Abstracts
Abstract
This article considers the state of unionism today and argues that in strategizing for more workers’ power and effective worker representation, unions have – unsurprisingly – focussed upon the primary domain that workers occupy: the labour market and workplaces, applying a particular repertoire of tools. While social conditions beyond the terrain of work have always mattered and sometimes been recognized by activists and theorists, these are often under-attended in analysis and strategy. The article argues that the relevant social context includes the three “microsystems” of work, household and community life, their intersecting “mesosystems” and the larger “macrosystem” of labour law, social norms and gender cultures within which they are located. Together these construct a system which affects the ways in which unions can build power, the tools available to them, and the industrial issues that matter to workers.
Significant changes in the three interacting domains of work, household and community life since the mid-1970s in many industrialized countries have changed the system within which workers’ create collective power. This is illustrated by evidence drawn from the Australian experience, and the changing forms and occupational structure of employment, and the changing shape of households and communities within which Australian workers live. Workers’ increasing mobility and work, family and community transitions make some of the traditional vehicles of union power outmoded – like collectivizing through a longstanding job or craft affiliation. Such changes call for new forms of collectivization and create new priorities for workers in their bargaining and industrial conditions. They also have implications for the tools – collective bargaining, substantive and procedural statutory rights or social security – that will most effectively improve workers’ circumstances.
Keywords:
- unions,
- work,
- households,
- community,
- women,
- Australia
Résumé
Cet article considère l’état du syndicalisme aujourd’hui et avance que dans la mise en oeuvre d’une stratégie pour un rapport de force favorable aux travailleurs et pour une représentation efficace de ces derniers, les syndicats se sont focalisés – sans surprise – sur les espaces de base occupés par les travailleurs : le marché du travail et les lieux de travail, mettant en oeuvre un répertoire particulier d’outils. Tandis que les conditions sociales, au-delà du milieu de travail à proprement parler, ont toujours compté et ont parfois été reconnus par les militants et les théoriciens, ces espaces sont souvent restés sous-évalués dans l’analyse et les approches stratégiques. L’article met en avant le fait qu’un contexte social approprié inclut les trois « microsystèmes » du travail, de la vie familiale et communautaire, leurs « mésosystèmes » à l’intersection, et le « macrosystème » plus large composé par la législation du travail, les normes sociales et les cultures de genres dans lesquelles ils sont situés. Ensemble, ceux-ci construisent un système qui affecte les manières dont les syndicats peuvent développer le rapport de force des travailleurs, les outils disponibles, et les questions qui concernent les travailleurs.
Les changements cruciaux qui s’opèrent depuis le milieu des années 70 dans les trois domaines interagissant que sont la vie de travail, familiale et communautaire, de beaucoup de pays industrialisés ont changé le système duquel les travailleurs tirent leur force collective. Ceci est illustré par l’expérience australienne. La preuve est faite par les formes changeantes d’emploi, la transformation de la structure professionnelle de l’emploi, et les changements opérés au sein des ménages et des communautés dans lesquels les travailleurs australiens vivent. La mobilité croissante des travailleurs et les transitions professionnelles, familiales et communautaires rendent les véhicules traditionnels du rapport syndical dépassés – comme le modèle collectif basé sur l’occupation d’un emploi permanent ou sur l’affiliation professionnelle. De tels changements réclament de nouvelles formes de collectivisation des droits et créent de nouvelles priorités pour les travailleurs dans leurs négociations et leurs conditions de travail. Ils ont également des implications sur les outils – la négociation collective, les droits ou la sécurité sociale – qui amélioreront le plus efficacement la condition des travailleurs.
