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New Strategies in Union Organizing
Abstract
The AFL-CIO has called for new and more effective approaches in organizing. This paper reviews the classical organizing model
and then identifies four strategic approaches to organizing that have been developed or re-emphasized in recent years including
the corporate power strategy, the collective bargaining strategy, community acceptance and integration strategy, and the coordinated/pooled
resource strategy. Factors affecting the use and success of these strategies are discussed. It is concluded that while some
have promise, their limited use and mixed outcomes will probably minimize their significance in union organizing during the
1980’s.
... Further, the reference to Karsh et al (1953) is a reference to a very early descriptive, ethnographic case study of the work of a union organiser. This early work clearly outlines the kind of approach that Craft and Extejt (1983) describe as 'classical organizing', which has been sufficiently common in the US experience as to generate sociological study since at least the 1950s. ...
... Central to the IWW approach has been an emphasis on worker self-organisation and although the IWW have always been a minor player in US labour relations, their influence on debates -and most particularly on the left of the US union movement -is undoubted (Kimeldorf 1999). Alongside the kind of 'classical organising' discussed by Craft and Extejt (1983), a parallel notion of organising has persistently been evident in US debates. This has centralised the importance of worker collective action at workplace level, and rejected the idea that paid union officers would take responsibility for bargaining once recognition was secured. ...
... A slightly different, but more accessible, version of this table can be found from Organizing Works (1995) in Blyton and Turbull (2004). This vision of organising goes beyond Craft and Extejt's (1983) description of tactics and integrates more of the syndicalist view of workplace self-organisation (although it rejects the revolutionary undercurrent of the IWW position). We see a clear development of some of the ideas of 'classical organising' into an 'organising model' which emphasises continued worker activism in both pre-and post-recognition phases. ...
... in organizing tactics (Craft and Extejt, 1983). Additionally, AFL-CIO leadership has begun investigating and encouraging innovation in organizing (AFL-CIO, 1985). ...
A survey of union organizers (N = 97) was conducted to determine the extent to which new organizing issues and tactics are being used to help offset declining union membership. Results indicate that grievance procedures, job security, improved benefits, and higher pay are the most commonly stressed issues in organizing campaigns. The two tactics used most often are small groups and literature distribution. Organizers working in industries with a larger percentage of female workers differ significantly from other organizers in the use of certain tactics and issues. Overall, however, there does not seem to be much change in either organizing tactics or issues.
... Consensus building and mobilisation of support among a union's stakeholders appears to be significant in the adoption of organising reforms (Oxenbridge 2001). Conversely, resistance to change by key union players, such as officials of the union, can lead to 'strategic rigidity' (Craft & Extejt 1983; Lawler 1990: 55–59). Heery and Kelly (1989) point to the organisational structures that mediate fulltime officer support for organising approaches; most significant among these are workloads, skills, and organisational control and reward systems. ...
This article examines the responses of a white-collar union to massive membership decline in the period 1996 to 2000. During this time the union's officials attempted to adopt a new mode of operation based on the ‘organising model’. The role of the organiser was redefined, attempts were made to split the union's ‘servicing’ and ‘organising’ functions so that more resources could be directed to organising,and an increasingly planned and evaluated approach to organising was adopted. Whilst the impact of these changes is still emerging, the article discusses the significant organisational impacts their formulation and adoption has engendered. The article suggests that although the ‘organisingmodel’ emphasises the active participation of members in union affairs, there has been little member involvement in the change process in this union to date.
... Choosing to affiliate with other bodies is a political act to enhance union power with the type of body/association having the effect of improving the union's image to members, potential members and the public at large. On the other hand, Craft and Extejt (1983) note that rivalry between unions and other bodies can inhibit successfully achieving objectives. ...
During the 1990s within Australia, a regulated industrial relations system which had fostered the growth of collective bargaining and trade unionism was dismantled and replaced by a neo-liberal approach to labour law. During this period trade union membership declined dramatically. Although overall union density has dropped, some unions have managed to arrest membership decline. The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia and the National Tertiary Education Industry Union have successfully traversed the neo-liberal environment despite having adopted different processes. Through an analysis of both external and internal contingencies of these two successful but different union types, lessons were drawn as to effective forms of unionism. A comparative analysis of the empirical information suggest the benefits of a participative structure and collective ideology to enact a range of activities including industrial, political, solidarity and service. It is through this process that unions have the best possible means to generate alternative methods of social organisation to protect the rights and wellbeing of wage earners within a neo-liberal political economy.
Article for LiCS special issue The New Activism: Composition, Literacy Studies, and Politics.
Because union organizing is commonly studied as a single eve,lt rather than the beginning of a process, little is understood about how union organizing strategies continue to affect workers after campaigns end. In this article, I analyze interviews with workers organized by two union campaign strategies, the "comprehensive campaign" and the "blitz," which differ significantly in the degree of participation they foster among the rank and file. I apply Carole Pateman's (1970) participatory democracy theory and Erving Goffman's (1974) framework analysis to understand the meanings workers invoke to understand the campaigns and their relations to the unions. By looking at three stages within these two union organizing processes, I examine the ways that worker activism diffuses after the campaigns and across organizations.
