Labor Studies Journal current issue

Community and Unions

Buttigieg, D. M., Cockfield, S., Jerrard, M., Rainnie, A. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Subcontracted Employment and its Challenge to Labor

Wills, J. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

This article argues that subcontracted employment is becoming paradigmatic. This form of employment has stark consequences for traditional models of trade union organization that focus on collective bargaining with the employer. The article highlights the need for subcontracted workers to put pressure on the "real employer" at the top of any contracting chain. Drawing on the lessons from community-union organizing efforts and, particularly, living wage campaigns, the article suggests that trade unions can effectively work with other social movements and allies in the community to secure the political leverage needed to change the terms and conditions of subcontracted employment. The article illustrates these arguments by exploring recent experience of the living wage campaign in London. The article draws on original research material from the Homerton Hospital and Queen Mary, University of London, to explore the progress of these living wage campaigns and their wider significance for labor organization.

Community Unionism and Union Renewal: Building Linkages between Unions and Community in Victoria, Australia

Cockfield, S., Rainnie, A., Buttigieg, D., Jerrard, M. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

The purpose of this article is to identify various ways unions engage with communities and to understand the obstacles that confront union—community cooperation. Qualitative data was analyzed from multiple sources, including documentary evidence and interviews with union officials and community activists. We locate the debate on community unionism within the broader literature on union renewal and revitalization. In doing this we are able to explore the potential of different forms of union—community relationships to foster union renewal. The study reveals the diversity in relationships both within and across unions and the existence of coalitions operating at different levels within union organization. While the unions in this study were actively seeking to engage with the community, not all alliances were reflective of an inclusive social and political agenda which could constitute the basis for union renewal.

A Little Help from Our Friends: Exploring and Understanding when Labor-Community Coalitions Are Likely to Form

Tattersall, A. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Union renewal and coalition unionism are widely considered necessary; however, the reasons why a union might participate in a coalition is undertheorized. This article considers six factors that help explain when a union is likely to form a coalition with a community organization, which are explored in a case study comparison of two coalitions in Australia and Canada. Preexisting union identities, common interest, and decentralized union structures make coalition formation more likely and shape the degree of union member participation in coalitions. Unions are likely to engage in coalitions when there is a coincidence of crisis and perceived opportunity for coalition practice, while noting that the depth of union engagement is greatly affected by the type of union actors that initiate coalition participation (whether leaders, organizers, or stewards). Different passages for coalition unionism are possible, and they can originate inside unions or be provoked externally by community organizations.

The Relevance of Community Unionism: The Case of the Durham Miners Association

Wray, D. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

This article is based upon the recent history of the Durham Miners Association (DMA), a constituent part of the National Union of Mineworkers. Following that closure of the last remaining colliery in 1993, the DMA went into a period of decline, but in recent years has undergone a significant resurgence in membership and a growing determination within the communities to maintain the culture and traditions associated with the industry and the union in Durham. This is a phenomenon that stands in contradiction with the situation in other postindustrial communities around the UK. The article will outline the reasons for that resurgence, and in doing so will suggest that the experiences of the DMA, and the mining communities that were once it’s heartland, have much to offer those interested in the concept of community unionism.

The Crisis of "Social Democratic" Unionism: The "Opening up" of Civil Society and the Prospects for Union Renewal in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany

Upchurch, M., Taylor, G., Mathers, A. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

This article defines and explores the crisis of social democratic trade unionism in three countries in western Europe. The authors contend that a particularized form of postwar trade union orientation was socially constructed in Britain, Germany, and France in which a party union nexus gave special privileges to unions in return for compliance with state policies in the national interest. This arrangement has broken down in recent years under the pressure of global product market competition. As a result, trade unions are being forced to adopt alternative strategic orientations, involving both a fracture in the party union nexus and a willingness to work within wider civil society.

An Uneasy Stability: "Unpacking" the Postwar Labor-Management Accord

Poulsen, J. D. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

This article investigates the processes contributing to stable labor-management relations in the U.S. coal mining and tire manufacturing industries during the first decades after World War II. Consistent with recent research, the analysis finds persistent resistance to postwar accords in these industries. However, both the nature of this resistance and the strategies used to counter it varied. The article argues that institutional arrangements governing collective bargaining help explain these differences. By delimiting authority on both sides of the labor contract, organizational procedures supported distinctive forms of cross-class compromise and shaped the strategies of the opposition.

Book Review: Mean Things Happening in This Land: The Life and Times of H. L. Mitchell, Co-Founder of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. By H. L. Mitchell. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008. 384 pp. $19.95 paper

Burt, K. C. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: Globalization & Labor: Democratizing Global Governance. By Terry Boswell and Dimitris Stevis. Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008. 219 pp. $23.76 paper. Varieties of Capitalism, Corporate Governance and Employees. Edited by Shelley Marshall, Richard Mitchell, and Ian Ramsay. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2008. 312 pp. $49.95 paper

Cornelissen, J. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: Film Noir, American Workers, and Postwar Hollywood. By Dennis Broe. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2009. 179 pp. $69.95 hardback

Glass, F. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants. By David Bacon. Boston: Beacon, 2008. 261 pp. $18.00 paper

Gonos, G. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: The Global Assault on Teaching, Teachers, and Their Unions. Edited by Mary Compton and Lois Weiner. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 281 pp. $27.95 paper

Hemenway, D. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path Toward Social Justice. By Bill Fletcher Jr. and Fernando Gapasin. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008. 304 pp. $17.95 paper

Nissen, B. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: The Politics of Identity: Solidarity Building among America's Working Poor. By Erin E. O'Brien. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2008. 266 pp. $28.95 paper

O'Neal-Watts, J. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: Wrestling with Starbucks: Conscience, Capital, Cappuccino. By Kim Fellner. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008. 283 pp. $24.95 hardback

Oppenheimer, C. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: Political Solidarity. By Sally J. Scholz. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008. 286 pp. $55 hardback. The Cost of Privilege: Taking on the System of White Supremacy and Racism. By Chip Smith. Fayetteville, NC: Camino Press, 2007. 466 pp. $19.95 paper

Shor, F. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: I Am a Teamster: A Short, Fiery Story of Regina V. Polk, Her Hats, Her Pets, Sweet Love, and the Modern-Day Labor Movement. By Terry Spencer Hesser. Chicago: Lake Claremont Press, 2008. 157 pp. $15.95 paper

Simmons, L. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid-- And What We Can Do about It. By Kim Bobo. New York: New Press, 2009. 314 pp. $17.95 paper

Simpson, P. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST

Book Review: NAFTA from Below: Maquiladora Workers, Farmers, and Indigenous Communities Speak Out on the Impact of Free Trade in Mexico. Edited by Martha A. Ojeda and Rosemary Hennessy for Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras. Mattoon, IL: United Graphics Incorporated, 2006. 177 pp. $25 paper. Latina Activists across Borders: Women's Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas. By Milagros Pena. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. 174 pp. $21.95 paper. $74.95 hardback

Winning, S. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:01 PST