[WS:} I think this needs to be put is a broader comparative perspective.
Thus, around the turn of the century Swedish unions pursued a relatively "modest" goal of surplus redistribution and provision of social safety and to that end they developed a centralized organization and a political arm that eventually gained a majority in the parliament. The outcome was the "Scandinavian welfare state model" - by far the most "radical" transformation of national institutions in favor of the working class.
By contrast, organized labor in Mediterranean countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy) was far more heavily influenced by anarcho-syndicalist ideals aiming at a radical transformation and abolishing the state. This, in turn, provoked a fascist reaction that virtually wiped out labor as an independent political force, and encapsulated it in state controlled institutions. (the source of this information is Berger & Broughton, eds., The Force of Labour, Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1995.)
This seems to suggest that organized labor can succeed only through the state rather than on its own, and therefore needs to develop institutional mechanisms allowing it to steer state policies in its favor. Alas, opportunities to "capture" the state do not exist at all times to be explored when the labor is ready - they emerge only sporadically at critical turning point of history. I am afraid that the present is not such a time - so the best the unions can hope for today is to form coalitions with civic and political organizations sympathetic to its cause and use these coalitions to leverage political influence.
Wojtek
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