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The Role of Organizational Factors in Mobilizing Professionals: Evidence from Nurse Unions in the United States and Germany

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  • Nick Krachler
  • Jennie Auffenberg
  • Luigi Wolf

Abstract

Scholars have intensely debated the conditions under which trade unions can successfully mobilize professionals. We explore an internationally comparative perspective on mobilizing professionals by asking how two nurse unions in the United States and Germany successfully limited management's prerogative over staffing levels. We found that German national institutions had little influence over the bargaining process; instead, factors at the level of organizations and their environment (leadership support, organizational restructuring, coalition‐building with supportive stakeholders and framing) enabled mobilization. Based on a power resources perspective, we conclude that unions can mobilize professionals using militancy, even without much support from national institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Nick Krachler & Jennie Auffenberg & Luigi Wolf, 2021. "The Role of Organizational Factors in Mobilizing Professionals: Evidence from Nurse Unions in the United States and Germany," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(3), pages 643-668, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:59:y:2021:i:3:p:643-668
    DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12556
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    1. Mihajla Gavin & Scott Fitzgerald & Susan McGrath-Champ, 2022. "From marketising to empowering: Evaluating union responses to devolutionary policies in education," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(1), pages 80-99, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Ortiga, Yasmin Y. & Diño, Michael Joseph & Macabasag, Romeo Luis A., 2022. "Clocking out: Nurses refusing to work in a time of pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    4. Anna Mori, 2024. "Explaining varieties of social solidarity in supply chains: Actors, institutions and market risks distribution in outsourced public services," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 449-479, June.
    5. Nana Wesley Hansen & Nick Krachler, 2024. "Conditions for cross-professional union coalition-building: When enough is enough, but solidarity also has its limits!," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(2), pages 530-555, May.
    6. Heger, Dörte & Herr, Annika & Lückemann, Maximilian & Reichert, Arndt R. & Tycher, Leonie, 2023. "Strategies and implications of mitigating personnel shortages in nursing homes," Ruhr Economic Papers 1056, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    7. Cécile Guillaume & Gill Kirton, 2023. "‘Walking a fine line’: Union perspectives on partnership in nursing and midwifery workplaces," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 893-909, August.
    8. Nick Krachler, 2023. "Institutional support for new work roles: The case of care coordinators in the United States and England," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(4), pages 951-974, December.

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