A reappraisal of the rank-and-file versus bureaucracy debate

Darlington, Ralph; Upchurch, Martin

doi:10.1177/0309816811430369

Cited by 41 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Several scholars have criticized the lack of democratic credentials of this model, viewing the militant rank-and-file unionism as the only possibility to avoid bureaucratization (see Darlington and Upchurch, 2012, for a discussion). Others suggest that the opposition between trade union bureaucracy and the rank-and-file is counterproductive and advocate the co-existence of strong central and lower union levels, with strong internal mechanisms of articulation (Hyman, 1989;Waddington, 2001).…”

Section: Trade Union Democracy Between Representation and Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unions for whom? Union democracy and precarious workers in Poland and Italy

Marino

Bernaciak

Mrozowicki

et al. 2018

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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Focusing on the cases of Italy and Poland, this paper examines the link between union organizational democracy and the economic and political inclusion of precarious workers. It argues that union membership of vulnerable groups is not a necessary condition for the representation of their voice and economic interests by labour organizations; rather, these two forms of the inclusion are shaped primarily by institutional contexts in which unions operate as well as by their identities and structural characteristics. In both examined countries the economic inclusion of precarious workers has been more advanced, while the degree of their political inclusion lagged behind and varied across major union confederations in line with two distinct models of unionism: a solidaristic and a diversity-oriented one.

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Section: Trade Union Democracy Between Representation and Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unions for whom? Union democracy and precarious workers in Poland and Italy

Marino

Bernaciak

Mrozowicki

et al. 2018

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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“…This outcome further confirms the optimistic nature of Fairbrother's (1994) public sector trade union renewal perspectives and as well as calling in to question the congruence within PCS claimed by Upchurch et al . (2008) and echoed by Darlington and Upchurch (2012). Fairbrother underestimated both the reluctance of national officials to countenance the significant devolution of power and the ability of workplace‐based unionism to generate qualitative change in the face of initiatives such as Lean that have multi‐site implications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In addition to this outline of the problem, Hyman (1979: 55) also widened the scope of the analysis of bureaucracy by extending it to lay officials and by maintaining that FTOs ‘though often politically and socially more advanced or progressive than many of their members, frequently perform a conservative role in periods of membership activism and struggle’. Hyman's (1979: 61) novel contribution, however, was the insistence that ‘the problem of “bureaucracy” denotes not so much a distinct stratum of personnel as a relationship which can permeate the whole practice of trade unionism’, a contention challenged by Darlington and Upchurch (2012: 80), who ‘are primarily concerned with the few dozen individuals who are the principal national officials if the larger unions in Britain’.…”

Section: Trade Union Bureaucracy and Public Sector Unionismmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Nothing gets done and no one knows why’: PCS and workplace control of Lean in HM Revenue and Customs

Carter

Danford

Howcroft

et al. 2012

Industrial Relations Journal

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This article examines the willingness and capacity of public sector unions to mobilise action against changes in the labour process in order to maintain some measure of control at the point of production. Taking as an instance an extended dispute in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs over the introduction and impact of Lean processes, it marshals evidence gathered from documentary sources, branch representatives and national lay full‐time officers to engage with the notion of a trade union bureaucracy. In taking a union with a left‐wing leadership and a section with 80 per cent membership with an expressed willingness to escalate industrial action, the article tests Hyman's 1979 contention that, rather than a concentration on a bureaucratic caste, a much better explanation for conservatism centres on the nature of social relations within the union that encompass a wider layer of representatives.

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“…We can now turn to two critical limitations that can be identified with Kelly's approach. 1988;Kelly and Heery, 2004), or the role of senior lay workplace reps who operate between the mass of members and union officialdom, and the ways in which both these sets of intraunion relations can impact on the limits/potential for workplace collective mobilisation, either contributing to its facilitation or to its hindrance and limited manifestation (Darlington and Upchurch, 2012).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The leadership component of Kelly’s mobilisation theory: Contribution, tensions, limitations and further development

Darlington

2018

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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Th e le a d e r s hi p c o m p o n e n t of Kelly's M o bilis a tio n Th e o ry : c o n t ri b u tio n, t e n sio n s, li mi t a tio n s a n d fu r t h e r d e v elo p m e n t D a rlin g t o n, RR h t t p:// dx. doi.o r g/ 1 0. 1 1 7 7/ 0 1 4 3 8 3 1X1 8 7 7 7 6 0 9 Ti t l e Th e le a d e r s hi p c o m p o n e n t of Kelly's M o bilis a tio n Th e o ry : c o n t ri b u tio n, t e n sio n s, li mit a tio n s a n d fu r t h e r d e v elo p m e n t A u t h o r s D a rli n g t o n, RR Typ e Articl e U RL This ve r sio n is a v ail a bl e a t : h t t p:// u sir.s alfo r d. a c. u k/id/ e p ri n t/ 4 6 3 0 2/ P u b l i s h e d D a t e 2 0 1 8 U SIR is a di git al c oll e c tio n of t h e r e s e a r c h o u t p u t of t h e U niv e r si ty of S alfo r d. W h e r e c o py ri g h t p e r mi t s, full t e x t m a t e ri al h el d in t h e r e p o si to ry is m a d e fr e ely a v ail a bl e o nli n e a n d c a n b e r e a d , d o w nlo a d e d a n d c o pi e d fo r n o nc o m m e r ci al p riv a t e s t u dy o r r e s e a r c h p u r p o s e s . Pl e a s e c h e c k t h e m a n u s c ri p t fo r a n y fu r t h e r c o py ri g h t r e s t ri c tio n s. Fo r m o r e info r m a tio n, in cl u di n g o u r p olicy a n d s u b mi s sio n p r o c e d u r e , pl e a s e c o n t a c t t h e R e p o si to ry Te a m a t: u si r@ s alfo r d. a c. u k . Taylor and Moore, 2015). Yet the nature and process of leadership and its relationship to collective mobilisation has remained relatively understudied and inadequately theorised by industrial relations (and social movement) researchers generally. In the 1970s and 1980s several highly insightful sociologically-inspired case studies provided rich narrative accounts of workplace industrial relations that confirmed the centrality of shop stewards' leadership to the dynamics of collective action (Armstrong et al., 1981; Batstone et al.,

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A reappraisal of the rank-and-file versus bureaucracy debate

Cited by 41 publications

References 36 publications

Unions for whom? Union democracy and precarious workers in Poland and Italy

Unions for whom? Union democracy and precarious workers in Poland and Italy

‘Nothing gets done and no one knows why’: PCS and workplace control of Lean in HM Revenue and Customs

The leadership component of Kelly’s mobilisation theory: Contribution, tensions, limitations and further development

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