Ian Manborde

Young Workers United

2012-02-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

The last post focused on the output of the Recomposition website and more specifically what is meant by solidarity unionism as practised by the IWW.

Interestingly, as I finished typing that piece I came across news on the site that the Sheffield local of the IWW has unionised a branch of Pizza Hut. This is very interesting news given the new inpenetrability of the fast food sector in the UK. What is it that the IWW has that UK trade unions do not - I think many of us could hazard a guess?

Hot on the heels of this development came contact from a colleague at the Labor Studies centre at Univ. Coll. Berkeley in the US.

In an innovative partnership with a fledgling youth-based labour organisation the Center had helped to create a video-based course 'Eye's on the Fries'. More details of the course are here: http://www.youngworkersunited.org/article.php?id=38

The group, Young Workers United, are based predominantly in California and monitor the activity of the fast food and restaurant sector. One of the interesting areas of activity is a booklet that YWU produces rating a wide range of local eateries based on social justice factors and carrying (or not) a quote from an employee.

The activity of the group (http://www.youngworkersunited.org) is well worth reviewing, and you can donate online.

Whilst the hard work of the UK trade union movement needs to be applauded in maintaining a vigorous approach to engaging with and organising young workers, something radical is missing in its approach.

Part of the answers lays outside of the UK and can be seen, as discussed in prior posts, in countries in Latin America and the US.

A significant answer to the conundrum is relatively simple, or not in the case of the UK, in that youth-based labour movements are organised by young workers for young workers and is able to resist an inherent bureacracy which manifestly hinders and plagues Western trade unionism.

In addition, these movements appear able to appear and grow in the face of austerity and in sectors where any form of worker organisation is prone to attack. On that basis these developments need our support and are worthy of monitoring for evidence of what works and what can be transferred.

Any comments on this post are very welcome.

In Solidarity.

Ian

An alternative unionism

2012-02-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

The major benefit of working amongst the highly talented trade unionists who comprise the current crop of students on the labour studies MA that I run at Ruskin is the opportunity to develop my own understanding of how labour movements can continue to reshape and grow in the face of external and internal threats to our existence.

It is in this context that I have a great interest in the work of Dek Keenan, an MA student who, under the theme of 'an alternative unionism' is exploring the phenomenon of solidarity, minority and direct trade unionism. The primary proponents and actvists of these models are our fine sisters and brothers in the IWW. And, we have evidence of this method in action via the process of the IWW unionisation of Starbucks - surely one of the most painstaking, breathtaking unionisation successes of recent years.

YouTube has many excellent clips of young Baristas holding forth on the values of the techniques and of the benefits of union membership - they are well worth watching.

You can track these amongst the phenomenal content of the Starbucks Workers Union website (http://www.starbucksunion.org/) and get a good sense of what it takes to build and grow a union from nothing and without the need for a bureaucracy and officer structure - and built on worker solidarity.

The IWW success at Starbucks has been written up into a first rate account by Daniel Gross and Joe Tessone (An IWW Story at Starbucks, Counterpunch 2006). In the book they document the roots of solidarity unionism in a phrase used by Staughton Lynd

“Solidarity unionism is a term coined by the great labor activist and author, Staughton Lynd, to describe a rank and file organization of workers who fight directly to win demands without resorting to government certification or union bureaucracy…A solidarity union is simply a group of workers uniting with each other and other workers in the community and (with the internet) around the world, to apply direct pressure around issues of concern at work.”

Lynd wrote a book with this title in 1992 - well worth a read to get a sense of tthe historical basis for the proposition of the concept and, if you are a UK trade unionist, a consideration of what it would take to apply the lessons learned here.

It is arguably the case the we have forms of solidarity unionism in the UK and the case if the Indian Workers Association (IWA) come to mind. The examples however, tend to more historical and ad hoc and nothing on the scale of the unionisation of Starbucks in the US. Despite that, I do think that the UK remains fertile ground for the a transfer of IWW approaches - what is their to lose?

