Abstract
The article compares the current crises of the British and West German trade union movements. It argues that re‐organisation strategies to adapt to political and workplace‐related changes are insufficient to reverse the decline in the unions’ influence on government policies and hostile employer strategies. The unions’ position is shaped by both international economic and domestic factors, primarily the relationship to the conservative parties and the bargaining position at the firm level. Strategies to revitalise union power have to be political, not economic or organisational.

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