"Trade unions around the developed world face common challenges in terms of declining membership and influence, and ‘conventional' union revival strategies have yielded limited success. A relatively recent innovation has been the embrace of ‘social movement unionism' (SMU), which challenges traditional workplace conceptions of trade union roles via alliances with campaigning civil society organisations. This empirical study examines how SMU is conceived and applied in a small country context, focusing on the role of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. The findings suggest that SMU can appeal to trade union associations in smaller national (or regional) settings owing to a combination of institutional and size effects which concentrate networks. This has implications for unions and union federations interested in advancing both workplace and wider social justice concerns."

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