James & Joanna Karmowska, 2016. "British union renewal: does salvation really lie beyond the workplace?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 102-116, March.
    12. Marco Trentini, 2022. "Political attitudes, participation and union membership in the UK," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 19-34, January.
    13. Sue Ledwith, 2012. "Gender politics in trade unions. The representation of women between exclusion and inclusion," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 18(2), pages 185-199, May.
    14. Richard Saundry & Mick McKeown, 2013. "Relational union organising in a healthcare setting: a qualitative study," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5-6), pages 533-547, November.
    15. Vidu Badigannavar & John Kelly & Manik Kumar, 2021. "Turning the tide? Economic reforms and union revival in India," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 364-385, July.
    16. Bryson, Alex & Gomez, Rafael & Willman, Paul, 2008. "Trading places: employers, unions and the manufacture of voice," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28501, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Phil James & Joanna Karmowska, 2012. "Unions and migrant workers: strategic challenges in Britain," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 18(2), pages 201-212, May.
    18. Melanie Simms, 2013. "Special Issue. Edited by: Gregor Murray, Christian Lévesque, Christian Dufour and Adelheid Hege," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 373-388, July.
    19. Machin, Stephen & Wood, Stephen, 2004. "Looking for HRM/union substitution: evidence from British workplaces," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19999, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Stephen Machin, 2000. "Union Decline in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 631-645, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:47:y:2009:i:1:p:27-54. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.