Does Political Congruence Help Us Understand Trade Union Renewal?

Abstract

We introduce the concept of political congruence as predictor or explanatory factor of trade union renewal. Strategic change is more likely to succeed when political congruence exists between the values, expectations and intended outcomes of the three sub-sets of leaders, activists and members in a union. We define political congruence (P/c) as convergence of shared political values and vision. For P/c to occur we need a particular chemistry of independent factors to coalesce. We note, in particular, that there have been exceptional periods of individual union growth, measured in terms of membership, density, and effectiveness. These episodes of exceptional growth need to be studied and understood, if we are to make sense of debates on union ‘renewal’.

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