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A Marriage Made in Heaven? Mismatches and Misunderstandings between Worker Centres and Unions

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  • Janice Fine

Abstract

Worker centres, community‐based mediating institutions that provide support to low‐wage workers in the United States, have grown from five in 1992 to 160 in 2007. With unions increasingly targeting low‐wage immigrant workers employed in non‐footloose industries for organizing drives, it would seem that worker centres and unions are a match made in heaven. On the ground, however, it has been more of a mismatch. This article examines the underlying sources of the mismatch embodied in the structures, ideologies and cultures of worker centres and unions.

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  • Janice Fine, 2007. "A Marriage Made in Heaven? Mismatches and Misunderstandings between Worker Centres and Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(2), pages 335-360, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:45:y:2007:i:2:p:335-360
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2007.00617.x
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    1. Richard B. Freeman, 1998. "Spurts in Union Growth: Defining Moments and Social Processes," NBER Chapters, in: The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century, pages 265-296, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Henry S. Farber & Bruce Western, 2000. "Round Up The Usual Suspects: The Decline of Unions in The Private Sector, 1973-1998," Working Papers 816, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    3. Henry S. Farber & Bruce Western, 2000. "Round Up The Usual Suspects: The Decline of Unions in The Private Sector, 1973-1998," Working Papers 816, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
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    Cited by:

    1. Janice Fine & Michael Piore, 2021. "Introduction to a Special Issue on the New Labor Federalism," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(5), pages 1085-1102, October.
    2. Maite Tapia, 2013. "Marching to Different Tunes: Commitment and Culture as Mobilizing Mechanisms of Trade Unions and Community Organizations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 666-688, December.
    3. Richard Saundry & Mark Stuart & Valerie Antcliff, 2012. "Social Capital and Union Revitalization: A Study of Worker Networks in the UK Audio-Visual Industries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 263-286, June.
    4. Michael David Maffie, 2022. "The global ‘hot shop’: COVID‐19 as a union organising catalyst," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 207-219, May.
    5. Ian Fitzgerald & Jane Hardy, 2010. "‘Thinking Outside the Box’? Trade Union Organizing Strategies and Polish Migrant Workers in the United Kingdom," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 131-150, March.
    6. Ruth Milkman, 2013. "Back to the Future? US Labour in the New Gilded Age," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 645-665, December.
    7. Jennifer Jihye Chun, 2016. "Organizing across divides: Union challenges to precarious work in Vancouver’s privatized health care sector," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(2), pages 173-188, April.
    8. Christine A. Riordan & Alexander M. Kowalski, 2021. "From Bread and Roses to #MeToo: Multiplicity, Distance, and the Changing Dynamics of Conflict in IR Theory," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 580-606, May.
    9. David WEIL, 2008. "A strategic approach to labour inspection," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(4), pages 349-375, December.
    10. Robert Perrett & Miguel Martínez Lucio & Jo McBride & Steve Craig, 2012. "Trade Union Learning Strategies and Migrant Workers," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(3), pages 649-667, February.
    11. Jane Holgate, 2015. "An International Study of Trade Union Involvement in Community Organizing: Same Model, Different Outcomes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 460-483, September.
    12. Joyce Jiang & Marek Korczynski, 2024. "The Role of Community Organisations in the Collective Mobilisation of Migrant Workers: The Importance of a ‘Community’-Oriented Perspective," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 339-357, April.

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