This study assesses the effects of employer and union organizing tactics on union election wins versus losses, the percentage of votes, and the time between election and first contract signing. The data were obtained from the organizing staff of a large international union. The results showed that some tactics resulted in expected election outcomes, but others resulted in unexpected outcomes.
This study compares union organizing activity and success in the United States and Canada. Based largely on certification data for the period 1976–1985, he results indicate there was a substantial decline in union organizing effectiveness in the United States and the Canadian unions were more active and successful in recruiting new members than their American counterparts. The evidence suggests that labor policy in Canada is more supportive of union organizing and the achievement of first collective agreements.
In recent years, the labor movement has expressed interest in using the community as a source of union power in dealing with
employers. This paper explores labor’s historical relationship with the community, examines the emphasis on more effective
uses of the community in core union activities, identifies the communities with which labor aligns itself in coalitions, and
discusses the strategies employed to form alliances with community groups. Finally, an analysis of some of the key barriers
and limitations that affect prospects of the formation and effectiveness of union-community coalitions is presented.
The impact of campaign activity on voting preferences in union representation elections is investigated using a panel study
approach. The context of this study is a four-year, multicampus, university system, in which two faculty unions competed vigorously
for representation rights for several years. We propose a multivariate model of individual voting intentions which, we argue,
depend on the precampaign expected consequences of collective bargaining, recent changes in institutional conditions, various
normative and value constraints, and union campaign activity. Both self-reports of exposure to campaign activity and exogenous
measures of campus-specific organizing efforts are used in the analysis. The use of exogenous indicators of campaign activity,
which we argue is more appropriate, suggests that campaign activity exerts no appreciable effect on the manner in which individuals
vote in such elections. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.
This study examines differences between service and manufacturing unions with respect to first contract attainment and organizing
efficiency. Service unions were found to have a higher first-contract attainment rate, larger election units, and longer campaigns.
For cases where the union attained a first contract, there was no difference in efficiency between service and manufacturing
unions. However, service unions enjoyed an advantage over manufacturing unions when overall organizing efficiency was examined.
This study demonstrates that the Canadian labor movement has outperformed its American counterpart in terms of union growth,
union density, and certification outcomes. Labor and product market factors do not appear to be major contributing factors.
Public policy and increased employer resistance have played a critical role, particularly in the decline of unionization in
the United States. Union-related variables — militancy, structure, and the desire and ability to organize — are also important
in explaining the divergent union trends in the two countries.
Using data on representation elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board from 1975 to 1987, the authors examine the extent of the recent decline in union organizing activity. An analysis of elections for selected unions and in major industry categories shows no wide-spread recovery from the sharp drop in organizing that occurred from 1981 to 1982. Although union success rates in new units have been fairly constant, the low number of new members recruited through elections points to a continuation of the downward trend in union density. (Abstract courtesy JSTOR.)
[Excerpt] National unions are gradually adopting the sophisticated management selection and training practices of business and government but employment and promotion decisions remain essentially political.
Introduction, 372; research perspective, 373; the hospital setting, 374. — I. The organizing campaign; pre-strike developments,
374; the strike, 376; factors leading to union defeat, 379. — II. Analysis of behavior; simple correlation, 380; motivating
forces, 385. — III. Conclusion, 397. — Appendix A, 402. — Appendix B, 403.
At the first sign of union organizing, company management often decides to do "whatever is necessary to defeat the union," as one corporate vice president put it. Without advance thought or preparation, the company launches a policy of resistance and often winds up before the National Labor Relations Board charged with unfair labor practices. Sometimes the company even finds itself burdened with multimillion dollar lawsuits. Its hasty decisions to deal with the short run become strategic errors in the long run. But responding to a union campaign need not end up this way. Being prepared for each stage of the process of campaigning and negotiating, argues the author of this article, is the best way for both labor and management to avoid serious mistakes and to present employees with the information they need to cast an informed vote.
Analysis of the union resembles the examination of the elephant by the blind men: it reveals a creature of diverse characteristics. The union may be regarded as, among other things, a political organization, a social fraternity, a beneficial society, a pressure group, or a bargaining agency. In this article, the union is appraised in yet another role--that of a business organization which must equate its expenditures with its income. Although the union does not function to make a profit, yet it cannot sustain for long an over-all financial loss on its operations and must operate within the rules of economic logic. Analysis of the financial problems faced by the union may explain, according to the author, such matters as the slow expansion of union membership, the concentration of strength in urban areas, and the increasing tendency of unions to seek members in diverse crafts and industries. (Author's abstract courtesy EBSCO.)
This study examines the propensity of unions to allocate resources to organizing activity. The author hypothesizes that as a union increases its extent of organization, the need of its members for organizing services declines relative to their need for representation services and also the costs of organizing are more likely to exceed its benefits. Consequently, the percentage of a union's resources devoted to organizing is expected to vary inversely with the extent to which the union has organized its primary jurisdiction. Data limitations prevent a direct test of this hypothesis, but a model based on this reasoning is used to predict differences across labor unions in the number of NLRB representation elections per 1000 union members. An analysis of relevant data for 1972 - 78 tends to support the model. (Abstract courtesy JSTOR.)
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