A blog that is well worth following if you are interested in what Dek is researching for his dissertation is one he has just pointed me toward (and from where the graphic below has been lifted) http://recompositionblog.wordpress.com

Please take a look and reply with your thoughts on the blog and what I have posted here. Am I, for example, just being a moist eyed about opportunities outside of our grasp in the UK or, is there indeed an alternative unionism available to us here also?

I look forward to hearing from you.

In Solidarity

Ian

Older workers in an age of austerity

2012-01-25T04:51:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

On 29-30th January the GFTU is launching its two-year European project aimed at supporting the employment needs of older workers facing workplace vulnerability.

The project (supporting the needs of older, vulnerable employees) brings together a partnership of organisations (trade unions, academic and employer) from France, Finland, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.

Embedded here is a short clip (largely show it can be shown at the launch event) of the fund that the project is backed by.

Further details of the project can be seen at: http://www.gftu.org/content/3/1/13/article/77/

Can Globalisation Work for Women?

2012-01-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Apologies for not posting an item at the start of the year, but I was tied up with deadlines/workload in both of my jobs at the GFTU and Ruskin.

And, I will have to make this first post of 2012 relatively short.

Despite this, the item under focus should be of interest to anyone in the labour movement with an interest in gender, social rights and leadership.

This new book edited by ValentineMoghadam, Suzanne Franzway and Mary Margaret Fonow is a timely analysis of the potential of trade unions globally to defend the socioeconomic rights of women with an examination of the relative strengths of weaknesses of trade union leadership in this context.

Without wanting to give the game away you can imagine what the conclusion is. Despite this it is still worth reading as the analysis and prescriptions are contemporary and they provide a modern perspective on a historical issue.

Helpfully you can read the first chapter and selected elements from Google preview via the publisher's promotional page: http://www.sunypress.edu/p-5286-making-globalization-work-for-w.aspx

Comments/feedback are very welcome.

In Solidarity

Ian

I lost my job, but found an occupation!

2011-12-15T02:56:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

This is my last post for 2011, as I am calling it a day from tomorrow afternoon.

And what a year it has been! Both of the major strikes this year have sent a clear message to the government that they simply do not understand the anger across the public and private sectors and the frustration with the corrupt notion that we are somehow all in this together.

That this anger has manifest itself as part of the international occupy movement is something that we should all be justifiably proud of - and I hope that the movement continues to grow during 2012 and beyond.

There has of course been many other reasons for optimism amngst trade unionists in particular and from a global perspective, and I hope my blog has been able to capture some of this momentum during 2011.

I will continue to provide a method to survey global developments across the spectrum of interests for trade unionists in the UK and internationally.

I do hope that you have a good break over Christmas and I extend a hope for continuing solidarity during 2012.

In Solidarity

Ian

Support SOLIDAR

2011-12-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Multinationals think they can get away with anything - and this includes Nespresso in its coffee-growing activity in Latin America. Support the campaign by the fine people behind SOLIDAR buy watching the video and sending an e-mail to George Clooney.

SOLIDAR backs its campaign against Nespresso with the following statement:

“Solidar Suisse has been committed to improving these intolerable conditions on the coffee plantations in Nicaragua for years. And we have been successful. Last year, we advised more than 15,000 people and were involved in over 4,000 court cases, 95 per cent of which reached a successful conclusion. And we are not going to give up. Not until the last plantation owner notices that every plantation worker is a human being and not a slave. And when all the multinational coffee dealers ensure that coffee pickers finally earn a decent wage, too.”

In Solidarity

Ian

N30: from DC to Dhaka

2011-12-05T01:50:00.001-08:00

Colleagues, although there was great media coverage of the national public sector strike last week, there was less attention paid to global solidarity action.

There is a good, short summary note on the blog of the International Labor Rights forum website: http://laborrightsblog.typepad.com/international_labor_right/2011/12/from-dhaka-to-dc-global-solidarity-for-striking-uk-workers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FILRF%2Finternational_labor_right+%28Labor+Is+Not+A+Commodity+Blog%29

In Solidarity

Ian

N30: Oxford

2011-11-30T08:02:00.001-08:00

Ruskin Staff on our unofficial picket line

Guy, Fergus, Rachel and Nige

Our very own UCU banner

Showing Solidarity with Oxford Univ UCU

Nige and Guy do the Banner Proud

He has to get his photo in!

