The Developing Story of Union Identities

This chapter explores the developing story of union identities through analysis of four key drivers to identity change, namely, union mergers, union rebranding, new unions and union dissolutions. Several unions were found to have rebranded, adopting new identities and frequently new names. Some have adopted ‘aspirational titles’ giving no indication of who might join. Whilst union amalgamations lead to rebranding, transfers of engagements tend to result in dilution of union identity, as minor merging unions are absorbed into major merging unions. New unions are less likely to adopt aspirational titles, although some were found to be ephemeral. New generation unions were observed to adopt particular approaches to organisation, but not considered to project a new form of identity. A number of union dissolutions were observed, with these unions tending have small and declining memberships and to be unsuccessful in negotiating transfers of engagements. Overall, the chapter recognises that the work inevitably presents a snapshot of a moving picture.

Exploring Trade Union Identities

This book explores questions of trade union identities and what is termed ‘niche unionism’ in the work. It exposes the inadequacy of the extant industrial relations literature in explaining both contemporary union identities and the significance of niche to union organisation. It explores the contribution of alternative bodies of literature including organisational identity theory, social identity theory and marketing. The work introduces a new approach to understanding unions’ projected identities in the form of a multidimensional framework of analysis developed from more than ten years research designed to isolate the sources of union identity. The projected identities of trade unions certified in Great Britain are examined systematically under broad headings of general, industrial/occupational, organisational and geographical unions. Four drivers to change in union identities are explored, namely, union mergers, union rebranding, new unions and union dissolutions. The work provides a brief comparative analysis of union identities in five other countries, suggesting additional sources of union identity that might be required for a more comprehensive analysis. Finally, the work explores critical questions relating to the future of union identities concerning, the primacy of general unions, the persistence of niche unions, whether general or niche unions are better placed to organise the unorganised and finally whether niche identity a barrier to expanding membership territories.