Rethinking Power, Strategy and Renewal: Members and Unions in Crisis

Abstract

Why are some unions unable to rebuild membership and bargaining coverage despite significant changes in strategy? We examine the trajectory of a key union in a vital sector, the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, calling into question aspects of the union renewal literature. Much scholarship sees members' associational power as a power resource that can cover the loss of other power resources, but we show that this assumption does not necessarily hold. To explain why members are not necessarily a resource in renewal, we argue that studies of renewal must more fully consider the interplay between different forms of power resources -institutional, structural and societaland locate union strategies within that dynamic. Critically, this interplay also shapes members' perceptions of their power, which may further limit a union's options as it responds to external threats.

Path Dependency versus Social Unionism in Healthcare: Bringing Employers Back in

“…Our study builds on this new labor research but illustrates the importance of combining new insights with older traditions-assessing the relative importance of agency and path dependence, of new sources of labor power and historic structures of employer power, and of capital-labor relations within the workplace and beyond it. Like Ellem et al (2019), we argue that the new labor research has not given due consideration to the role of employer power or societal, structural, or institutional power that may weaken labor's associational power. They emphasize that "the weight of history" is often insufficiently developed, in contrast to an older IR tradition that emphasized employer strategies and power (Bronfenbrenner, 2009;Eaton & Kriesky, 2006;Kochan et al, 1986).…”

Trade unions and industrial regeneration in North West Tasmania: Moving beyond lock-in?

“…Since the 1950s trade union density in Australia has fallen from over 50% to 15% in 2018 (Stanford, 2018). Although in Tasmania Deindustrialisation and legislative constraints on the right to strike, collectively bargain and protect vulnerable workers (Ellem, Goods and Todd, 2019) have weakened the unions organisationally and practically and reduced their presence and influence in the region.…”

“…There has been a belated recognition of the structural constraints facing labour (Peck, 2018) and the need to recognise the diverse uses of space to sustain agency and produce political activity and labour organising (Featherstone and Griffin, 2016). While unions have attempted new and different strategies with only sporadic success (Ellem et al, 2019), unions' multi-scalar organisation and ability to re-scale their activities mean they can adapt or even shape economic sectors with innovative and new strategies. It is therefore important to consider that although unions and workers may have the potential to enter into debates on industrial regeneration, their ability to exert agency may be constrained by both other actors and their own sense of what is both possible and probable.…”

“…While many union leaders were enthusiastic about the possibilities engendered by moving outside the workplace, this was not universally held by the membership. Union decline and powerlessness (Ellem et al., 2019) and continued deindustrialisation made some memberships sceptical of their unions’ ability to protect them and caused them to turn inwards towards the workplace. In spite of general agreement about the merits and necessity of moving outside the workplace and engaging with the community, the unions were unable to do so at any deep level and therefore seemingly unable to influence the direction any regeneration activities took.…”

“…With the exception of the National Union of Workers (NUW) and CFMMEU Maritime Union of Australia Division (MUA), the North West coast unions are sub-branches and either report to state offices in Hobart or interstate. The outcome of deindustrialisation and legislative constraints on the right to strike, collectively bargain and protect vulnerable workers (Ellem et al., 2019) has been to weaken the unions organisationally and practically and reduce their presence and influence in the region.…”