4,000 strikers March in Oxford

Oxford Brought to a Standstill

We Say Fightback! (Unless you are that nice woman from NASUWT who harangues PD for upsettting a 'nice civilised, middle class march')

To return home safe

2011-11-28T05:33:00.001-08:00

Colleagues,

Just announced is the outcome of the Lofstedt review which prefigures the Coalition's bonfire of health and safety law in the UK.

Coming on the back of my last post about protected conversations it is clear that the trajectory of the Tories is a wholesale attack on the relatively minor protections that UK workers have in comparison to workers across the Continent.

Details of the Lofstedt predictions on what must go are in a BBC news item: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15919238

What is clear is that, regardless of what conclusions Lofstedt has arrived at, the Tories are adopting their historic 'it's elf and safety gone mad' mantra citing banned conkers and village fetes as a smokescreen for further weakening the HSE and freeing up employers to quite literally get away with murder.

And where, oh where, are the Labour Party in response? Answers on a postcard - if you do indeed get an answer.

By the way, the title for this post comes from a quote I remember being cited years ago by MSF (and I am sure used across the movement) of the simple position we take as trade unionists on the issue of workers' health, safety and welfare, which is that the simple guarantee a worker wants from their employer is to be able to return home to their home and family as safe and free from ill-health as they left home that morning.

Follow this story, the outcomes will not be good.

In Solidarity

Ian

Protected Conversations: A License to Intimidate

2011-11-22T02:44:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

As simple evidence of the malign, haphazard approach this coalition has reducing even further the bare framework work statutory employment protections UK workers have, on the same day I was delivering the GFTU's Advanced Employment Law course the government announced its consultation exercise on 'protected conversations'.

Dressed up in the usual illegitimate guise of motivating unproductive workers, the protected conversations will allow employers to intimidate, bully and victimise workers with impunity as the substance and nature of the conversation will not be permissible as evidence at a tribunal.

The old Etonian that heads this ramshackle coalition is quoted in the launch of the consultation exercise as saying:

“We want businesses to create jobs, but if employers are so concerned about the prospect, for instance, of being taken to tribunal that they don’t feel they can have frank conversations with their employees many companies just won’t feel able to create those jobs in the first place".

Obviously intelligence and knowledge isn't a feature of this proposal as any good TU rep would reply that most workers chances of getting a strong case to an ET is limited already - these proposals present a monumental setback to the landscape of legal protections in the UK.

An article from the FT on this is here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b217db36-0bbd-11e1-9861-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1eQjP721D

In Solidarity

Ian

Out with a Bang

2011-11-10T00:58:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

I will be away for a few days on bereavement leave, but want to post an item out of huge respect for my brother-in-law Joe Weston, who died suddenly and expectedly on Saturday 5th November.

Joe was a distinguished academic and worked in the Planning Department at Oxford Brookes.

One of Joe's academic disciplines was in the field of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and here's a link to a thought-provoking article he wrote on the nature of EIA in a risk society: http://tinyurl.com/bwqsy8m

Joe was also a serious thinker on the broader front on the future of environmental politics which led to his editing of the book Red and Green: The New Politics of the Environment.

Behind all of this however, Joe was a lifelong environmental campaigner. In tribute to this 2011 ironically marks the 20-year anniversary of one of his greatest successes.

In 1991, and working through Friends of the Earth, Joe was part of a campaign that successfully thwarted the plans to route the M40 extension through an area of oustanding natural beauty, Otmooore.

Adapting techniques used to defend areas of the Brazilian rain forest from logging the campaign was a historic success. More detail is here: http://tinyurl.com/79mm2ke

Joe's obituary appears in today's Oxford Mail and tomorrow's Oxford Times. It reads:

It is with overwhelming sadness that the family of Doctor Joe Weston (PHD, MSc, MRTPI) announce that he went out with a bang at our firework party. He left us while singing and dancing with friends and family. No words can describe the loss felt by those closest to him.

