Democratic dilemmas: union democracy and union renewal

Abstract

This article examines the academic debate over union democracy and compares it with recent research on union renewal in the United States. The juxtaposition reveals that revitalization in US unions has not happened in the ways assumed in the literature on union democracy. Rather than being largely a bottom-up process, revitalization has contained a strong element of centralism and coordination. I suggest that union democracy has too often been framed in singular terms, as only involving the curbing of the illegitimate accumulation of power by union leaders. Yet a key problem faced by unions today — how they might best aggregate the interests of diverse workers and represent new constituencies — is also fundamentally a democratic concern, one that can be addressed only by broadening our understanding of union democracy.

The Power Resources Approach: Developments and Challenges

“…The studies on trade union renewal highlight membership participation as one of the dimensions which is crucial for trade union renewal as democracy and participation are likely to reduce gaps of representation between leadership and members and allows for new groups of members, like young or precarious workers, to express their set of values in the union. Participation can range from direct democracy to campaigns which enhance membership participation, and to rank-and file-involvement in organising (Turner, 2005;Voss, 2010). However, the relationship between member participation and organisational efficiency is not one of simple correlation (Voss, 2010: 377ff.).…”

“…More importantly, Europe was shaken by several riots in marginalised neighbourhoods in Milan in 2010, Great Britain in 2011and Stockholm in 2013(The Guardian and LSE, 2011Schierop, Ålund and Kings, 2014), and also earlier in the French Banlieues in 2005. These violent protests can be perceived as a form of "collective bargaining by riots" (Hobsbawm, 1952: 59).…”

Victory at Pomona College

“…These factors all contributed. (Bronfenbrenner 1998;Voss 2010;Milkman, Bloom, and Narro 2013). Skilled and talented organizers devoted many years to forge a group of strong, competent rank-and-file leaders.…”

Institutions and Strategies: Trends and Obstacles to Recruiting Workers into Trade Unions in Poland

“…). As suggested by Voss (: 377), based on the analysis of organizing campaigns in the US, ‘member engagement and rank‐and‐file involvement are clearly important in their own right, but, to date, paid union staff, strong leadership and central coordination have played a more consistent key role in union renewal’. The analysis of the case of Poland, in which both bottom‐up (decentralized) forms of worker activism and top‐down (centralized) organizing approaches are present, can shed some light on the effectiveness of both approaches in contributing to union membership growth and inclusion.…”