TY - JOUR T1 - Union Organizing and Labor Outreach in the Contemporary United States JF - Sociology Compass Y1 - Submitted A1 - Marc Dixon KW - labor outreach KW - organizing strategies KW - union organizing AB -

Despite their long decline, labor unions increasingly find themselves in the news. From the spirited debate over income inequality, to fights over minimum wage and the unlikely mobilization of fast food workers at the very bottom of the American labor market, labor issues are of great public interest. In this article, I review scholarship on contemporary union organizing and outreach activity. This work suggests that while innovative organizing and outreach strategies, sometimes lumped together under the rubric of “social movement unionism” and “alt-labor,” are demonstrated to be effective in advancing union causes, only a handful of unions appear to have the will and resources to utilize them. Moreover, while the implementation of new organizing and outreach strategies has been uneven and has not boosted union membership nationally, organized resistance to unions, from court rooms to state legislatures, has increased substantially.

VL - 8 L2 - eng CP - 10 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The Essence Of Trade Unions: Understanding Identity, Ideology And Purpose JF - Work, Employment & Society Y1 - 2015 A1 - Hodder, Andy A1 - Paul Edwards KW - industrial and labor relations KW - trade unionism KW - union organizing KW - unionism KW - work and labor AB -

Academics have long investigated trade union behavior through the complex interaction of identity, ideology and purpose. At the same time, there have been increasing calls to gain a deeper understanding of the purpose of strategies but the two bodies of literature seldom overlap. The article proposes a framework to help understand the essence of trade unions and to situate strategies (such as organizing) in this broader context and bridge the gap between the literature on union purpose and identity and on strategies for renewal. It is argued that the essence of unions framework can assist with the analysis of both historical and contemporary trade unionism and allows both clarification and consideration of the range of concepts and terms already in use in the industrial relations literature.

VL - April 2015 L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Estimating the Effect of “Change to Win” on Union Organizing JF - ILR Review Y1 - 2015 A1 - Aleks, Rachel KW - AFL-CIO KW - Change to Win KW - NLRB KW - organizing KW - union organizing KW - unionization AB -

In a 2005 effort to reinvigorate new-member organizing efforts, seven unions split from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) to form a new union federation, Change to Win. Using ten years of data from the National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board and a difference-in-difference estimator, the author estimates the effect of Change to Win policies on whether a union won its certification election and the number and percentage of workers successfully organized. The results indicate no statistically significant difference in organizing success following Change to Win’s implementation of new organizing strategies and practices, relative to the AFL-CIO.

VL - 68 L2 - eng UR - http://ilr.sagepub.com/content/68/3/584.full CP - 3 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Joining UNISON: Does The Reform Of A Union Organizing Strategy Change How Members Perceive Their Recruitment? JF - Industrial Relations Journal Y1 - 2015 A1 - Jeremy Waddington A1 - Allan Kerr KW - organizing KW - union organizing KW - UNISON AB -

Drawing on survey evidence collected between 2001 and 2012, this article examines whether changes in the organizing approach of UNISON were reflected in changes in the routes of entry of new members into the union. The article shows that shifts in UNISON policy were marginal to the pattern of entry into the union. The implications of these findings for the concept and implementation of organizing are subsequently reviewed.

VL - 46 L2 - eng CP - 3 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Low-Wage Workers and Organizing JF - WorkingUSA Y1 - 2015 A1 - Anne Visser A1 - Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán KW - ethnicity KW - low-wage work KW - low-wage workers KW - organizing KW - race KW - union organizing AB -

[Excerpt] Over the last forty years, changes in the structure and function of the labor market and the demographic composition of the labor force have reshaped patterns of economic opportunity in the United States. Changes in the structure of the economy and increasing globalization have facilitated the integration of capital, labor, production, and consumption markets, and systems of production and labor procurement are now characterized by global chains, corporate net-works, and transnational labor recruitment regimes. As global firms have increased in power, broader macro processes of outsourcing and subcontracting have induced trends in employment flexibility, resulting in the increased demand for temporary and contingent workers and a reliance on labor market intermediaries to supply and secure labor. These trends have occurred in connection to declining rates of union participation and density, the practical breakdown of labor protections, and the erosion of employment standards that are associated with increased labor market segmentation and growing economic inequality

