Building Power Together: Union Support for Central Labour Bodies
| Published date | 01 December 2014 |
| Date | 01 December 2014 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12008 |
Building Power Together: Union Support
for Central Labour Bodies
Monica Bielski Boris and Jeff Grabelsky
Abstract
One of the key factors in the success of labour federations is to have affiliate
unions who actively participate and support their work. This article examines
the catalysts behind union involvement with central labour bodies and presents
an analysis of the organizational motivations for engagement. The article uses
comparative case study analysis to examine affiliate union commitment in the
United States to the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial
Organizations’ state federations, area labour federations and central labour
councils. Union leadership, along with contextual, interpretative and organiza-
tional factors, was found to influence the level of affiliate union involvement in
central labour bodies.
1. Introduction
With the challenges confronting organized labour worldwide, there has been
an intensifying focus on union renewal or revitalization efforts, including the
strengthening of central labour bodies or national trade union centres, orga-
nizations whose members consist of labour or trade unions. These federa-
tions work to pool labour’s financial, political and staff resources; provide
educational, research and organizing support to the affiliated member
unions; and increase labour’s political and community impact.
In the United Kingdom, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has regional
councils in seven areas and the Wales TUC, further divided into trades union
councils based on municipal jurisdictions. Canada’s largest labour federa-
tion, the Canadian Labour Congress, consists of provincial federations and
district labour councils, similar to the TUC’s trades union councils. Australia
has the Australian Council of Trade Unions with eight trade and labour
councils located throughout the nation. The American Federation of
Monica Bielski Boris is at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Jeff Grabelsky is at
Cornell University.
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British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/bjir.12008
52:4 December 2014 0007–1080 pp. 682–704
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2013. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) remains the largest
labour federation in the United States. Each state in the United States (as
well as Puerto Rico) has its own AFL–CIO federation with over 500 central
labour councils (CLCs) organized in cities and communities.
In the United States, research on the AFL–CIO has presented case studies
of high-performing CLCs and state federations that highlight their strategic
value for the revitalization of the labour movement (Bielski Boris 2009;
Bielski Boris and Wright 2007; Byrd and Rhee 2004; Dean and Reynolds
2009; Frank and Wong 2004; Grabelsky 2009; Karson 2004, 2007; Luce and
Nelson 2004; Ness 2001; Reynolds 2003, 2009; Simmons and Luce 2009).
While these case studies chronicle the work of central labour organizations in
the United States, a deeper analysis of the factors driving this work has not
been undertaken. Central labour body revitalization efforts have taken a
variety of routes in the United States, but in each case, a critical and consis-
tent element of success has been a renewed commitment of unions to affiliate
with and contribute to the life of the central body. This article explores this
topic by asking the following question: What factors prompt affiliated unions
to become more active and involved in central labour bodies?
2. Union renewal
The literature on union renewal or revitalization references the importance of
unions collaborating with one another. The types of union involvement with
central labour bodies (political work, mobilizing unionists, engaging the
community and supporting union organizing) constitute some of the core
actions identified by researchers as necessary for union renewal (Frege and
Kelly 2004; Fiorito 2004; Lévesque and Murray 2006). This study contributes
to the union renewal literature by examining more thoroughly the role of
affiliate unions in central labour organizations. In their research on Canadian
union revitalization efforts, Kumar and Schenk (2006) posit ‘inter-union’
co-operation as a necessary precursor to unions connecting with community
allies. In another Canadian study, Lévesque and Murray (2006) list ‘network
embeddedness’ as one of the ‘four key power resources’ in a framework to
evaluate the power sources and strategic competencies vital to union capacity
building. Wills (2001), in examining union renewal in the United Kingdom,
refers to ‘horizontal unionism’ as enabling labour to act more like a social
movement through a focus on broader issues and the use of professional
full-time staff to strategize and to raise outside funds.
Research has examined the factors promoting union coalition building
(Frege et al. 2004). Activism and leadership prove influential, and unions
having members and leaders with social movement experience outside of the
labour movement prove more likely to work with community groups. Unions
with declining resources and membership are more inclined to seek outside
alliances, as are unions that seek to represent identity interests other
than class (i.e. gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability status).
Bringing Power Together 683
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2013.
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