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Understanding organising activity among US national unions
Author(s) -
Fiorito Jack,
Jarley Paul
Publication year - 2010
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.1468-2338.2009.00554.x
Subject(s) - political science , period (music) , political economy , economics , art , aesthetics
It is well known that US aggregate union election activity under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has fallen for several years. It is also well known that NLRB win rates have increased moderately during the Sweeney era relative to the later part of the Kirkland years. This article sheds new light on organising activity and win rates, by examining these data on a national union basis. The results show that several unions, including most of the largest nationals, experienced both increases in organising activity and increased win rates for the period of 1999 to 2004 compared with the years 1990–95 (the end of the Kirkland era). While explanations of variations in inter‐union organising success remain elusive, understanding and building on the experience of these ‘resurging unions’ holds the promise of union renewal more generally.