VL - 18 L2 - eng UR - http://www.researchgate.net/publication/274141709_Low-Wage_Workers_and_Organizing CP - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Victory at Pomona College: Union Strategy and Immigrant Labor JF - Labor Studies Journal Y1 - 2015 A1 - Silverman, Victor KW - dining hall KW - immigrant workers KW - low-wage workers KW - Pomona College KW - undocumented workers KW - union organizing KW - UNITE HERE AB -

Despite the firing of 17 purported undocumented workers and bitter conflicts on campus, Pomona College’s dining hall staff overwhelmingly voted for UNITE HERE Local 11 in spring 2013 and approved a good contract less than a year later. Although a labor victory, the Pomona story, nonetheless, illustrates the obstacles to organizing low-wage immigrant workers at powerful institutions opposed to unionization. Drawing on interviews with labor and community activists, media reports, and the author’s participant observation, this article finds that campus and community support, while critical, could not prevent years of delays and serious acts of intimidation. This campaign had a transformative effect on the workers and their workplace but raises questions about long-term union strategy.

VL - 40 L2 - eng UR - http://pages.pomona.edu/~vis04747/sources/Labor%20Studies%20Journal-2014-Silverman-.pdf CP - 1 J1 - Labor Studies Journal ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Worker Activism After Successful Union Organizing Y1 - 2015 A1 - Markowitz, Linda KW - union organizing KW - Wagner Act KW - worker activism KW - worker participation AB -

Shows how different levels of worker participation during a union organizing campaign influence the perceptions and actions of those same workers after the campaign ends, and, thereby, the long-term effectiveness and success of the organizing effort. Drawing on historical and current examples, the author analyzes the political and economic contexts within which today's unions are organizing, including a detailed examination of the impact of the Wagner Act.

PB - Routledge CY - New York L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Do Cultural Differences Explain Differences in Attitudes Towards Unions? Culture and Attitudes Towards Unions Among Call Centre Workers in Britain and India JF - Industrial Relations Journal Y1 - 2014 A1 - Sarkar, Santanu A1 - Andy Charlwood KW - anti-unionism KW - attitude toward unions KW - labor relations KW - pro-unionism KW - union attitudes KW - union organizing KW - union recruitment AB -

This article adds to the literature on worker attitudes towards unions by investigating the impact of cultural attitudes and the call center labor process on union attitudes among call center workers in Britain and India. It is hypothesized that workers with egalitarian and collectivist cultural attitudes will be more likely to have pro-union attitudes than other workers, although if the impact of cultural attitudes is mediated by history and institutions, it might be expected that this relationship is stronger for British than Indian workers. Conversely, if union attitudes are largely a function of the call center labor process, we would expect union attitudes to be similar among workers in both countries. Our results only partially support our hypotheses. Collectivist attitudes are only weakly related to union attitudes among the British sample but are more strongly related in the Indian sample. There are significant differences between union attitudes among our British and Indian samples. The article concludes that relationship between cultural attitudes and union attitudes are heavily dependent on institutional context. Cultural attitudes are unlikely to be either a constraint or a facilitator of union efforts to organize workers.

VL - 45 L2 - eng CP - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Is There a Winning Formula for Union Organizing? JF - Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal Y1 - 2014 A1 - Lepie, Jonathan KW - labor law KW - organizing KW - union organizing KW - union-busting KW - unions AB -

Between 1995 and 2004, Kate Bronfenbrenner wrote several studies arguing that union organizing would be more successful if certain tactics were used. Bronfenbrenner’s methodology seemed unassailable and her opinions were influential among union leaders, but organizing outcomes did not improve. To understand why, this study asked highly successful union organizers for their views. Their responses point to an entirely different conceptualization of the organizing process. Rather than follow a certain recipe, respondents saw their first priority as building relationships of trust with workers. Then, organizers and workers together could develop tactics tailored to the particular situation. If organizing success most requires relation-building skills and creativity, then it is more important for unions to hire the right organizers than to employ a given tactical formula.

