Working Class and Middle Class Trade Unions and Associations

This is a sociological analysis of some of the more important differences between working class trade unions and middle class trade associations. For this study, 'the middle classes' have been defined as the various groups of salaried employees (white-collar workers), except for members of the National Union of Clerks and Shop Assistants (HK), etc., affiliated to the LO (the Danish Trades Union Congress). #A few Danish studies have dealt with differences in union density. Studies carried out in other countries - especially in Great Britain - have, however, shown that union density means different things in working class contexts and in middle class contexts as these classes do not have the same types of trade unions and associations. #Thus, this study attempts to verify whether this holds true for Danish unions and associations as well. Three categories of variables will be used to analyse the various types of trade unions and associations: # #1) Objective characteristics of the union/association and its # members. # a. The education level of the members. # b. The pay of the members - differences between low-paid # workers and highly paid workers (income distribution). # c. The extent and the incidence of overtime work, part-time # work, and unemployment among the members. # d. Working conditions and chances of promotion. # e. Are only subordinates organized in the trade # union/association in question, or are foremen, managers, # and perhaps even self-employed businessmen organized in # the same union/association. # f. The percentage of organized labour in the trade # union/association and the unemployment fund in question. # #2) Trade union/association characteristics at firm level. # a. Does the union/association regard collective bargaining as # one of its most important concerns? # b. Does the union/association regard the protection of its # members against employers (e.g. underpayment) as one of its # most important concerns? # c. To what extent would the union/association be willing to # resort to collective measures against employers (i.e. legal # industrial conflicts)? or # take other industrial action against employers (perhaps # also illegal industrial action)? # e. How democratic is the union/association? # #3) Trade union/association characteristics at society level. # a. Does the organization in question call itself a trade union? # b. Is the union/association a member of the LO (the Danish # Trades Union Congress), or does it identify itself with # the trade union movement in general, ideologically, or by co-operating with it in a more informal way? # c. Is the union/association politically sympathetic to the # Social Democratic Party, or to one of the other workers' # parties? # d. How centralized are the decision-making processes of the # union/association? # #The study also examines to what extent the differences are the result of different class affiliation and the social division of labour. #Methodologically, the empirical part of the project consists of: 1) A quantitative study of the above-mentioned variables, which will be analysed on the basis of a) already existing (but partly unexploited) data collected by the Danish National Institute of Social Research, and b) new questions (which form part of the 'Danish Omnibus Survey, October 1982' (DDA-0656)) concerning membership of trade union/association, participation in union/association meetings and in industrial conflicts. Data material concerning membership of trade union/association, membership of unemployment fund, etc., is of special interest, and membership of a certain type of trade union/association (working class or middle class) will be related to wages (income distribution), overtime and unemployment figures, position at place of work, etc., as far as the general background variables collected for the omnibuses permit. 2) A qualitative study is, however, also necessary to cover all the variables mentioned above. This will consist of a casuistical examination of a selection of trade unions/associations (29 altogether) from each of the two social classes (the working class and the middle class). This examination will be based on documents concerning the trade unions/associations selected and on interviews with key persons within these unions/associations. The trade unions/associations (the members of which have been subdivided into a number of working class and middle class occupational groups) have been selected by lot in such a way as to be representative of these groups. #Both the quantitative and the qualitative data have already been collected. Theoretical analyses will be made in the first and in the final phases