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Moving away from the standard depiction of unions as victims of globalisation, the power resource approach acknowledges that unions have agency and power - even as the labour movement is under attack all around the world.
The power resources approach provides a general framework for the ways in which workers build power. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. described power as the “ability to achieve purpose”. Marshall Ganz points out that “Power comes from our ability to come together and build the collective to achieve common goals (power with) and to force employers or the state to do something they would otherwise not do (power over).”
The power resources approach distinguishes four types of power that workers can draw from:
Power resources: Definitions and examples
Structural power
Associational power
Institutional power
Societal power
How to use power resources
The key: Associational power
Building union power
The power resources approach is a tool for workers to identify and use union resources to achieve material and political gains. It enables us to analyse which resources are available to us. It shows us that we have power and resources to act and it gives us a common shared language that empowers us.
Watch video introduction:
enables workers to withhold labour and subsequently force negotiations with the employer. Workers may possess skills or labour that are not easily replaced or they may occupy a strategic position within the production process or in the supply chain. For example, dockworkers in several countries can collectively refuse to unload containers from ships, causing significant delays in the entire logistics chain.
Construction workers used the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil to build structural power. Politicians, the construction and the tourism industries needed the timely completion of these prestigious international mega-events.
Working together in an internationally and locally coordinated effort, workers and their unions used this situation to their advantage and were able to achieve significant wage gains, while Brazilian construction-sector workers presented a manifesto of demands to the government.
The campaign also resulted in a strengthening of links between Brazilian construction unions and the BWI (the global federation of construction unions). Between 2010 and 2012, the number of Brazilian unions affiliated with the BWI increased from 5 to 25.
is the ability of workers to organise and act collectively. Associational power comes from bringing large numbers of workers together in unity and acting collectively. Associational power comes from the workers’ “willingness to act” and engage in collective actions, such as strikes, protest actions, campaigns, paying membership dues, organising, and building strong relationships with each other.
The mechanics union of Peru (SITALANPE) had never had a strike or a demonstration in the history of the union and wages in the sector were among the lowest in South America. In 2016, two years before their next contract was to expire, union leaders began preparing their base of 220 workers for the biggest struggle of their lives. The workers had not received a wage increase in over 10 years.
The leaders systematically educated and informed the base. Workers and leaders spoke mechanic to mechanic in small groups at workplaces and in each other’s homes, building close relationships. They prepared themselves and their families for the dismissals and repression that they knew would come.
The workers engaged in worksite actions and public demonstrations and the company responded with threats, dismissals and bonus offers of 6,000 US dollars for each worker. The mechanics stayed united and 100 percent voted to strike, which inspired support from other aviation unions in the region. The workers won hours before the strike deadline. The new contract included 50 percent and more in wage increases with all precarious temporary workers made permanent.
After decades of steadily declining numbers of formal transport workers, the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union (ATGWU) of Uganda reached out to informal transport workers to grow its organisation and help secure decent work for all of its members.
The ATGWU now has close to 60,000 members, with the significant intake of informal transport workers such as minibus taxi drivers, bicycle taxi drivers and motor-bike “boda-boda” drivers giving the union a new lease on life and enabling it to negotiate better wages and working conditions.
ATGWU is now helping other unions transition from only representing formal workers to organising and representing informal workers.
is gained when workers and unions use collective action for better contracts or improved regulations and laws. Institutional power is in the legally or contractually enshrined individual and collective rights that workers can use to improve conditions.
Street vendors are an institution in everyday life in India, and yet for decades, they have been statistically invisible, experienced harassment, humiliation, sudden evictions and confiscation of property. This changed when they began to organise throughout the country and confront the government with their demands.
For the first time in India's history, street vendors were officially recognised as contributors to the urban economy. Landmark legislation followed, giving street vendors unprecedented institutional power. Street vendors then had legal protection, training programs and a voice in decisions affecting their livelihood.
The Kenya National Private Security Workers’ Union (KNPSWU) has gained considerable institutional power by increasing its membership and improving internal cohesion around its goals and demands. The stronger voice of the union meant more influence on government policy through social dialogue, the establishment of a wages council for security workers and the negotiation of robust collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).
Institutional power provides unions with agenda-setting capacity on a wide range of issues at the workplace and beyond. But it is limited as it is defined by compromise after struggle. Institutional power is only effective if used strategically and is backed by collective strength.
