Gregor Gall (ed.), Union Organizing: Campaigning for Trade Union Recognition.

Gregor Gall (ed.)

Union Organizing: Campaigning for Trade Union Recognition

Routledge, London, 2003, 270 pp.

ISBN 0-415-26782-X (pbk) 23.99 [pounds sterling]

The debate about trade unionism in contemporary capitalist society has not only revived, but has also taken a number of twists and turns. After nearly two decades of scepticism and doubt about its future, a raft of publications has reopened the debates about trade unionism. One strand of argument focuses on the capacities of union leaders and activists to organise and represent members, while another explores the barriers to and possibilities of different forms of union organisation and action. In the first case, a number of commentators have explored the evident tensions between 'organisation' and 'servicing', particularly common in the discussion of us and Australian trade unionism (e.g. Terry, 2003; Bronfenbrenner et al., 1998). Here, consideration is given to examples of militancy, cooperation, and occasionally to examples of self-organisation. Assessments for the future of the predominant forms of contemporary unionism are generally made on the basis of these considerations. The result has been that over recent years, pessimism has gripped the academic community in the UK (although not so for this strand of writing in the us). A second strand of argument considers the complex circumstances for different forms of unionism. While this debate is an analytically confused one, it does address different conceptualisations of change, such as union renewal and revitalisation or revival. While these conceptualisations are underdeveloped, they do draw attention to debates about union form, and the varied ways in which unions organise, operate and develop within complex societies. The former focus does not address the conditions for radical change, while the latter notion of union renewal, in particular, does.

The collection of readings reviewed here lies firmly within the first strand of writing, documenting and detailing the various ways in which unions have addressed some of the pressing issues relating to union recognition, union representation and negotiation. Nevertheless, this is a book that also aspires to address the conditions for union renewal. However, this is more a preoccupation of the editor, rather than of the contributors. As a result, some of the key questions in any consideration of contemporary unionism and the conditions for change are overlooked.

Part of the reason for this partiality in focus is the undue reliance, in the book, on Kelly's theory of mobilisation (1998). As is common in areas of study that traditionally suffer a deficit of theory, many, and particularly the authors in this collection, welcomed the publication of Kelly's book. The core of Kelly's analysis is a theory of union mobilisation as the definitive outcome of the union form of organisation and action. His claim is that such theory 'allows us to analyse the processes by which workers acquire a collective definition of their interests in response to employer generated injustice' (ibid: 1). His claim is that worker collectivism in the form of trade unionism is situationally defined and specific. On this basis, it becomes possible to counter claims that unions are in a state of terminal or irreversible decline. Put baldly, trade unionism is in a down period, but workers will eventually heed the call of progressive leaders and reorganise.

Kelly's analysis is beguiling. He provides a vanguard view of union revival or, more accurately, renewal (which captures the variability of union form). The focus is on an indeterminate sense of worker interest, the touchstone being a sense of social justice (rather than the social relationships of work and employment); a confident and, one assumes, progressive leadership (that appears via an analysis of activism and officership); and a mosaic of actions ranging from strikes to lobbying. Others have grasped these dimensions of unionism as definitive features, thus providing the explanatory basis for assessing and evaluating the current state of trade unionism. Suddenly, everyone looks for the leaders who lead, and the workers who express grievances rooted in a sense of social injustice, and follow.

Unfortunately, the Kelly analysis displays a regrettable partiality. Although there has been some critical assessment of the book, it has mainly been of a minor corrective kind rather than being a comprehensive assessment of the theoretical foundations of the analysis, which would challenge the partiality of union form advocated by Kelly. While there can be no dispute that the processes of mobilisation are important and must be studied, this theory is predicated on one form of unionism, namely a vanguardist conception of unionism. There is no consideration of alternatives, and particularly participative forms of unionism (in contrast, see the critical engagement of these themes by Carter, 2004; and for the us, Lopez, 2004). Gone are the considerations of class structure and consciousness, the examination of the social relations of production and service, forms of collective organisation and action, and the mosaic of solidarity and participative actions that define such processes. But all is well, the leaders will lead and we will be led.

The Kelly analysis is the leitmotiv for the Gall book. The core of the analytic framework of the Gall book is a theory of individuation, whereby leaders and 'malcontents' (sometimes designated as 'activists') provide the litmus for collective organisation and action. Place and position is everything; the flux and flow of worker organisation and struggle is not. The starting point for the Kelly-type analysis is the separation between the worker qua worker, and the union; not work and employment relations.

