The Future of Unions and Worker Representation

The Digital Picket Line
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5099-2497-4
Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Buch, Englisch, 312 Seiten, Hardback, Format (B × H): 241 mm x 163 mm, Gewicht: 630 g

This book charts the path to revitalisation for trade unions in Australia, the USA, the UK, and Italy. It examines the examples of innovation and digital campaigning that are enabling unions to build new forms of worker power - and overcome decades of declining membership wrought by neoliberalism, globalisation, and hostility from employers and the state.

The study evaluates the responses of unions in each country to falling membership levels since the 1980s. It considers the US 'organising model' and its adoption in Australia and the UK, comparing this with the strategies of Italian unions which have been more deliberately focused on precarious and migrant workers. The increasing reliance of US unions on community alliances, as seen in the 'Fight for $15' and similar campaigns, is scrutinised along with new union prototypes like Hospo Voice in Australia, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain and SI Cobas in Italy. The book includes an in-depth analysis of union responses to the gig economy in the four countries, and the emergence of self-organised worker collectives to combat this exploitative business model. The vital role played by unions in defending the interests of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is also examined.

As well as highlighting the most successful union initiatives to meet the challenges of the past 30 years, the book assesses the strengths and deficiencies of the legal framework for union representation in the four nations. It identifies the labour law reforms needed to rebuild collectivism, but argues that more is needed than favourable laws. This cross-national study provides a rich basis for identifying the combination of reforms, strategies and linkages required to ensure that unions can remain relevant for a new generation of digitally-active workers.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Forsyth, Anthony

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsvergleichung
• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Common Law (UK, USA, Australien u.a.)
• Rechtswissenschaften Arbeitsrecht

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction

I. Unionising Big Tech

II. Aims and Scope

III. Why Compare the USA, the UK, Australia and Italy?

IV. Chapter Overview

V. The Digital Picket Line
2. A Snapshot of Union Decline in the Four Countries

I. Introduction

II. Challenging Times for Trade Unions in the USA, the UK and Australia

III. The Differing Trajectory of Union Membership and Worker Representation in Italy

IV. Conclusion
3. The Legal Framework for Unions and Worker Representation in the Four Countries

I. Introduction

II. The USA

III. The UK

IV. Australia

V. Italy

VI. Conclusion
4. Unions in the USA: From the Organising Model to Alt-Labour

I. Introduction

II. The AFL-CIO Organising Model

III. Change to Win

IV. Unions Bypass the Broken NLRA Process

V. Looking Further Afield: Unions in the Community, Alt-Labour and Bargaining for the Common Good

VI. A (Seemingly) Lost Cause: Unions and Labour Law Reform
VII. Conclusion

5. Australian Unions: From the Accord to 'Change the Rules'

I. Introduction

II. Early 1990s: The Legacy of the Accord

III. Adopting the Organising Model
IV. Campaigning for Legal Change: Ending Work Choices and the Return of a Labor Government

V. Unions on the Defensive again as the Coalition Returns to Government

VI. Union Decline Intensifies, Spawning Exploration of New Membership Models

VII. The 'Change the Rules' Campaign and its Aftermath

VIII. Conclusion

6. Australian Unions: Innovations, Amalgamations and Organising Beyond the Workplace

I. Introduction

II. New Union Models and Digital Prototypes

III. Back to the Future: A New Wave of Union Mergers

IV. Campaigning and Organising Beyond the Workplace

V. Conclusion

7. The UK: From 'New Unionism' to Indy and Digital Unions

I. Introduction

II. The UK Variant of Organising

III. 'Third Way' Unionism: The Partnership Agenda

IV. Back into the Wilderness: Unions Confront Austerity, Brexit and the Legacy of New Labour

V. Up for a Scrap: Social Movements, 'Indy Unions' and #McStrike

VI. 'An Alternative to Simply not being Present': New Membership Models and Digital Experiments

VII. Conclusion

8. Italian Unions: Fighting for the Marginalised

I. Introduction

II. Specialist Unions for Precarious Workers - And Challenging Agency Work

III. Italian Unions and Migrant Workers

IV. Building (Rank-and-File) Union Strength in the Logistics Sector

V. Conclusion

9. Unions and the Gig Economy: Advocacy, Campaigning, Mobilising

I. Introduction

II. Overview of the Gig Economy in the Four Countries

III. The Mirage of Liberating Work in the Gig Economy

IV. Enter, the Unions.

V. Exposing the Reality of Gig Work as a Basis for Advocacy, Campaigning and Mobilising

VI. Conclusion
10. Unions and the Gig Economy: Misclassification Test Cases and Collective Bargaining

I. Introduction

II. 'Litigating the Digital Platform Model': Legal Challenges to the Misclassification of Gig Workers

III. 'Staying United to Reverse the Race to the Bottom': Collective Bargaining in the Gig Economy

IV. Conclusion
11. What is the Future of Unions and Worker Representation? What Changes are Needed in Labour Laws?

I. Introduction

II. A Pathway to Union Revitalisation

III. Reforming Labour Law to Empower Workers and Unions to Win

IV. Conclusion
12. The COVID-19 Pandemic: The Undeniable Case for Unions

I. Introduction

II. Union Involvement in National Responses to the COVID-19 Emergency

III. Income Protection

IV. Protecting Workers' Safety

V. Conclusion: Implications of the Pandemic for Trade Unions

Über Autor(innen)

Forsyth, Anthony
Anthony Forsyth is Distinguished Professor of Workplace Law in the Graduate School of Business and Law, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. His research focuses on collective bargaining, trade unions, labour hire and the gig economy. He is Vice-President of the Australian Labour Law Association and chaired the Victorian Government Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work (2015-16). He also runs the Labour Law Down Under Blog (https://labourlawdownunder.com.au/).

Anthony Forsyth is Professor of Workplace Law at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.