VL - 26 L2 - eng CP - 2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Union Effectiveness: In Search of the Holy Grail JF - Economic and Industrial Democracy Y1 - 2014 A1 - Gregor Gall A1 - Jack Fiorito KW - employee representation KW - labor unions KW - trade unions KW - union organizing KW - unionization AB -

This article revisits the concept of union effectiveness and proposes a conceptual model to inform its study and application. Previous conceptual and empirical work is examined to identify key strengths and weaknesses, and to relate the union effectiveness concept to union renewal and other key concepts. This leads to the proposal of a Goal-System framework that builds and improves on prior research.

VL - Published online before print July 29, 2014 L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Victory at Pomona College: Union Strategy and Immigrant Labor JF - Labor Studies Journal Y1 - 2014 A1 - Victor Silverman KW - dining hall workers KW - immigrant KW - Pomona College KW - union organizing KW - UNITE HERE AB -

Despite the firing of 17 purported undocumented workers and bitter conflicts on campus, Pomona College’s dining hall staff overwhelmingly voted for UNITE HERE Local 11 in spring 2013 and approved a good contract less than a year later. Although a labor victory, the Pomona story, nonetheless, illustrates the obstacles to organizing low-wage immigrant workers at powerful institutions opposed to unionization. Drawing on interviews with labor and community activists, media reports, and the author’s participant observation, this article finds that campus and community support, while critical, could not prevent years of delays and serious acts of intimidation. This campaign had a transformative effect on the workers and their workplace but raises questions about long-term union strategy.

VL - Published online before print December 30, 2014, L2 - eng ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Who Do Unions Target? Unionization over the Life-Cycle of U.S. Businesses (IZA Discussion Paper No. 8416) Y1 - 2014 A1 - Emin Dinlersoz A1 - Jeremy Greenwood A1 - Henry Hyat KW - Bayesian learning KW - diffusion of unionization KW - productivity KW - union certification election KW - union organizing KW - unionization AB -

What type of businesses do unions target for organizing? A dynamic model of the union organizing process is constructed to answer this question. A union monitors establishments in an industry to learn about their productivity and decides which ones to organize and when. An establishment becomes unionized if the union targets it for organizing and wins the union certification election. The model predicts two main selection effects: unions secure elections in larger and more productive establishments early in their life-cycles, and among the establishments that experience an election, unions are more likely to win in smaller and less productive ones. These predictions find support in union certification election data for 1977-2007 matched with data on establishment characteristics. Other empirical regularities pertaining to union organizing are also documented.

PB - Institute for the Study of Labor CY - Bonn, Germany L2 - eng UR - http://ftp.iza.org/dp8416.pdf ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Raising Retail: Organizing Retail Workers in Canada and the United States JF - Labor Studies Journal Y1 - 2013 A1 - Kendra Coulter KW - collective action KW - community-labor organizing KW - retail work KW - retail workers KW - union organizing AB -

Retail workers are a significant but largely unorganized group in Canada and the United States. However, in recent years, there has been a marked increase in efforts to organize retail workers, including pursuit of innovative structures and strategies. The author focuses on the dominant threads of contemporary retail organizing work in Canada and the United States, outlining three current organizing vehicles: unionization, store-based networks, and occupation or sector-based associations. The author then reflects on the strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities of these approaches, independently and collectively, and emphasizes the need to confront the social and cultural as well as the economic devaluation of retail workers.

