Les centres de travailleurs : un moyen d’élargir le champ d’action syndical? : études de cas
The labor market is undergoing major changes. The north-american model of union organization seems to not allow the labor movement to respond effectively to these changes, which have contributed to the development of several union renewal initiatives. To evaluate the impacts of union renewal initiatives, we have developped a model based on the concept of union zone (Haiven 2003, 2006). We had to determine the factors defining the union zone, as the litterature was silent about that subject. Using at first the theory of the determinants of the union density (Schnabel, 2003), we have integrated elements of the theory of union power resources (Lévesque and Murray, 2010) to the model to consider the internal factors for the unions that can influence the union zone. The integration of these three theories in one unified model constitute a significant theoritical innovation. The model was applied to two workers centers : the Vermont Workers Center and the St-Rémi Workers Center. In both cases, these union renewal initiatives have enlarged the union zone. On the other side, the Vermont center applies the principles of community unionism, seeking to develop leadership among its members (Cranford and Ladd, 2003), while the St-Rémi center applies the principles of mobilization unionism, in which leadership is exercised rather by union organizers (Camfield, 2007). This difference and their different mandates made the impacts in the two studied cases different. Further studies are needed to improve the proposed model. It remains a tool that can be useful for researchers or unions who want to evaluate the impacts of union initiatives or practices and, eventually, increase the influence of the labor movement on the labor market and society.
workers center union renewal union power union density union zone atypical workers unions trade union labor movement migrant workers