ABSTRACT
This chapter explores union officials' constructions of the problem' of low union density amongst youth. The steep decline in youth membership rates in Australia has been variously ascribed to labour market, legislative and/or socio-cultural/political factors. Approaching the youth union membership dilemma from a psychosocial perspective, some researchers have used social identity theory to question whether young people's reluctance to identify with collectivist' social groups such as unions is at the core of the decline in youth membership levels. Mobilization theory has as its central tenet the importance of action on the part of unions and workers, based on individual perceptions of injustice which in turn lead to member participation and mobilization. Organizers' attribution of high levels of individualism' to young people may propagate a self-defeating message to unions regarding young people's willingness to unionize. In contrast to these more pessimistic views for youth membership decline, few respondents optimistically spoke of the natural' fit between youth values and those of unions.
