Who Joins Trade Unions? Testing New Sociological Explanations

Kollmeyer, Christopher

doi:10.1163/15691330-12341272

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Schnabel and Wagner (2007) report no significant effects of either social background or ideology in their cross-sectional, cross-country study examining the individual propensity to be organized in a union, whereas Ebbinghaus et al (2011) do find support for moderate effects of ideology on union membership, using the same cross-sectional data source as Schnabel and Wagner (2007). In a cross-country, cross-sectional study of the effects of cultural values and civic and political engagement, Kollmeyer (2013) observes support for positive effects of left-leaning ideological views on union membership but not for post-materialist values. This inconsistency in the results suggests that different types of methods, the choice of variables and measurements used and included in the models may indeed affect the results, as noted by for example Riley (1997).…”

Section: Class Ideology Collective Identity and Collective Mobilizamentioning

confidence: 98%

The declining influence of class and ideology in union membership: Consistent but divergent trends among Swedish employees

Palm

2017

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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Using individual-level time-series data covering the period from 1990 to 2011, this article provides an empirical analysis of how the influence of various aspects of class and ideology on union organization have changed over time in the Swedish context. The primary results indicate that although union density and the influence of class-related aspects and ideology are decreasing, particularly among groups with traditionally high levels of organization, the general trend is not valid for all categories of employees. Rather, it appears that where the tradition of being organized is weaker, the influence of class and class identity is particularly strong. No evidence is identified that supports the thesis of class loyalty vanishing among the young.

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Section: Class Ideology Collective Identity and Collective Mobilizamentioning

confidence: 98%

The declining influence of class and ideology in union membership: Consistent but divergent trends among Swedish employees

Palm

2017

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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“…As has been well established in the current literature, individuals partake in the sharing economy for a variety of reasons, ranging from monetary to social and hedonic benefits (Bucher et al ., ). These divergent interests can be further exacerbated by political differences (Korpi and Shalev, ), where previous studies have found that left‐wing orientations correlate positively with union membership (Kollmeyer, ; Jansen, ) and attitudes towards collective action (Hague et al ., ; Turner and D'Art, ).…”

Section: Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collective action and provider classification in the sharing economy

Newlands¹,

Lutz²,

Fieseler³

2018

New Technol Work Employ

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Conditions in the sharing economy are often favourably designed for consumers and platforms but entail new challenges for the labour side, such as substandard socialsecurity and rigid forms of algorithmic management. Since comparatively little is known about how providers in the sharing economy make their voices heard collectively, we investigate their opinions and behaviours regarding collective action and perceived solidarities. Using cluster analysis on representative data from across 12 European countries, we determine five distinct types of labour-activists, ranging from those opposed to any forms of collective action to those enthusiastic to organise and correct perceived wrongs. We conclude by conjecturing that the still-ongoing influx of new providers, the difficulty of organising in purely virtual settings, combined with the narrative of voluntariness of participation and hedonic gratifications might be responsible for the inaction of large parts of the provider base in collectivist activities.

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“…Historically, political cleavages between the left and the right are closely tied to interest representation in the system of industrial relations (Almond, 1958; Korpi and Shalev, 1979; Lipset, 1961): with, on the one hand, trade unions linking to labor parties to promote welfare distribution and social security, and on the other hand, business organizations linking with right-wing parties to advocate capitalist markets and limitation of government interventions. As an expression of such traditional left/right divisions, previous studies on employees have systematically found that left-wing political orientations positively correlate with trade union membership (Kollmeyer, 2013; Schnabel and Wagner, 2005). Recent research has shown that solo self-employment in the Netherlands is associated with heterogeneous political preferences, and that growing segments of self-employed voters move away from typical right-wing voting behavior, and instead support ‘new-left’ and ‘social-liberal’ parties (Jansen, 2016, 2017).…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solo self-employment and membership of interest organizations in the Netherlands: Economic, social, and political determinants

Jansen

2017

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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Falling in-between the category of employers and employees, solo self-employed persons are poorly accommodated by the traditional system of corporatist interest representation through which the interests of employers are represented in employers' associations, and the interests of employees are represented by trade unions. For business associations 'micro businesses' with no employees are difficult to reach and serve, as their interests are considered distinct from companies with employees. Trade unions in many countries even resisted the emergence of solo self-employment, fearing that these and other flexible arrangements would undermine not only secure working conditions but also union solidarity. This study examines differences in membership of interest organizations among solo self-employed workers. Various types of organizations are investigated, not only trade unions and business associations, but also new freelancer associations. Theoretically, three categories of determinants are examined to explain differences in membership: economic explanations, social explanations, and political explanations. Empirically, survey data are used from the Netherlands, a country with an increase in self-employment and a diverse supply of interest organizations. It is concluded that economic determinants explain both 'generic' membership (of any organization), as well as membership of specific organizations. Social and political determinants do not explain generic membership, but instead help to explain why some self-employed workers join particular types of organizations.

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Who Joins Trade Unions? Testing New Sociological Explanations

Cited by 9 publications

References 37 publications

The declining influence of class and ideology in union membership: Consistent but divergent trends among Swedish employees

The declining influence of class and ideology in union membership: Consistent but divergent trends among Swedish employees

Collective action and provider classification in the sharing economy

Solo self-employment and membership of interest organizations in the Netherlands: Economic, social, and political determinants

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