Trade Union Merger Strategies – Purpose, Process and Performance

Citation

Simms, M. (2009), "Trade Union Merger Strategies – Purpose, Process and Performance", Personnel Review, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 453-454. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480910956373

Given the extent of merger activity in the UK, it is notable that academics have, by and large, been far less interested in the subject than practitioners. Whilst there have been some excellent studies of individual mergers, few UK studies have attempted to make a more wide‐ranging assessment of merger activity. This book goes a considerable way towards addressing the gap.

It is a detailed and extremely well researched monograph which draws on extensive quantitative and qualitative data from the late 1970s to 2004. Following UK law, the research differentiates between transfers and amalgamations; the former being a transfer of engagements from one union (typically a smaller union) to another (typically a larger one), whilst the latter involves the merger of two or more unions to form a new union. This distinction is a legally and conceptually important one which is used as the basis of the structure of the book. After setting the context and background of union mergers in general, and this research specifically, the second section of the book looks at the strategies, negotiations and post‐merger performance of TUC unions undertaking transfers during the research period, with the third section examining the same issues in relation to amalgamations. A final, brief section attempts to evaluate the extent to which mergers have proved, on balance, to be “good” or “bad” for unions.

This provides an effective structure for the analysis. Each of the sections presents exceptional detail about the stages of merger activity and the processes involved. One of the strongest aspects of the research is that broad quantitative data is supplemented with frequent references to individual unions, leaders, and contexts. The macro context (changes in industry structure, union finances, bargaining structures and strategies) is presented alongside the micro‐politics of the merger process and outcomes. The combination allows the reader to develop a sophisticated insight into the complexity of these processes. However, it also presents one of the most significant challenges of this book; the context of each individual merger is often so specific to that set of circumstances that it becomes extremely difficult to draw general conclusions about either the forces that prompt merger, the processes involved in negotiating a merger, or the outcomes.

In my view, this is both the book's most significant strength and its most significant weakness. The research systematically examines – and in many cases debunks – some of the dominant myths and narratives about union mergers. Arguments such as the potential economies of scale, the potential to free resources to engage in more innovative and/or expansionist strategies, cost‐saving advantages, etc., are all considered. The overall story is one of empirical complexity; some mergers do result in some of these advantages, at least in the short term, but many do not and these outcomes are explored and examined. This makes an important contribution to the existing literature on the trade union movement. However, it also limits the extent to which the author can theorise about the causes and consequences of particular dynamics of the merger process and the final section of the book that attempts to address the question of whether mergers have proved “good” or “bad” for unions is necessarily equivocal.

Nonetheless, the research undoubtedly makes some useful and innovative contributions to existing literature and research. Specifically, it shows how amalgamations (but rarely transfers) provide an opportunity for new initiatives and transformations. Because of the more profound reorganisation presented by an amalgamation, opportunities are presented to develop new structures, elect new leaders, and re‐prioritise spending. By contrast, transfers rarely present such extensive opportunities although the precise outcomes often depend on the negotiations that take place during the merger process, which is documented here in considerable detail. A particularly important and interesting conclusion reached in the research is the ways in which both transfers and amalgamations have restructured the conduct of collective bargaining in the UK by reorganising territorial representativeness, and by restructuring the government of unions.

As highlighted, the research sheds considerable light not only on some of the more problematic outcomes of mergers but also, importantly, the factors that contribute to those outcomes. Membership growth, and therefore income growth, has rarely lived up to expectations, with many post‐merger unions continuing to decline. Political influence with employers, government and within national and international union federations has rarely been transformed in the way that much pre‐merger rhetoric suggests. In no small part, the reasons for these outcomes can be found in the internal politics of the merger process. The research suggests that by subjecting an organisation to such a complex, political and time‐consuming process unions involved in transfers have often reduced both the incentive and the total resources available to fund expansionist growth activity. Further, the new unions produced as a result of amalgamations have largely sought to focus on “in‐fill” recruitment within existing job territories because inter‐union competition has often decreased as a result of the amalgamation. Thus, the author ends on a rather pessimistic note. Whilst mergers have produced opportunities for transformation, albeit in often unintended ways, they have done comparatively little to address the challenges of the wider political, economic and social contexts in which they operate. Indeed, they have often distracted union leaders, officials and activists from these important tasks.

In short, the book is an excellent, empirical study that provides a timely analysis of merger activity. It is full of details that will engage those of us who have an interest in the micro‐politics of British unions. In common with most contemporary analyses of the trade union movement, it is overall pessimistic in tone. But the author is keen not to dismiss mergers as an unnecessary diversion from other tasks of unions. Merger is a logical strategy for some unions at key moments in time. The book presents an analysis of the processes and outcomes observed since the late 1970s and it is unsurprising that complexity is its dominant narrative. Nonetheless, it is undoubtedly the case that despite over 25 years of restructuring and reorganisation, the British union movement still confronts very profound challenges that mergers have largely failed to address.