VL - 38 L2 - eng UR - http://lsj.sagepub.com/content/38/1/47.abstract CP - 1 ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Research Handbook On The Economics Of Labor And Employment Law Y1 - 2013 A1 - Cynthia L. Estlund A1 - Michael L. Wachter KW - economics KW - economics of labor markets KW - employment law KW - employment relations KW - industrial relations KW - labor economy KW - labor law KW - union organizing AB -

This Research Handbook assembles the original work of leading legal and economic scholars, working in a variety of traditions and methodologies, on the economic analysis of labor and employment law. In addition to surveying the current state of the art on the economics of labor markets and employment relations, the volume’s 16 chapters assess aspects of traditional labor law and union organizing, the law governing the employment contract and termination of employment, employment discrimination and other employer mandates, restrictions on employee mobility, and the forum and remedies for labor and employment claims. Comprising a variety of approaches, the Research Handbook on the Economics of Labor and Employment Law will appeal to legal scholars in labor and employment law, industrial relations scholars and labor economists.(publisher's statement)

PB - Edward Elgar Publishers CY - Northampton, MA L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - From First Contact to First Contract: A Union Organizer's Handbook Y1 - 2012 A1 - Bill Barry KW - organizing KW - organizing campaign KW - union organizing KW - unionization AB -

Veteran labor organizer and educator Bill Barry looks to his own vast experience to document and help organizers through all the stages of a unionization campaign, from how to get it off the ground to how to bring it home with a signed contract and a strong bargaining unit. In 19 chapters he discusses everything from the culture of organizing to how to strategize, various approaches to campaigns, whether to go through formal (i.e., NLRB) procedures or work from outside established law, what to expect from employers, and a whole lot more. Several appendices offer useful tips and tools. (publisher's statement)

PB - Free State Press CY - Annapolis, MD L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Gendered Projects of Solidarity: Workplace Organizing among Immigrant Women and Men JF - Gender, Work & Organization Y1 - 2012 A1 - Cranford, C. J. KW - gender KW - immigrants KW - labor organizing KW - solidarity KW - union organizing AB -

Drawing on an ethnography of organizing among Latina/o immigrant janitors in Los Angeles, I argue that constructing workplace solidarity between women and men is a dynamic, gendered project. I demonstrate both how this project unfolds and how it can be halted, with varying implications for gender and class inequality at work. Organizational restructuring upsets gender-segregated divisions of labour making solidarity between women and men possible but restructuring also allows workers to reinforce gendered divisions and cultural distinctions. The mechanism pushing workers one way or the other is the degree to which the process of organizing recognizes gender inequalities.

VL - 19 L2 - eng CP - 2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The Rise and Fall of Industrial Unionism JF - Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research Y1 - 2012 A1 - Jelle Visser KW - industrial decline KW - industrial unionism KW - industrial unions KW - sector organization KW - sectoral bargaining KW - trade union structure KW - trade unionism KW - union organizing AB -

Measured by its achievements, industrial unionism represented the high point in the history of 20th century trade unions. This article analyses the defining characteristics and organizing model of industrial unions and argues that changes both in the labor market, in particular the decline of industry, and in union organizing and sectoral bargaining have led to the ‘fall’ of the industrial union. The article ends with some suggestions with regard to the spirit and agenda of the post-industrial union.

VL - 18 L2 - eng CP - 2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Union Organizing and Membership Growth: Why Don’t They Organize? JF - Journal of Labor Research Y1 - 2012 A1 - Fiorito, Jack A1 - Paul Jarley KW - membership KW - organizing KW - union membership KW - union organizing KW - unions AB -

This study analyzes U.S. union organizing activity and membership growth from 1990 to 2004, a period in which an overall pattern of union decline continued and in which organizing achieved renewed prominence as both a union policy and public policy issue. Models for organizing activity and membership growth were proposed and tested. Union decentralization and employer opposition were found to be key predictors of organizing activity differences among unions. These same factors, along with organizing activity, helped explain union differences in membership growth, as did a “Sweeney era” effect.