Funeral service will be held at the Oxford Crematorium at 3pm on Tuesday 15th of November. Joe leaves his wife, son, daughter and a wealth of loved ones to carry his memory.

No flowers please. All donations to The Rain Forest Foundation (http://www. rainforestfoundationuk.org/) 'Dress to go down to the pub'.

Although we didn't speak to one another often enough, and this usually and simply down to work pressures, I shall miss Joe immensely.

My heartfelt condolences go to my sister-in-law Anna, nephew Mike and neice Alice.

In Solidarity

Ian

What Does it Take to Make a Movement?

2011-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

I am just having a quick look through the Annual Report 09-10 and Strategic Plan to 2015 of the Wikimedia Foundation - the people behind all things Wiki.

What's interesting is the way in which the Founation presents itself as a 'movement'.

The Strategic Plan, for example, makes this point unequivocally:

Wikimedia is and will remain adecentralized movement comprised of readers, editors, the Wikimedia Foundation andchapters, advisers and like-minded organizations — each playing different formaland informal leadership and support roles.

This plan captures our common aspirationsand priorities. It articulates the work we will undertake to achieve our shared goalsover the next five years, and reflects our collective vision for the future.

From a labour movement perspective it is interesting to question to what degree the Wikimedia projects can truly be determined as a movement. Some of the standard literature here tends to be fairly prescriptive.

For example Beverly Silver's 2003 publication Forces of Labor: Worker's Movements and Globalization since 1870 emphasises:

- Voluntarism as the dominant method by which aspirations are identified and progressed
- Collectivity
- Progressive ideals
- Alliance with political wings either formally or looser

Much of Silver's (and others) theoretical positioning however, is quite significantly challenged in more recent literature which encompasses a more contemporary focus on broader social movements which create alternative considerations.

The work of people like Pete Waterman (and others) suggests that new determining factors include:

- The impact of and relationship to globalisation
- Internationalism - and in particular the concept of global social movements
- The inter-dependency of workers in globalisation, and as such a transition to cross-border activity as a move away from nation state-specific movements

I am not suggesting that the Wikimedia concept cannot fit easily within historic or more contemporary definitions of the conceptualisation of 'movements' moreso that we need to be able to create a flexible, modern notion of the inter-relationship of movements - particularly to identify and exploit over lapping agendas.

Any questions/comments welcome as ever.

In Solidarity

Ian

The Modern Face of an Ancient Problem

2011-10-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Apologies for the long gap since posting an item, the pace of work at the GFTU and Ruskin College has simply been so great as to keep me away from the blog.

There is a phenomenal degree of activity and developments, both academically and practically, to write about at the moment in the field of labour and trade union studies and so I have carefully selected a conference which I feel focuses on a central challenge to organised labour in the UK; forced labour.

Through support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation there is going to a seminar on 1st November in Manchester which will explore the experience of forced labour amongst Chinese migrants.

You can register and see more detail here:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/events/chinese-migrant-workers-forced-labour

The invitation to the attention describes the focus as:

We are writing to invite you to join us at an event where the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) will be launching research conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University in partnership with the Wai Yin Chinese Women Society, Manchester, and in collaboration with the Chinese Welfare Association in Belfast and the Chinese Migrant Network in London.

This research drew on the experiences of 32 migrant Chinese workers, mostly in the Chinese catering and hospitality business and it explores the experiences of exploitation among low-skilled Chinese migrant workers in the UK. It highlights the extent of exploitation at work, examines what makes workers vulnerable to forced labour, and considers the complex relationships between migration, work and family.

The body of material and activity focused on the global issue of forced labour provides a stark illustration of the continuing nature of the problem both in advanced, mid-range and developing economies.

The issue remains a central focus of the ILO predicated as it is on fundamental human rights. To this extent the ILO provides a specific web area for this issue: http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm

If you want to get a sense of the volume/scale of this issue I strongly encourage you to take some time to look at the material on the ILO site and, if you can, to get to the JRT event in Manchester.

