In Unions We Trust! Analysing Confidence in Unions across Europe

AuthorSinisa Hadziabdic,Lorenzo Frangi,Sebastian Koos
Published date01 December 2017
Date01 December 2017
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12248
British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/bjir.12248
55:4 December 2017 0007–1080 pp. 831–858
In Unions We Trust! Analysing
Confidence in Unions across Europe
Lorenzo Frangi, Sebastian Koos
and Sinisa Hadziabdic
Abstract
Public institutions and trade unions in particular are often portrayed as facing
a deep crisis. In order to better understand to what extent unions are still
perceived as legitimate institutions from the society as a whole (working and
non-working individuals), we analyse the determinants of confidence in unions
across 14 European countries between 1981 and 2009. Confidence in unions is
explained through individual-level variables (by a rational and an ideational
mechanism) and contextual-level factors (relevant economic and employment
relations characteristics). Using data from the European Values Study (EVS)
merged with contextual datasets, we develop a series of regression models to
examine the main determinants of confidence in unions. We demonstrate that
confidence in unions cannot only be traced backto the support from members and
left-wing oriented individuals but it is also related to non-workingindividuals and
vulnerable social groups, in particular when confronted with economic shocks.
Our findings challenge both the ‘crisis of confidence’ in institutions and the ‘crisis
of unionism’ narratives. Implications for union representation and organizing
strategies are discussed.
Confidence(...) isoneofthe mostimportant synthetic forceswithin society (Simmel
1950 [1906]: 318).
1. Introduction
Since the beginning of the 1980s, unions have been facing an increasingly
deep crisis (Hyman 2002; Turner et al. 2001; Wallerstein and Western 2000).
Union density has declined across WesternEurope. The decline has been very
pronounced in Anglo-Saxon countries, but is also evident in Continental and
Lorenzo Frangi is at the Universityof Quebec in Montreal, Sebastian Koos is at the University
of Konstanz, and Sinisa Hadziabdic is at the Universityof Geneva
C
2017 John Wiley& Sons Ltd.
832 British Journal of Industrial Relations
Southern Europe (Bryson et al. 2011; Ebbinghaus et al. 2011; Schmitt and
Mitukiewicz 2012) and even the ‘Ghent’ countries have not been exempted
(B¨
ockerman and Uusitalo 2006). It is thus maintained that there is no evidence
on whether a recovery from the crisis of unionism or the maintenance of the
status quo of trade unions will be witnessed in the future (Avdagic and Baccaro
2016: 715). While being a crucial institution in empowering employeesduring
the Fordist era, unions seem to have progressively lost their legitimacy and
ultimately their raison d’ˆ
etre in European societies.
Yet, the social legitimacy of unions cannot be exclusively derived from
membership decline (Sullivan 2010), for two main reasons. First, the current
global economic context increasingly constrains employees in joining unions,
especially those experiencing more precarious and vulnerable employment
conditions (Bryson and Gomez 2005; Gumbrell-McCormick 2011). Labour
market dualization has significantly constrained union representation of
labour market outsiders in many countries (H¨
ausermann and Schwander
2012). However, these evolutions might not have had the same impact on the
attitudinal support and confidence granted to unions. Second, even though
union membership is in general limited to employees, union social legitimacy
depends on the society as a whole. This is especially true in Europe where
unions haveplayed an important sociopolitical role also beyond the workplace
(Gumbrell-McCormick and Hyman 2013; Hyman 2001).
The underpinnings of an institution’s social legitimacy have hence a wide
societal scope (Lipset and Schneider 1987). Confidence in institutions in
Western countries has been declining since the 1970s and is still waning,
citizens’ distrust and cynicism prevail (Newton and Norris 2000; Twenge
et al. 2014). The crisis of confidence in institutions seems irreversible.However,
confidence in trade unions seems to have followed a dierent trend when
compared to other institutions (Listhaug and Wiberg 1995; Smith 2012).
While there is abundant research on union membership both from a
comparative and a longitudinal perspective (see Schnabel 2013), only few
studies have analysed the dierences in attitudinal support for unions across
countries (e.g. Turner and D’Art 2012) or over time (e.g. Culpepper and
Regan 2014). Therefore, in this study we analyse whether the confidence in
unions in Europe follows the same patterns and trends as both the crises of
confidence and crisis of unionism debates suggest. How can confidence in trade
unions be explained across 14 European countries from 1981 to 2009? Do we
observe a clear homogeneous trend or are there country-specific evolutions?
In addition, to what extent do the drivers of confidence in unions dier from
those responsible for the decline in union membership?
Our study contributes to the debates on the crisis of unionism and on the
crisis of confidence in three ways. First, by studying confidence in unions
we go beyond the narrow analysis of union density trends to shed light on
unions’ social legitimacy (e.g. Freeman et al. 2007; Gumbrell-McCormick
and Hyman 2013). Second, by examining the society as a whole,we overcome
the traditional limited focus on union members and/or employees in existing
industrial relations studies of public opinion (e.g. Cregan 2005; D’Art and
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2017 John Wiley& SonsLtd.

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