Managed Activism: Two Union Organising Campaigns in the Not-for-Profit Sector

Simms, M., 2007. Managed activism: two union organising campaigns in the not-for-profit sector. Industrial Relations Journal, 38(2), pp.119-135.

Introduction

The article focuses on filling the existing gap in knowledge of how various workers’ unions target employees with no history of trade unionism. There has been little or no evidence that directly links to the methods through which workers’ unions recruit and act as the representative of the staffs in organizations that do not have a history of trade unionism (Simms 2007, p.119).

The article describes the methodologies through which unions target employees that do not have a history of trade unionism. Moreover, the literature review article evaluates the extent to which trade unions campaigns described in the paper might be regarded as “top-down” or ”bottom-up” (Simms 2007, p.119).

Furthermore, the article sought to locate substantiation within an extended scope of organizing strategies. The literature review article is very significant as it links to the wider questions of how workers’ unions can assert their influence in areas where trade unions do not exist, which in return may significantly improve the overall welfare of the staffs.

Although the article forms an important aspect that can be used to form unions for workers that have little or no history of trade unionism, the aims and objectives of the paper are not clearly distinguished from the research questions. The reader intending to use the article as a reference point may fail to distinguish between the objectives of the literature review paper and the research question. In this regard, an individual or an organization wishing to use the article as a reference material may find it difficult to establish the best methods of operation.

Literature Review

There is very little or no evidence that relates to the approaches through which various workers unions recruit and represent employees in groups where staffs do not have a history of trade unionism (Simms 2007, p.119).

Although there has been a positive response in various unions’ campaigns that are focused on representing the welfare of previously groups that were not organized, the unions require influence at both the workplace and sectoral levels in order to demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness.

The article examines two case studies in a small department where the establishment of recognition is conducted for the first time. The literature review describes that there has been an upsurge in the level of attention that is turned to the limitations of workplace-focused view of organizing activities.

Furthermore, the paper highlights that formation of an articulated union structure can be very useful in forming an effective organization that will promote strong vertical interlinkages between different levels of the workers’ union. The literature review article is comprehensive due to the fact that the information and facts provided are backed up by other credible sources such as previous articles published on the same subject.

In addition, the article has referred to seminal authors such as Heery and Gall on several instances throughout the review. The literature review is up-to-date due to the fact that the process of identifying the target groups that are in need of workers’ unions is still the same one used today by many unions around the world, particularly in the U.K (Simms 2007, p.123).

Although there is no clear distinction between research questions and objectives of the paper, the review’s aims are satisfactorily supported by previous articles and researches conducted on the same subject.

Research Methodology

The literature review article used a longitudinal and multi-method approach in order to meet the objectives of the research paper. The study gathered and reviewed case studies between 1998 and 2004 and further conducted in-depth interviews with workplace activists, officials, and organizers (Simms 2007, p.122).

In addition, the literature review took into consideration over 120 hours of observation of activists’ meetings, recruitment process, and organizing planning meetings. The article conducted and taped interviews and further took note of the verbal conversations.

During the data collection procedure, the study consulted newspaper articles, organizing strategy papers, observation diaries, and other recruitment literature.

The consultation of previous materials relevant to the subject in discussion provides the article with the required relevance since most of the information provided will be backed by credible sources, which in return makes the work more authentic and reliable for future reference.

The review has provided enough materials and supporting documents needed for proper critique. In this regard, the inclusion of various supporting materials and enough information provide the review with the needed authenticity and clarity. Moreover, the support materials given in the article make the literature review verifiable in case of any inconvenience. The population of the article is not detailed enough to provide particular aspects of a certain group of workers.

The article used a sample of 45 workplace activists, officials, and organizers during the in-depth interviews (Simms 2007, p.122). However, the sampling method does not have a lot of details, but rather provides a brief description of the number of people interviewed and the average number of hours spent during the collection procedure.

The article outlines the data collection method but does not offer a deep description of the same. Given the diversity of the supporting materials used such as newspaper articles that have previously covered the topic, the method provides the study with the needed information to adequately meet the objective of the research. Through the consultation of different relevant materials, the article has clearly met its outlined objective(s). The diverse resources consulted by the literature review provide more support for the information given by the authors, which in return has facilitated the article to meet its aims. The literature review article does not have a copy of the data collection method in appendices.

Data Analysis

The study took the existing union campaign as a unit of analysis. In this regard, the authors were presented with an opportunity to closely look into the impact of the union’s behaviors in detail.

During the analysis, the study categorized the issues affecting the unions into organizing, employment, and customer issues (Simms 2007, p.125). The analysis of the issues into different categories was adequate and appropriate due to the fact that the approach covered the three major aspects of the campaigns, which in return will enable the authors to meet their aims effectively.

Findings

The findings from the data are clearly drawn from the data due to the fact that the organizing issues explained in the article directly relate to the topic. The findings of the article are not theorized since most of the issues discussed are backed up by real-life events and occasions that have affected most union campaigns around the world.

The article review concludes by indicating how the study reflects some of the most challenging issues faced by unions in organizing and managing activities identified by other authors (Simms 2007, p.129).

Conclusion

The conclusion of the paper directly reflects the findings of the research by incorporating some of the most important aspects discussed throughout the paper. For instance, the article highlights how managed activism requires the deep involvement of union professionals at the workplace level in one of its case studies provided-Typetalk case.

Recommendation

There were no recommendations provided in the study.

Overall Critical Appraisal

Although the study acts as an eye-opener for union organizers due to the fact that the paper incorporates significant aspects of the subject in discussion, the failure of the research to provide the recommendations and the way forward for unions makes the paper insignificant.

