Thesis (Ph. D.)--Uppsala University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 290-308).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 515-529). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNR11621

Zugl.: Uppsala, Univ., Diss., 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 290-308).

Thesis (M.S. in Community Research and Action)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2005. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Labor unions began creating new organizing strategies in the nineteen-eighties with the hope of increasing membership levels. This dissertation focuses on two such strategies: the "comprehensive campaign" utilized by the International Grocery Workers' Union (IGWU) and the "blitz" developed by the United States Clothing Workers' Union (USCWU). These strategies differ in one fundamental way; the amount of participation they elicit from the workforce being organized. I am interested in how different levels of participation influence workers' sentiments and actions regarding the union. The IGWU's "comprehensive campaign" is a top-down approach. Union officials collect unsavory information about the company in hopes of exchanging this information for union recognition. Workers' role in the campaign is reduced to signing union cards. The USCWU's "blitz" follows a grass-roots approach. With this strategy, union officials train workers to organize their fellow employees. An active worker contingency, then, helps to mobilize the workforce to vote union. Principles from participatory democracy suggest that when an authority structure incorporates participation, individuals feel more satisfied and committed to the organization. The act of participation also affects people behaviorally; participation teaches individuals how to be active. In order to analyze how the different campaign authority structures influenced workers, I interviewed two groups of employees; thirty of whom experienced the comprehensive campaign and twenty of whom participated in the blitz. Both organizing campaigns were successful and resulted in a union contract. I asked employees about their feelings towards the campaigns and their participation in the union after the campaigns ended. I found that workers from the "comprehensive campaign" perceived the union as a business and this conception of the union discouraged activism and left employees ultimately dissatisfied. Workers from the blitz, however, developed a "union as workers" framework. This framework motivated employees to be active after the organizing campaign and gave workers a sense of fulfillment. The findings from this study suggest that organizing strategies involve more than the ability of unions to increase the number of their rank-and-file. They are a crucial method in which workers learn to become active agents within the union.

This thesis provides an analysis of the role and effectiveness of unions in selecting their strategy to meet the needs of their members in developing countries – in this case Indonesia after the late Soeharto regime stepped down in 1998. In particular, the focus of the research is to understand how the selection of particular union strategies might influence union effectiveness in the context of developing economies. The research involves a major empirical study of unions based on a comprehensive analytical framework. The study finds its relevance in providing both theoretical and practical strategies for unions operating in a constraining political environment and in an era where the power of unions in general has been sharply diminishing. Based on various theoretical models of union strategy, the thesis develops a measure that explores union strategy from the initial stage of strategy creation - namely the establishment of union aims - through the process of strategy-development, resulting in the forms of union methods and tactics that are used in day-to-day union operations. The thesis also develops a model of organisational effectiveness that enables a comprehensive picture of union effectiveness. The model was operationalised by the use of a survey questionnaire. The fieldwork was conducted between the period of January to June 2005 in enterprise unions in the services sector. Responses from 100 unions were analysed using multiple regression techniques. The results yielded five independent variables that contributed significantly to the prediction of union effectiveness. Those variables included partnership between unions and management, the use of innovation and training for empowering union members, setting up specific departments for dealing with industrial and organisational issues, and attempts to gain external support for strengthening unions’ negotiations with management. Altogether, these factors explained 65% of the variability in union effectiveness. Some important findings emerged from subsequent case studies that involved seven eligible unions. The most effective unions placed a strong emphasis on political goals by participating in the process of policy formulation both at the workplace and beyond the enterprise boundary. They employed both arbitration practices and relationships with political institutions to support their collective bargaining. A combination of tactical approaches including industrial action, provision of member services and use of information and communications technologies were used together with contemporary campaign themes such as workplace improvement and productivity. The most effective unions faced environments that discouraged workers from participating, including the existence of competitive wages, employee involvement plans, and covert anti-union strategies from companies. The results suggest that “consultancy” unionism is the dominant approach adopted by Indonesian unions in the services sector. This approach involves servicing members and developing only limited engagement with employers. Turning “consultancy” unionism into “partnership” unionism appears to be the most promising, approach to increased union effectiveness in the Indonesian context. To implement such a strategy, Indonesian unions have to strengthen their commitment to providing resources for organising, to boost participation among their members, and subsequently to construct a partnership based on “the collective power of workers”. The research has implications for unions, employers, and the state. For unions, the advantage of committing to establish a culture of organising builds a foundation for delivering a multi-tactical approach. However, in light of the limited strength of union power, that objective may best be achieved through partnership with employers. The findings concerning partnership strategies provide strong support for the government’s efforts at establishing industrial peace. Future comparative research to replicate this work in manufacturing industry or other countries in which enterprise unionism is the dominant union structure is to be encouraged

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Stabilization and Reconstruction))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2010. / Thesis Advisor(s): Lawson, Letitia. ; Second Reader: McNab, Robert M. "June 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 14, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Zimbabwe, Mugabe, structural adjustment program, democracy, autocrat, state sponsored violence, ZANU, ZAPU, Nkomo, Movement for Democratic Change, Tsvangirai, Fifth Brigade. Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-55). Also available in print.

This thesis explores the impact of the centralization of bargaining in Ontario’s education sector on the internal democracy of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), the province’s second-largest teacher union and self-described defender of public education. Using multiple theoretical lenses of union democracy, public sector unionism, labour geography and teacher professionalism, this thesis examines OSSTF’s history and the evolution of its internal processes and structures, with a focus on the union’s response to the gradual shift to a centralized bargaining regime. Initially formed in 1919 as a conservative organization committed to raising the professional status of teachers, OSSTF expanded into a union that represents both teachers and support staff, bargaining contracts for members with local employers. Positioned within a public sector context of austerity and neoliberal governments looking to contain the costs of public education, OSSTF found itself subjected to legislation intended to upscale education funding and bargaining, beginning in the late 1990s. This thesis finds that the external context of centralization of bargaining has been the most important factor in shaping the internal democratic life of OSSTF, shifting scales of power from the local to the provincial level of the union, exacerbating tensions between provincial and local actors, increasing the overall bureaucracy of the organization, and reducing democratic participation by the rank-and-file. These findings lead to the greater question of whether these internal changes have enhanced or limited the ability of OSSTF to effectively further their members’ interests and resist the neoliberalization of the school system, with a view to considering the role of teacher unions within the future of public education in Ontario. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This case study explores the impact of the centralization of bargaining in Ontario’s education sector on the internal processes of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), a union representing 60,000 teachers and education workers in Ontario. It includes an examination of the union’s history, its responses to legislative changes in contract negotiations, an analysis of internal union documents, and semi-structured interviews with key informants. The data and analysis reveal a more bureaucratized union, with members having less ability to direct it actions. This study considers whether a more bureaucratized union can be effective in its defense of public education.

No / This article provides empirical data from the Tyneside Maritime Construction Industry (TMCI) to contribute to the union renewal/resilience debate. The aim of the study is a focus on the effectiveness of shop steward organisation in the industry, levels of activity in membership participation and its significance for union democracy, all of which are important factors in the debate. The paper supports the resilience argument and adds a further development to the debate by presenting evidence which suggests resilient renewal.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1993. / Title from title page screen, viewed March 9, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Walker D. Wyman (chair), Lawrence W. McBride, Edward L. Schapsmeier, John B. Freed, Larry D. Kennedy, Richard J. Soderlund. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 344-353) and abstract. Also available in print.