ABSTRACT
All unions have strategies for advancing their basic economic goals. These strategies focus mainly on domestic economic institutions, policies and actors, but they always have an international dimension. This dimension addresses questions such as how integrated the national economy should be with the international economy, what domestic rules should structure that integration, and what institutions and policies should govern the international economy. Canadian and US union approaches to the international dimension of their economic strategy have gone through three parallel phases since the Second World War, though the timing of each phase has differed. The international dimension of their strategic thinking has become a more important part of the whole with each stage. This chapter explores the evolution of this international dimension in each country since 1947, focusing on the major federations in each country. It sets out the main strategic orientations of each phase, and explores the determinants of shifts from one phase to another.
