Organizational Contexts for Union Renewal

Yu, K

Organizational Contexts for Union Renewal

Yu, K

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Publisher:: REVUE RELATIONS INDUSTRIELLES INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, 2014, 69, (3), pp. 501-523
Issue Date:: 2014-06-21

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Yu, K https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1275-477X
dc.date.accessioned	2021-04-25T05:24:24Z
dc.date.available	2021-04-25T05:24:24Z
dc.date.issued	2014-06-21
dc.identifier.citation	Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, 2014, 69, (3), pp. 501-523
dc.identifier.issn	0034-379X
dc.identifier.issn	1703-8138
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148335
dc.description.abstract	<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:p>This article seeks to identify organizational structures and processes that contribute to incorporating immigrant identities and fostering democratic participation in unions. Empirical analysis is based on ethnographic observations conducted in four local branches within the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of the USA that underwent the Justice for Janitors campaign. Despite the fact that all four local unions experienced external revitalization owing to the campaign, internal renewal was most successful in Los Angeles, least in Washington DC, and somewhat successful in Boston and Houston. For each of the cases, I examine the connection between external dimensions of revitalization—initial mobilizing efforts, bargaining power, and political power—and organizational contexts for renewal—formal and informal structures for participation, and the engagement of immigrant members in union activities. While the union revitalization literature has argued that internal union renewal facilitates external revitalization, how external revitalization affects sustained internal renewal has not yet been examined thoroughly. Most studies examining the relationship between internal and external revitalization have had a relatively narrow window of observation ending typically with successful union recognition; thus, we lacked an understanding of the dynamic relationship between internal and external revitalization over time. The present findings suggest that external revitalization can assist internal renewal. However, building a powerful union did not automatically guarantee democratic participation, and acquiring more economic power through the merging of local unions weakened representational structures. The present results confirm the importance of studying revitalization as a process instead of an outcome, an argument which has been advanced by scholars, yet rarely practiced.</jats:p>
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	REVUE RELATIONS INDUSTRIELLES INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
dc.relation.ispartof	Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.7202/1026756ar
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1503 Business and Management, 1608 Sociology
dc.subject.classification	Industrial Relations
dc.title	Organizational Contexts for Union Renewal
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	69
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
utslib.for	1608 Sociology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-04-25T05:24:18Z
pubs.issue	3
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	69
utslib.citation.issue	3

Abstract:

SummaryThis article seeks to identify organizational structures and processes that contribute to incorporating immigrant identities and fostering democratic participation in unions. Empirical analysis is based on ethnographic observations conducted in four local branches within the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of the USA that underwent the Justice for Janitors campaign. Despite the fact that all four local unions experienced external revitalization owing to the campaign, internal renewal was most successful in Los Angeles, least in Washington DC, and somewhat successful in Boston and Houston. For each of the cases, I examine the connection between external dimensions of revitalization—initial mobilizing efforts, bargaining power, and political power—and organizational contexts for renewal—formal and informal structures for participation, and the engagement of immigrant members in union activities. While the union revitalization literature has argued that internal union renewal facilitates external revitalization, how external revitalization affects sustained internal renewal has not yet been examined thoroughly. Most studies examining the relationship between internal and external revitalization have had a relatively narrow window of observation ending typically with successful union recognition; thus, we lacked an understanding of the dynamic relationship between internal and external revitalization over time. The present findings suggest that external revitalization can assist internal renewal. However, building a powerful union did not automatically guarantee democratic participation, and acquiring more economic power through the merging of local unions weakened representational structures. The present results confirm the importance of studying revitalization as a process instead of an outcome, an argument which has been advanced by scholars, yet rarely practiced.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148335