Strategies for Union Renewal in the Context of Public Sector Outsourcing

Ian Cunningham and Philip James
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Ian Cunningham: University of Strathclyde
Philip James: Oxford Brookes University Business School

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2010, vol. 31, issue 1, 34-61

Abstract: In the face of significant declines in union membership and organizing, a variety of strategies for union renewal have been identified. Views differ, however, concerning how far these strategies should be seen as mutually supportive. This article explores this issue drawing on research findings that shed light on the challenges that unions face in recruiting and organizing voluntary sector workers employed in the provision of outsourced public social care services in the UK. It concludes that unions, at least in certain contexts, can potentially utilize a combination of the strategies identified, but that the effective adoption of such an approach requires them to successfully address a number of difficult s trategic challenges.

Keywords: outsourcing; partnership; public sector; trade unions; union organizing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:31:y:2010:i:1:p:34-61

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X09349140

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