Throughout their history individual trade unions have amalgamated together to form new unions. The catalyst for amalgamation has come from a combination of sources industrial change, government policy and legislation and internal motivations related to membership size and resources. At the same time local union organisation has remained integral to the structure of unions including their internal government, bargaining ability and engagement with members. This thesis relates these two features of trade union practice to each other by considering the effects of amalgamation on local union organisation, both in terms of the local level itself and the local level as part of the whole organisation of the union. The thesis does this through a case study approach to the research. The case studies are of three major UK trade unions which have experienced amalgamation over a ten year timeframe and a local union organisation within each of these. The unions reflect a spread of industry, different forms of organisation and types of membership. The research examines the tensions and synergies between the different levels of organisation in a union and their leaders in themselves and as they influence a process and outcome of amalgamation. As a study of trade union organisation and behaviour the thesis engages with and complements the wider body of research into union mergers and that on local union organisation in unions. Its individual contribution is to the research on trade union mergers where the position of the local level of union organisation has been a neglected area of investigation. Beyond that it also provides further insights into the role and activity of paid officials and lay representatives as union leaders, the role and activity of organised factions within unions, the influence of unions' industrial and ideological orientation on forms of local union organisation and the tension between different concepts of trade union structure and behaviour.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:584935 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Payne, Michael John |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://orca.cf.ac.uk/54949/ |
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