This thesis comprises a comparative study of three union renewal strategies within unionised workplaces from the worker perspective. The three strategies were partnership, organising and social unionism. The research was undertaken through case studies of the strategies utilising a variety of trade unions and workplaces in combination both in the UK and in Canada. The workplaces were from the private and public sectors, and both the service and manufacturing organisations were represented. The background for the thesis was one of broadly stable union membership figures but with the prediction of future decline from somer esearchersa nd commentators. The researchw as set within the contexto f current governmentn eo-liberale conomic policy andw ithin an atmosphereth at is toleranto f rathert han positively supportiveo f trade unions and their objectives. The three case studies were analysed under three themes pertinent to renewal. The three themes were worker participation in union affairs, member identification with the union and then an assessment of union effectiveness. Three categories of member who have a particular role to play in the renewal of the union movement were also focussed upon. These three groups were young people, women and union activists. The methodology was from a critical perspective and mixed methods were used. The research data comprised 642 questionnaire responses, 33 interviews and 2 focus groups. The main finding of this research indicated that the social unionism strategy offered the best hope for renewal from the perspective of the rank and file. This was followed by the organising strategy, with partnership being the least successful strategy in terms of renewal as defined in this research. This was based on the collected research data that showed that members experiencing social unionism as a union renewal strategy at their workplace, participated more actively in union affairs, identified more positively with their union and the wider interests of the working class and saw their union as being more effective both at their workplaces and beyond. This is not however to negate the positive effects of the organising and partnership strategies which both contribute to the process of union renewal albeit to a lesser extent. This research contributes to knowledge through the provision of a unique set of comparisons in terms of the combination of strategies, unions and workplaces. Moreover,t his researchi s advancedw ith the view of trying to help strengthent he insights into the position of workers and their unions in terms of their efforts to address the imbalance of power between labour and capital through the process of union renewal.

A European Works Council (EWC) brings together employee representatives from the European countries in which a multinational company (MNC) has operations, to be informed and consulted by central management on transnational issues of concern to the company's employees. By this means, EWCs can bridge the gap between transnational MNC decision making and its implications for employees. This thesis explores EWC developments to assess whether employee representatives are becoming more successful in this bridge building. The performance of EWCs is examined within nine longitudinal case studies. A comparative analysis identifies similarities and differences in EWC developments. EWC development is recorded in all case studies, albeit in different aspects and to different degrees. Preparations and negotiations prior to the establishment of the EWC involve learning effects that help the EWe to be carried out in practice. This learning can result in changes when the EWC agreement is renegotiated. A SUbstantial number of developments are observed in the frequency and duration of EWC meetings. The quality of meetings depends on the information and consultation of the EWe and thus on the relationship with central management. Consolidation of close working relationships with central management is found in the resources provided to the EWC and in the development of a negotiation capacity within the EWC. Developments of EWCs are examined in the perspective of their internal cooperation and in their extemal networking with trade unions and other employee representation structures. Insofar as MNC restructuring is driven by European economic integration and EU enlargement, all EWCs are facing comparable challenges. Despite the lack of progress made in the revision of the EWC Directive, EWCs are not static. The different kinds of EWC developments observed can substitute for - or depend on - other EWC developments. This study aims to arrive at an understanding of what drives the observed developments and to what extend such developments can be directed.

This Thesis presents an overview of the literature on union commitment, identifies some key research gaps and questions, and reports eight empirical papers that attempt to address some of the gaps in the literature. The empirical work involves eleven separate studies of union commitment in the UK, Hong Kong and mainland Peoples Republic of China in public sector services (nursing, healthcare professionals, fire-fighting, teaching and the civil service), private sector services (windscreen repair, water utilities) and private sector manufacturing (food processing, engine manufacturing, forging). The research overview aims to survey the main approaches, findings and implications of the extant research on union commitment. The nature dimensionality, antecedents and especially the consequences of union commitment are identified and examined in detail. A particular theme examines the implications of union commitment for members' active participation in their unions. The thesis examines the possibility of dual commitment to unions and employing organizations and the "multiple constituencies" view of employee commitment. An attempt is made to link up the empirical findings of the research to the wider industrial relations literature, for example on why workers join unions, and key debates such as union renewal and revitalisation. The implication of the findings on union commitment are examined in relation to the union-management relationship and future union strategy. The research has important policy implications for the organizing-servicing debate as a way for forward for trade unions.

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Hong Kong is a society of Chinese immigrants whose adaptation has become a great concern to both policymakers and scholars. In the last two decades, the handover of Hong Kong sovereignty to People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997 and the Asian financial crisis did create a gap in the China-Hong Kong migration literature. Besides, Hong Kong immigration department adopted three new admission schemes in the last decade, the thesis contributes to the literature by incorporating the consideration of them and address two assimilation questions, the first research question is about the relationship between Chinese immigrants' characteristics and the corresponding effects on their assimilation patterns in Hong Kong labour market, the author investigates the variation of Chinese immigrants assimilation patterns and explains why patterns vary under different economic settings. The second research question is about Chinese immigrants' endowment which consists of Putonghua speaking skills and 'China-knowledge', this "endowment effect" can somewhat explain the assimilation pattern as these two skills are becoming increasingly important after the handover of Hong Kong sovereignty the author estimates the effect of this endowment on Chinese immigrants assimilation patterns. Methodologically, the author answers these two research questions through the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative approach. In quantitative analysis, six Hong Kong census datasets are employed and fifteen individual in-depth interviews scripts are analyzed in qualitative side. The author expects the validity of assimilation hypothesis depends on different economic circumstances. The major contribution of this thesis is to find out in what particular situation the assimilation hypothesis is true, and qualitative results are employed to explain why the assimilation patterns are proved to be different between male and female, amongst various marital statuses, industries and occupations.

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