Insider and outsider support for unions across advanced industrial democracies: Paradoxes of solidarity

Why do workers support trade unions? For insider–outsider analysts, unions display limited concern with representing interests beyond the full-time labour force. However, recent research on union revitalization and inclusionary practices stresses new initiatives towards labour market outsiders. We use multilevel regression models, employing data from the 2005 and 2015 International Social Survey Programme, in order to study how workers perceive the role of unions. We develop a four-quadrant categorization of insiders and outsiders that captures both current labour market status and vulnerability. We find that outsiders, and more specifically all categories of non-insiders, are more likely to agree with the need for strong unions than insiders. These results hold both before and after the Great Recession.