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Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations

Reinventing An Organizing Union: Strategies For Change, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Richard Hurd Oct 2013

Reinventing An Organizing Union: Strategies For Change, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Richard Hurd

Jeffrey Grabelsky

[Excerpt] Confronted by declining membership and market share as well as an erosion of bargaining strength and political influence, a sense of crisis now pervades many international unions. Some labor unions continue to adhere to programs and practices they have pursued for several decades. But others, faced with challenges so fundamental that their viability is at stake, have chosen to reexamine their basic policies and performance and to reorient their essential course. This paper evaluates the experience of four such international unions, all of which have recently embarked on strategic planning initiatives. Three of the unions – the Electrical Workers …


Building Labor’S Power In California: Raising Standards And Expanding Capacity Among Central Labor Councils, The State Labor Federation, And Union Affiliates, Jeffrey Grabelsky Sep 2013

Building Labor’S Power In California: Raising Standards And Expanding Capacity Among Central Labor Councils, The State Labor Federation, And Union Affiliates, Jeffrey Grabelsky

Jeffrey Grabelsky

[Excerpt] For several years, the California Labor Federation has been engaged in a strategic planning process that began with a critical evaluation of a political setback in 2004 – losing an important statewide ballot initiative – and soon evolved into a systematic effort to elevate the performance of all the labor movement’s constituent parts. Spearheaded by a statewide Strategic Planning Committee, union leaders throughout the state have struggled to overcome organizational weaknesses, to develop a common and coherent program, to articulate standards and benchmarks to guide and track progress, to establish systems of accountability uncommon in the contemporary labor movement, …