The Future of Union Organising?

Colleagues,

This weekend I meet up again with the current MA (international labour and trade union studies) students at Ruskin. A highly dynamic, lively bunch who are getting on with their dissertations as they start year 2 of their study.

A quick plug for the MA as I am currently recruiting for the October 2010 intake. More info at: www.ruskin.ac.uk/course/84/summary

Given the global context of the MA and its focus on the future of organised labour I'll be introducing students to the newly published (Aug 09) collection of essays on the future of union organising. The new book has been edited by Gregor Gall, Research Professor of Industrial Relations and Director of the Centre for Research in Employment Studies at the University of Hertfordshire.

The author has featured a few times in my blog given his excellent coverage of, amongst others, the Lindsey Oil Refinery Dispute and his more recent focus on the postal workers dispute.

His latest book is well worth a read and provides a fantastic (predominantly European) snapshot of organising strategies. Some of the issues covered are, from my point of view, a bit old hat and present nothing radically new e.g. social partnership in Ireland.

Of more interest to me however, was the final piece which examined more recent efforts to organise young workers in supermarkets.

Overall the new book is well worth a read. The full list of articles is

Union Organising Past, Present and Future--G.Gall
Union Organising in the US: New Tactics, Old Barriers--K.Moody
Opening Pandora's Box: The Paradox of Institutionalised Organising--S.Cohen
Social Partnership and Union Revitalisation: The Irish Case--K.Allen
Union Organising in the Netherlands: A Combination of Organising and Servicing Strategies--M.van Klaveren &--W.Sprenger
Reinvention of Activism: A Chance for Union Renewal in New Market Economies? The Case of Poland--A.Mrozowicki, V.Pulignano &--G.van Hootegem
The Servicing Organising Community Continuum: Where are Australian Unions Today?--M.Jerrard, S.Cockfield &--D.Buttigieg
Labour Union Strategies in the European Union Steel Sector--D.Stroud &--P.Fairbrother CleanStart: Fighting for a Fair Deal for Cleaners--M.Crosby
Organising Immigrants: State Policy and Union Organising Tactics in the Republic of Ireland--M.Gonzalez-Perez, T.Dundon &--T.McDonough
Union Organising with Old and New Industrial Relations Actors: Sex Workers in Australia and the United States--G.Gall
Reconstructing Construction Unionism: Beyond Top-down and Bottom-up--D.Belman &--A.Smith
Contrasts and Contradictions in Union Organising: The Irish Mushroom Industry--F.Arqueros-Fernndez
Union Renewal and Young People: Some Positive Indications from British Supermarkets--I.Byford

As you read through the articles there is clearly some radical solutions being applied in non-traditional sectors. Do you think your workplace/sector has an interesting story to tell of the way in which you have recruited/retained groups of workers?

As usual, all contributions welcome.

Cheers!

Ian

An Early Warning

Colleagues,

Can I encourage you to visit the Unions Together website (unionstogether.org.uk) and sign the online petition which is sharing details of an exposure of the Tory's intentions in relations to industrial action ballots should they win the next general election?

In an article in The Guardian on 29th October the plans are revealed as an aspect of the Conservatives' comments on the current CWU dispute with Royal Mail. The article state:

The Tories are looking at introducing laws setting new minimum turnout thresholds for strike ballots on the basis that they can only be lawful disputes if a majority of those being called out on strike have voted for it in a ballot. In the case of the Royal Mail dispute there was a clear majority for the strike among those voting, but not among the total workforce.

The full article is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/29/royal-mail-conservative-party-privatisation

Clearly the article (based partly on comments by Ken Clark - shadow BIS Secretary) illustrate the way in which the Tories have been critically determining their anti-union agenda whilst in opposition and attempting to undermine, amongst other areas of our organisation, trade union democracy.

The fact that many of the hurdles over which trade unions must jump are relics of Thatcherite dogma is a perverse illustration of the desperate desire on the part of sons and daughters of Thatcher to carry on her work.

No question is being asked this time round (although please do comment), can you instead please sign the Unions Together petition and spread the word ?

Cheers

Ian

The Future for Equality Reps?

Colleagues,

I attended a lively, packed event yesterday. As project manager of the GFTU's union modernisation fund (UMF) equality reps project I delivered, with Judith Jackson, GFTU Head of Educational Services) (on left of picture) a project dissemination event in Telford.

