in union politics. In the USA, in contrast, as few as 15% of workers are still in
unions.
Unionism in France, though existing as an underground force from around
1830, was never strong until the post-Second World War years, if then. In part
this was due to the low degree of industrialization in France, but also to the
syndicalistpolitical views that led them both to eschew formal parliamentary
links or co-operation, and to advocate direct general strike action to force
social revolution. As in Italy, the split between a communist party-dominated
majority and a Catholic-dominated minority wing further weakened French
unions. In the USA the union movement was split into two bodies, the
American Federation of Labour (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Orga-
nizations (CIO) until the mid-1950s, and although individual unions are
important in their own industries, the federal level joint union organizations
are of little political importance. The other Western nations with important
union movements are mainly the ‘Old Commonwealth’ countries, where
Australia and New Zealand follow the British, and Canada the US, patterns.
At least since the late 1970s the phenomenon of trade unionism has been
unpopular in British public opinion, with regularly 70% of opinion poll
samples thinking they have too much power. (A figure that is not notably
different among members themselves.) Unionism tends to be strongest every-
where either in craft or large-scale industry, and weak in distributive, white
collar or very unskilled trades. Various attempts are made by governments from
time to time (and of all political colours) to restrain union power, but the
whole principle of unionization, to establish somewhat more equal bargaining
power between employers and employees, is so well-established that, despite
the surface unpopularity of unions, little can be done to curtail their major
privileges under law. Unions existed, with compulsory membership, in all
Soviet bloccountries, but the right to strike was usually withheld, and, with
the exception of the Polish Solidarity movement of the 1980s, these unions
were so totally controlled by the local communist parties as to be mere fac ̧ades.
Perhaps the most important theoretical, as well as practical, question about
union membership is the problem of what is known, in the UK, as ‘the closed
shop’. This is a system where no one is allowed to keep a job in a factory or
other workplace unless they join the relevant union. Although a constant target
of criticism by conservatives in both the USA and the UK, it is a practice that
employers themselves quite often approve of, if only because it simplifies their
own negotiating strategies. The union’s argument is quite simple—the benefits
they gain by concerted action should not be enjoyed by those unprepared to
share the effort, and it is certainly true that unions operating in a non-closed
shop environment tend to be less effective. This, again, is not a phenomenon
restricted to working-class movements—some university libraries in the UK,
for example, operate a closed shop rule even for academic level staff.
Trade Unions