There’s Power in a Union: A Case Study of a Northern Trades Council

This thesis explores the issue of trade union decline through a discursive case study of a
Trades Union Council located in the North of England. It is argued that the debates surrounding trade union renewal are wedded to structural theoretical frameworks which are
challenged by contemporary experiences of modernity, and emerging organisational literature based on flexible accumulation and identity formations. As such this thesis has
sought to identify the effects and tensions within trade unions emanating from these bodies
of literature through the employment of a post-structural method. This has allowed the research to expose contested meanings and power relationships apparent within the organisations. The case study data is composed of four forms of discourse including a meeting observation, analysis of the organisation’s literature and images, as well as eight semi-structured qualitative interviews. It is concluded that the key to trade union renewal lies in the tensions of knowledge and power relationships within the organisations. It is further suggested that the institutions will need to employ a flexible framework to engage new members and allow for a period of re-discovery.