Ensuring external activist employability by mobilizing social capital : the case of ex-full time unionists after a professional transition outside of their unions

Based on qualitative research involving 48 former unionists who worked for more than 80% of their time for the union, 10 human resource directors and three union organizations, one employers’ organization and one outplacement company specialized in this type of transition, this article considers the transition of ex-activists to work outside the trade union sphere. Based on the French context and the existing literature on the transition of trade union activists, our work highlights the strategies mobilized by ex-unionists to ensure their external activist employability.These strategies are influenced by their perceived employability. Several external and individual factors impact this perception. Individual factors include : perceived social capital, the nature of the departure (suffered or voluntary), the level of post preceding the transition and the level in the trade union organization. However, these individual factors do not explain everything. Other external factors, such as the stigmatization of the activist linked to his union work, the contractual relationship, and the support of the union explain the unionist’s perceived employability. This leads either to a non-mobilization of social capital or to an offensive mobilization of social capital. In this latter case, the former employee could be placed under observation by the host company.By looking at the transitions of unionists, this research is a reversal of the position taken in many studies analyzing the unionist’s career. The social capital of activists is no longer defined within the trade union organization, but outside of it. This allows us to put forward the concept of external activist employability as the capacity of a unionist to obtain and maintain a job outside the union sphere through the mobilization of social capital.

Keywords : perceived employability, professional transition, unionists, activist capital.