In Solidarity

Ian

A Leader Insider of Her: A Response to Child Labour

2011-09-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

"You could say that a significant part of who I am comes from being in this organization," she says. "I learned how to value what’ around me, how to respect others, trust in my compañeros, and always take into account everyone’s opinion and make sure everyone is heard.

I’ve learned how to always keep moving forward even when there are obstacles in my way. I’ve learned to never give up what you are trying to achieve…The other girls in the organization are great leaders.

Each one has a leader inside of her. We girls are always the most active. We are more interested in politics and are always at the head of the organization."

This statement is from Ana Guadalupe Perez Rosas. She is a 16 year old domestic worker from Bolivia. More importantly, Ana is President of the La Paz chapter of the national child worker union, UNATSBO.

Noemi Guiterrez is the coordinator for CONNATSOP, the Potosi Council of Organized Child Workers also in Bolivia. Having started her working life at 12, and now 17, she is clear about the path the Bolivian government should take to eradicate child labour.

"Everyone says that kids shouldn’t work, but they are not taking into account the economic reality in this country," Noemi said. "Sure, if we were all well off, none of us would have to work. But rather than thinking rationally, the government only says we need to eradicate child labor. I say, they ought to eradicate poverty first."

I have taken these two examples from a lengthier story on the WBEZ web-site: http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/2011-09-16/%E2%80%98ground-shifters%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98girls-gauntlets%E2%80%99-%E2%80%93-children-unionizing-bolivia-92051

The storty brings together an impressive array of voices of girls and young women who have either collectivised their interests independently or worked with established labour movement organisations.

What is happening across Bolivia, and other parts of Latin America, is phenomenal and one of the reasons why there is much to be optimistic about the growth in labour movements globally. Additionally, what the Bolivian experience is telling us is that self-organisation amongst young workers can and does happen.

Please take the time to read the full piece which is part of larger initiative around gender, leadership, human rights and the media.

In Solidarity

Ian

An Age of Precarity

2011-09-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Last Friday was spent at Warwick University at the second seminar in an ESCR-funded series on young workers and precarious employment.

I hope to make a contribution to the next seminar (16th March - Manchester University) as this focuses on the trade union responses to the issue and overlaps with a national GFTU project.

Details of the seminar series can be seen at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/research/irru/ywesrc/. If you can make any of the remaining seminars you should as the issues raised are central to the future role of trade unions in the UK (and internationally) from a generic perspective, not just that of precarious work and young workers, although this is of course a serious cause for concern.

What was particularly striking during the seminar was a central sociological, economic and cultural disjuncture occuring across the EU. Put simply, whilst economic imperatives are forcing though changes to labour markets and as a consequence destabilising the likelihood of young workers gaining secure, long-term employment, cultural and societal norms prevail which are in antipathy to modern trends.

A basic example of this arises from an event I attended way back during the last dock workers' dispute (95-98). The dispute became a very nasty business. Not just because workers were sacked in defence on the maintenance of secure employment, but also because of the poor treatment of the dockers by their own union, the TGWU.

The event was a strikers' fund rally in Manchester run by a dockers' wives support group. At the rally one of the sacked dock workers stated simply that he acommodate the employer's demand of moving to a contract based on flexibility of employment if his bank, gas supplier, food shop etc., would accept flexibility in the way he paid his bills.

Although a basic story for me it illustrates the dilemma of workers (particularly, although not exclusively) caught in a trap of the EU's neoliberal policy reform of employment supply (e.g. flexicurity) and its clash with dominant, prevailing cultural assumptions about the way in which people's lives are lived.

This is a central dichotomy that features as part of the seminar series and one of the truly worrying aspects is the extent to which the dichotomy becomes 'resolved' in that precarious work is normalised as an mainstream expectation of young workers.

Clearly this process has to be resisted and so the next two seminars are of particular interest as it explores the range of responses to the predicament.

I welcome comments, questions etc about this item.