VL - 33 L2 - eng CP - 4 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Legal Protection of Workers’ Human Rights: Regulatory Changes and Challenges in the United States T2 - Human Rights at Work: Perspectives on Law and Regulation Y1 - 2010 A1 - L. Compa ED - Fenwick, C. ED - Novitz, T. KW - human rights KW - labor law KW - labor movement KW - trade unions KW - union organizing KW - United States KW - worker rights AB -

[Excerpt] In a 2002 study, the US Government Accountability Office reported that more than 32 million workers in the United States lack protection of the right to organise and to bargain collectively. But since then, the situation has worsened. A series of decisions by the federal authorities under President George Bush has stripped many more workers of organising and bargaining rights. The administration took away bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of employees in the new Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department.18 In the years before the 2009 change of administration, a controlling majority of the five-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), appointed by President Bush, denied protection to graduate student employees, disabled employees, temporary employees and other categories of workers.

An October 2006, a NLRB decision was especially alarming for labour advocates. The NLRB set out a new, expanded definition of 'supervisor' under the section of US labour law that excludes supervisors from protection of the right to organise and bargain collectively. This exclusion has enormous repercussions for millions of workers who might now become 'supervisors' and lose protection of their organising and bargaining rights.21 This case is discussed in more detail below in connection with a complaint to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association.

JA - Human Rights at Work: Perspectives on Law and Regulation PB - Hart Publishing CY - Portland, OR L2 - eng UR - http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/391/ ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Organizing on Separate Shores: Vietnamese and Vietnamese American Union Organizers Y1 - 2009 A1 - Wong, K. A1 - Le, A. KW - organizing KW - union organizing KW - Vietnam KW - workers’ rights AB -

Five union organizers from Vietnam and five Vietnamese American union organizers share their stories of war, sorrow, loss, displacement, and migration. But their stories also capture their hope, determination, and perseverance against the formidable obstacles they face in organizing workers to improve their jobs and their lives. (publisher's statement)

PB - UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education CY - Los Angeles L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Union Revitalization in Advanced Economies: Assessing the Contribution of Union Organising Y1 - 2009 A1 - Gregor Gall KW - Great Britain KW - New Zealand KW - organizing tactics KW - union organizing KW - union strategies AB -

After a decade of "union organizing" in Britain, the time has come to make a thoroughgoing assessment of it. This book evaluates the efficacy of the union organizing in terms of union strategies, tactics, styles and resources, and assesses the impact of differing regulatory regimes on union organizing. (publisher's statement)

PB - Palgrave Macmillan CY - New York L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - I Just Got Elected – Now What? A New Union Officer’s Handbook Y1 - 2007 A1 - Bill Barry KW - leadership KW - union leadership KW - union organizing KW - unionism AB -

This is an aggressive guide to building a strong and effective local union. Don’t buy this book if your goal is simply to be a local union officer like "Old Joe" was before you, doing things the way they’ve always been done and skating by as things just bump along. That, the author says, is what has weakened unions and made them less the force than they once were, and can be again. Rather than one or maybe a handful of officers running your local from the top, Barry says, you’ve got to educate and involve your members at every level, using the organizing model of unionism – and he shows you how to do it.

In straightforward language the author explains how to create a union that can be strong, grow and thrive in any environment. Chapters explain the organizing model (vs. the servicing model) of unionism; how to do the kind of strategic planning needed to build your union; analyze the various functions of the union and its finances, and build a communications network that involves and rallies the members. It explains the laws you have to look out for, how to deal with other officers and union staff, and how to organize yourself to do what needs to be done to pull it together and make it all work.

