Trade unions faced with management-initiated restructuring: The process of acquiring a capacity to influence[Les syndicats face aux restructurations initiées par les dirigeants d’entreprises : processus d’acquisition d’une capacité d’influence]

This article starts from the assessment that the works interested in the variation of trade union responses to management-initiated workplace change, by only focusing on the differences between unions as well as by analysing the responses of each union in the light of only one of the various types of possible responses, present a relatively static vision of union activity in times of change. Drawing on the notions of discursive/narrative power (Geelan, 2022; Schmalz et al., 2018; Lévesque & Murray, 2013), collective action frames (Snow & Benford, 1988) and power resources (Lévesque and Murray, 2010), the article intends to see how the "intersyndicale" of NRTV, a French audiovisual company, faced with the formal power of the Group's Leaders to orchestrate their restructuring project with layoffs, managed to change the power structures (Kaplan, 2008) and to influence the negotiations. The discourse analysis of the "intersyndicale", between the announcement of the restructuring project and the end of the negotiations, allowed us to identify four framing strategies used to cope with the meanings provided by the leaders of the Group (refutation, euphemization, unveiling and reframing). This discursive positioning, combined with the use of an informational and interpretative strategy for disseminating the interpretative and action frames (Demers, 1996), enabled it to mobilize its internal and external support around and beyond the actions it has taken and to influence the process and results of change.