Community and union-led Living Wage campaigns
| Published date | 02 October 2017 |
| Pages | 825-839 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-03-2017-0053 |
| Date | 02 October 2017 |
| Author | Peter Prowse,Ana Lopes,Ray Fells |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Community and union-led Living
Wage campaigns
Peter Prowse
Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
Ana Lopes
Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and
Ray Fells
University of Western Australia Business School, University of Western Australia,
Crawley, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate different approaches to effective campaigning
in support of the Living Wage and so this paper contributes to the broader debate over the nature
of the union movement’s engagement with community groups in pursuit of workplace and social
issues.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper presents a systematic comparison of a union-led and a
community-led campaign, drawing primarily upon interview and survey data.
Findings –Though different, both campaigns met with a measure of success in improving employee pay and
in increasing union membership suggesting a pragmatic approach to the building of union-community
relationships.
Practical implications –The paper shows the need for campaigners to adopt a strategic approach
in identifying the target for their campaign, and also the importance of shaping a persuasive
argument.
Originality/value –The paper reaffirms the importance of traditional union-led campaigning alongside
campaigning through engagement with community groups and so offers a broader framework for exploring
the relationships between union and community groups.
Keywords Living Wage, Community campaigns, Social movement unionism, Union campaigns
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Trade unions in Britain, as elsewhere, have faced a sustained challenge to their role
and there has been extensive debate, analysis (and practical action) over the most
appropriate way for the union movement to respond to these challenges (Kelly, 1998; Heery
et al., 2003). At the forefront of this debate has been the notion of social movement
unionism whereby unions engage with other community groups in pursuit of broader
societal issues, not just workplace ones (Fairbrother and Webster, 2008; Parker, 2011).
A union strategy of broader community engagement can be contrasted with more
traditional forms of union activities, most particularly the pursuit of improved pay and
conditions for members through industrial campaigns. Community engagement envisaged
in social movement unionism and industrial campaigning are not mutually exclusive and
both can take many forms.
One important aspect of social movement unionism is that it envisages engagement over
a broad agenda of social and political issues. However, a significant theme of research has,
Employee Relations
Vol. 39 No. 6, 2017
pp. 825-839
Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-03-2017-0053
Received 7 March 2017
Revised 22 July 2017
Accepted 28 July 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
© Peter Prowse, Ana Lopes and Ray Fells. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is
published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce,
distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article ( for both commercial and non-com-
mercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of
this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode.
825
Community
and union-led
Living Wage
campaigns
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