In Solidarity

Ian

Leaderless Movements Can Win

2011-09-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

The volume of material (print/web etc.) that has been produced as a result of the Arab spring has been phenomenal, essential but at the same time overwhelming.

So, the latest book from Jean-Pierre Filiu, the eminent French writer on the Middle East, is a lucid, critical and calm reflection on the 'uprising'.

One of the first striking aspects of the book is Filiu's central position which is that, despite the legacy of attempts of Arab nationalism, and the worst excesses of islamist dogmatism, the hisory of the Middle East does not provide the basis for a form of Arab exceptionalism within the context of open, democratic societies.

As a teacher of trade union and labour studies I would particularly recommend a reading of chapters 4 and 5, 'Social networks work' and 'Leaderless movements can win'.

Although the entire text is worth a read, these two chapters in particular should provoke an interest in the way in which social networks have captured the interest of young radicals and, when combined with forms of grassroots leaderless resistance, it has the potential for a phenoenal degree of impact.

Clearly the impact of events in Tunisia and Egypt (the key focus of the book) may not act as the catalyst for similar in the UK - although it is always galling to hear Tories trumpet protest and uprising in other countries, whilst dismissing similar in the UK - but we should take the time to reflect upon and consider what can be learnt from a phenomenon few predicted but many are talking about.

Any comments, questions welcome.

In Solidarity

Ian

The Legacy of 9/11 and its Aftermath

2011-09-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

As part of its focus on the activities around the commemoration of the deaths on 9/11 The Guardian had in it G2 supplement on the 6th September a deeply moving series of interviews with those who had lost someone on that day.

On many occasions the writing in The Guardian moved has moved me to consider writing a letter to underline the extent to which an article had significantly impacted on my thinking.

So, having read the G2 interviews on the train to Ruskin I decided to write something brief but focused. I fired it off and thought nothing of it. Then, yesterday, a text from a fellow tutor at Ruskin (Rosie Nicola) alerted me to the publication of my letter (and hers on a different topic).

The text of the letter is here:

Like many on the left and in the labour movement I have over many years developed a deep-seated resentment toward US foreign policy. The 9/11 attack did little to unsettle this unquestioning attitude, which bled into a corrosive attitude to all things American. Your collection of interviews with those directly affected by 9/11 (G2, 6 September) was a penetrating portrait of the casualties of a conflict not of their making. They look back on 9/11 with stoicism and, remarkably, little bitterness towards the terrorists who inflicted irreparable damage on their lives. The least I can do is that which I have come to dislike of the American polity: to learn lessons, wise up and move on.

The others printed with it can be read here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/09/legacy-9-11-and-aftermath

You can get a sense of my response to the G2 interviews from my letter and I'd welcome any comments or questions.

In Solidarity

Ian

Good Riddance to a Bad Apple

2011-08-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Back from a fantastic holiday with my family and, apart from the need to catch up on the background/extent of the UK riots, I have been trying to get my head around the many global developments in issues related to labour and workers’ rights.

One of the more eye-catching was the breathless praise poured over the sickly (quite literally) outgoing CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs.

Any trade unionist with an ear to the ground will know that Apple’s success under the reign of Jobs has rested primarily on the outsourcing of production to anywhere that Apple could quickly grow phenomenal profits at the expense of workers’ rights in a number of Asian countries, particularly China.

Our friends at SACOM (http://sacom.hk/archives/837) have maintained an excellent job of uncovering the brutality of working lives at Foxconn for example and Talking Union (blog of the US DSA - http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/) are documenting well the range of contemporary grievances of thousands of Chinese workers including those of workers alleging poisoning at Wintek – see the story posted by Debby Chan on 28 Aug.

In the past Jobs has not disguised his particularly vulgar views on trade unions in the US, so it is not surprising that he would care less about workers’ rights outside of the States. On a number of occasions (http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/119713) he has fallen into the typical hard-right blackhole of condemning teaching unions for alleged poor standards in schools.

