Societal Context of Labor Union Strategy

Abstract

This article questions the societal context of labor union strategy for the case of Turkey, where the legacy of the military junta of 1980—1983 is still vivid. The results by and large indicate a clear rupture between unionized and nonunionized workers, a fact that highlights the significance of innovative union strategies directed at expanding membership in a way to include atypical workers so as to resist union decline. This rupture also points, however, to the reasons why such strategies might not be forthcoming where they are especially needed. Where unions have a precarious existence, the expansion of the membership base could be the only way to gain legitimacy and power. Yet, it is precisely their precarious existence that might condemn unions to a myopic strategy, leading them to concentrate on the interests of their limited membership that they try to maintain at all cost.