Dynamic analysis of union responses to restructuring: Proposal and testing of a methodological matrix[Analyse dynamique des réponses syndicales aux restructurations : proposition et test d’une matrice méthodologique]

Existing research on trade union responses to organizational restructuring predominantly employs static conceptualizations of union agency (Bacon and Blyton 2004; Frost 2001; Lévesque and Murray 2005). To address this limitation, this study develops a dynamic analytical framework grounded in framing theory for social movements (Snow et al. 2018) and heap method to construct typologies (Coenen-Huther 2006; Demazière 2013; Grémy and Le Moan 1977). Through its application to the case of the NextRadioTV restructuring, this methodological matrix allowed us to reveal four distinct framing strategies encompassing eight argumentative registers employed by a single union coalition throughout the restructuring process. These multiple framing strategies, deployed within the shared discursive space between trade union actors and NextRadioTV business leaders, generated divergent, fragmented, and multiple meanings of the restructuring process. This article therefore demonstrates the value of dynamic approaches to understanding union agency during restructuring, highlights the critical role of secondary data in such analyses, and illuminates how unions actively participate in the social construction of organizational change.