Misplaced Pages

Part of a series on
Organized labour
Labour movement Conflict theories Decent work Exploitation of labour Timeline New unionism Proletariat Sectoral collective bargaining Social movement unionism Social democracy Democratic socialism Socialism Communism Syndicalism Union busting Anarcho-syndicalism National-syndicalism Workplace democracy
Labour rights Annual leave Child labour Collective bargaining Diversity, equity, and inclusion Eight-hour day Employment discrimination Employment protection Equal pay Four-day week Freedom of association Legal working age Minimum wage Neurodiversity and labor rights Occupational safety and health Overwork Paid time off Professional abuse Right to rest and leisure Right to sit Sabbatical Sick leave Six-hour day Toxic workplace Unfree labour Workers' right to access the toilet
Trade unions Trade unions by country Trade union federations International comparisons ITUC WFTU
Strike action Chronological list of strikes Hartal General strike Bandh newspapers Green bans Lockouts Overtime bans Pen-down strikes Sitdown strikes Solidarity action Walkouts Whipsaw strikes Wildcat strikes Work-to-rule
Labour parties Australia Barbados Brazil Fiji Georgia Hong Kong Ireland Israel Malta New Caledonia New Zealand Netherlands Norway Portugal Singapore South Korea United Kingdom Sweden
Academic disciplines Critique of work Industrial relations Labour economics Labour history Labour law Post-work society Refusal of work
v t e

Social movement unionism (SMU) is a trend of theory and practice in contemporary trade unionism. Strongly associated with the labour movements of developing countries, social movement unionism is distinct from many other models of trade unionism because it concerns itself with more than organizing workers around workplace issues, pay and terms and conditions. It engages in wider political struggles for human rights, social justice and democracy. Social movement unionism grew out of political struggles in developing countries and was theorized as a distinct industrial relations model in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In this model, trade unions are not distinct from social movements and form part of a wider ecosystem of political activism that includes faith groups, civic and residents' organizations and student groups. These are usually organized into democratic umbrella organizations along a popular front model. The umbrella organization generally has a programme or manifesto that all affiliates commit themselves to.

Kim Moody theorized that the main characteristics of social movement unionism are:

• Militancy
• Internal democracy
• An agenda for radical social and economic change
• A determination to embrace the diversity of the working class in order to overcome its fragmentation
• A capacity to appeal beyond its membership by using union power to lead community struggles.

Usually, the structure of this type of union tends to implement democratic processess in order to promote more militancy from union members.

Examples of social movement unionism

A prime example of social movement unionism is the link between the trade union federation Cosatu and the wider anti-apartheid struggle through the United Democratic Front in South Africa in the 1980s. More recently, Cosatu has successfully campaigned with the Treatment Action Campaign for access to medication for HIV/AIDS. Social movement unionism is also a feature of the industrial relations of Brazil and the Philippines.

SMU is widely considered to be a highly dynamic and successful model, as evidenced by the success against apartheid and for treatment access, and by the fact that countries practising this model have generally reversed the trend of trade union decline experienced in the developed world. For instance, union density grew in South Africa by 130% between 1985 and 1995, during a period of steep decline in many developed countries.

The Green bans performed by the New South Wales branch of Builders Labourers Federation (Australia) are said to be an early precursor of social movement unionism. The branch mainly engaged in boycotting the construction of socially and environmentally damaging projects, but did not limit itself to it and also engaged in a wide range of social struggles during the 70s, and embraced women, LGBT people, Aboriginal people, and migrants.

Other prominent examples include the relationship between Reclaim the Streets and the Liverpool Dockers (UK) during their strike in the late 1990s; and the relationship between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and progressive US students during the Boot the Bell campaign. Various labour–environmental coalitions also fit this social movement model.

See also

• Broad left
• Red–green alliance

References

1. Waterman, Peter (1993). "Social-Movement Unionism: A New Union Model for a New World Order". Review (Fernand Braudel Center). 16 (3). Fernand Braudel Center: 245–278. JSTOR 40241259.
2. ^ Burgmann, Verity (2017). Green Bans, Red Union : the Saving of a City. Meredith Burgmann. Chicago: University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-74224-810-3. OCLC 982452718.
3. Scipes, Kim. "Understanding the New Labor Movements in the "Third World": The Emergence of Social Movement Unionism, a New Type of Trade Unionism". Critical Sociology. Sage. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
4. ILO (4 November 1997). "ILO Highlights Global Challenge to Trade Unions". International Labour Organization. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
5. Dan Jakopovich. "Uniting to Win: Labor-Environmental Alliances". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Further reading

• Report of a 2001 Jobs With Justice Conference entitled Building Social Movement Unionism, indicating the assumptions which lie behind the term and revealing some practical strategies.
• Social Movement Unionism and Progressive Public Policy in New York City, a paper by Jeremy Reiss.
• Chapter on Social Movement Unionism Archived 2006-03-19 at the Wayback Machine in the booklet Fighting Back with Social Movement Unionism: A Handbook for APL Activists, Archived 2005-12-22 at the Wayback Machine produced by the Alliance of Progressive Labour in the Philippines.
• This brief article gives some idea of how the term in question is so connected and conflated with the organizing model, and the realization of the need for (another) 'new unionism'.
• Labor Notes magazine
• organizing.work Union movement strategy blog

• Trade unions
• Labor relations