This article is based on a recent study of attempts by a range of British trade unions to access and engage with Polish migrant workers at the community or labour market level, rather than workplace level. The findings suggest that migrant workers can indeed be recruited at this level. Doubts are expressed, however, about the sustainability of new membership gained in this way. These doubts are linked to a marked absence of clear union strategies to create a longer-term nexus of interest with those who are recruited, of the type advocated in, for example, the North American ‘new labor movement’ literature. This absence – it is argued – may be less a reflection of a lack of strategic leadership than a product of the difficulties unions face in identifying viable strategies relating to the representation and organization of workers above the workplace level.
AchurJ (2010) Trade Union Membership 2010. London: Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
2.
AndersonBRuhsMRogalyB (2006) Fair Enough? Central and East European Migrants in Low-wage Employment in the UK. Oxford: Oxford University Centre on Migration, Policy and Society.
3.
AvciGMcDonaldC (2000) Chipping Away at the Fortress: Unions, Immigration and the Transnational Labour Market. International Migration38(2): 191–213.
4.
BassettPCaveA (1993) All for One: The Future of the Unions. London: Fabian Society.
5.
BoxallPHaynesP (1997) Strategy and Trade Union Effectiveness in a Neo-liberal Environment. British Journal of Industrial Relations35(4): 567–591.
6.
CarterB (2006) Trade Union Organizing and Renewal: A Response to de Turberville. Work, Employment and Society20(2): 415–426.
7.
CleggH (1976) Trade Unionism under Collective Bargaining. Oxford: Blackwell.
8.
CobbleD (1991) Organizing the Post-industrial Workforce: Lessons From the History of Waitress Unionism. Industrial and Labor Relations Review44(3): 419–436.
9.
CrouchC (1993) Industrial Relations and European State Traditions. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
10.
CunninghamIJamesP (2010) Strategies for Union Renewal in the Context of Public Sector Outsourcing. Economic and Industrial Democracy31(1): 34–61.
11.
EricksonCFiskCMilkmanR (2002) Justice for Janitors in Los Angeles: Lessons from Three Rounds of Negotiations. British Journal of Industrial Relations40(3): 543–567.
12.
FernieSMetcalfD (2005) Trade Unions: Resurgence or Demise?London: Routledge.
13.
FitzgeraldIHardyJ (2010) Thinking outside the Box? Trade Union Organising Strategies and Polish Migrant Workers in the United Kingdom. British Journal of Industrial Relations48(1): 131–150.
14.
FixMPapademetriouGBatalovaJ (2009) Migration and the Global Recession: A Report Commissioned by the BBC World Service. Migration Policy Institute.
15.
FregeCKellyJ (2003) Union Revitalisation Strategies in Comparative Perspective. European Journal of Industrial Relations9(1): 7–24.
16.
FregeCHeeryETurnerL (2004) The New Solidarity? Trade Union Coalition-Building in Five Countries. In: FregeCKellyJ (eds) Varieties of Unionism: Strategies for Union Revitalization in a Globalizing Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.137–158.
17.
GardawskiJ (2002) Declining Trade Union Density Examined. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
18.
HeeryEAdlerL (2004) Organising the Unorganised: In: FregeCKellyJ (eds) Varieties of Unionism: Strategies for Union Revitalization in a Globalizing Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.45–69.
19.
HeeryEHealyGTaylorP (2004a) Representation at Work: Themes and Issues. In: HealyGHeeryETaylorP (eds) The Future of Worker Representation. Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp.1–36.
20.
HeeryEConleyHDelbridgeR (2004b) Beyond the Enterprise: Trade Union Representation of Freelancers in the UK. Human Resource Management Journal14(2): 20–35.
21.
HeyesJ (2009) Recruiting and Organising Migrant Workers Through Education and Training: A Comparison of Community and the GMB. Industrial Relations Journal40(3): 182–197.
22.
House of Lords (2008) The Economic Impact of Immigration – Volume 1: Report. HL Paper 82-I. London: Stationary Office.
23.
HymanR (2001) Understanding European Trade Unionism. London: Sage.
24.
KringsT (2009) A Race to the Bottom? Trade Unions, EU Enlargement and the Free Movement of Labour. European Journal of Industrial Relations15(1): 49–69.
25.
McGovernP (2007) Immigration, Labour Markets and Employment Relations: Problems and Prospects. British Journal of Industrial Relations45(2): 217–235.
26.
MarchingtonMRuberyJCookeFL (2004) Worker Representation Within and Across Organisational Boundaries: A Case Study of Worker Voice in a Multi-agency Environment. In: HealyGHeeryETaylorP (eds) The Future of Worker Representation. Basingstoke: Macmillan, pp.82–102.
27.
Martinez LucioMPerrettR (2009) The Diversity and Politics of Trade Unions’ Responses to Minority Ethnic and Migrant workers: The Context of the UK. Economic and Industrial Democracy30(3): 324–347.
28.
MilkmanR (2006) L.A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the U.S. Labour Movement. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
29.
MilkmanRVossK (2004) Organizing and Organizers in the New Union Movement. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
30.
OstD (2006) The Defeat of Solidarity. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
31.
PenninxRRoosbladJ (2000) Trade Unions, Immigration and Immigrants in Europe, 1960–1993. New York: Berghahn Books.
32.
PernickaS (2009) Trade union representation of contingent workers in further education in the UK and Austria. Transfer15(3–4): 461–480.
33.
ShermanRVossK (2000) Organise or Die: Labor’s New Tactics and Immigrant Workers. In: MilkmanR (ed.) Organizing Immigrants: The Challenge for Unions in Contemporary California. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp.81–108.
34.
SimmsMCharlwoodA (2010) Trade Unions: Power and Influence in a Changed Context. In: CollingTTerryM (eds) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
35.
VossK (2010) Democratic dilemmas: union democracy and union renewal. Transfer16(3): 369–382.
36.
VossKShermanR (2003) You Just Can’t Do It Automatically: The Transition to Social Movement Unionism in the United States. In: FairbrotherPYatesC (eds) Trade Unions in Renewal: A Comparative Study. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.51–77.
37.
WillmanP (1989) The Logic of Market-share Unionism: Is Membership Decline Inevitable?Industrial Relations Journal20(4): 260–270.
38.
WillsJ (2002) Union Futures. London: Fabian Society.
39.
WillsJ (2004) Organising the Low Paid: East London’s Living Wage Campaign as a Vehicle for Change. In: HealyGHeeryETaylorP (eds) The Future of Worker Representation. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.264–282.
40.
WrenchJ (2004) Trade Union Responses to Immigrants and Ethnic Inequality in Denmark and the UK: The Context of Consensus and Conflict. European Journal of Industrial Relations10(1): 7–30.
41.
YatesC (2010) Understanding caring, organizing women: how framing a problem shapes union strategy. Transfer16(3): 399–410.
