Organising as a strategy to reach precarious and marginalised workers. A review of debates on the role of the political dimension and the dilemmas of representation and solidarity

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

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 2017, vol. 23, issue 1, 31-46

Abstract: Organising as a trade union strategy has caught the imagination of the labour movement over the past 20 years or so. The vast possibilities of new forms of organising go hand in hand with concern about its highly constrained and sometimes hierarchical use. This article looks at key aspects of the debate, focusing on the question of how new forms of organising reach out to more vulnerable and precarious workers. Similar to other colleagues in the field, we conclude that there are political and organisational gaps in organising strategies and that new forms of organising can in some instances be bureaucratic and apolitical. Furthermore, it is important to extend our understanding of the role of trade unions in relation to the state, organised working class constituencies, and social rights, especially as, with regard to vulnerable workers and their organisations, questions of regulation are highly sensitive and challenging.

Keywords: Organising; precarious work; regulation; renewal; representation; social rights; trade unions; vulnerable workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:treure:v:23:y:2017:i:1:p:31-46

DOI: 10.1177/1024258916677880

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