Documents Hurd, Richard W. 11 results

"The current revitalization of the American labour movement is driven primarily by two forces: from above, new strategic leadership in some unions and at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), ready to offer institutional support for local efforts to organize, build coalitions and expand the scope of grass-roots politics; from below, renewed interest in rank-and-file activism and participation. We call these two forces institutional support and network mobilization, and we find indications of their overriding importance in all six union strategies on which our case-study research focuses: organizing, political action, coalition building, labour-management partnership, organizational change and international solidarity."

"Since the 1970s, the spread of neo-liberalism across the world has radically reconfigured the relationship between unions, employers and the state. The contributors highlight that this is the major cause and effect of union decline and if there is to be any union revitalisation and return to former levels of influence, then unions need to respond in appropriate political and practical ways. Written in a clear and accessible style, the Handbook examines unions' efforts to date in many of the major economies of the world, providing foundations for understanding each country."

"Organizing has been at the heart of union strategy discussions for twenty years; it became labor's top priority with the election of John Sweeney as president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in 1995. However, recent data on membership confirm that union fortunes continue to decline. In response to the deepening crisis, five major unions formed the New Unity Partnership (NUP) in 2003. These unions argue that there is a fundamental weakness in the movement's structure that must be addressed. They call for consolidation through mergers, and for open debate on the role for the AFL-CIO. There is open resistance to the restructuring proposals, and there are practical barriers to implementation. The NUP unions themselves have not been able to achieve increased density on a national scale. In spite of skepticism and resistance, the dramatic nature of the NUP framework at least broaches the notion that organizational transformation is required."

" This article traces the declining membership and influence of US trade unions over the last two decades, faced with an onslaught of economic changes and political and employer hostility. Unions became widely perceived as anachronistic dinosaurs. It then considers the various steps taken under two AFL-CIO presidents to deal with the crisis. It argues that the move away from a 'service model' to an 'organizing model', while not a panacea, has been a promising development and looks at the implications for relationships between the AFL-CIO leadership and local unions and for the unions' strategy in the political sphere. "

"Over the past ten years there has been a notable shift in union organizing strategies. Once the exception, organizing conducted under the umbrella of negotiated neutrality agreements has become the preferred method in the drive to reverse decline and build union density. This approach allows unions to avoid the pitfalls of traditional organizing conducted under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) framework, which enables employers' aggressive resistance to unionization. Typically, management's anti-union campaigns include: mandatory captive audience meetings where the employer condemns the union, one-on-one meetings with supervisors where workers are grilled regarding their union sentiments, firing of selected active union supporters, and legal delays. Instead, if unions are able to secure a binding commitment from the employer to remain neutral, organizing is relatively straightforward and in most cases the union is able to win majority support and bargaining rights.Pursuit of employer neutrality and the closely associated card check route to certification, where the union is recognized with a majority of workers signing union cards, are not confined to the realm of actual organizing campaigns. Proposed changes in labor law to endorse this approach have elevated neutrality to the top of organized labor's list of political priorities. The spread of neutrality agreements and labor's strong push to amend the law have been spurred by notable cases of organizing success. But this success has invited scrutiny, and attacks from the right and the left. For example, legitimate questions have been raised about the top-down nature of some specific Service Employees International Union (SEIU) neutrality agreements. A careful look at the criticisms aimed at SEIU raises more general questions about the wisdom of those neutrality-based organizing campaigns that neither engage workers in struggle nor build union solidarity. "