Delegates listened to presentations from project partners including the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and GFTU affiliate union CONNECT.

In addition there were two excellent presentations from equality reps trained as part of the project. Paul Greenwood, a UNITE equality rep, thanked the GFTU for the opportunity to become an equality rep, whilst James Stribley (on right of picture top left) a GMB regional convenor for the GMB in Yorkshire, delivered a presentation jointly with Majid Hussain (Inclusion & Diversity Manager - REMPLOY) (left of James in picture) on a joint strategy to embed increased activity around equalities across all activity within the company.

A particularly interesting aspect of the day was a discussion hosted by the conference chair Joe Marino (BFAWU General Secretary and current GFTU President) on the challenges facing equality reps.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of delegates who contributed cited the disappointment of not having statutory rights to paid time off to carry out their role. One delegate went as far to comment that he felt he had to 'lie and cover up' his equality rep role under the guise of his existing shop steward's role by saying that he was undertaking 'union business'.

Whilst this discussion did not in any way undermine the highly positive way in which the conference proceeded and concluded it did leave me, as project manager, wondering what future equality reps would have.

Will reps, without statutory rights, be sustained through the role being 'dropped onto' the back of the steward, ULR, safety rep role - as it clearly the case that equality strands run through these role also, or will interest drop off over time as these reps concentrate on primary aspects of their core role?

As always, comments welcome.

Cheers!

Ian

Making History Real

Colleagues,

Yesterday I was at the UNISON (West Midland Region) event for Black History Month at Birmingham town hall - a fantastic venue. Working with Gurdeep Singh, the region's leaning organiser, we delivered a workshop Black Workers & The Trade Union
Struggle.

The workshop rested on Gurdeep's original idea of caused and consequences in the way that black workers have self-organised as a way to build trade union organisation and we used the 1976-77 Grunwick dispute as the basis for the workshop.

Just prior to the workshops Roger McKenzie, the region's newly appointed regional secretary (read his blog at: rogermckenzie.blogspot.com) delivered a barnstorming session on his own personal experiences as a young black man growing up in 70's Walsall and how that informed his trade union history. A key message that he delivered, and which wondefully helped the Grunwick workshop, was his insistence that we 'make history real' by identifying its relevance to what we do today and that we rekindle the 'fir and brimstone' that was part and parcel of what inspired disputes led by black workers.

I used the workshop to encourage support for an on-going dispute in Birmingham at the 2 sisters poultry processing plant where 54 workers have been sacked for engaging in industrial action linked to racism in the workplace.

Read more: http://www.expressandstar.com/2009/10/05/strikers


A key theme emerging from the workshop, both in a historical and contemporary sense, is how best black workers can gain the support of white workers in support of campaigns with a distinct element of race and/or racism within them.

Although we discussed classic examples of this I'm keen to get your views.

Cheers

Ian

How 'sick' is 'sick'?

Colleagues,

The article below has been written for the next edition the Thompsons Weekly Labour & European Law Report (LELR).

To see the back catalogue of Weekly LELR's go to: http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/ltext/thompsons-weekly-lelr.htm

What do the new fitness note proposals mean for sick workers?

By Ian Manborde
Thompsons Tutor in Trade Union Studies, Northern College

‘Working for a Healthier Tomorrow’ - a review by Dame Carol Black of the health and well-being of Britain’s working age population - has resulted in a number of challenging, although not unexpected proposals.

One of the most controversial is that the current sick note issued by a GP to certify sickness absence should be phased out, and replaced by a ‘well note’ indicating what activity the worker could undertake particularly as part of a phased return to work.

In a submission during the consultation period, Thompsons Solicitors expressed its concerns:

“Unless the new rules oblige employers to make changes to the working conditions of employees who were injured or became sick because of their work — such as by altering their duties or making changes to workstations — then people will either be unable to return to work, or will do so only to go off sick again,” said Thompsons’ head of policy, Tom Jones.

In discussing the proposals with shop stewards and safety reps over the past few weeks a constant concern has emerged. When determining the fitness to work or not of a worker a GP may not know enough about their job, workplace, and working conditions to make a statement under one of the three proposed fit note headings: ‘fit for work’, ‘not fit for work’ or ‘maybe fit for some work now’.

