Union Strategies Research Articles

Agenda-setting as a trade union strategy: the case of the minimum wage in the Netherlands

When political issues remain under the radar, politicians can lend their ears to lobbyists rather than the electorate, without being held accountable in elections. In such a situation, one potential strategy for trade unions and other organisations is to boost the visibility of these issues in the media, so that voters can take them into account when deciding who to vote for. This article proposes a method for exploring the feasibility of such a strategy. The minimum wage campaign conducted by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV), which resulted in an 8–20 per cent increase in the minimum wage, is discussed as a case study. It is shown that the outcomes of the campaign are largely consistent with expectations based on the feasibility study conducted before it was launched. It is also argued that while other factors may have contributed to the outcome, they cannot explain the timing and nature of the political and media response.

Union Makes Us Strong: Space, Technology, and On-Demand Ridesourcing Digital Labour Platforms

The entry of on-demand ridesourcing digital labour platforms (OR-DLPs) in Kolkata, India, restructured the local taxi-cab service industry's economic geography and spatial practices. Notably, they eroded the significance of the spatial fixity of taxi stands operated by traditional trade unions, enmeshed in local society's partisan political dynamics. Therefore, OR-DLPs triggered a reconfiguration of the socio-spatial and political practices around the taxi-cab industry in the city. Globally, traditional trade unions have struggled to organise workers in informal work arrangements and DLPs. However, in Kolkata, the Kolkata Ola-Uber App-Cab Operator and Drivers Union has proved to be successful. They established hybrid and networked unionism through technological affordances, placing worker-organisers rather than external organisers at the centre of their organisational structure. Furthermore, they undertook tech-mediated resistance against the OR-DLPs, local bureaucracy (e.g. the police) and the state. We explore this context to examine the impact of OR-DLPs on labour geography, worker-organising and resistance practices, along with the revitalisation strategies of traditional trade unions in response. From a non-Western context, we expand the frame for CSCW and HCI scholars' ongoing efforts to design worker-centric technologies for resistance.

Impact of regulatory and other changes on Australian unions’ strategies and campaigns, 2023–2024

This article reviews the challenges and opportunities facing Australian trade unions in 2023–2024. It covers industry challenges for specific unions and the changes introduced by the Federal Labor Government through its Closing the Loopholes Amendments to the Fair Work Act. It argues that the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and individual unions need to take the opportunity provided by the Federal Government's legal changes to make gains for members so that they are difficult to overturn if the federal government changes. It analyses campaigns and strategies of unions around challenges specific to them: for example, the recruitment of gig workers by the Transport Workers’ Union and campaigns by the ACTU and the Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance around inappropriate use of artificial intelligence by employers seeking to replace workers and usurp employees’ ownership rights to their work. It considers amalgamations (mergers) and disamalgamations (demergers) of concern for some unions. It discusses allegations of inappropriate behaviour facing the Construction and General Division of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees’ Union leading to its forced administration as a concern and possible impediment for the entire union movement if not resolved effectively.

U.S. Labor and renewable energy: green growth versus the Green New Deal

ABSTRACT In this article, I examine findings from an NSF-funded project on U.S. labor unions’ stance on renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar power, which is neither simple nor well understood. The discourse on energy issues of 11 national-level U.S. unions posted to union websites from 2012 to 2020 was examined and coded using NVivo. While almost all unions in this study were enthusiastic supporters of renewable energy, the reasons for their support were very different, with different implications for the goal of low-carbon energy transition. Unions disagree on issues of ‘just transition,’ and exhibit lines of conflict on four issues: who should lead the energy transition; whether jobs in renewable energy are or could be as good as fossil fuel jobs; whether fossil fuels should be phased out; and whether a just transition necessarily includes transformation of unjust social relations. Union strategies regarding renewable and fossil fuel energy were characterized as ‘Green Growth,’ versus Green New Deal. Examining these contrasting strategies through the lens of theoretical perspectives including ecological modernization, feminist theory, Treadmill of Production theory, and the theoretical perspectives of Gramsci and Polanyi allows labor’s role in energy transition to be better understood while refining sociological theory.

