IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v10y2004i4p569-587.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The broken link – do trade unions represent the interests of the unemployed?: Evidence from the UK, Germany and Denmark within the framework of the European Employment Strategy

Author

Listed:
  • Helge Albrechtsen

    (University of Aalborg and University of Roskilde E-mail: THALLY1@web.de)

Abstract

According to the traditional view, the interests of the unemployed and the employed are supposed to follow a unifying logic, due to the threat of high unemployment to job security, wages and working conditions. However, due to labour markets becoming increasingly segmented and knowledge-based, it may be questioned to what extent the traditional link between the employed and the unemployed still holds, leading to a possible division of the labour force into a core group of those with basically secure jobs, and several peripheral groups subject to job insecurity and social exclusion. In this context, it seems relevant to analyse the relationship between the interests of the employed and unemployed, including the role of trade unions as having their own organisational interest. For this purpose, this paper includes an examination of new statistical evidence on the behaviour of employed and unemployed people with regard to trade union membership.

Suggested Citation

  • Helge Albrechtsen, 2004. "The broken link – do trade unions represent the interests of the unemployed?: Evidence from the UK, Germany and Denmark within the framework of the European Employment Strategy," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 10(4), pages 569-587, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:10:y:2004:i:4:p:569-587
    DOI: 10.1177/102425890401000409
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/102425890401000409
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/102425890401000409?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. Jelle Visser, 2002. "Why Fewer Workers Join Unions in Europe: A Social Custom Explanation of Membership Trends," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 40(3), pages 403-430, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Peter Haynes & Jack Vowles & Peter Boxall, 2005. "Explaining the Younger– Older Worker Union Density Gap: Evidence from New Zealand," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(1), pages 93-116, March.
    2. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2022. "Union Membership Peaks in Midlife," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(1), pages 124-151, March.
    3. Fenet Jima Bedaso & Uwe Jirjahn, 2024. "Immigrants and trade union membership: Does integration into society and workplace play a moderating role?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 262-292, June.
    4. A Charlwood, 2003. "The Anatomy of Union Decline in Britain: 1990-1998," CEP Discussion Papers dp0601, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Lesch, Hagen, 2004. "Gewerkschaftlicher Organisationsgrad im internationalen Vergleich," IW-Trends – Vierteljahresschrift zur empirischen Wirtschaftsforschung, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute, vol. 31(2), pages 5-15.
    6. Jesper Prytz & Tomas Berglund, 2023. "Disruption of the Ghent effect: Disentangling structural and institutional determinants of union membership decline in Sweden, 2005–2010," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 471-494, November.
    7. Finseraas, Henning & Roed, Marianne & Schone, Pal, 2018. "Labour Immigration and Union Strength," IZA Discussion Papers 11723, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. repec:osf:osfxxx:87w6e_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Mark Harcourt & Gregor Gall & Margaret Wilson, 2024. "The union default: Free‐riding solutions," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 267-284, July.
    10. Daniel Oesch, 2012. "Recruitment, Retention and Exit from Union Membership. An Analysis of Member Flows in Swiss Union Locals," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 287-307, June.
    11. Laszlo Goerke & Markus Pannenberg, 2007. "Trade Union Membership and Works Councils in West Germany," Industrielle Beziehungen - Zeitschrift fuer Arbeit, Organisation und Management - The German Journal of Industrial Relations, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 14(2), pages 154-175.
    12. Charlwood, Andy, 2003. "The anatomy of union decline in Britain: 1990-1998," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20006, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Monika Martišková & Marta Kahancová & Jakub Kostolný, 2021. "Negotiating wage (in)equality: changing union strategies in high-wage and low-wage sectors in Czechia and Slovakia," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(1), pages 75-96, February.
    14. Ferwerda, Jeremy & Finseraas, Henning, 2022. "Do Integration Courses Promote Refugees’ Social and Political Integration? Evidence from Norway," OSF Preprints 87w6e, Center for Open Science.
    15. Schnabel Claus & Wagner Joachim, 2008. "The Aging of the Unions in West Germany, 1980–2006," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 228(5-6), pages 497-511, October.
    16. Bram Wauters & Manu Mus & Steven Lannoo & Carl Devos, 2014. "Perfect match or missing link? An analysis of the representativeness of trade union representatives in Belgium," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 424-442, September.
    17. Andy Hodder & Mark Williams & John Kelly & Nick McCarthy, 2017. "Does Strike Action Stimulate Trade Union Membership Growth?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 165-186, March.
    18. Giedo Jansen & Alex Lehr, 2022. "On the outside looking in? A micro-level analysis of insiders’ and outsiders’ trade union membership," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 221-251, February.
    19. Schnabel, Claus, 2002. "Determinants of trade union membership," Discussion Papers 15, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    20. Andrea Vaona, 2010. "A survival analysis approach to the duration of union membership in Italy," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(11), pages 1089-1093.
    21. Marco Trentini, 2022. "Political attitudes, participation and union membership in the UK," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 19-34, January.

    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:sae:treure:v:10:y:2004:i:4:p:569-587. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.