Mots-clés :
- syndicats,
- travail,
- ménages,
- communauté,
- femmes,
- Australie
Resumen
En este artículo considera el estado actual del sindicalismo y argumenta que con el desarrollo de estrategias para reforzar el poder de los trabajadores y la representación efectiva de los trabajadores, los sindicatos – como era de esperarse – se han centrado en el campo principal que ocupan los trabajadores: el mercado de trabajo y los lugares de trabajo, la aplicación de un repertorio particular de instrumentos. A pesar que las condiciones sociales siempre han sido importantes más allá del terreno de trabajo y que a veces han sido reconocidas por los activistas y los teóricos, estas son a menudo menos consideradas en el análisis y la estrategia. El artículo sostiene que el contexto social de referencia incluye los tres “microsistemas” de vida laboral, familiar y comunitaria, sus “meso-sistemas” de intersección y el más amplio “macro-sistema” de la legislación laboral, normas sociales y las culturas de género dentro del cual se encuentran. En conjunto, estos constituyen un sistema que afecta las formas en que los sindicatos pueden construir el poder, los instrumentos disponibles para ello y los problemas laborales que preocupan a los trabajadores.
Los cambios significativos en los tres ámbitos de la interacción de la vida laboral, familiar y comunitaria que acontecen desde mediados de 1970 en muchos países industrializados, han cambiado el sistema dentro del cual se crea el poder colectivo de los trabajadores. Esto se ilustra con las pruebas derivadas de la experiencia australiana, y las formas cambiantes y la estructura ocupacional del empleo, y la forma cambiante de los hogares y comunidades en las que viven los trabajadores australianos. La creciente movilidad de los trabajadores y las transiciones de trabajo, de familia y de comunidad hacen que algunos de los vehículos tradicionales de poder sindical aparezcan obsoletos como por ejemplo la colectivización mediante un trabajo de larga data o la afiliación por oficios. Estos cambios requieren nuevas formas de la colectivización y la creación de nuevas prioridades para los trabajadores en su negociación y condiciones laborales. Ellos también tienen implicaciones para los instrumentos – la negociación colectiva, los derechos legales de fondo y de procedimiento o la seguridad social – que mejoraran con mayor eficacia, la situación de los trabajadores.
Palabras clave:
- sindicatos,
- trabajo,
- familias,
- comunidad,
- mujeres,
- Australia
Appendices
References
- ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2006. How Australians Use their Time. Catalogue Number 4153.0. Canberra: ABS.
- ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2010. Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia. Catalogue Number 6310.0. Canberra: ABS.
- ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2010b. Forms of Employment, Australia. Catalogue Number 6359.0, November. Canberra: ABS.
- ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2010c. Australian Social Trends. Catalogue Number 4102.0, September. Canberra: ABS.
- ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2011a. Labour Force, Australia. Catalogue Number 6202.0. Canberra: ABS.
- ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2011b. Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly Electronic Delivery. Catalogue Number 6291.0.55.003, May. Canberra: ABS.
- Braverman, H. 1974. Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century. New York: Monthly Review Press.
- Bronfenbrenner, K. 2005. “Union Organizing among Professional Women Workers.” A research study commissioned by the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, paper presented to the DPE Conference on Organizing Professionals in the 21st Century, Virginia, March 14-16.
- Bronfenbrenner, U. 1979. The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Buchanan, J., B. Van Wanrooy, S. Wright, S. Baldwin and S. Wilson. 2009. Australia at Work: In a Changing World. Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney.
- Campbell, I. 2002. “Extended Working Hours in Australia.” Labour & Industry, 13 (1), 91-110.
- Campbell, I. 2004. “Casual Work and Casualisation: How Does Australia Compare?” Labour & Industry, 15 (2), 85-111.
- Cobble, D. S., ed. 1993. Women and Unions: Forging a Partnership. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
- Cooke, F. L. and G. Wood. 2011. “Introduction.” Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, 66 (1), 3-6.
- Cooper, R. 2011. “Industrial Relations in 2010: Dead, Buried and Cremated?” Journal of Industrial Relations, 53 (3), 277-287.
- Crosby, M. 2005. Power at Work: Rebuilding the Australian Union Movement. Sydney: Federation Press.
- Crouch, C. 2004. Post-democracy. London: Polity Press.
- Crouch, C. and H. Farrell. 2004. “Breaking the Path of Institutional Development: Alternatives to the New Determinism.” Rationality and Society, 16 (5), 5-43.
- Evans, J. and E. Gibb. 2009. Moving from Precarious Employment to Decent Work. GURN Discussion paper No. 13. Geneva: ILO.
- Flanders, A. 1970. Management and Unions: The Theory and Reform of Industrial Relations. London: Faber and Faber.
