Labor's Legal Mobilization

Abstract

Whereas workers' use of the strike in workplace disputes has declined over the past decades, their legal mobilization—that is, the filing of unfair labor practice charges against employers—has risen. Little attention in labor sociology has been given to the circumstances in which workers turn to the law. Yet, within the union movement and in other social movements as well, legal mobilization is a commonly used strategy. The author develops and empirically tests a model of the circumstances in which workers use the law. A number of factors are found to influence this process, in particular, the “underlying activity” (that is, union elections) and various economic circumstances. Theoretical conclusions are drawn on the basis of these findings.