Unions in a Globalized Environment: Changing Borders, Organizational Boundaries and Social Roles

by Bruce Nissen

How can American unions survive in our increasingly globalized business environment? With the trend toward multinational corporations, free trade pacts, and dismantling import barriers, organized labor has been steadily losing ground in the United States. This book argues that to reverse this trend, U.S. unions must create ties with workers and unions in other countries, and include the ever-increasing number of immigrant workers in their ranks. And it calls for a shift toward "social movement unionism, " which would change unions' orientation from exclusively market-focused and more toward social issues and rights.

302 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2002

About the author

Bruce Nissen is a professor of labor studies and director of research at the Center for Labor Research and Studies (CLRS) at Florida International University (FIU). He also directs that university's Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy (RISEP).