- Flood, M. and C. Barbato. 2005. Off to Work: Commuting in Australia. Discussion Paper No. 78. Canberra: The Australia Institute.
- Frege, C. M. and J. E. Kelly. 2004. Varieties of Unionism: Strategies for Union Revitalization in Globalizing Economy. London: OUP.
- Giddens, A. 1973. The Class Structure of the Advanced Societies. London: Hutchinson.
- GURN. 2011. “Global Trade Union Strategies (Union Renewal).” The Global Union Research Network newsletter, http://www.gurn.info/en/topics/global-trade-union-strategies-union-renewal (accessed 5 October 2011).
- Haiven, L., C. Lévesque and N. Roby. 2006. “Paths to Union Renewal: Challenges and Issues.” Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, 61 (4), 578-589.
- Hayes, A., L. Qu, R. Weston and J. Baxter. 2011. Families in Australia 2011: Sticking Together in Good and Tough Times. Melbourne: AIFS.
- Hyman, R. 2001. Understanding European Trade Unionism: Between Market, Class and Society. London: Sage.
- Muir, K. 2008. Your Rights at Work: Worth Fighting For. Sydney: UNSW Press.
- OECD. 2005. Growth in Services: Fostering Employment, Productivity and Innovation. Meeting of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level 2005. Paris: OECD.
- OECD. 2010. Employment Outlook, 2010. Paris: OECD.
- OECD. 2011. OECD StatExtracts: Trade Union Density. Paris: OECD http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=UN_DEN (accessed 5 October 2011).
- Peetz, D. 2006. Brave New Workplace. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
- Pocock, B. 2003. The Work/Life Collision. Sydney: The Federation Press.
- Pocock, B., ed. 1997. Strife: Sex and Politics in Labor Unions. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
- Pocock, B., N. Skinner and S. Pisaniello. 2010. How Much Should We Work? Working Hours, Holidays and Working Life: The Participation Challenge. Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/documents/AWALI2010-report.pdf (accessed August 10th 2011).
- Pocock, B., P. Williams and N. Skinner. 2011. “Conceptualizing Work, Family and Community: A Socio-Ecological Systems Model, Taking Account of Power, Time, Space and Life Stage.” British Journal of Industrial Relations, published electronically, 14 March 2011, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2011.00852.x.
- Pocock, B., N. Skinner and P. Williams. 2012 forthcoming. Timebomb: Work, Rest and Play in Australia Today. Sydney: UNSW Press.
- Skinner, N., S. Parvazian and J. Dorrian. 2010. FLAWS in our Lives: Fatigue, Work and Life Strain. Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia.
- Stewart, P., ed. 2005. Employment, Trade Union Renewal and the Future of Work: The Experience of Work and Organisational Change. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Tattersall, A. 2010. Power in Coalition: Strategies for Strong Unions and Social Change. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
- Touraine, A. 1987. The Worker’s Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Turner, I. 1987. In Union is Strength: A History of Trade Unions in Australia 1788-1983. Melbourne: Nelson Australia.
- Visser, J. 2011. Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State Intervention and Social Pacts in 34 Countries between 1960 and 2011. Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam http://www.uva-aias.net/207 (accessed 5 October 2011).
- Vosko, L. F., M. MacDonald and I. Campbell, eds. 2009. Gender and the Contours of Precarious Employment. London, New York: Routledge.
- Voydanoff, P. 2007. Work, Family, and Community: Exploring Interconnections. New York: Psychology Press.
- Webb, S. and B. Webb. 1894. The History of Trade Unionism. London: Longman.
- Webb, S. and B. Webb. 1897. Industrial Democracy. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
- Williams, J. 2000. Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Williams, J. 2010. Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Williams, P., N. Skinner and B. Pocock. 2008. “Clawing Back Time, Expansive Working Time and Implications for Work-life Outcomes in Australian Workers.” Work, Employment and Society, 22 (4), 719-730.
- Williams, P., B. Pocock and K. Bridge. 2009. Linked up lives. Work, home and community in ten Australian suburbs, Overview report. Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/documents/Linked-Up-Lives.pdf (accessed 5 October 2011).