Sources of change in trade unions

Abstract

It is argued widely that if trade unions are to experience renewal then they must invest in organizing the unorganized and align their strategies of interest representation with the needs of women and those in atypical employment. This article examines the groups and factors internal and external to trade unions that encourage representatives to engage in both types of activity. Drawing on a large survey of union paid officers in Britain, it identifies those internal and external pressures that encourage change and uses these data to comment on current theories of change in trade unions.