The Actor Relations Approach in Action: Understanding Anti-Union-Conflicts

Despite the ongoing decline in trade union density, particularly in industrialized countries, recent years have witnessed several successful instances of worker mobilization and organization. At the same time, employers have increasingly adopted strategies to counter these movements, such as obstructing the formation of works councils or resisting collective bargaining initiatives. In this context, the Power Resource Approach (PRA) has gained prominence as a critical theoretical framework, offering important insights into the dynamics of industrial relations.

While we acknowledge the PRA’s usefulness in categorizing different forms of labor power, we argue that the analysis of labor conflicts should not focus solely on power resources. Instead, it requires a more process-oriented approach that emphasizes the dynamics between actors. To address this, we introduce a novel research heuristic: the Actor Relations Approach (ARA). Firstly, the ARA suggests that research should clarify the object of analysis and identify the key actors involved in the conflict. A relational perspective examines the heterogeneity of relevant actors and the intra- and interrelations within and between conflicting counterparts. Secondly, the ARA places interests and orientations at the center of the analysis, focusing on the forces and motivations that shape actions, including the use of power resources. To demonstrate the benefits of the ARA, we apply it to the study of labor disputes in cases of employers' anti-union strategies, drawing on our own empirical data.

By focusing on actor relations, the ARA integrates other critical factors—such as cognitive processes, motivations, and the evolution of collective bargaining over time—all of which are essential to understanding the dynamics of action and reaction in cases of union busting.