Another concern repeatedly voiced is that the Black review seeks to actively promote dialogue between GPs and employers – something reps argue would essentially entail workers who are unfit for work being placed back into the workplace and possibly without a range of appropriate adjustments made.

The critically important feature of the new proposals is that even when a GP objectively identifies a suitable pattern of work for an ill worker to return to the workplace, the onus placed on the employer to abide by these – at this stage of the recommendations at least – are solely voluntary.

You can see the full Black report at:

http://www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/documents/working-for-a-healthier-tomorrow-tagged.pdf

University of the People

Colleagues,

Having set out on a personal path of working for some of the UK's most prestigious working class adult education institutions (WEA, Ruskin College, Northern College etc.) I was intrigued with the news of the launch of The University of the People: www.uopeople.org/Default.aspx

In a clip from the web-site the founder is quoted as:

"Education, just like democracy, should be a right, not a privilege,” said Shai Reshef, Founder and President, University of the People. “With a few keystrokes, UoPeople takes the concept of social networking and applies it to academia, providing a global chalkboard for all students.”

In an article earlier this week in The Guardian the University was pitched as the antidote to elite, high-cost higher education provision that is largely out of the reach of potential learners from developing countries. This ethos is also underpinned by the notion of education as a democratising and liberating tool.

The attraction of the University is that all courses are online - supported by social networking platforms and that, for the moment at least, there are no course fees.

As such the University is attracting critical political, pedagogic and educational acclaim:

"The concept is great, and one we'll see more and more," says Peter Scott, director of the Knowledge Media Institute at the Open University, which itself gives free access to course materials through the OpenLearn website. He says so much high-quality material now exists on the web that traditional university models can no longer be seen as the only arbiters of quality.

Daniel Greenwood, professor of law at the Hofstra University school of law, New York, has volunteered a day a week, as well as to serve on the advisory committee. He wanted to help make education more widely available and liked the idea of being in on something new and potentially huge: "the notion that you can create something that can be expanded to serve tens of thousands of students who otherwise wouldn't be able to access education".

All being well the University (or UoPeople as it's referred) isn't just a flash in the pan as it appears, even in its infancy, to combine features of an educational offer that is not combine a political raison d'etre but a practical method of addressing access to HE provision.

A key test however, will be the backlash (or not) from the 'old world' (my term) universities - particularly in the way that they acknowledge (or not) awards given by the UoPeople when their alumni attempt to move on to further study with them.

I'd be very interested in your views of the UoPeople's approach to offering higher education study and am asking that you visit the web-site, review the material and provide some feedback.

Cheers

Ian

The Response of Labour in the Economic Crisis

Colleagues,

I have just returned from a fantastic few days with students and teaching staff of the Global Labour University (GLU). The GLU held its annual summer school in Berlin which was billed as:

Former GLU students (alumni) are cordially invited to participate in the third GLU Alumni Summer School, organised jointly by the University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics and Law. The GLU summer school will bring together GLU alumni and current GLU students, as well as professors and trade union experts from the GLU network. The summer school is intended to strengthen the network links between GLU alumni and to explore possibilities for future research collaboration. The main theme of presentations & discussions will be about the Current Financial and Economic Crisis and Labour Responses.

The GLU is a highly innovative concept (students pictured above) offering masters level educational opportunity (just as at Ruskin College) at four partner institutions in South Africa, Brazil, India and Germany.

There is more info on the GLU at http://www.global-labour-university.org/5.html

You can view the GLU summer conference programme at:

http://www.global-labour-university.org/fileadmin/summer_school_2009/TIMETABLE_GLU_conference_21.__22.9..pdf

The summer conference offered a highly challenging, stimulating range of presentations all of which provided a perspective on labour and trade union responses to the financial and economic crises. Clearly the evidence to-date suggests a degree of both rationality, for example in the BALPA shares-for-pay deal with British Airways and innovation for example in the deal brokered by the Opel works council in Germany (part of the summer conference) to protect jobs by reducing hours.

A contentious point within all of the debate however, was the degree to which trade unions should be proposing significantly alternative economic models to capitalism or just defending their place within the current malaise. Naturally an issue here is the degree of trade union significance in proposing the former, but also the degree of bargaining influence potentially lost in accommodating the latter.

So, a question here is, to what degree should trade unions support, or not, attempts by the state, employers etc., to shore up their position within the global economic downturn or is now time to turn the screw?

Cheers

Ian