IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v38y2024i4p1041-1061.html

Worker-Led Dissent in the Age of Austerity: Comparing the Conditions of Success

Author

Listed:
  • David J Bailey

Abstract

The decline of the power of organised labour, which is a central feature of neoliberalism, was compounded during the ‘age of austerity’. Yet, the potentially disruptive agency of workers remains. This article presents a qualitative process-tracing exercise for over 150 prominent episodes of worker-led dissent in the period 2010–2019 in the UK, the results of which are also made available in a website accompanying the article: ‘ Contesting the UK’s neoliberal model of capitalism: worker-led dissent (2010–2019) . The article identifies seven configurations of causal conditions that proved sufficient for workers to successfully pursue their stated aims during this period. While ‘standard’ national disputes led by mainstream trade unions were on the whole not sufficient to achieve success during this period, nevertheless a number of alternative combinations of conditions did prove to be sufficient, especially locally-focused campaigns, those undertaken by grassroots ‘indie’ unions and those in the transport sector.

Suggested Citation

  • David J Bailey, 2024. "Worker-Led Dissent in the Age of Austerity: Comparing the Conditions of Success," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(4), pages 1041-1061, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:38:y:2024:i:4:p:1041-1061
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170231169675
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170231169675
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170231169675?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. Davide Però, 2020. "Indie Unions, Organizing and Labour Renewal: Learning from Precarious Migrant Workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 900-918, October.
    2. Laura Carver & Virginia Doellgast, 2021. "Dualism or solidarity? Conditions for union success in regulating precarious work," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(4), pages 367-385, December.
    3. Maite Tapia, 2013. "Marching to Different Tunes: Commitment and Culture as Mobilizing Mechanisms of Trade Unions and Community Organizations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 666-688, December.
    4. Benedetto, Giacomo & Hix, Simon & Mastrorocco, Nicola, 2020. "The Rise and Fall of Social Democracy, 1918–2017," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(3), pages 928-939, August.
    5. Colin Hay, 2020. "Does capitalism (still) come in varieties?," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 302-319, March.
    6. Jörg Nowak, 2022. "Do choke points provide workers in logistics with power? A critique of the power resources approach in light of the 2018 truckers’ strike in Brazil," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 1675-1697, September.
    7. Linda Briskin, 2011. "The militancy of nurses and union renewal," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 17(4), pages 485-499, November.
    8. Hyman, Richard & Gumbrell-McCormick, Rebecca, 2017. "Resisting labour market insecurity: old and new actors, rivals or allies?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 84658, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Paul Edwards & Andy Hodder, 2022. "Conflict and control in the contemporary workplace: Structured antagonism revisited," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 220-240, May.
    10. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107679566, August.
    11. William K Roche & Paul Teague & Anne Coughlan, 2015. "Employers, trade unions and concession bargaining in the Irish recession," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 36(4), pages 653-676, November.
    12. Jason Heyes & Paul Lewis & Ian Clark, 2012. "Varieties of capitalism, neoliberalism and the economic crisis of 2008–?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 222-241, May.
    13. Vera Glassner & Maarten Keune & Paul Marginson, 2011. "Collective bargaining in a time of crisis: developments in the private sector in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 17(3), pages 303-322, August.
    14. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107053168, August.
    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. Maarten Keune, 2021. "Inequality between capital and labour and among wage-earners: the role of collective bargaining and trade unions," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(1), pages 29-46, February.
    2. Martí López‐Andreu, 2019. "Employment Institutions under Liberalization Pressures: Analysing the Effects of Regulatory Change on Collective Bargaining in Spain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 328-349, June.
    3. Anne Stevenot & Loris Guery & Geoffrey Wood & Chris Brewster, 2018. "Country of Origin Effects and New Financial Actors: Private Equity Investment and Work and Employment Practices of French Firms," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 859-881, December.
    4. Fátima Suleman & Henrique Duarte & Chris Brewster & Abdul Suleman, 2022. "Compensation policies and comparative capitalisms," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(4), pages 405-425, December.
    5. Giorgio Cutuli & Alessio Tomelleri, 2023. "Returns to digital skills use, temporary employment, and trade unions in European labour markets," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(4), pages 393-413, December.
    6. Paulo Marques & Chiara Benassi & Ana Costa & André Pinto, 2025. "Under which conditions do unions succeed in pushing back dualization? A configurational study of collective agreements in Portugal," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 63(1), pages 133-155, March.
    7. Bernd Brandl & Barbara Bechter, 2019. "The hybridization of national collective bargaining systems: The impact of the economic crisis on the transformation of collective bargaining in the European Union," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 40(3), pages 469-489, August.
    8. Alessio Tomelleri & Giorgio Cutuli & Andrea Signoretti, 2025. "Returns to ICT skills in European labour markets, trade unions and contractual cleavages," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2025-04, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    9. Giorgio Cutuli & Alessio Tomelleri, 2023. "Returns to ICT Skills Use and Labour Market Institutions," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2023-02, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    10. Brigitte Granville & Jaume Martorell Cruz & Martha Prevezer, 2015. "Elites, Thickets and Institutions: French Resistance versus German Adaptation to Economic Change, 1945-2015," Working Papers 63, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    11. Leone Leonida & Marianna Marra & Sergio Scicchitano & Antonio Giangreco & Marco Biagetti, 2020. "Estimating the Wage Premium to Supervision for Middle Managers in Different Contexts: Evidence from Germany and the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(6), pages 1004-1026, December.
    12. German Feierherd & Patricio Larroulet & Wei Long, & Nora Lustig, 2021. "The Pink Tide and Inequality in Latin America," Working Papers 2105, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    13. Donato Di Carlo, 2020. "Understanding wage restraint in the German public sector: does the pattern bargaining hypothesis really hold water?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 185-208, May.
    14. Elizabeth Balbachevsky & Helena Sampaio & Cibele Yahn de Andrade, 2019. "Expanding Access to Higher Education and Its (Limited) Consequences for Social Inclusion: The Brazilian Experience," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 7-17.
    15. Snower, Dennis, 2025. "Labor Markets as Human Ecosystems: The Insider-Outsider Theory Reconsidered," INET Oxford Working Papers 2025-21, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    16. Tom VanHeuvelen & Kathy Copas, 2018. "The Intercohort Dynamics of Support for Redistribution in 54 Countries, 1985–2017," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-22, August.
    17. Mikkel Mailand, 2024. "Still part of the game—corporatism and political exchanges in two small states," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 368-388, July.
    18. Simon Jäger & Shakked Noy & Benjamin Schoefer, 2022. "The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 53-80, Fall.
    19. Martin B. Carstensen & Niccolo Durazzi & Patrick Emmenegger & Jane Gingrich, 2026. "Meeting the Twin Challenge in Times of Labor Shortage: How Modern Societies Promote Future Skills for the Digital and Green Transitions," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 471-481, April.
    20. Oude Groeniger, Joost & Noordzij, Kjell & van der Waal, Jeroen & de Koster, Willem, 2021. "Dutch COVID-19 lockdown measures increased trust in government and trust in science: A difference-in-differences analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).

    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:38:y:2024:i:4:p:1041-1061. 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.