The past fifteen years have been difficult for the labor movements in industrial countries. Gary N. Chaison addresses questions implicit in the decline of unions in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand: How and why do labor unions merge under pressure? What role do mergers play in the unions' strategies to deal with membership losses, management opposition, and hostile governments? Are there distinctive national profiles of union mergers? Chaison begins by describing the dynamics of the union merger process as large unions combine with each other in amalgamations, as small unions are absorbed into larger ones, and as local unions affiliate into nationals. He discusses the reasons for mergers, the barriers to consolidation, and the problems of integration which may result. The five chapters that follow are arranged in order of increasing intensity in merger activity, ranging from the United States, where interest in mergers is growing, to New Zealand, where changing legislation has catalyzed an enormous wave of mergers. For each of the five countries considered, Chaison characterizes the industrial relations climate and merger record since 1980, explains landmark mergers, identifies the antecedents, and assesses the chances that a sudden flood of mergers will occur. The final chapter compares the national profiles, extrapolating the significant differences and common threads. Chaison concludes that while mergers can play a critical role in revitalizing labor movements and building the dominant unions of the future, they are not necessarily solving the fundamental economic and political problems that plague unions.

Trade unions in Europe are currently facing a series of challenges that stem from changes to regulatory and production regimes implemented by the state and employers, in order to compete in an increasingly internationalized economy. In response to these challenges, trade union movements have been dramatically restructuring; long-standing principles of organization have been jettisoned in an attempt to develop new structures. Central to this process of structural adaptation are the mergers of trade unions. This informative book focuses on the merger process in Britain and Germany and, uniquely, it reviews the wider implications of these developments - particularly for North America. As well as addressing the reasons for mergers, the book also examines the process whereby mergers are concluded, investigates the consequences, and analyses the costs and benefits of the post-merger organisation. Drawing on interviews conducted with senior policy-makers engaged in merger processes, this book explores the extent of internal union reform brought about by the merger process, and also identifies the implications of this reform for trade unions world-wide. Structured in distinct sections, this book covers topic such as: what distinguishes the British and German systems? trade union structures pre-merger issues settling the terms of the mergers post-merger developments. This book forms part of the Routledge Research in Employment Relations series featuring works of high academic merit drawn from a wide range of academic studies in the social sciences. It is a valuable resource for postgraduate students studying business and management, industrial employee relations, and trade unions.

In Robust Unionism, Arthur B. Shostak provides an informed survey of organized labor's innovations and adaptations in recent years. If labor is to realize its full potential in the coming decade, he contends, new strategies, modern technologies, and novel alliances are imperative. Shostak provides a wealth of case studies and anecdotes and analyses of labor's specific triumphs in a time of adversity. He argues for the necessity of learning from every success as well as every failure if organized labor is to become a politically powerful and socially dynamic agent for change.

Publishes in-depth articles on labor subjects, current labor statistics, information about current labor contracts, and book reviews.

First published in 1997, this volume discusses the conditions for contemporary and future unionism in the light of recent economic, political and managerial changes. It presents theoretical and empirical research from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and the United States. Part 2 provides a rich international description of threats and challenges to contemporary and future unionism. Part 3 focuses on union strategical and structural change. Part 4 is concerned with the consequences of the changing union environment for member-union relations. Magnus Sverke and the contributors here present research addressing how the changing environmental conditions affect unions and their members and demonstrate the importance of applying an international and multi-disciplinary perspective on the analysis of these issues.

As Trade Union membership has declined, union mergers have been prominent features in strategies of revitalization. Yet, there is very little systematic and empirical research into the effects of union mergers on the unions actually merging or of their impact on the wider union movement. This ground-breaking study fills this gap with its in-depth analysis of British unions' mergers since 1978: the point at which British unions moved from growth into decline, primarily due to adverse and damaging changes in the British industrial relations climate. Initially the book describes the merger processes (transfers and amalgamations) and the extent of British unions' merger activities. This is placed in context by an examination of the generally hostile environment in which such mergers were sought and concluded. The different non-merger strategies adopted by unions to mitigate their membership loss and reduced political status are also assessed. In the body of the text the focus is on: the factors shaping unions' merger searches; the consequent merger negotiations; and the merged unions' subsequent performance. Because of the distinctly different opportunities for reform offered by transfers, as against amalgamations, the book examines each, in turn, in Parts 2 and 3. The interpretative framework adopted for analysing transfers and amalgamations addresses the following elements of unions' interests: members' job territories; political objectives and means; democratic ethos and government; administration (including finance); and leaders' imperatives. Drawing on a wealth of material gathered over the past 20 years via surveys, interviews and action research the different purposes and performances of the merged unions are critically assessed. It is concluded that transfers served to generate a limited range of improvements, generally of advantage to the minor partner union. In contrast, amalgamations are found to have the potential to transform many aspects of union organisation. However, in practice, they also tended to generate a number of unintended and unwelcome consequences. In conclusion mergers' contributions to the revitalization of the wider British trade union movement are also discussed. This authoritative study of British unions' merger strategies is essential reading for all those interested in the future of trade unions and the potential mergers offer for generating significant reforms. Academics and students in employee relations, industrial relations, HRM and labour history should also find it useful for increasing their understanding of how unions have responded to changes in the economic and political context. Policy makers and union practitioners should also gain insights into the kinds of problems associated with unions'structural reforms.

From gloomy times in the 1980s, the American labor movement has returned to apparent prominence through the efforts of a new generation of energetic and progressive leaders. A distinguished group of authors examines this resurgence and the potential of American unions with sympathetic yet critical eyes. Experts from a wide variety of disciplines—industrial relations, political science, economics, and sociology—identify the central developments, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the new initiatives, and assess the progress made and the prospects for the future. Though all agree on the importance of unions, their opinions of the success of current renewal efforts diverge greatly. The interdisciplinary and comparative approach of Rekindling the Movement is both challenging and enlightening. Rather than merely trumpeting pet opinions, contributors provide hard evidence and causal analysis, grounded in realistic perspectives, to back up suggestions for the improvement of the new labor movement. Their straightforward observations about what is and is not possible, what does and does not work, will be of great practical value for policymakers and union leaders.

Tracing developments in British trade union structure over almost 100 years with specific reference to the merger process, this book shows how the underlying processes of change are cyclical. It therefore provides a backdrop for understanding some of the options for structural change that may be adopted by trade unions in the future. Establishing a framework within which the historical development of the merger process may be understood, the book identifies three central sets of relationships: the bargaining position of unions relative to employers and the state; the bargaining position of a union relative to competitor unions; and factional bargaining within unions. Collectively, the three relationships are referred to as the politics of bargaining and are used to explain changes in the rate and character of trade union structural development.