IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v50y2019i5-6p517-531.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Union organising and Full‐time Officers: acquiescence and resistance

Author

Listed:
  • Gerry Looker

Abstract

In the mid‐1990s, the TUC relaunched itself with a strategy for renewal labelled ‘new unionism’. The strategy had two strands: partnership with employers and the promotion among affiliate unions of grassroots union organising. The latter, heavily influenced by US and Australian experience, saw possibilities for a more radical trade unionism in the UK. This article draws on a case study of Unison to analyse the organising strand of new unionism. It identifies how top‐down approaches to organising are distorted by union bureaucracy for the priority of recruitment, not only limiting the possibility of emerging union radicalisation but also restricting the ability of trade unions to represent their members. The article also identifies that the position of union Full‐time Officers is complex and not necessarily within a uniform union bureaucracy juxtaposed to and restraining a more radical union rank and file.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:50:y:2019:i:5-6:p:517-531
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12266
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12266
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12266?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. Jeremy Waddington, 2014. "Trade union membership retention and workplace representation in Europe," Working Papers 12286, European Trade Union Institute (ETUI).
    2. Kelly,John & Heery,Edmund, 1994. "Working for the Union," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521383202, Enero-Abr.
    3. 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.
    4. Edmund Heery, 1998. "The Relaunch of the Trades Union Congress," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 339-360, September.
    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. David Etherington & Bob Jeffery & Peter Thomas & Martin Jones & Ben Ledger‐Jessop, 2023. "Trade union strategies to tackle labour market insecurity: Geography and the role of Sheffield TUC," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 261-277, May.

    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. Bob Carter, 2001. "Lessons from America: Changes in the US Trade Union Movement," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(1), pages 185-194, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Heather Connolly, 2020. "‘We just get a bit set in our ways’: renewing democracy and solidarity in UK trade unions," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 26(2), pages 207-222, May.
    4. Geraint Harvey & Andy Hodder & Stephen Brammer, 2017. "Trade union participation in CSR deliberation: an evaluation," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 42-55, January.
    5. Christian Lévesque & Gregor Murray, 2010. "Understanding union power: resources and capabilities for renewing union capacity," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 16(3), pages 333-350, August.
    6. Bob Carter, 2004. "State Restructuring and Union Renewal: The Case of the National Union of Teachers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 18(1), pages 137-156, March.
    7. Moira Calveley & Geraldine Healy, 2003. "Political Activism and Workplace Industrial Relations in a UK ‘Failing’ School," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(1), pages 97-113, March.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Tim Morris, 1995. "Annual Review Article 1994," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 117-135, March.
    11. Rosaria Burchielli & Timothy Bartram, 2007. "What makes organising work? A model of the stages and facilitators of organizing," Working Papers 2007.01, School of Economics, La Trobe University.
    12. Bob Carter & Andy Danford & Debra Howcroft & Helen Richardson & Andrew Smith & Phil Taylor, 2012. "‘Nothing gets done and no one knows why’: PCS and workplace control of Lean in HM Revenue and Customs," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 416-432, September.
    13. A Charlwood & K Hansen & David Metcalf, 2000. "Unions and the Sword of Justice: Unions and Pay Systems, Pay Inequality, Pay Discrimination and Low Pay," CEP Discussion Papers dp0452, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Paul F. Clark & Greg J. Bamber & Paul V. Whitehead & Lois S. Gray & Sandra Cockfield & Kay Gilbert, 2021. "Does Modernizing Union Administrative Practices Promote or Hinder Union Revitalization? A Comparative Study of US, UK and Australian Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 370-397, June.
    15. Jeremy Waddington, 1995. "UK Unions: searching for a new agenda," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 1(1), pages 31-43, January.
    16. Dribbusch, Heiner, 2005. "Trade Union Organising in Private Sector Services : Findings from the British, Dutch and German retail industry," WSI Working Papers 136, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    17. Robert Perrett & Miguel Martínez Lucio & Jo McBride & Steve Craig, 2012. "Trade Union Learning Strategies and Migrant Workers," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(3), pages 649-667, February.
    18. Charlwood, Andy, 2001. "Influences on trade union organising effectiveness in Great Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20111, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Miguel Martínez Lucio & Robert Perrett, 2009. "Meanings and dilemmas in community unionism," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(4), pages 693-710, December.
    20. Jonathan Preminger, 2013. "Activists face bureaucrats: the failure of the Israeli social workers' campaign," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5-6), pages 462-478, November.

    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:indrel:v:50:y:2019:i:5-6:p:517-531. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    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.