Supersizing the Impact of Unions in Downsizing Processes: A Configurational Approach Based on 19 Cases in France

This article explores how unions can influence employer decisions to downsize – a longstanding question that has been addressed through three waves of research. Although the literature has successively identified three types of factors that influence managerial decisions to downsize, it has not fully addressed the interactions of these factors, leading to inconsistencies. This article builds on and refines the existing work through a configurational approach which qualitatively evidences six downsizing configurations through a uniquely large number of cases ( n = 19). This research sheds new light on how factors combine to enhance union influence by theorizing four types of chemical-like factor interactions: catalysing, inhibiting, synthesizing and decomposing. By highlighting this interactive chemistry, this configurational approach revisits longstanding academic debates about the context–union strategy fit and the relative efficacy of union responses. From a practical perspective, it encourages unions to reject the idea that there is a single, optimal strategy for addressing downsizing.

What If You Mobilize Effectively and Still Do Not Win? Reclaiming a Relational Understanding of Strike Outcomes and Employer Power Resources

ABSTRACTIn this study, the author draws on a comparison of two strikes by US healthcare workers to examine power resources and strike effectiveness. Unions mobilized a range of power resources in each case yet achieved different outcomes. The author argues that variation in bargaining power, particularly employer power resources, rather than union strategy, explains divergent strike outcomes. The author advances a relational understanding of power resources by explaining how employer resources and strategies shape labour's resources and strategies to produce outcomes for workers and their organizations.

Advancing Sustainability in a Residential Building in Europe: A Case Study on LCA and LCC across Different Scenarios

This study evaluates the environmental and economic performance of the "ESTIA of Athens" residential building considering its energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It also explores the potential for improvements in these areas. The European Union's strategy to reduce GHG emissions from buildings by 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030, as part of its broader aim for climate neutrality by 2050 is a background for the study. The methodology involves a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using SimaPro software, monitoring energy consumption, temperature and humidity of the building. The thirteen impact categories and damage impact assessment that include human health, ecosystem and resources were examined. The study compares various scenarios, including historical data from 2018 to 2022 and two hypothetical scenarios to assess environmental impacts across different categories. Additionally, Life Cycle Costings (LCC) are performed to evaluate the economic aspects of the building's performance. The results highlight substantial differences in energy consumption, GHG emissions and economic costs among the scenarios. The findings suggest that a hypothetical scenario, referred to as Case 3, demonstrates lower environmental impacts and economic costs compared to other scenarios, indicating its potential as an optimal renovation strategy for the building. This includes reductions of 32%, 40% and 58% in the human health, ecosystems, and resources categories, respectively. A similar trend is observed across the impact categories, with reductions ranging from 4% in the Mineral Resource category to 47% in the Global Warming category. The study underscores the importance of holistic assessments in informing energy policy and renovation strategies for achieving both environmental sustainability and economic viability in buildings.

Management and Trade Union Strategies for Resolving Conflict at Alusaf Hillside Industry, South Africa

Management and Trade Union Strategies for Resolving Conflict at Alusaf Hillside Industry, South Africa

Impact of expertise in standardization on business internationalization

ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) Strategy on Standardization stressed that Europe’s competitiveness will depend on how successful European actors are in standardization at the international level. It follows that companies with strong standardization-related skills and competencies may be more competitive in such competitions and eventually become more internationalized. Although the interplay between expertise in standardization and business internationalization seems to be evident, the literature still lacks a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the expertise in standardization on business internationalization. The study aims to address three research questions: (1) How does the expertise in standardization impact business internationalization? (2) How does the company size moderate the relationship between expertise in standardization and business internationalization? and (3) How does the country of origin moderate the relationship between expertise in standardization and business internationalization? We conducted a survey among owners and managers of European companies and applied the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis. Our results showed what is changing and what benefits European companies are not only standardization-related competencies; experience in developing standards makes a difference. Large companies from countries more active in standardization will create more advanced market entry strategies and use export and non-export entry modes more intensively.

Film Industry at the Service of EU Identity Politics

Mass cinema can act as a powerful tool for influencing public opinion by appealing to shared values and collective historical memory, while simultaneously constructing and guiding these elements in alignment with policy objectives. This article explores the thesis that national cinema, as an element of a common cultural code, plays a significant role in the formation and reinforcement of collective (socio-cultural) identity. Specifically, it examines the significance of Brussels' efforts to cultivate a robust film industry as part of the European Union's strategy for constructing a collective identity.The authors test the hypothesis that cinema serves as a medium for fostering a sense of belonging and emotional connection among EU citizens. To this end, the study aims to uncover the specific mechanisms by which common historical and social narratives are conveyed through European Union cinema. The research methodology is grounded in a structuralist perspective on cinema (P. Wallen, C. Metz).The article analyzes how the EU has intensified its institutional support and promotion of European cinema, particularly in response to the «crisis of ideas» in Hollywood, which has left a void in the global film market. This analysis is contextualized within the broader sociopolitical landscape, including the rising popularity of mass cinema during the pandemic and the heightened urgency for strengthening EU collective identity amid the Ukrainian crisis and the initiation of a special military operation.The findings indicate that the EU is increasingly leveraging the film industry to disseminate narratives, ideas, and values critical for both situational objectives – such as consolidating public opinion on specific political issues (illustrated by the «militarization» of the film market in response to the 2022 military operation) – and long-term goals of fortifying the EU's collective identity. However, the long-term efficacy of cinema in shaping public opinion is constrained by its susceptibility to rapid trend shifts driven by audience preferences.