Gall sets out the initial case for the book. The points of departure are, first, the decline 'of union membership and union influence' (p. 1), and the responses to these developments; and second, the increased recognition of workers' employment rights, pointing to the growing importance of legislation for British trade unions. Two sets of issues are examined. First, there is a consideration of the organising model of trade unionism, broadly defined. Second, the circumstances for union recognition in a relatively hostile climate are surveyed. Recognition is defined broadly. It is presented as a key indicator in determining the status and preserve of unions in the workplace and more generally (a Kelly-type testable or operational dimension), and it is the base from which trade unions organise and operate (p. 6). The book is divided thematically. Part One looks at current developments in their historical context. Part Two addresses questions relating to organisation and recognition. Part Three comprises a set of studies of campaigns for recognition. Part Four locates union recognition comparatively, contrasting arrangements and legal regulation in the us, Canada and Germany.

The focus, in terms of the historical context of trade unionism, is recognition strategies. The first contribution (by Knox and McKinley) examines such strategies in American transnationals, IBM and others including Caterpillar. What comes out of this study is an interesting account of the flux and flow of union organisation, showing how unionism in the workplace rests on mutually reciprocal relationships between members and leaders. Developing these themes, Gall, in a substantive contribution, presents a fascinating account of organising in the off-shore Scottish oil and gas industry during the 1970s and 1980s. The rich detail of these attempts by union activists to promote organisation and representation highlight the conditions for forming and re-forming collective practices to achieve a collective voice in the industry. Despite a loose invocation of the distinction between members and activists (the magical frontier in the Kelly world), the chapter presents a telling analysis of the foundation, forms and outcomes of class struggle.

In Part Two, the focus is on 'organising'. Heery and his colleagues present a comprehensive overview of trade union recruitment policy in Britain. National union policies are surveyed, and attention is given to the importance of the workplace in this process. Using a rich aggregate database, they argue that where unions have been successful in their recruitment strategies, there are signs of an embrace of forms of social movement-type unionism. A welcome caution in their account points to the unevenness of this process. Nonetheless, they conclude that union memberships are agents of their own futures, making or not making distinctive choices. Gall follows this chapter with his third contribution, surveying employer opposition to union recognition.

Although an unconvincing account as an example of counter-mobilisation, the chapter nevertheless serves to highlight some of the key strategies/ tactics pursued by employers to secure the ligaments of control over less than compliant workforces.

Part Three is the core of the book. It comprises four case studies, resulting in an engaging and informative set of chapters. This welcome celebration of case study analysis in the area of industrial relations comprises grounded accounts of actual campaigns aimed at securing union recognition. These cover a voluntary organisation--a charity (Simms); a number of electronic firms (Findley and McKinley); a sea travel firm (Wills); and a call centre (Taylor and Bain). The common theme running through these accounts is that they raise a series of questions about organising processes that suggest a complex set of conditions for successful organising.

In the first case study, Simms presents a detailed study of a national charity in which the union seeking recognition faced difficulties with a dispersed workforce, as well as problems in the institutional arrangements of the union, such as a mismatch between workplace, regional and national levels of representation. Findley and McKinley trace out the efforts of two unions to organise in the Scottish electronics industry. In presenting this account, the authors explicitly 'test' Kelly's claim: 'The transformation of a set of individuals into a collective actor is normally the work of a small but critical mass of activists whose role in industrial relations has been seriously understated'. Findley and McKinley document such a process, involving 'shadow' stewards, 'who in the absence of recognised shop stewards act as unofficial representatives of their immediate workgroup, and whose role may prefigure official steward activity' (p. 116). While the authors sought to show how they act as de facto stewards, more interesting is the way activism (not activists per se) is grounded in the workplace, part of the collective workgroup. Most interestingly, this is an account of how workers seek to organise themselves; it is out of such experience that leadership-type activity may emerge.

Wills's essay is perhaps the most interesting. In this well documented and tightly argued account, she shows how a union that is 'in' but not 'of' a workgroup fails in its attempts to embed organisation, despite complex relations between the participants, at different levels of the union hierarchy. This account implicitly identifies the conditions for successful union activity: one that involves mutually reciprocal relations between national officials and regional officials as well as workplace members, and broadly-based campaigns.

The account by Taylor and Bain further develops the themes outlined above, and attempts to locate the analysis within the Kelly prism of leadership. Taking the distinctive workplace relations of the seemingly ever-present call centres, they develop an informed account of the way organisation has been constructed. This account vividly illustrates the way nonunion workers can generate a sense of solidarity in the most pressing conditions of call-centre employment. Such collective struggle may eventually result in or be formalised into trade union forms of action. However, the attempt to document the leadership process in this case did detract from some of the other strengths in the chapter.

In the final section, the book presents an overview of the debates and experiences around union recognition in three countries--as previously indicated, the us, Canada and Germany. The value of this section is that it serves to highlight the position and place of legal regulation in this process. The weakness is that the contributions add little to the detail and broader understating of trade unionism in contemporary capitalist societies.

