Nathan wrote:
> Oddly, France despite its pro-union reputation...bans any union from
> negotiating mandatory union dues for all
> employees...
-Amazing. So how do unions survive if less than one in ten workers are -dues-paying members and they are responsible for negotiating and -administering agreements in 90% of all enterprises? Especially the poor CGT, -now bereft of Moscow gold? :)
The same way unions in right to work states do: talking to members.
A problem for French unions may be -- and this is not based on deep knowledge but info I've seen referred to -- is that while they are quite militant in leading strikes for social legislation, they are reportedly less effective in negotiating the on-the-job work rules that keep American union members loyal institutionally.
So the result is that, for example, HERE organizing in Las Vegas operating in a right-to-work state can keep its dues paying at high levels close to 100% because it provides such clear results for workers.
But it highlights the fact that US unions have historically, out of necessity, been actually more effective in specific workplace organizing than many other union movements around the world that do militant general strikes but are actually poorly organizing in specific workplaces.
Nathan Newman