Bill Barry is a veteran union activist and labor studies program director at the Community College of Baltimore County’s Dundalk campus, where he teaches leadership skills, organizing, labor law, political action and other core subjects. If you’re a local officer who seriously wants to see your union become more effective, this book is a good place to start. (publisher’s statement)

PB - UCS Inc. CY - Annapolis, MD L2 - eng ER - TY - NEWS T1 - A Shield Against Corporate Bullying T2 - The Washington Post Y1 - 2007 A1 - L. Compa KW - anti-unionism KW - labor movement KW - union organizing KW - unionization KW - workers rights AB -

[Excerpt] Workers should be able to organize without fear-mongering by bosses or, by the same token, pressure from union organizers. This is how the card-based system already works; safeguards against undue pressure from any side are built in. It includes rapid arbitration to resolve any disputes, compared with years of dragged-out NLRB proceedings and federal court appeals.

JA - The Washington Post L2 - eng UR - http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/364/ ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Varieties of Unionism: Strategies for Union Revitalization in a Globalizing Economy Y1 - 2004 A1 - Carola Frege A1 - John Kelly KW - coalition building KW - economics KW - globalization KW - organizational restructuring KW - political action KW - social partnership KW - union decline KW - union organizing KW - union politics KW - union strategy KW - union structure AB -

As unions face an ongoing crisis all over the industrialized world, they have often been portrayed as outmoded remnants of an old economic structure. This book argues that despite structural shifts in the economy and in politics, unions retain important functions for capitalist economies as well as for political democracy. Union revitalization in the face of their current difficulties is therefore of fundamental importance. This book charts the strategies unions use to respond to global union decline and to revive their fortunes in five countries — the liberal market economies of the US and the UK; the coordinated economy of Germany and the Mediterranean economies of Italy and Spain — thus providing a wide range of institutional settings, union structures, identities, and union responses. Each chapter provides a comparative analysis of a particular strategy, looking in turn at union organizing, social partnership, political action, organizational restructuring, coalition-building, and international action. It provides a rich source of documentation about union activity, but more importantly it goes beyond description to address two of the big questions in comparative research: How can we explain cross-country differences in union responses to global decline? And how effective are these actions in helping to revitalize national labour movements? (publisher's statement)

PB - Oxford University Press CY - New York L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Organizing to Win: New Research on Union Strategies Y1 - 1998 A1 - K. Bronfenbrenner A1 - Friedman, S. A1 - Richard Hurd A1 - Oswald, R. A. A1 - Seeber, R. L. KW - clergy KW - labor movement KW - local labor councils KW - membership KW - union organizing KW - volunteer organizers AB -

[Excerpt] The American labor movement is at a watershed. For the first time since the early years of industrial unionism sixty years ago, there is near-universal agreement among union leaders that the future of the movement depends on massive new organizing. In October 1995, John Sweeney, Richard Trumka, and Linda Chavez-Thompson were swept into the top offices of the AFL-CIO, following a campaign that promised organizing "at an unprecedented pace and scale." Since taking office, the new AFL-CIO leadership team has created a separate organizing department and has committed $20 million to support coordinated large-scale industry-based organizing drives. In addition, in the summer of 1996, the AFL-CIO launched the "Union Summer" program, which placed more than a thousand college students and young workers in organizing campaigns across the country.

PB - Cornell University Press CY - Ithaca, NY L2 - eng UR - http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/188/ ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Contract Servicing from an Organizing Model: Don't Bureaucratize, Organize! JF - Labor Research Review Y1 - 1991 A1 - Conrow, T. KW - contract servicing KW - negotiation KW - union organizing AB -

[Excerpt] It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. I looked again at the phone messages in front of me. Negotiations were to begin the following week, and copies of contract proposals covered my desk.

I looked at the walls for relief. There was a picket sign from the 1987 Red Cross nurses strike, a photo of a hundred women from the AFL-CIO Summer Institute, and a poster of a young woman, fist in the air, tearing the boards off a vacant house where our community group had moved in a homeless family. Just yesterday I had taped up a snapshot of health care workers from Los Angeles area unions jointly picketing a hospital.

These are some of the pictures I value from my work as a labor representative and organizer. Yet here I sat, feeling like the worst of bureaucrats, trying to figure out how to avoid some of the very people I represent.

 

VL - 17 L2 - eng UR - http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1168&context=lrr ER -