Renewed Activism for the Labor Movement: The Urgency of Young Worker Engagement

Abstract

In this article, the authors consider the findings of a multi-year, case study-based research project on young workers and the labor movement in four countries: France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The authors examine the conditions under which young workers actively engage in contemporary labor movements. Although the industrial relations context matters, the authors find the most persuasive explanations to be agency-based. Especially important are the relative openness and active encouragement of unions to the leadership development of young workers, and the persistence and creativity of groups of young workers in promoting their own engagement. Embodying labor's potential for movement building and resistance to authoritarianism and right-wing populism, young workers offer hope for the future if unions can bring them aboard.

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“…Unions have been urged to renew themselves by reaching beyond the traditional workplace to improve labour rights not only for members but also for the many unrepresented workers, especially those living in precarity, such as low‐wage immigrants and ethnic minorities (Milkman ; Nissen ; Tapia and Turner ). By pursuing social justice at work (Fairbrother , 2015), unions have developed close relationships with social movements, including faith, welfare, racial and ethnic‐based organizations, and militant individuals (Frege et al .…”

“…To develop these diverse relationships, harness them in a network and mobilize this network, unions need strong participative leadership strategies to broker and nurture relationships and especially to create convergence across diverse actors towards the solution of a labour rights issue (Heery et al . ; Tapia and Turner ; Tattersall ). Rather than acting through traditional workplace bargaining, such coalitions aim at improving labour rights through advocacy campaigns targeted at different levels of government (i.e.…”

“…Rather than acting through traditional workplace bargaining, such coalitions aim at improving labour rights through advocacy campaigns targeted at different levels of government (i.e. city, county, state and nation) to effect policy change (Tapia and Turner ).…”

“…The dramatic shrinkage of union membership makes workplace collective bargaining and class‐identity mobilization only marginally effective in enhancing labour rights, and the locus of mobilization has largely shifted from the workplace to society (Piore ). Policy‐focused advocacy campaigns beyond the workplace structured around a variety of organizations, identities (such as race, ethnicity, age and sexual orientation) and social justice issues are considered more effective in enhancing labour rights for low‐wage, unrepresented and oppressed workers (Piore and Safford ; Tapia and Turner ). Unions’ ability to be the labour ‘sword of justice’ (Flanders ) is thus intimately related to union renewal as a broad‐based movement (Turner and Hurd ).…”

“…Unions’ ability to be the labour ‘sword of justice’ (Flanders ) is thus intimately related to union renewal as a broad‐based movement (Turner and Hurd ). Unions are encouraged to reach out to grass roots organizations and militant individuals, develop strong bonds and coalitions, and put labour concerns at the forefront of policy‐oriented advocacy campaigns (Tapia and Turner ).…”