Radical political unionism in France and Britain : a comparative study of SUD-Rail and the RMT

Connolly, H; Darlington, RR

Abstract

Arguably the problem with many recent pessimistic academic assessments of the fortunes of, and prospects for, the revival of European trade unionism is that they fail to adequately capture evidence of continuing union resilience and combativity in certain areas of employment within different countries. For example, in both the French and British railway sectors a distinctive and relatively successful form of highly militant and politicised trade unionism has clearly emerged over the last 10 years, alongside predominant and conventionally more conciliatory approaches. This has involved the repetitive mobilisation of members through strike action, combined with vigorous left-wing ideological opposition to both employers and government, as the pathway both to both advancing workers’ interests and to revitalising union organisation. This article provides a Franco-British comparative analysis of SUD-Rail and RMT unions, documenting the dynamics, causes, effectiveness, limits and potential of such ‘radical political unionism’ and considers its implications for debates about strategies for union renewal more broadly.

Citation

Connolly, H., & Darlington, R. (2012). Radical political unionism in France and Britain : a comparative study of SUD-Rail and the RMT. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 18(3), 235-250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680112452693

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Aug 8, 2012
• Publication Date: Aug 8, 2012
• Deposit Date: Dec 6, 2011
• Journal: European Journal of Industrial Relations
• Print ISSN: 0959-6801
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 235-250
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680112452693
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959680112452693
• Related Public URLs: http://ejd.sagepub.com/