TY - JOUR

T1 - Conditions for cross-professional union coalition-building

T2 - When enough is enough, but solidarity also has its limits!

AU - Hansen, Nana Wesley

AU - Krachler, Nick

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2023/5/26

Y1 - 2023/5/26

N2 - Competition between unions whose membership has different skills and professionalization levels is a long-standing issue in the labour movement. This article investigates the conditions for why and how a unique cross-professional coalition of all Danish public-sector unions developed between 2017 and 2018. Operating in a favourable context, unions overcame professionalization differences when skilled brokers primed a common instrumental base as other unionists used a public interest frame to legitimate the coalition and its demands ideologically. However, once the common instrumental concern was met, the coalition collapsed. The article argues that union coalition-building depends on multiple factors comprising both contextual, and identity and relational conditions. The article further argues that adopting a framing that focuses on the public interest over professional self-interest helps to successfully overcome professional cleavages.

AB - Competition between unions whose membership has different skills and professionalization levels is a long-standing issue in the labour movement. This article investigates the conditions for why and how a unique cross-professional coalition of all Danish public-sector unions developed between 2017 and 2018. Operating in a favourable context, unions overcame professionalization differences when skilled brokers primed a common instrumental base as other unionists used a public interest frame to legitimate the coalition and its demands ideologically. However, once the common instrumental concern was met, the coalition collapsed. The article argues that union coalition-building depends on multiple factors comprising both contextual, and identity and relational conditions. The article further argues that adopting a framing that focuses on the public interest over professional self-interest helps to successfully overcome professional cleavages.

KW - Coalition

KW - mobilizing

KW - professionals

KW - public sector employment relations

KW - union strategy

U2 - 10.1177/0143831X231173462

DO - 10.1177/0143831X231173462

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85163048667

SP - 1

EP - 26

JO - Economic and Industrial Democracy

JF - Economic and Industrial Democracy

SN - 0143-831X

ER -