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PurposeThis article examines the intellectual antecedents of Alan Fox's frames of reference and contributes to academic work that seeks to unravel the pre-Donovan roots of British industrial relations. It examines the origins of the unitary and pluralist frames of reference with a particular focus on the work of Norman Ross.Design/methodology/approachThis article draws on published academic materials to examine the origins of the unitary and pluralist frames of reference.FindingsThe article identifies usage of the term "frame of reference" in industrial relations literature from the 1940s and demonstrates the origins of the unitary and pluralist conceptions of the firm in the works of Ross in the 1950s and 1960s.Originality/valueThe article provides a "fresh look" at the origins of the frames of reference.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between trade unions and young workers in the UK using the Young Members' Network of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union as a case study.Design/methodology/approach– Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 20 full-time officials and 39 lay officials of all ages, the collection and analysis of primary documents and observations at a range of union meetings.Findings– It is argued that PCS has developed a strong network of young activists and is leading the way in terms of engaging with and representing young workers. However, its success in the future may be limited due to changes to the external environment in which the union is trying to organise.Research limitations/implications– The research highlights the role of an under researched area of trade union membership. To provide additional insights, further research is needed into the practice of other unions.Originality/value– This paper provides significant qualitative analysis into this issue which complements the existing quantitative research in this area.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look back on 150 years of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and reflect on the recent challenges to organised labour.Design/methodology/approachPlaces unions in their current context and discusses how they have responded to the challenge of declining membership.FindingsWith declining membership levels and the lack of a "silver bullet" solution, unions continue to face many challenges, although there is some light at the end of the organising tunnel.Originality/valueThis paper introduces the special issue which reflects on 150 years of the TUC.

In this article, we examine the potential of global union pedagogy to address the structural and political challenges of cross‐border trade‐union action. We do so by proposing an analytical framework that draws on labour relations, political sociology and education to explain educational processes and outcomes as responses to the pitfalls of global labour campaigns and the inadequacy of global and local labour institutions. We proceed to assess the value of our framework by elaborating on its different dimensions – framing, synthesizing, connecting and regenerating – in relation to the educational work of a global union federation, namely the International Transport Workers' Federation. We find that an actor‐centred approach that combines top–down, bottom–up as and horizontal processes of collecting knowledge from different contexts and making links between different countries, industries and parts of supply chains can help actors realize that their seemingly diverse concerns are essentially different manifestations of the same problem.

The Trade Union Act (2016) stipulates that in order for a strike to be lawful it must now achieve a turnout of 'at least 50 per cent' in addition to a majority vote for strike action in the UK. We know remarkably little about the correlates of voting and even less about the decision to vote or abstain in union strike ballots. We address this gap, drawing from a large-scale survey of Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) members administered shortly after their 2019 national pay strike ballot. Results show a disconnect between the focus of the dispute (pay) and the grievances that motivated participation in the ballot (working conditions). We find that those who do not vote in strike ballots are not neutral or undecided, but are, in many cases, opposed to strike action. Our findings also demonstrate the importance of internal union communication to participation in strike ballots.