Estimation of the coefficient of permeability as an example of the application of the Random Forest algorithm in Civil Engineering

A new world record for crude steel production was recorded in 2021, which increased by 3.8% over 2020. This also affected the amount of slag produced with this production. Total waste from industrial and construction production throughout the European Union accounts for as much as 48%. Therefore, waste management should provide for the recovery of as many resources as possible. European Union strategies in line with the circular economy objectives focus on ensuring policy coherence in the areas of climate, energy efficiency, construction and demolition waste management and resource efficiency. Slags are a material of interest to researchers in terms of their use in construction. Slags, on the one hand, are materials that are becoming better understood on the other hand, we are making sure of the heterogeneity of these materials. The characteristics of physical properties of slags are influenced by many factors, including the furnace split in which they are produced. This prompts the search for tools to help determine the parameters of slags based on already available data. The study aimed to verify the hypothesis that it is possible to determine the parameter of the filtration coefficient, relevant to applications in earth structures using the machine learning algorithm – Random Forest. In the study, two types of material were analysed: blast furnace slag and furnace slag. The results of the analysis yielded a high coefficient of determination (R2) – 0.84–0.92. This leads us to believe that the algorithm may prove useful in determining filtration parameters in slags.

The Coercion-Manipulation-Persuasion Framework: Analyzing the Modus Operandi of Systems of Non-State Actors

ABSTRACT Non-state actors conducting terrorist attacks have shown to also rely on a mosaic of tactics to advance their strategic agendas, such as misusing educational curricula, infiltrating political institutions, and providing welfare, among others. Nevertheless, when analyzing their modus operandi, the attention has focused on violent and illegal tactics, to the detriment of non-violent and legal tactics. In light of this, and inspired by the literature on hybrid threats, this paper introduces the Coercion-Manipulation-Persuasion framework (CMPf) to holistically analyze the modus operandi of such actors, conceptually labelled as Systems of Non-State Actors (SNSAs). The CMPf is an analytical framework that combines influence modes (i.e., coercion, manipulation, and persuasion) with different categories (i.e., physical/material, symbolic, institutional, and strategic) to hypothesize over the tactics that could be used by SNSAs, thus facilitating analyses and assessments on their activities and providing anticipation and understanding. To exemplify this, three cases are non-exhaustively analyzed through the CMPf: the Nordic Resistance Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Euskadi Ta Askatasuna. This study is a first step towards exploring how studies on terrorism and hybrid threats intersect, and answers the call of the EU Security Union Strategy for mainstreaming hybrid threat considerations into all policy initiatives.

Union strategies in conflict: A comparative study of strike fund institutionalisation and infrastructural resources

AbstractThis article unveils the establishment or rejection of strike funds as a tangible organisational tool towards union renewal. Despite strike funds being a necessary and recurring instrument in the organisation of strikes, they have seldom been theorised as a distinct (infrastructural) power resource fundamental to understanding unions’ readiness and preparation for industrial conflict. Institutionalised strike funds, supported by union dues, provide economic support to strikers, reinforce their collective identity, legitimise a more confrontational position towards collective bargaining and may garner support from the broader community. Additionally, strike funds may serve as tools to attract members and shape narratives that can influence corporate positions and public opinion during labour disputes. Through a comparative analysis of 10 confederal unions in Spain, we illustrate the different strategic views that unions may hold with respect to them. Crucially, we find that the presence or absence of strike funds reflects the specific political position a union adopts concerning industrial conflict and how they may possibly articulate them with other power resources. Hence, the institutionalisation of strike funds involves a complex union renewal process, which is also influenced by a comparative learning process between unions. Finally, we also explain the flourishing of different strike funds during the last decades that derive from a spillover effect between counterpower and radical unions.

