"Sociologist Rick Fantasia argues that the bureaucratic routines imposed by Taft- Hartley for unions to provide member services channel conflict so that solidarity emerges only when workers must rely upon on such cohesion as a means to oppose employers outside these formal bureaucratic channels. Combs-Schilling’s (1980) research with United Auto Workers (UAW) reinforces this view. Fantasia argues that in extra procensual events, to use Bohannan’s (1958) term, solidarity emerges; but under normal working conditions, there is no space for it. Durrenberger’s (2002) study of Chicago stewards affirms this finding. Thus everyday routine action reflects less interest in unions and organizing than polls indicate (Bronfenbrenner et al. 1998)"
Servicing and organizing: one of the key reasons behind the decline of unionization and its decline in organizing is related to the issue of underdeveloped class consciousness, which will only be formulated in the context of the process of 'organizing". The anti-union notions limited the trade unions and labour unions, into such a state that unions were redirected only to do servicing part of unionisation, which doesn't give many opportunities for collective feeling and consciousness. The people who are part of unions itself are forced to believe it as an autocratic organisation, which is based on rational choice rather than the emotions urged to defend human rights.
Failure of unions: we can't blame only those hostile groups of unionisation for the decline of the collective power of American trade unions. The responsibility to act on such a vulnerable situation was lost among most situations. The authors accuse most of these organisations waited till apocalypse to happen and take action. The unions were a failure in recognizing structural changes happening along with globalization, privatization and offshoring
Way of organizing: the author argues about different schools of understanding about unionism and organising based on their differences in working style. he talks about political ecology of labour, collective action theory, social movement theory etc. all of them try to understand the different ways of organizing among American working class in this fluid economy under neoliberal conditions.
