Can a union be both democratic and administratively efficient, or are these goals always at odds? Building on the Webbs' focus on this critical question, this article analyses and compares the changing administrative policies and practices of US, UK and Australian trade unions over a 25-year period. We conducted surveys of unions in all three countries to gather information on union policies and practices involving the unions' human resources, hiring, budgeting and strategic planning. Using these novel longitudinal data, we contribute to industrial relations scholarship by showing that unions have increasingly adopted formal, systematic practices in these areas. The article is grounded in theory and also has practical relevance given the important implications that our findings may have for the revitalization of unions in the three countries and beyond.

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In sharp contrast to their counterparts at the bargaining tables, labor unions have traditionally given relatively little attention to the selection and training of their professional staff.' Results of a 1977-78 survey of national unions and employee organizations suggest an .emerging trend bringing them more into line with established personnel practices of business and government . College graduates, long sought by other employers, find doors beginning to open in labor unions ; the recent elections of college graduates as president and secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO symbolize this change .' Formalized training, generally required for upward mobility in business and government, is gaining acceptance among unions . Even more striking, some of the recently inaugurated union staff training programs resemble in content and format those offered for management in other organizations .The literature describing and analyzing personnel policies of business and government is voluminous . By contrast, little is known about the personnel practices of labor unions .' This study, designed as a first step in filling this gap, addressed several key questions: How do national unions recruit and select their representatives? What functions do these staff members perform? What qualifications are expected of them? And, how are they