10.2190/WC1U-055U-UDT7-J96B WC1U055UUDT7J96B 29 The Real Difference Between the Old Unionism and the New Unionism: A New Strategy for U.S. Public Sector Unions 29 39 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 WC1U055UUDT7J96B.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=WC1U055UUDT7J96B 1 Victor G. Devinatz In his book the <em>The New Unionism in the New Society: Public Sector Unionism the Redistributive State,</em> Troy argued that the goal of the "new unionism" (the public sector union movement) is to increase spending on social programs through the redistribution of income from the private to the public sector of the economy. According to Troy, the "old unionism" (the private sector union movement) conflicts with the new unionism specifically over the extent and funding of social programs. Despite this alleged philosophical difference, Troy s book fails to distinguish the <em>real</em> difference between the old and the new unionism, which is centered on using different strategies toward goal attainment. This article describes a potentially successful new unionist strategy and evaluates its effectiveness and limitations in a number of public sector union strikes. The article concludes that this specific strategic orientation may contribute to future public sector union success.