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(How) can international trade union organisations be democratic?

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  • Hyman, Richard
  • Gumbrell-McCormick, Rebecca

Abstract

International trade union organisations, like unions at national level, commonly affirm their commitment to internal democracy. But what does this mean? There exists a vast literature on union democracy, addressing the questions whether democracy in trade unions is desirable; whether it is possible; and if so, how it can be achieved. However, the focus of analysis is almost exclusively at the national (or sub-national) level, with the premise that union members are individual workers. But international unions (like many national confederations indeed) do not have individual workers as members: they are organisations of organisations. What does this imply for our understanding of union democracy? We begin our article by summarising the broader literature on union democracy, then develop an interpretation of international unions as ‘meta-organisations’. We next explore some of the implications for debates on democracy at international level, and end by asking whether theories of deliberative democracy can help in understanding the options for international union democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyman, Richard & Gumbrell-McCormick, Rebecca, 2020. "(How) can international trade union organisations be democratic?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 105078, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:105078
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    File URL: https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/105078/
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    Cited by:

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    3. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan, 2026. "The Global Union Federations and their affiliates: Constrained agency in action," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 47(1), pages 173-195, February.
    4. Dongwoo Park, 2023. "Lopsided inclusion: The impact of multi‐employer bargaining and class‐based unionism on non‐regular employment in South Korea," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 110-132, March.
    5. Irene Dingeldey & Ilana Nussbaum Bitran, 2024. "The European Minimum Wage Directive – and why it is a challenge to trade unions’ but not employers’ unity," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(2), pages 489-510, May.
    6. Raquel Rego & Ana Espírito-Santo, 2023. "Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(4), pages 415-433, December.
    7. Lorenzo Frangi & Tingting Zhang, 2022. "Global union federations on affiliates’ websites: Forces shaping unions’ global organisational identity," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 444-466, June.
    8. Garaudel, Pierre, 2024. "Membership in meta-organizations between organizational membership and inter-organizational relationship : a three-logics model to assess the heterogeneity of meta-organizations and variations among them," MPRA Paper 124607, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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