Documents Turner, Thomas 29 results

"Trade unions have experienced significant turbulence over the past three decades. In the UK and Ireland, a key change has been a substantial increase in the individual rights-based employment legislation, raising important questions about its impact on trade unions. Based on a survey and interviews with union officials in Ireland, we examine whether individual employment law acts to undermine or enhance the role of trade unions and whether trade union officials use employment law to achieve change in the workplace and to mobilise workers. We find that while unions believe in the superiority of collective bargaining to pursue individual rights, and consider the law as having an individualising effect, they also recognise its benefits in the current environment. Given the legal restrictions on collective action in individual disputes, union officials believe that employment law can be used to support and protect vulnerable groups of workers. The increasing resort to individual employment rights in Ireland is contrasted with an alternative system in Sweden which has a strong collectivist ethos. We conclude that the dilemmas faced by unions regarding the pursuit of rights are symptoms of Ireland's weak statutory framework."

"This article develops a theoretical model of collective action at work using the key concepts of mobilization triggers, facilitating factors, and inhibiting factors. It then illustrates the value of this model for understanding why a low-pay, low-skill, blue-collar manufacturing facility remained non-union, drawing primarily on the accounts of a limited sample of redundant workers. These accounts are used to demonstrate the importance of social contexts where inhibiting conditions dominate and where management practices succeed in gaining worker consent and forestalling a collective response from workers."

"In recent years many European countries have experienced a substantial growth in immigrants working in the labour market. Empirical data on their work experiences are, however, relatively scarce. Based on a survey of immigrants this article focuses on the expectations, perceptions of unfairness and outcomes of relatively recent immigrants in the workplace in Ireland. Using organizational justice and relative deprivation theory, a theoretical model was developed predicting a set of associations between expectations arising from particular reference groups, fairness at work, met expectations and outcomes. Overall, the model highlights the central importance of fairness in the workplace for met expectations and personal outcomes. This research assists in building a picture of the workplace experiences of these new immigrants, which is useful for both national and organizational policy-makers."

"Since 1987 trade unions have been a key party to social partnership agreements in Ireland. Theoretical and empirical studies of corporatism point to positive outcomes for trade unions such as an increase in union density, ease of recognition, and increased employer support. However, apart from a modest increase in union membership numbers, none of these outcomes were realised. Union density levels have decreased significantly, union recognition is more problematic than ever, and employer opposition appears to have increased in scope and intensity. Decline in union density questions the capacity of unions to remain pivotal actors in the future. During the period of partnership union density in the private sector more than halved. It remains the paradox of partnership. "

Purpose –
This paper seeks to explore the recruiting and organising methods used by Irish full-time union officials to recruit new members in the private sector of the economy.
Design/methodology/approach –
The analysis is based on a survey of full-time union officials in eight Irish trade unions.
Findings –
Results indicate that the use of organising techniques by officials had no significant impact on changes in membership numbers but did have a significant and positive impact on reported changes in new members. However, the variance explained was extremely modest.
Research limitations/implications –
A potential limitation is that the organising model is assessed solely from the perspective of full-time union officials. An area for future research would be to capture the attitudes and experiences of local activists involved in organising.
Practical implications –
The demands of the organising approach require great commitment in terms of time and financial resources for unions. Yet the returns from this investment may be slight as only a relatively weak relationship was found between the number of organising methods used and changes in membership numbers and the recruitment of new members.
Originality/value –
To date there has been little systematic study of either the recruitment methods used by Irish trade unions or the relative success of different approaches. Based on a survey of Irish full-time union officials, this paper attempts to address this lacuna."