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The community dimensions of union renewal: racialized and caring relations in personal support services

Author

Listed:
  • Louise Birdsell Bauer

    (University of Toronto, Canada)

  • Cynthia Cranford

    (University of Toronto, Canada)

Abstract

Union renewal research calls for moving beyond broad terms, like community unionism, to specify how social relations of work shape renewal for different workers, sectors and contexts. Analysis of interviews with union officials and union members in publicly funded, in-home personal support reveal two community dimensions: both caring and racialized relations between workers and service recipients. Scholarship on care workers emphasizes empathy and coalition with service recipients as a key aspect of union renewal, yet says little about racialized tensions. Studies of domestic workers emphasize organizing in response to racialization, but provide little insight into caring social relations at work. This article develops arguments that both positive and negative worker–recipient relations shape union organizing and representation in the service sector by specifying the ways in which racialization contributes to this dynamic. It suggests that anti-racist organizing at work, alongside coalition building and collective bargaining, are important renewal strategies for this sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Louise Birdsell Bauer & Cynthia Cranford, 2017. "The community dimensions of union renewal: racialized and caring relations in personal support services," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(2), pages 302-318, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:2:p:302-318
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017016653094
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boris, Eileen & Klein, Jennifer, 2012. "Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195329117.
    2. Caroline Murphy & Thomas Turner, 2014. "Organising non-standard workers: union recruitment in the Irish care sector," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 373-388, September.
    3. Ian Kessler & Paul Heron, 2001. "Steward Organization in a Professional Union: The Case of The Royal College of Nursing," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(3), pages 367-391, September.
    4. Bob Carter, 2006. "Trade union organizing and renewal," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 20(2), pages 415-426, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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