Union organizing in Britain: a survey of policy and practice

Analysis of the reasons for trade union decline in developed economies has pointed to their failure to invest in effective methods of recruitment as a contributory factor. This article presents survey and case research to exa mine the extent to which union failure in recruitment and organizing has be en rectified in the United Kingdom. The evidence indicates a varied but nev ertheless substantial re-direction of union effort towards recruitment sinc e the mid-1990s and is used to identify the characteristics of 'recruiting unions' which have invested more heavily and adopted more ambitious recruit ment targets. Recruiting unions are found to be those which are receptive t o learning new approaches to recruitment from overseas and which have relat ively advanced arrangements for the representation of women and minorities in their internal systems of government.