One of the points worthy of mention is the need for ongoing research on the question of solidarity, collective organisation and collective consciousness. Unfortunately, the repetition of Kelly's statement that it 'still remains unclear how unionism ever gets started up in the workplace' (e.g. p. 153; and Kelly, 1998: 44) simply serves to promote the theoretical blinkers of mobilisation theory, and fails to develop our understanding of these processes. One problem is that it takes Kelly's statement out of context. He argues that we should consider the sociology of leadership in the context of injustice, member identity, and workers' willingness to act collectively (Kelly, 1998: 44-51). Equally importantly, Kelly locates his analysis with reference to power relations, within the workplace and at a societal level.

Of note, Kelly does draw attention to case-study analysis (illustrated in an introductory way in many of the contributions to the Gall book). While he applauds the 1970s UK workplace studies, his view of union mobilisation is a blinker in relation to analysis and interpretation. The problem is that the theory as prescribed by Kelly, and taken up by others, is one-dimensional; it is a celebration of a leader-led dichotomy, without any reference to participative forms of organisation and struggle in the context of workplace relations. The paradox is that Kelly promotes a rather idiosyncratic focus; something he also attributes to others (Kelly, 1998: 133-4, n. 4). This focus amounts to a partial and overly psychologised thesis that is misleadingly titled 'mobilisation', rather than 'vanguardist'. Instead, a brief look at numerous studies opens up aspects for consideration in ways that complicate the Kelly analysis, although he indeed refers to a number of them (Beynon, 1973; Eldridge, 1968; Garrahan & Stewart, 1992; Gouldner, 1954; Kapferer, 1972; Lane & Roberts, 1971; Lipset et al., 1956; Pollert, 1981; Pope, 1942; Roy, 1970). Equally, the representational base of unionism has been explored in complex ways, noted by Kelly (e.g. Batstone et al., 1977; and Beynon, 1973). However, it is also necessary to revisit the questions addressed in these studies, in terms of period, situation, sector and circumstance, and to explore how unions get 'started up in the workplace'. One strand of informative analysis, for example, is to be found in some of the recent us writing (Bronfenbrenner et al., 1998; Lopez, 2004; and Fantasia & Voss, 2004).

While the Gall book has strengths, it also has some weaknesses. In my view, the overarching problem is the tendency (following Kelly) to take a particular set of institutional arrangements/practices and extrapolate a particular view of trade union leadership (see especially the summary statement on pp. 234-5). Rather, the authors would have been better advised to throw off the shackles of the 'poverty of leadership' thesis and return to more comprehensive forms of analysis, exploring the conditions for various forms of collective organisation and struggle.

The question is not leadership per se, but a consideration of the barriers to such action and the ways they may be overcome, involving different aspects of activism and 'leadership'. Such an exploration would involve a consideration of the vanguard and the complex processes of participation and accountability. In this respect, we would all be well advised to reconsider the defining feature of trade unionism in capitalist society, namely union democracy.

References

Batstone, E., I. Boraston & S. Frenkel (1977) Shop Stewards in Action: The Organisation of Workplace Conflict and Accommodation (Basil Blackwell) Oxford.

Beynon, H. (1973) Working For Ford (Penguin Books) Harmondsworth.

Bronfenbrenner, K., S. Friedman, R. Hurd, R. Oswald & R. Seeber (eds.) (1998) Organising to Win: New Research on Union Strategies (ILR Press) Ithaca.

Carter, B. (2004), 'State restructuring and union renewal: The case of the National Union of Teachers', in Work, Employment and Society, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 137-156.

Eldridge, J. E. T. (1968) Industrial Disputes: Essays in the Sociology of Industrial Relations (Routledge and Kegan Paul) London.

Fantasia, R. & K. Voss (2004) HardWork: Remaking the American Labor Movement (California University Press) California.

Garahan, P. & P. Stewart (1992) The Nissan Enigma: Flexibility at Work in a Local Economy (Mansell) London.

Gouldner, A. (1954) Wildcat Strike: A Study in Worker-Management Relationships (Harper Torchbooks) New York.

Kapferer, B. (1972) Strategy and Transaction in an African Factory: African Workers and Indian Management in a Zambian Town (Manchester University Press) Manchester.

Kelly, J. (1998) Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilization, Collectivism and Long Waves (Routledge) London.

Lane, T. & K. Roberts (1971) Strike at Pilkingtons (Collins/Fontana) London.

Lipset, S., M. Trow & J. Coleman (1956) Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union (Anchor Books) New York.

Lopez, S. (2004) Reorganizing the Rust Belt: An Inside Study of the American Labor Movement (University of California Press) Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Pollert, A. (1981) Girls, Wives and Factory Lives (Macmillan) London.

Pope, L. (1942) Millhands and Preachers: A Study of Gastonia (Yale University Press) New Haven.

Roy, D. (1970) 'The study of Southern labor union organizing campaigns', in R. Habenstein (ed.) Pathways to Data: Field Methods for Studying Ongoing Social Organization (Aldine Publishing Company) Chicago.

Terry, M. (2003) 'Can "partnership" reverse the decline of British trade unions?' in Work, Employment and Society, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 459-472.

Reviewed by Peter Fairbrother