Kim (2019) A Review Essay of Robert O'Brien's Labour Internationalism in the Global South

Scipes, Kim. 2019. A Review Essay of Labour Internationalism in the Global South: The SIGTUR Initiative, by Robert O’Brien. Journal of Labor and Society 22(4): 920-25.

Robert O'Brien's latest book is an interesting look at a generally unknown labor initiative across the Global South that has developed over the past 30 years, uniting trade unions and labor activists for mutual protection and militant labor action, and to advance the interests of workers globally. This book, and the project it describes, deserves the serious attention of transnational activists, those both working in the labor movement and beyond.

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Ellem, Goods and Todd (2019) Rethinking Power (BJIR)

Ellem, Bradon, Caleb Goods and Patricia Todd. 2019. “Rethinking Power, Strategy and Renewal: Members and Unions in Crisis.” British Journal of Industrial Relations, published online 1 October. 

Abstract

Why are some unions unable to rebuild membership and bargaining coverage despite significant changes in strategy? We examine the trajectory of a key union in a vital sector, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, calling into question aspects of the union renewal literature. Much scholarship sees members’ associational power as a power resource that can cover the loss of other power resources, but we show that this assumption does not necessarily hold. To explain why members are not necessarily a resource in renewal, we argue that studies of renewal must more fully consider the interplay between different forms of power resources — institutional, structural and societal — and locate union strategies within that dynamic. Critically, this interplay also shapes members’ perceptions of their power, which may further limit a union's options as it responds to external threats.