Trade Unions in Contemporary India: Revitalisation Strategies and Migrant Workers

This article explores diverse strategies adopted by Indian trade unions (TUs) to counteract their decline, with a specific focus on migrant labour in contemporary India. While studies in the past have analysed unionism and strategies at the nation-state level, this article draws from interviews with senior leaders of the three central Indian TUs to underscore the diversity of approaches among the TUs. It first draws on Frege and Kelly’s work on union revitalisation to make sense of the organisational strategies adopted by unions to adapt to globalisation and neoliberal policies in the context of India’s transition from a command to a market economy, characterised by intricate institutional arrangements and a prevalence of informal labour. It then uses Alberti’s framework that distinguishes between universalistic and particularistic approaches, with a focus on intersectionality, to explore whether Indian TUs adopt the former approach rooted in class identity, or the latter approach based on the intersecting and complex dimensions of inequality experienced by migrant workers. The article finds that individual union strategies vary on account of their historical origins, ideological underpinnings and relationship with the state and the market. It argues that the disconnect between TUs and the vast migrant workforce in India holds critical significance due to the substantial number of migrant workers in the country, their vulnerability to exploitation, and the role their exclusion has played in the TUs’ decline. The article suggests a combination of universalistic and particularistic approaches to bridge this disconnect, and in doing so it offers a novel disaggregated perspective of TU strategies at the subnational level, scrutinising the approaches of three central Indian TUs through an intersectionality lens and advocating for necessary course correction.

Once more on the rank and file – union bureaucracy interplay: Mining unionism in Australia’s Pilbara region

The trade union bureaucracy debate has significant implications for both analysis and union strategy. Recently receiving renewed academic attention, this debate centres around whether there is a dichotomy between rank-and-file workers and full-time union officials, and whether these officials – the trade union bureaucracy – tend towards industrial conservatism. The case study of labour relations in the Pilbara iron ore industry in the north of Western Australia 1965–1986 enriches our analysis of the trade union bureaucracy by viewing its role in the class struggle over a number of decades, in varying contexts of union development, union power and union decline. Throughout this entire period, there was significant conflict between the bureaucracy and rank and file. The remoteness of the Pilbara region, and workers’ industrial militancy makes it an extreme case suited to unveiling insights on the nature of the trade union bureaucracy. The Australian focus broadens a largely British debate. This article also offers a greater consideration of the role of full-time shop stewards’ convenors than has occurred previously. Finally, the trade union bureaucracy theory illuminates our understanding of this period in Pilbara labour history.

Combating Migrant Smuggling by Sea: Analysis of EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling and Standards of Migrant Smuggling Protocol

Migrant smuggling is one of the main issues challenging national security systems. This issue also threatens common international security. Migrant smuggling toward European countries is mainly organized through maritime routes. Therefore, to treat this issue in a more focused way, the purpose of this paper is to address the issue of migrant smuggling standards and regulations that are promoted by the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants, with a special emphasis on migrant smuggling by sea. In addition, this paper aims to address the EU policy regarding the prevention and combating of migrant smuggling by sea. From the data obtained from this study, we can understand that the issue of preventing and combating migrant smuggling by sea is addressed by some standards of the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants, which has been ratified by 152 of the UN Member States and serves as an important basis to facilitate the prevention and combating of migrant smuggling by sea. Furthermore, the European Union has addressed the issue of migrant smuggling by sea, and based on the findings so far, this issue has become an important part of the EU Security Union Strategy, the EU action plan against migrant smuggling, and several other important documents in the EU. The investigation and prosecution of this form of transnational organized crime requires a coordinated approach between the authorities of the countries whose laws are violated by this form of criminality.

Differing industrial relations: The public and the private sector in Germany

AbstractThis article argues that industrial relations (IR) in the German public sector are not just a replica of private sector IR. It suggests that neither the structures, nor the outcomes can be sufficiently explained by derivation from private sector IR processes. Primarily, the specifics and developments of the public sector explain public sector IR. It is of fundamental importance whether trade unions operate in a profit‐driven market environment or a publicly financed environment that is under public control. Differences between the public and the private sector result not least in the distinct relevance and meanings of trade union power resources. This influences the ways in which industrial action in the private and the public sector works and is relevant for trade union strategies.

