Union disaffection and social identity: democracy as a source of union revitalization

This article examines union members' evaluation of the relevance of unions and their identification with a traditional collective value frame for union action. It seeks to take account of the impact of increasing labor market heterogeneity, declining instrumentality, and the behavior of unions and employers. Using Canadian data gathered from individual union members and their local union leaders, the study finds that new labor market identities are notlinked to weaker belief in the relevance of unions but are associated with weaker identification with the traditional value frame. Although declining instrumentality and hostile employer behavior are associated with greater identification with traditional value frames, greater union democracy is associated with less membership disaffection on both the relevance of unions and their collective modes of action. Union democracy is therefore found to be a key tool to address membership disaffection and to generate collective identities for a renewed union project

Social movement and unionism in France: a case for revitalization?

From the mid-1990s onwards, France has been rocked by ongoing social protests. This article considers whether and how these protests provide a strategic context for the "revitalization" of labor organizations. After providing insights into the French industrial relations system, particular attention is given to three cases: the organizing of unemployed and migrant workers, the alter-globalization movement, and recently established independent trade union Solidaires, Unitaires et Démocratiques, which epitomize emerging forces and contradictions at play. The conclusion reconsiders the revitalization thesis in the light of these cases

European Integration and the Transnational Restructuring of Social Relations: The Emergence of Labour as a Regional Actor?

Informed by a neo-Gramscian perspective able to conceptualize transnational class formation, this article assesses whether European trade union organizations have developed into independent supranational actors, or whether they are merely secretariats in charge of organizing the co-operation of their national member associations. The first hypothesis is that those trade unions which organize workers in transnational production sectors, are likely to co-operate at the European level, because they have lost control over capital at the national level. Trade unions, organizing workers in domestic production sectors, may be more reluctant because their sectors still depend on national protection. The second hypothesis is that trade unions are more likely to co-operate at the European level if they perceive such an engagement as furthering their influence on policy-making in comparison with structural possibilities at the national level. Additionally, in line with the critical dimension of neo-Gramscian perspectives, it will be assessed whether European co-operation implies acceptance of neo-liberal economics, or whether unions continue to resist restructuring. Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.