Community unionism, also known as reciprocal unionism, refers to the formation of alliances between unions and non-labour groups in order to achieve common goals. These unions seek to organize the employed, unemployed, and underemployed. They press for change in the workplace and beyond, organizing around issues such as welfare reform, health care, jobs, housing, and immigration. Individual issues at work are seen as being a part of broader societal problems which they seek to address. Unlike trade unions, community union membership is not based on the workplace- it is based on common identities and issues. Alliances forged between unions and other groups may have a primary identity based on affiliations of religion, ethnic group, gender, disability, environmentalism, neighborhood residence, or sexuality.
Community unionism has many definitions and practices. It varies according to country, institutional and political contexts, internal organization, leadership, scale, organizing style, sources of funding, and communication structure. In all, there is no "universal" community union; they take on many different forms. In order to simplify the complex structures of community unions, four categories have been established (although in practice community unions may blur the boundaries of these classifications):
Community organization/ no union partner: This consists of community based efforts to organize around workplaces. It may also include new initiatives created by already established community organizations. Labour union(s)/ no community partner: This category is composed of new union locals or new initiatives undertaken as part of a labour union organizing strategy. These organizations seek the support of community institutions but do not form a joint effort with them. Community/labour partnership but with community organization dominant: This organization is based on mutual self-interest. Unions and community work together to improve conditions in the labour market through economic and political action. In these partnerships, community leadership dominates the practice of the organization. Community/labour partnership but with labour union dominant: This organization differs from the one previously mentioned in that union leadership dominates the practice of the organization.
A part of the discourse of why community unionism has many definitions is in the ambiguity of the word "community" itself. In "Coalitions and Community Unionism", Tattersall breaks the word "community" into three elements which may help in understanding community unions better: as organizations, common interest and identity, and place.
Goals of community unions
Community union initiatives aim to achieve a number of things:
Seek to build community power. By increasing scale of organizing activity, they can deal with questions of economic justice beyond particular work places. By working with community groups, unions are able to reach workers in traditionally non-union environments. They can enable unions to help organize fragmented workforces split across large numbers of small workplaces. Establishing extensive links into the local community may help unions defend terms and conditions within their traditional workplaces.
History of community unionism
In Community Unionism A Comparative Analysis of Concepts and contexts, McBride and Greenwood note that community unions are not a new idea: it is an old form of unionism that dates back 150 years. They point out that in the early period of trade union formation, UK unions were organized within local communities where factories and heavy industry were geographically established. They find that this community/union relationship was broken with the changing geographies of employment and industrial restructuring. With this change, stable communities were destroyed that were located around the docks, mines, mills, and other regions of heavy industry. Supporting this idea, Hess also agrees that community factors have always been a part of unionism in "Community as a Factor in Union Organization".