When Do Trade Unions Support Universal Demands? Organizational Context and Trade Union Strategies in the US and UK at the Turn of the 20th Century

AbstractWhen do labor movements come to support universal welfare policies? This article examines this question through a comparative account of the British and American labor movements at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on newspaper and meeting records from the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS), the Cigarmakers International Union (CMIU), and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (BLF) from the mid-nineteenth century to World War I, it considers why, given a common tradition of exclusive benefits, the two movements diverged on the question of universal state health and pension schemes at the turn of the century—with the British labor movement abandoning its voluntarist orientation and the AFL preserving it.Complementing existing sociological accounts that emphasize state and party structure, sectoral composition, pace and quality of industrial change, and the demographic makeup of labor movements, this article builds on approaches from the sociology of organizations in centering the importance of organizational arenas in shaping trade union strategies and aims. In particular, it investigates the role of friendly and fraternal societies in structuring trade union interests over this period. The article demonstrates how changes within the friendly and fraternal society movement shaped the contextual significance and strategic value of benefit provision in each trade union over time. In doing so, it opens the way for a deeper reflection on the importance of organizational reasoning in shaping trade union organizing and the trajectory of welfare institutions.

Wages and Labor Relations during Francoist Developmentalism: The Role of the New Unionism

AbstractThe relation between wage growth and the reconstruction of the labor movement in Spain, during the developmentalist Francoist regime (1957-1975), has been controversial. Applying the power resources theory in order to explain wage growth, this paper argues that the rise of the labor share was the result of the increased bargaining power of workers in spite of repressive policies of the Francoist government. The action of new trade unionism mobilized the following power resources. First, the structural power increased as a consequence of techno-economics transformations of Fordism and a generational change of the labor force. Second, the associational power increased due to new organizational forms, with more democratic modes of collective action and combining clandestine and legal actions, and the reappearance of collective bargaining with the Law of Collective Bargaining Agreements of 1958. These political opportunities opened up the possibility to the new trade unionist of developing the strategy of entryism that served as the driving force for worker mobilization.Consequently, the new trade unionists could mobilize their power resources in the three spheres, exchange, production, and politics, as a strategy by accelerating collaborative action, establishing a discursive and cultural framework, and allowing the articulation of the different trade union actions. In this way, internal solidarity was favored when a collective agreement was negotiated at the company or sector level (and not an individual contract, as it has been to date), due to the links with the social activities characteristic of the paternalistic management of labor relations and the presence of anti-Francoist organizations, the “network embeddedness” was strengthened. In turn, the successes in the consequence of wage increases and solidarity with other workers who were suffering repression increased the narrative resources that frame union actions. All this made it possible to counterbalance in part for the restrictions imposed by the dictatorship, which weakened the structural power of workers in the political sphere.The main contribution to the existing knowledge on the issue consists in explaining the apparent paradox between the wage policy of the Francoist government (oriented towards wage restriction) and the increase in labor share. This also serves to understand how labor markets and the wage-setting mechanism worked from a historical point of view. As a corollary, the previous analysis implies that the most important factor was the ability to mobilize workers successfully. The union strategy that combined democratic instruments of representation (assemblies) with clandestine and legal actions served as a catalyst for other productive and social changes. This reflects the primacy of the action of social actors for the worker mobilization theory.

The nexus of a regional competitiveness and economic resilience: The evidence-based on V4+4 NUTS 2 regions

Economies have always been prone to economic downturns, industry shocks, currency crises, and the current COVID-19 epidemic crises, destabilising a region’s economic growth trajectory and pattern. By re-establishing economic ties both inside and outside regions, regional economies that have been disturbed by a shock may transition to a new growth trajectory. We examined the idea of competitiveness and resilience in a regional development context to answer why one region is more susceptible to economic shock than others and the competitive advantages and disadvantages of V4+4 countries. This article highlights some of the core characteristics of regional competitiveness and resilience and gives a survey of the notion, main empirical results, and planning tasks concerning regional competitiveness and resilience. The idea of resilience is gaining greatness because of the COVID-19 crisis, and its importance is growing in research and economic policymaking. Ideas like “2020 made us stronger” and “resilience, tenacity, and the ability to bounce back” are obviously alluring during the current crisis. The COVID-19 problem, however, has decreased the main systems’ shock resistance and caused failures to spread from one system to another. Thus, it is necessary to suggest a systems approach focused on resilience to have socio-economic systems ready for potential shocks. The paper’s main topic is resilience-focused tactics, with a focus on the current European Union strategy. The European Union must strengthen its resilience considering the COVID-19 issue and the political agenda that is transition-driven in order to move forward or recover but emerge stronger. If policies are to be effective in the long run, an attitude responding to the systemic causes and impacts of big shocks is required.