Union support for regional and local economic development is a contemporary Social Democratic Unionist strategy that deserves special attention. One of the interesting things about the current actions in this direction in both Western Europe and the United States is the importance of worker training as an instrument for economic development. Grassroots union involvement in economic development has become important in the European Community (EC), largely through the efforts of the Trade Union Regional Network (TURN). It is aborning in the United States, based partly on experience in Canada with Labor Sponsored Investment Funds (LSIFs).

This chapter will first discuss the origins and nature of Europe's TURN, an organization that engages in a variety of initiatives related to regional economic development. We will then look at union involvement in regional economic development in both Western Europe and North America. Training and its role in development will then be considered. An interesting special aspect of TURN, its nature as a network of local unions in different countries, will be described. Then, some conclusions on the meaning of all of this for the future of American unions will be drawn.