Meanings and dilemmas in community unionism: trade union community initiatives and black and minority ethnic groups in the UK
| dc.contributor.author | Lucio, M.M. | * |
| dc.contributor.author | Perrett, Robert A. | * |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-04-28T10:52:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2014-04-28T10:52:22Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2009 | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Lucio, M. M., Perrett, R.A. (2009b) Meanings and dilemmas in community unionism: trade union community initiatives and black and minority ethnic groups in the UK. Work, Employment and Society, 23(4), 693-710. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10454/6072 | |
| dc.description | No | |
| dc.description.abstract | The article shows that community initiatives take different forms and are the outcome of a broader interplay of factors between workers’ interests, representation, and the strategies of unions and broader coalitions that are mobilized in specific communities. Drawing from three case studies on black and minority ethnic (BME) workers and trade unions in the UK the article looks at how the rhetoric of community unionism has been adopted in an uneven manner by trade unions: the article suggests that: (a) community initiatives are variable, (b) they lack a structure and clear vision, (c) the question of BME engagement is rarely central in many projects, and (d) the ambivalent role of the state is a significant factor in many of these initiatives. This state role is downplayed in much of the literature, thus raising dilemmas in terms of community initiatives. | en |
| dc.subject | REF 2014 | |
| dc.subject | Black and minority ethnic workers | |
| dc.subject | Coalitions | |
| dc.subject | Community unionism | |
| dc.subject | Networks | |
| dc.subject | The state | |
| dc.subject | Trade unions | |
| dc.subject | Union renewal | |
| dc.title | Meanings and dilemmas in community unionism: trade union community initiatives and black and minority ethnic groups in the UK | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dc.type.version | No full-text in the repository | |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017009344916 | |
| dc.openaccess.status | closedAccess |
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Analysis: Voices from the movement: What can the Trade Union Act (2016) tell us about trade union organising?Introduction It is easy to think of the Trade Union Act (2016) as ‘Thatcher Round 2’: the economic strategy of austerity once again pits the haves against the have-nots, creating the potential for a re-invigorated trade union movement to return to its economically disruptive habits, which the government seeks to constrict. Thus, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady condemned the Conservatives for ‘refighting the battles of the 1980s’ instead of taking a more constructive approach (O’Grady, 2016). However, while the trade union legislation of the 1980s followed a decade marked by entrenched union disputes, the Trade Union Act (2016) has been introduced against a very different backdrop. The UK currently has historically low levels of industrial action, stagnating levels of union membership and limited areas of union density (DBIS, 2015; Godard, 2011; Dix et al, 2008). Could it be that the Trade Union Act (TUA) has more to tell us about trade union weakness than their strength? The Act comes at an important moment in the history of the labour move- ment. The Conservative austerity agenda not only attacks living standards, but reduces union membership through extensive job losses. The significance of this for the movement is exacerbated because the public sector is the most heavily unionised sector. This matters for many reasons, not least because the movement’s ability to resist the worst excesses of the austerity agenda rests on its membership and strength. This situation in turn shines a spotlight on what is perhaps the most pressing question facing the movement – the need for a model of unionism which can reach beyond the public sector, and in particular which meets the needs of the ever-growing body of precarious workers.
-
The Poor Law in Bradford c. 1834-1871. A study of the relief of poverty in mid-nineteenth century Bradford.During the last twenty years there has been a proliferation of local studies of Poor Law administration, many of them concerned with the period of transition from the Old to the New Poor Laws. This thesis complements other local studies; it offers a detailed examination of Poor Law administration in and around the rapidly expanding industrial town of Bradford. At the same time, the thesis seeks to broaden the scope of such local studies by placing the Poor Law more firmly within its local social, economic and political context. Bradford's experiences are compared with those of other, particularly northern, urban Unions, and for the period after 1848, detailed comparison is made between Poor Law administration in the neighbouring Bradford and North Bierley Unions. Chapter 1 highlights those elements of Bradford's economic and social structure likely to exert the greatest influence on Poor Law administration. Chapter 2 examines administrative structures and relief practices under the Old Poor Law, with particular reference to the area's claim to-administrative efficiency. Chapter 3 examines local reactions to the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act and traces the history of Bradford's popular anti-Poor Law movement. Chapter 4 investigates the new administrative structure. Chapter 4(1) evidences the occupational and political distinctions between the Borough and non-Borough Guardians, highlighting the political dimension of Poor Law administration. Chapter 4(ii) analyses the mechanics of relief distribution and Chapter 4(iii) examines the New Poor Law's'shaky financial base. Chapter 5(i) looks at the fate of the principles of 1834 with regard to able-bodied paupers and at the debate surrounding the introduction of the Outdoor Labour Test Order. Chapter 5(ii) deals largely with the provision of outdoor medical relief. Chapter 5(iii) examines the Workhouse regime and the treatment of particular groups of inmates, such as the mentally ill and vagrants. The education provided for Workhouse children is compared with that available to the independent poor. The Chapter concludes with a detailed examination of the Workhouse debate of 1846-8. Chapter 5(iv) investigates non-statutory relief provision in Bradford and attempts to assess its qualitative and quantitative importance. Chapter 6 examines the operation of the Law of Settlement, the workings of the non-resident relief system and the immediate impact of the legislation of 1846-7. Chapter 7 outlines the Poor Law authorities' involvement in bastardy affiliation actions. Chapter 8 assesses the impact of the New Poor Law and considers some of the major determinants of relief policy, including a survey of local attitudes to poverty. Part One concludes with the Union's division in 1848. Part Two considers the more settled administration of the 1850s and 1860s, building on the framework used in Part One. Chapter 9 looks at the occupations, politics and conduct of business of the Bradford and North Marley Boards of Guardians. Chapter 10 traces changes in the system of distributing relief and in the Poor Law's financial base, with particular reference to the financial reforms culminating in the Union Chargeability Act of 1865. Chapter 11 pursues the able-bodied debate, continues the earlier survey of outdoor medical relief and examines the novel provision of education for the children of outdoor paupers. Chapter 12 catalogues the erection of new Union Workhouses in Bradford and North Bierley and traces their evolving role as general pauper hospitals. Chapter 13 examines the enlarged contribution of charities in Bradford while Chapter 14 surveys the continuing but reduced impact of the Law of Settlement. Chapter 15 comments on the changes seen in the later period.
-
Transnational organizing: a case study of contract workers in the Colombian mining industryThis article examines recent organising successes in the Carbones del Cerrejón coal mine, reversing the organisational crisis of the Colombian mining union, Sintracarbon. Using Wever's concept of ‘field-enlarging strategies’, we argue that these events were facilitated by the dissemination of organising experiences between affiliates of a Global Union Federation, International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which recently merged to form IndustriALL. Additionally, we argue that this articulation between international and national unions, based on the principle of subsidiarity, was facilitated through sustained ICEM educational project activity, providing multiple entry points for Sintracarbon to operationalise its strategy and re-establish bargaining with multinational employers.
