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Trade Union Strategy in Contemporary Capitalism: The Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Implications of Political Unionism

Author

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  • Paul Boreham
  • Richard Hall

    (The University of Queensland)

Abstract

Trade union movements in advanced capitalist economies pursue different strategies and draw on different organizational resources at both macropolitical and micropolitical levels. While the theoretical implications of industrial and political strategies have been extensively debated, the actual outcomes of political unionism have rarely been subjected to rigorous empirical investigation. Utilizing data drawn from three different surveys of union strategies and measures of industrial and economic democracy in seven capitalist economies since the mid-1970s, this paper examines the microeconomic and macroeconomic implications of political unionism. The evidence suggests that while political unionism results in both macroeconomic and microeconomic outcomes favourable to labour, at the level of the labour process these achievements are registered in the empowerment of collective actors (unions and works councils) rather than individual actors (workers).

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Boreham & Richard Hall, 1994. "Trade Union Strategy in Contemporary Capitalism: The Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Implications of Political Unionism," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 15(3), pages 313-353, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:15:y:1994:i:3:p:313-353
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X94153002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Soskice, 1990. "Reinterpreting Corporatism and Explaining Unemployment: Co-ordinated and Non-co-ordinated Market Economies," International Economic Association Series, in: Renato Brunetta & Carlo Dell’Aringa (ed.), Labour Relations and Economic Performance, chapter 7, pages 170-211, Palgrave Macmillan.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mike Rigby & Roger Smith & Teresa Lawlor, 1998. "Trade union responses to a changing environment," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 4(1), pages 115-129, February.

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