IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v33y2019i2p191-207.html

An American Solution to an Irish Problem: A Consideration of the Material Conditions that Shape the Architecture of Union Organizing

Author

Listed:
  • John Geary

    (University College Dublin, Ireland)

  • Sophie Gamwell

    (De Montfort University, UK)

Abstract

New models of union organizing have become an important instrument of union growth and renewal. We examine the transfer of US-developed organizing practices to Ireland. We enquire whether the practical experiences of SIPTU can be considered successful. In particular, we focus on the question: in what way is the architecture of union organizing shaped by the material conditions that affect workers’ power? We look at three campaigns across three low-wage sectors (hotels, red meat processing and contract cleaning). The campaigns share a number of common properties, but differ in respect of the power resources available to employees and the shape of their outcomes. Using a most similar systems comparative research design, we identify a variety of causes which help explain the success and shape of the different organizing campaigns. Finally, we make a number of arguments in respect of how our findings link to debates about the future of trade unionism.

Suggested Citation

  • John Geary & Sophie Gamwell, 2019. "An American Solution to an Irish Problem: A Consideration of the Material Conditions that Shape the Architecture of Union Organizing," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(2), pages 191-207, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:33:y:2019:i:2:p:191-207
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017016686024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017016686024
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017016686024?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. Jacques Bélanger & Paul Edwards, 2007. "The Conditions Promoting Compromise in the Workplace," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 713-734, December.
    2. Melanie Simms, 2015. "Accounting for Greenfield Union Organizing Outcomes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 397-422, September.
    3. Vidu Badigannavar & John Kelly, 2005. "Why Are Some Union Organizing Campaigns More Successful Than Others?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(3), pages 515-535, 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. John F. Geary, 2022. "Securing collective representation in non‐union European multinational companies: The case of Ryanair pilots’ (partial) success," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 635-661, September.
    2. Andrea Signoretti, 2021. "Workplace processes and employment opportunities for vulnerable social groups," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(1), pages 77-92, March.
    3. Lorenzo Frangi & Anthony C Masi & Bénédicte Poirier, 2023. "From Unwoven Societal Relationships to a Broad-Based Movement? Union Power in Societal Networks in Quebec (Canada)," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(5), pages 1377-1394, October.

    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. 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.
    2. John F. Geary, 2022. "Securing collective representation in non‐union European multinational companies: The case of Ryanair pilots’ (partial) success," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 635-661, September.
    3. Amanda Pyman & Peter Holland & Julian Teicher & Brian K. Cooper, 2010. "Industrial Relations Climate, Employee Voice and Managerial Attitudes to Unions: An Australian Study," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 460-480, June.
    4. Melanie Simms, 2015. "Accounting for Greenfield Union Organizing Outcomes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 397-422, September.
    5. John Geary & Aurora Trif, 2011. "Workplace Partnership and the Balance of Advantage: A Critical Case Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(Supplemen), pages 44-69, June.
    6. Li, Weihao & Lamare, J. Ryan & Bruno, Robert, 2022. "Does union canvassing affect voter turnout under conditions of political constraint? Empirical evidence from Illinois," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125306, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Melanie Simms & Deborah Dean, 2015. "Mobilising contingent workers: An analysis of two successful cases," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 36(1), pages 173-190, February.
    8. Peter Gahan & Peter Turnbull, 2025. "Employment systems in the twenty‐first century," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 63(1), pages 71-87, March.
    9. 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.
    10. John Geary & Andrea Signoretti, 2022. "The role of socio-economic embeddedness in promoting cooperation in the workplace: Evidence from family-owned Italian firms," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1867-1890, November.
    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. Annachiara Longoni & Sergio Salas & Cristina Sancha & Vicenta Sierra & Frank Wiengarten, 2025. "Exploring the Implications of Working Conditions for Corporate Sustainability in Last-Mile Delivery Platform Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 199(3), pages 627-651, July.
    13. 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.
    14. Anna Ilsøe & Trine Pernille Larsen, 2023. "Why do labour platforms negotiate? Platform strategies in tax-based welfare states," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(1), pages 6-24, February.
    15. Simms, Melanie & Eversberg, Dennis & Dupuy, Camille & Hipp, Lena, 2018. "Organizing Young Workers Under Precarious Conditions: What Hinders or Facilitates Union Success," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 420-450.
    16. Mathieu Dupuis & Alexis Massicotte, 2026. "Worker participation under digitalisation: Structure, power and varieties of union influence in two manufacturing sectors," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 47(1), pages 245-270, February.
    17. Caroline Murphy & Thomas Turner, 2014. "Organising non-standard workers: union recruitment in the Irish care sector," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 373-388, September.
    18. Daniel Nyberg & Graham Sewell, 2014. "Collaboration, Co-operation or Collusion? Contrasting Employee Responses to Managerial Control in Three Call Centres," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(2), pages 308-332, June.
    19. Valeria Pulignano & Lorenzo Frangi & Yennef Vereycken & Lynford Dor & Rutherford Tod & Lander Vermeerbergen, 2026. "Trade Union Power and the Quality of Working Life Under Industry 4.0: Bargaining Outcomes in Truck and Car Components Plants," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 168-181, March.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:woemps:v:33:y:2019:i:2:p:191-207. 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: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    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.