TY - JOUR
T1 - Conglomerate Unions and Transformations of Union Democracy.
AU - Thomas, Adrien
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - Confronted with membership losses and declining bargaining power, trade unions have engaged in both political and organizational responses. A frequent type of organizational response has involved the creation of conglomerate unions, which bring together workers from various sectors and occupations. Pointing out a number of parallels between organizational developments in trade unions and political parties, this article analyses the emergence of conglomerate unions as a cause and consequence of changing conceptions of union democracy. Drawing on two in-depth case studies conducted in France and Germany, the article examines how trade unions perceive their situation and how they define a reform rationale based on increasing their organizational 'efficiency' and 'effectiveness'. In accordance with this rationale, unions engage in mergers and create larger conglomerates, thereby centralizing decision-making bodies and professionalizing their staff. The reform of trade unions' internal organization, in turn, affects unions' capacity for interest aggregation and representation.
AB - Confronted with membership losses and declining bargaining power, trade unions have engaged in both political and organizational responses. A frequent type of organizational response has involved the creation of conglomerate unions, which bring together workers from various sectors and occupations. Pointing out a number of parallels between organizational developments in trade unions and political parties, this article analyses the emergence of conglomerate unions as a cause and consequence of changing conceptions of union democracy. Drawing on two in-depth case studies conducted in France and Germany, the article examines how trade unions perceive their situation and how they define a reform rationale based on increasing their organizational 'efficiency' and 'effectiveness'. In accordance with this rationale, unions engage in mergers and create larger conglomerates, thereby centralizing decision-making bodies and professionalizing their staff. The reform of trade unions' internal organization, in turn, affects unions' capacity for interest aggregation and representation.
KW - democratic theory
KW - industrial relations
KW - organizational change
KW - trade unions
KW - union democracy
UR - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8543
U2 - 10.1111/bjir.12231
DO - 10.1111/bjir.12231
M3 - Article
SN - 0007-1080
VL - 55
SP - 648
EP - 671
JO - British Journal of Industrial Relations
JF - British Journal of Industrial Relations
ER -