Goodbye to All That? Assessing the Organising Model

The current focus on union agency — which unites proponents and critics of the ‘organising’ model — contrasts with the traditional analysis of how economic, state and employer influences have contributed to union decline in Britain, North America and Australasia. This shift from the question of ‘what is being done to unions?’ to ‘what should they do about it?’ initially appeared to have generated a disarmingly simple answer. Namely, that the dominant regime of union governance, the ‘servicing model’ (the problem) generated a vicious circle of decline wherein over-centralisation disengaged members from union agendas, reduced their willingness to support union activities and reduced bargaining gains, thus resulting in a falling membership. Consequently, unions should embrace the decentralised ‘organising model’ (the solution) which, if implemented, could facilitate a virtuous circle of renewal by increasing member participation, generating relevant goals worth supporting, and enforcing better bargaining outcomes, thereby encouraging a rise in membership.