Germany is a good example of workers and unions with strong institutional power. The German labour movement has a successful history of building institutional power through collective action.
This power is anchored in a legal system of workplace and company-level worker representatives, participation in joint committees with employers and state representatives, and extensive social rights. German works councils are powerful representatives with legal rights at the workplace, but they cannot strike.
With membership declining, German unions saw their ability to influence government policies and to pressure employers diminishing. So they stepped up efforts to activate the membership and build collective shop floor strength, revitalising associational power and recovering institutional power.
is when workers and unions have the ability to win allies for their goals. This means being able to build coalitions with other social actors and to argue persuasively and gain support for the union's agenda.
The main Czech trade union confederation (CMKOS) ran its campaign for »An End to Cheap Labour« with remarkable success. The confederation used a new communications strategy to mobilise public support for its demands to raise wages. The simple message was popular, reflecting frustration with a slow pace of convergence in living standards between East and West in Europe.
Share a time when you were involved in increasing worker power.
In each story, identify examples of associational, structural, institutional and societal power.
For a set of guiding questions that will help you to further analyse your union's current and potential power resources, go to the material's on "Analysing power Resources"
The four power resources are deeply interrelated and reinforce each other. Sometimes only one type of power resource may be needed, but in many cases workers may need to use several different power resources. Using the power resources approach helps workers to set goals and develop strategies that draw on the different power resources wherever needed.
The small Turkish union TÜMTIS has been able to organise, recruit new members and win collective agreements from logistics giants like DHL and UPS.
By tapping into its associational and structural power it was able to sustain picket lines over months. To build associational power, union workplace delegates held in-depth conversations with the non-union workers and their families so that they would be able to sustain the pickets (their structural power) in the face of massive dismissals and the creation of yellow unions.
At the same time, the union pressured customers and shareholders and staged demonstrations around the globe, building their societal power.
Associational power is the collective power of workers. It is the fundamental power of unions. If the union has a strong worker base with full participation of workers, then it has strong associational power.
All forms of power resources are enhanced by increased associational power. Whether you are involved in campaigning, organising, collective bargaining or organisational transformation work, you will want to include a plan for increasing the union’s associational power. Increasing the number of workers participating in Tool Box activities will help build associational power.
If associational power is weak, employers can use their power to break or weaken the union’s collective strength at the base through misinformation and propaganda, unfair treatment, poor working conditions, dismissals, physical violence and threats, jailing, and the creation of company unions. The use of other power resources without a strong worker base can be dangerous, as it can provoke increased repression from the employer that is aimed directly at the workers and further isolates workers from each other and from their unions.
Workers striking without involving a sufficient number of workers, and labour laws that are not enforced at the workplace are both examples of when workers suffer due to weak associational power. When unions gain improved salaries or better working conditions, but workers are not involved due to weak associational power, workers may see the improvements as being provided by the employer or government, further eroding the union’s associational power.
Are there parts of our union where associational power is weaker?
Are these areas more vulnerable to employer misinformation and retaliation?
How does this impact our union's ability to utilise other forms of power?
The story of the LAN Argentina cabin crew union shows the problems that can occur if unions allow their associational power to lapse and rely more on other forms of power resources.
The Argentina cabin crew union was founded in 1953 and has strong political and legal power in the country, including control of the hiring process through a union-run cabin crew school.
When LAN Argentina began operations in 2004, the union was able to recruit workers into the union and even elect delegates, but without the workers fully participating in the struggle (associational power) they were unable to bring about any improvements.
In 2007, the union leaders changed course and committed to reaching out to the base, carefully building up trust and communication. With the newly involved workers, the union was eventually able to call a strike supported by all the aviation unions, and the cabin crew won a 21 percent wage increase. The company attempted to remove the union leadership, but was unable to do so because the workers remained strong and active. By 2015, the cabin crew union won their first collective agreement with LAN Argentina.
In order to put the power resources approach into action and move from analysis to action, we need to use our capabilities.
There are four types of capabilities identified in the approach.
The Tool Kit helps us apply the power resources approach and build our capabilities to increase union power in specific areas of union work such as
For more information on how to apply the power resources approach, including a series of guiding discussion questions, go to
