IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/brjirl/v56y2018i4p716-743.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Union Renewal and Workplace Greening — Three Case Studies

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Farnhill

Abstract

This article evaluates the renewal potential of three unions’ workplace greening agendas in three large workplaces. The cases suggest the agenda is easy to initiate with members and employers and has tangible environmental benefits but is labour intensive and difficult to sustain beyond focusing events. There is limited evidence that the agenda attracts new members but stronger evidence that it attracts new activists. Although facilitative of partnership, unions are mainly cast as environmental watchdogs and trouble‐shooters. The findings suggest that even timely, popular, developmental agendas, conducive to partnership, can have only a moderate effect on union renewal and must be consciously configured to do so properly.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Farnhill, 2018. "Union Renewal and Workplace Greening — Three Case Studies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 716-743, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:56:y:2018:i:4:p:716-743
    DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12293
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12293
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/bjir.12293?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Hickey & Sarosh Kuruvilla & Tashlin Lakhani, 2010. "No Panacea for Success: Member Activism, Organizing and Union Renewal," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 53-83, March.
    2. Melanie Simms & Jane Holgate, 2010. "Organising for what?: Where is the debate on the politics of organising?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(1), pages 157-168, March.
    3. Martin Upchurch & Richard Croucher & Matt Flynn, 2012. "Political Congruence and Trade Union Renewal," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 26(5), pages 857-868, October.
    4. Peter Fairbrother, 2015. "Rethinking trade unionism: Union renewal as transition," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 561-576, December.
    5. Fredriksson, Per G. & Gaston, Noel, 1999. "The "greening" of trade unions and the demand for eco-taxes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 663-686, November.
    6. Sue Fernie & David Metcalf, 1995. "Participation, Contingent Pay, Representation and Workplace Performance: Evidence from Great Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 379-415, September.
    7. Jack Fiorito & Irene Padavic & Zachary Russell, 2014. "Union Beliefs and Activism: A Research Note," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 346-357, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Josef Ringqvist, 2022. "Union membership and the willingness to prioritize environmental protection above growth and jobs: A multi‐level analysis covering 22 European countries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 662-682, September.
    2. Renee Paulet & Peter Holland & Andrew Bratton, 2021. "Employee Voice: The Missing Factor in Sustainable HRM?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Philip James & Joanna Karmowska, 2016. "British union renewal: does salvation really lie beyond the workplace?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 102-116, March.
    2. Amanda Pyman & Peter Holland & Julian Teicher & Brian K. Cooper, 2010. "Industrial Relations Climate, Employee Voice and Managerial Attitudes to Unions: An Australian Study," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 460-480, June.
    3. Bryson, Alex, 2001. "Union effects on managerial and employee perceptions of employee relations in Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 4957, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Bryson, Alex & Freeman, Richard B., 2007. "Doing the right thing? does fair share capitalism improve workplace performance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 4964, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2001. "Verbreitung und Bestimmungsgründe verschiedener Formen der Arbeitnehmerpartizipation in Industriebetrieben," Discussion Papers 5, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    6. Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2002. "The Long Awaited Reform of the German Works Constitution Act," IZA Discussion Papers 422, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Linda Briskin, 2011. "The militancy of nurses and union renewal," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 17(4), pages 485-499, November.
    8. Ilaria Armaroli, 2022. "Integrating direct employee voice within the framework of worker representation: The role of an Italian trade union in organising disintermediation," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 658-684, May.
    9. Addison, John T. & Belfield, Clive R., 2002. "Unions and Establishment Performance: Evidence from the British Workplace Industrial/Employee Relations Surveys," IZA Discussion Papers 455, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Fernie, Sue & Gray, Helen, 2002. "It's a family affair: the effect of union recognition and human resource management on the provision of equal opportunities in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20089, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino, 2006. "Does the Quality of Industrial Relations Matter for the Macro Economy? A Cross-Country Analysis Using Strikes Data," IZA Discussion Papers 1968, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Elizabeth Webster & Yi‐Ping Tseng, 2002. "The Determinants of Relative Wage Change in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 35(1), pages 70-84, March.
    13. Helen Gray, 2002. "Family-Friendly Working: What a Performance! An Analysis of the Relationship Between the Availability of Family-Friendly Policies and Establishment Performance," CEP Discussion Papers dp0529, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. John Kallas, 2023. "Retooling militancy: Labour revitalization and fixed‐duration strikes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 68-88, March.
    15. Jon Las Heras & Lluis Rodríguez, 2021. "Striking to Renew: Basque Unions’ Organizing Strategies and Use of the Strike‐Fund," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(3), pages 669-700, September.
    16. Elias Asproudis & Maria Gil-Moltó, 2015. "Green Trade Unions: Structure, Wages and Environmental Technology," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 60(2), pages 165-189, February.
    17. Martin Gassebner & Noel Gaston & Michael J Lamla, 2008. "Relief For The Environment? The Importance Of An Increasingly Unimportant Industrial Sector," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 46(2), pages 160-178, April.
    18. Peter Fairbrother, 2015. "Rethinking trade unionism: Union renewal as transition," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 561-576, December.
    19. McAusland, Carol, 2003. "Voting for pollution policy: the importance of income inequality and openness to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 425-451, December.
    20. Tim R.L. Fry & Kelly Jarvis & Joanne Loundes, 2002. "Are Pro-Reformers Better Performers?," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2002n18, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:56:y:2018:i:4:p:716-743. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley-Blackwell Digital Licensing or Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.