Union Revitalization through Political Action? Evidence from Five Countries

Abstract

Political action features as one of the most prevalent strategies unions in the United States, Britain, Germany, Spain, and Italy have pursued in their strife for revitalization. We examine six types of political action—links with political parties, voter mobilization, lobbying, social pacts, political strikes, and legal avenues—in five countries to understand better what drives unions’ use of political action as well as the success of these actions across countries. We explain the variation in the types of political action with differences in economic and political institutions, the need of the government to find allies, as well as union traditions and union leaders’ strategic choices. We conclude that the links between political action and revitalization are tenuous and need to be placed in the context of other strategies pursued by unions.