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Managed activism: two union organising campaigns in the not‐for‐profit sector
Author(s) -
Simms Melanie
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
industrial relations journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.525
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1468-2338
pISSN - 0019-8692
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2338.2007.00439.x
Subject(s) - profit (economics) , business , top down and bottom up design , trade union , political science , public relations , labour economics , economics , international trade , engineering , software engineering , microeconomics
Two union recognition campaigns are contrasted: one focusing on developing workplace activism but with little sectoral focus (a ‘bottom‐up’ campaign), and the other with a sectoral strategy and less emphasis on workplace campaigning (a ‘top‐down’ campaign). The outcomes indicate the need for approaches, which allow both a strong workplace activism and a clear sectoral strategy as both the ‘top‐down’ and ‘bottom‐up’ strategies present difficulties. Although there are positive outcomes in both campaigns, the cases show that unions seeking to represent the interests of previously unorganised groups of workers need influence at both the sectoral and workplace levels if they are to demonstrate their effectiveness.