Exploring Trade Union Identities

Bob Smale retired from University of Brighton in 2018 after half a century of trade union membership and activism and more than thirty years of working in education. He is now concentrating on research and writing. His research interests include employee relations and pedagogy.

• Introduction;What is the problem?;A new approach to understanding trade union identities and the role of niche;The general unions;The industrial and occupational unions;The organisational unions;The geographical unions;The developing story of union identities and niche unionism;The future of union identities and niche unionism.

"Based on extensive and meticulous research, Bob Smale provides a rich and important contribution to understanding why people join different types of unions. Exploring the relationship between general and niche unions, he identifies what we can learn for future forms of worker organization. A very valuable read." Jacqueline O’Reilly, University of Sussex