Trade Unions in Renewal: A Comparative Study

by Fairbrother,Peter

• ISBN13: 9780826454379
• ISBN10: 0826454372
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This comprehensive survey of continuity and change in trade unions looks at five primarily English-speaking countries: the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The authors consider the recent re-examination by trade union movements of the basis of union organization and activity in the face of a harsher economic and political climate. One of the impetuses for this re-examination has been the recent history of unions in the US. American models of renewal have inspired Australia, New Zealand and the UK, while Canada has undergone a cautious examination of the US model with an attempt to develop a distinctive approach. This book aims to provide a thorough grounding for informed discussion and debate about the position and place of trade unions in modern economies.

Table of Contents

List of Tables
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Unions in crisis, unions in renewal?	p. 1
The American labour movement and the resurgence in union organizing	p. 32
You just can't do it automatically: the transition to social movement unionism in the United States	p. 51
Trade union innovation, adaptation and renewal in Australia: still searching for the holy membership grail	p. 78
A near death experience: one union fights for life	p. 102
From organizational breadth to depth? New Zealand's trade unions under the Employment Contracts Act	p. 117
A story of crisis and change: the service and food workers union of Aotearoa	p. 135
The dilemmas of social partnership and union organization: questions for British trade unions	p. 158
Rhetoric and reality: the adoption of the organizing model in manufacturing, science and finance	p. 180
Strategic dilemma: the state of union renewal in Canada	p. 200
The revival of industrial unions in Canada: the extension and adaptation of industrial union practices to the new economy	p. 221
Social movement unionism: beyond the organizing model	p. 244
Globalization, trade union organization and workers' rights	p. 263
Index	p. 282
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