"Scholars have intensely debated the conditions under which trade unions can successfully mobilize professionals. We explore an internationally comparative perspective on mobilizing professionals by asking how two nurse unions in the United States and Germany successfully limited management's prerogative over staffing levels. We found that German national institutions had little influence over the bargaining process; instead, factors at the level of organizations and their environment (leadership support, organizational restructuring, coalition-building with supportive stakeholders and framing) enabled mobilization. Based on a power resources perspective, we conclude that unions can mobilize professionals using militancy, even without much support from national institutions."

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