Union membership decline has been a main characteristic of the American labor movement. However, more recently, we have been witnessing an upsurge of efforts to gain a collective voice. Importantly, workers challenging the status quo by going through a representation process are emerging against big non-union corporations that are notably more resourceful and powerful. Unions and workers recognize that power imbalance and have been more creative, innovative, and intentional in regards to how they communicate with others through collective action frames, how they gain support from other social actors, such as the general public via social media, and how they lead and act collectively to unionize their workplaces. This dissertation first examines whether a union’s collective action frames during the stages of the representation process influenced the public’s support of unions in social media, and how this influence varies throughout the stages of the representation process. Next, it analyzes how members of the general public interact with a union in social media throughout the multiple stages of the process, while also identifying those relationships or ties that are crucial in the dissemination of a union’s collective action frames within these social networks. Finally, this dissertation examines the emergence of a grassroots independent union, emphasizing the crucial role of its worker-leaders. These leaders, whose backgrounds are marked by systemic discrimination and shared experiences of workplace exploitation, are vital to the union's development and resilience. These studies employ data from unionization efforts of Amazon workers in Alabama and North Carolina.
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