‘Justice for Janitors’ goes Dutch: the limits and possibilities of unions’ adoption of organizing in a context of regulated social partnership

Heather Connolly, Stefania Marino and Miguel Martinez Lucio
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Heather Connolly: De Montfort University, UK
Stefania Marino: The University of Manchester, UK
Miguel Martinez Lucio: The University of Manchester, UK

Work, Employment & Society, 2017, vol. 31, issue 2, 319-335

Abstract: Organizing has been adopted as a strategy for union renewal in the Netherlands, where the dominant repertoire has been consensus-based social dialogue. Certain Dutch unions have developed strategies inspired by the US ‘organizing model’ and have been relatively successful in recruiting and mobilizing under-represented workers. Despite some tensions emerging, the introduction of organizing resulted in the greater representation of workers in sectors such as cleaning, which has to an extent complemented social dialogue-based strategies. At the same time, the narrative and tactics of organizing have stimulated internal debate on union purpose and identity and indirectly contributed to a process of reform and democratization within parts of the union movement. The research demonstrates the pragmatic features of organizing as a strategy for union renewal in a context of regulated social partnership, but also points towards the potential for organizing to encourage shifts in the dominant sources of union legitimacy and power.

Keywords: cleaning sector; Netherlands; organizing; social partnership; unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:2:p:319-335

DOI: 10.1177/0950017016677943

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