The absence of concrete statistical data and heavy reliance on previous articles lowers the standard of the paper. Despite the fact that there are various significant components such as concrete statistical data missing, the study contributes to knowledge in the sense that it acts as an eye-opener to union organizers.

Blanden, J., Machin, S. and Reenen, J.V., 2006. Have unions turned the corner? New evidence on recent trends in union recognition in UK firms. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 44(2), pp.169-190.

Introduction

Over the past few decades, there has been a drastic decline in trade unionism in the United Kingdom. Various studies have concluded that the decline is associated with the dynamics of entry of new firms and workplaces into the market.

The results of the studies indicate that the different unions have failed to assert their influence and become recognized in the newly set-up workplaces (Blanden et al. 2006, p.169).

In this regard, the authors of this paper aimed at shedding some new light on the reasons why some unions have constantly failed to be recognized in the newly-set up workstations and establishing why the recognition of existing work areas have become insignificant over the period of research.

Moreover, the study sought to find out why the differential closure of union workstations is becoming less important with time. In this regard, shedding some new light on the reasons why unions are drastically declining in workstations in most organizations in the U.K plays a critical role in finding the solution to the problem.

The aims of the study are clearly outlined and can easily be referred to when an individual goes through the findings and the discussion of the paper. This can be attributed to the fact that the authors use achievable objectives that directly pinpoint the reasons why they are conducting the study. The fact that the aims outlined in the paper can be determined by directly looking into the trend of the subject in the discussion makes them appropriate and achievable. The research statement or problem perfectly coincides with the aim of the paper due to the fact that the study aims at finding the solution to the issue under observation.

Literature Review

There has been a drastic decline in a number of workers’ unions in the U.K over the past few decades. However, despite the fact that the situation is worrying, there has been few or no effort made to revive the situation (Blanden et al. 2006, p.169).

The fact that the article has directly confronted the situation by listing achievable goals and objectives in an effort to establish the reason behind the decline makes it a comprehensible article.

The article has referred to seminal authors such as Gregg in several instances throughout the review. The literature review article is up-to-date due to the fact that by the time it was published, it tackled the issue of declining numbers of unions in workplaces, which was current by then.

The clear outlining objectives of the article and satisfactorily supporting them with previous articles and researches conducted regarding the decline in a number of unions and why the unions are becoming insignificant with time adequately pivot the research project as detailed in the statement.

Research Methodology

The research study conducted a survey in 2002 and employed a financial analysis made easy sampling frame. The study randomly selected 3500 firms in the U.K and had more than 50 workers as from 1st January the same year the survey was done (Blanden et al. 2006, p.170).

The respondents were mailed out the survey’s questions and the non-respondents were re-contacted up to 3 times. The questionnaires were short and brief to the point. In this regard, the questions covered aspects of current unionism in the U.K and the recognition changes that have taken place as from 1997.

The research methodology is appropriate since the design of the survey provides the researchers with an opportunity to gather significant information about the respondents and non-respondents’ employment history, region, industry, and other important measures of financial performance.

The data obtained from the survey can be used to determine the characteristics of organizations that are linked to unionism and the dynamics of union recognition.

The research involved a total of 7047 participants in the study. Out of the total number of participants, 3098 were respondents while the remaining 3949 did not respond to the mailed surveys.

The study did not provide deep details about the participants. Given by the fact that most of the information required in the research is supposed to come from the participants, the survey method proved to be very effective.

The article has attached a copy of the questionnaire used in the study as the method of data collection in the appendices section (Blanden et al. 2006, p.189).

Data Analysis

Due to the fact that there was an existing similarity in the data collection approach used in the study with other researches, the authors compared their results with those obtained in earlier papers in order to determine the changes that have taken place over time.

In a bid to avoid double-counting, the study used subsidiary data. The authors used descriptive methods to calculate the mean values of all the major variables extracted from both the respondents and non-respondents (Blanden et al. 2006, p.172).

The method of data analysis was appropriate since it enabled the researchers to confirm whether the firms for which they had union data represented the full sample size which had been included in the initial count.

Findings

The findings of the study were obtained from the data since the calculations coincide with the results of other studies that were previously conducted. Moreover, a large portion of the findings reflects the pre-determined results that were predicted.

For instance, the research indicates that almost 11% of the companies that were involved in the study reported at least some new recognition in their workplace since 1997 (Blanden et al. 2006, p.169). Thus, this is a relatively low number, which confirms the expected results of the study. Hence, given that the findings of the study reflect the expected results, it can be concluded that they are reasonable.

Conclusion

The conclusion of the article acknowledges that the survey findings offer something of a double-edged sword for unions’ organizers to think about. The research paper offers new insight on how drastic new recognition agreements are upsurging and the possible reason for this trend.

Recommendation

There were no recommendations provided in the study.

Overall Critical Appraisal

The study acts as an eye-opener to the union organizers on where new recognitions are concentrated. Hence, with the right tools, unions can be transformed and evenly distribute the membership levels across the country.

The presence of concrete statistical data, the list of the survey in the appendices section, and a clear data analysis method imply that the study has been carried out to a high standard. Moreover, the study contributes to knowledge in the sense that the research can be used as a bridge for more new recognition agreements to be signed.

One of the disadvantages of the descriptive method of data analysis in this study is that the large companies and those located in non-service areas were slightly more likely to answer than those from small firms.

References

Blanden, J., Machin, S. and Reenen, J.V., 2006. Have unions turned the corner? New evidence    on recent trends in union recognition in UK firms. British Journal of Industrial           Relations, 44(2), pp.169-190.

Simms, M., 2007. Managed activism: two union organising campaigns in the not‐for‐profit sector. Industrial Relations Journal, 38(2), pp.119-135.