ILPC 2027

Stemming the long-term shift away from collective forms of work regulation is a dilemma that has plagued unions across developed economies for the past quarter-century. In Britain, collective bargaining coverage and trade union membership have both fallen by more than half over this period. This paper looks at the challenges that British unions face in extending collective regulation, as well as some potential opportunities. Despite various the political, legal and market-based constraints on traditional forms of multi-employer bargaining, union strategies built around the supply chain and procurement negotiations possibly represent an avenue for extending organising and bargaining coverage, particularly in the context of the complexities of modern production and competitive product markets. Various British unions have mounted successful campaigns by using supply chain and procurement strategies to gain strategic leverage on behalf of non-unionised workers in low-wage sectors. Through an examination of a number of these campaigns, this paper aims to identify the principles that would allow such strategies to be replicated successfully in other sectors and contexts.