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Union Organizing as a Mobilizing Strategy: The Impact of Social Identity and Transformational Leadership on the Collectivism of Union Members

Author

Listed:
  • Christina Cregan
  • Timothy Bartram
  • Pauline Stanton

Abstract

This article investigates the effect of union organizing as a mobilizing strategy on the collectivism of union members. We examine the impact of a worker's social identification with fellow members and the transformational leadership qualities of the local union representative. We employ regression analysis with tests of mediation to analyse the survey responses of c. 1,000 rank and file members of a major professional union, collected in July 2004 during a mobilization campaign. Social identification and transformational leadership were associated with members' union loyalty and willingness to work for the union. Social identification acted as a mediating variable in both cases.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:47:y:2009:i:4:p:701-722
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2009.00733.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Blyton & Jean Jenkins, 2013. "Mobilizing Protest: Insights from Two Factory Closures," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 733-753, December.
    2. Ralph Darlington, 2018. "The leadership component of Kelly’s mobilisation theory: Contribution, tensions, limitations and further development," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 617-638, November.
    3. Gregor Gall, 2018. "The uses, abuses and non-uses of Rethinking Industrial Relations in understanding industrial relations and organised labour," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 681-700, November.
    4. Sinisa Hadziabdic & Lucio Baccaro, 2020. "A Switch or a Process? Disentangling the Effects of Union Membership on Political Attitudes in Switzerland and the UK," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 466-499, July.
    5. Jon Las Heras & Lluis Rodríguez, 2021. "Striking to Renew: Basque Unions’ Organizing Strategies and Use of the Strike‐Fund," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(3), pages 669-700, September.
    6. Christopher Gordon Smith & Tingting Zhang & Lorenzo Frangi & Linda Duxbury, 2023. "Would you like to become a union leader? Analysing leadership intentions through a generational lens," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 425-444, November.
    7. Catharine Ross, 2013. "New unions in the UK : the vanguard or the rearguard of the union movement?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 78-94, January.
    8. Christine A. Riordan & Alexander M. Kowalski, 2021. "From Bread and Roses to #MeToo: Multiplicity, Distance, and the Changing Dynamics of Conflict in IR Theory," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 580-606, May.
    9. Jane Holgate & Melanie Simms & Maite Tapia, 2018. "The limitations of the theory and practice of mobilization in trade union organizing," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 599-616, November.
    10. Pauline Stanton & Timothy Bartram & Greg J. Bamber, 2022. "The role of nurses' unions in workplace innovation in Australian and Canadian hospitals: Analysing union strategies," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 484-500, September.
    11. Gregor Gall & Jack Fiorito, 2012. "Union Commitment and Activism in Britain and the United States: Searching for Synthesis and Synergy for Renewal," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 189-213, June.
    12. Bjarke Refslund & Markku Sippola, 2022. "Migrant workers trapped between individualism and collectivism: The formation of union-based workplace collectivism," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1004-1027, August.
    13. Johanna Hornung & Nils C. Bandelow & Colette S. Vogeler, 2019. "Social identities in the policy process," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(2), pages 211-231, June.
    14. Uwe Jirjahn & Thi Xuan Thu Le, 2024. "Political spillovers of workplace democracy in Germany," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(1), pages 5-31, March.
    15. Carbonai, Davide & Drago, Carlo, 2014. "What is a Workers’ Referendum for? Evidence from Italy," MPRA Paper 59950, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Jack Fiorito & Irene Padavic & Philip S. DeOrtentiis, 2015. "Reconsidering Union Activism and Its Meaning," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 556-579, September.

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