This thesis consists of a comparative analysis of policy making in Australian and British telecommunications and printing trade unions. It tests empirically the validity of different models of union policy making and behaviour, whilst also assessing the strength of the research hypothesis, that informal micro-political influences inside unions - such as personal friendships, enmities and loyalties - affect union policy making to a greater extent than is acknowledged in the literature. In order to address the subject the following research questions were posed: How, and why, do unions adopt specific policies? What factors explain the different behaviour of similar unions, when faced with comparable policy choices? To ensure that policies of strategic significance were focused upon, three key areas were selected for study: recruitment, amalgamations and union efforts to influence the labour process. As a former senior union officer I realised that trade unions were often loathe to publically disclose those factors which informed their policy making processes. For this reason a qualitative, interview rich, methodology was adopted, which involved a longitudinal study, in which over 220 officers and staff, of the relevant unions were rviewed. The research revealed that policy making in all the featured unions was a rich and complex process, in which occupational, geographical, ideological and personality based factional groups all had a significant influence on policy makers, along with the institutional and political context within which the unions operated. The empirical evidence also showed that micro-political factors, in particular enmities and personal loyalties, along with the individual beliefs, values and ideologies of policy makers, profoundly influenced their policy choices. Finally the research corroborated the assertion that strategic policy choices, made by trade unions, have a significant affect on their success or failure as organisations.

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Cette thèse propose d’explorer, à partir d’une intervention réalisée dans un milieu de travail non ordinaire, celui d’une section départementale d’un syndicat, les spécificités de la dimension impersonnelle du « métier » de syndicaliste.L’intervention s’est déployée selon la perspective méthodologique et méthodique propre à la clinique de l’activité, auprès d’un collectif de militants d’un syndicat des enseignants du premier degré qui ont pris pour objet d’analyse une part de leur activité syndicale. Cette intervention, tant dans son déroulement que dans le contenu des analyses co-produites par les militants, a été particulière. Après un examen de la littérature relative à des travaux qui s’intéressent au syndicalisme analysé comme une activité et à des métiers exercés dans le secteur social, cette particularité s’est précisée et s’est constituée en objet de recherche. Elle concerne l’une des quatre dimensions du « métier » de syndicaliste, la dimension impersonnelle. Les analyses du matériau issu des autoconfrontations croisées ont permis de montrer que cette dimension est floue et « in-discutée ». Nous avons alors avancé l’hypothèse que cette « in-discussion » pourrait s’expliquer par des contradictions qui traverseraient les principes fondateurs du syndicat. Ces particularités de la dimension impersonnelle du « métier » de syndicaliste ont aussi des conséquences sur les autres dimensions du métier ce qui nous a conduit à interroger l’usage du mot « métier » pour évoquer l’activité syndicale. La réflexion se prolonge alors par une discussion de la conceptualisation de la dimension impersonnelle du métier en clinique de l’activité. Alors qu’elle est souvent définie de manière imprécise comme ce qui relève indifféremment de la prescription, des tâches ou des fonctions, il est proposé de concevoir cette dimension comme un rapport entre des buts et des moyens donnés par l’organisation. Le travail réalisé sur les spécificités de la dimension impersonnelle du « métier » de syndicaliste permet également de préciser la notion de but : elle contiendrait distinctement des buts généraux et des buts issus de l’organisation du travail. / This thesis seeks to explore, from a “transformation-action” in a “non-ordinary” workplace such as a trade union county branch, the specificities of the impersonal dimension experienced in the occupation of trade unionist.The transformation-action took place within a group of activists from a high school teachers’ trade union that collectively analyzed their own activity within the union. It was conducted according to the activity clinics consistent methods and methodologies. This transformation action was unusual in the way it was conducted and in that the content was co-produced by activists themselves. Following research and literature related on unionism analyzed as being a working activity as well as occupations in the field of social work, this characteristic became itself an object of research. This was identified as one of the trade unionist occupation’s four dimensions, the impersonal dimension.The analysis carried out on “crossed self-confrontation” material showed that this dimension is poorly defined and "not-discussed". We suggest that this "non-discussion" could be explained by existing contradictions within the Union founding principles themselves. The characteristics of the impersonal dimension of the trade unionist occupation also has effects on the other dimensions of the occupation; this has led us to question the use of the word occupation to describe the union activity.The debate is to be continued with a discussion of the conceptualization of the occupation impersonal dimension in the field of clinic of activity. Often described in indistinct terms as it relates either to the prescription, or to the tasks or functions, it is suggested to develop this dimension as being a link between goals and means given by the organization. The work based on the specificities of the impersonal dimension of the trade unionist occupation also clarifies the goal concept : it contains general goals on one hand and goals from the work organization on the other hand.

The Great Recession that followed the financial crisis of 2008 had a devastating impact on workers, leading to high levels of unemployment and underemployment, increased job insecurity and stagnant or declining wages. While the legitimation crisis of neoliberalism could be viewed as a turning point for labour internationally, the immediate response by political parties across the spectrum was one of austerity measures and cuts to welfare. As the largest collective representatives of workers, trade unions are at the forefront of mobilisations attempting to challenge this consensus. Simultaneously, they are engaging in new activities to enhance public awareness and understanding of the crucial role that trade unions play in the labour market. Thus, the 21st century crisis is creating both challenges and opportunities. Each trade union movement’s response depends on the different forms of power they possess and choose to deploy, their strategies and allegiances, and the specific socio-economic and political context in which they are situated. Questions concerning what constitutes union power and the ways in which it is being exercised and revitalized therefore represent fascinating lines of enquiry to explore. To do so, however, requires a new perspective on trade union power that recognises the significance of the media which has been overlooked in industrial relations theory. Drawing on insights from industrial relations, the sociology of media and social movement studies, this thesis proposes the concept of communicative power to trace how trade unions produce and circulate discourse through the media (either union-owned or corporate) to a mass audience. Methodologically, it uses the tripartite approach which focuses our attention onto three key communication processes involved in trade union attempts to exercise communicative power: the production of union discourse, the circulation of union discourse, and the reception of union discourse. This is applied to four cases involving seven union organisations in the UK and Denmark over a five-year period 2010-2015. Data was gathered using 40 semi-structured interviews with union officials and activists, content analysis of newspapers, union media outlets and social media, and secondary survey data. In sum, this thesis argues that the media is, and always has been, central to how trade unions exercise and revitalize power in society. And within the context of accelerating digital capitalism, it looks set to becoming an increasingly important determinant of their future trajectory.

"April 2004" / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 439-471) / ix, 471 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Gender Studies, 2004