Membership Recruitment and Restructuring of the Trade Unions for Effective Functioning of Public Sector Unions

Abstract

The phenomenon of increased union numbers as an answer to the call by workers who felt otherwise under-represented, and to get recognition, have put forward alternative agendas to the larger unions. Some new unions, it is argued, give a voice to workers in a specific sector or region where established unions have little presence. Others seem to have sprung up in the cracks caused by the fragmentation of the industrial structure in an organisation. Some would postulate it is caused by greedy trade union leaders who want to remain in leadership and with an intention to appropriate union resources to themselves. The failure of many unions to respond to changes in employment patterns has further diminished their power. Few unions manage to appeal to younger workers and/ or contract or part-time employees