The highly rated ZDNET (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/steve-jobs-blasts-teacher-unions-and-textbook-industry/4518) was one of many electronic sources which, despite its usual support for Apple products, quickly saw through Jobs’ blather, “He's right that the ideal would be to only have great teachers, but blaming the bad teacher syndrome totally on the unions isn't going to solve the problem. Paying teachers a better wage to attract more talent (they don't get those nice back-dated stock options) and keeping the good teachers from seeking other employment because they can't afford to teach would be a good start.”

It is also worth documenting that this has all occurred against a backdrop of nascent labour organisation in Jobs’ backyard. With the news earlier this year (www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/an-app-for-workers-rights-employee-at-apple-starts-union-bid-2297095.html) that some Apple had got together to form the Apple Retail Workers Union what better way to raise two fingers up to the ailing Jobs as he exits stage left.

The union has a hesitant web presence currently with a web-site that it principally collecting contact details (www.appleretailunion) and attempting – for justifiable reasons – to gather the details of potential recruits amongst what Apple staff. A more buoyant Facebook page exists and is worth a visit not least to express solidarity.

Even The Observer yesterday had a praiseworthy piece on Jobs, which is probably the catalyst for this post. What a pity, I thought, that in examining the global growth and reach of a corporation, the media cannot ask at what price for the workers involved?

Comments, additions and questions welcome.

In Solidarity

Ian

Αλληλεγγύης (Solidarity)

2011-08-01T09:29:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

I am just heading off to Crete for a break with my family.

And, I am very pleased to report that, in addition to the strong protest movements on the Greek mainland in full swing, there is plenty of militant trade union action evident in Crete also.

It also transpires that not all of the unrest is linked to the Greek government's response to the debt-crisis.

A quick round-up indicates the following:

The Hellenic Seamen’s Union (PNO) is kicking up a fuss because of planned changes to T&Cs and is currently doing a sterling job blockading a number of ports. I hope to get myself to the port closest to where I am staying and, with my dire Greek, send a message of solidarity.

The taxi drivers' union in collaboration with the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) must be causing mayhem with their blockade of Iraklio Airport. I derive great pleasure from the angst of fuming Brits when they encounter striking sisters and brothers on the continent. These gits think they have avoided Bob Crow and his heirs and saunter off to Crete to avoid him only to find his kindred spirits in equally feisty mode!

Even the dentists are threatening to down their tweezers, or whatever it is they tap your teeth with. Apparently the government want to allow those without a degree in dentistry to set up in practice - and they wonder why the tooth doctors are getting all uptight -much gnashing of teeth!

There is a full round-up of all disputes in Greece and across the islands at: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Greece

All being I will make it back without being arrested or joining some form of insurrection!

In Solidarity

Ian

Rank & File

2011-07-27T08:33:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

In October Haymarket Books are publishing a revised and expanded version of this phenomenally important, classic text by Alice Lynd and Staughton Lynd.

Why is this book so important? Because it provides an oral history account of how men and women forged the American labour movement and of how this was done despite the bureaucracy of the 'official' trade union movement.

If you are particularly interested in how we address the modern challenges of labour movement renewal, discover how labour movements start, from stories by the people that started them.

You will be able to order the new edition of Rank & File from PM Books which is a good place to look for books on the labour movement and left in the US: www.pmpress.org/content/index.php

Cheers

Ian

Addicted to Risk: Naomi Klein, Jan 2011

2011-07-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ruskin College: Education for Transformation

2011-07-14T07:28:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

As the end of the academic year nears it was great to spend some time today with TUC students at Ruskin who have just completed the Employment Law Diploma and Heath & Safety courses.

Pictured left is the group of trade union activists who have beneffited from their educational experience at Ruskin; and from whom Ruskin can still claim a live, direct link with the work of trade unions in the UK and internationally.

No form of workers' education no matter how short or even informal can be derided for its ultimate goal of seeking to enable some degree of change or transformation is society.

As Poalo Freire said: "Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world."

At Ruskin I am proud to say that we continue to play a highly active part in facilitating this form of education. Pictured here are colleagues who make the TUC education activity at Ruskin what it is, Rachel Hemstock (TUC Centre Administrator), Tracy Walsh (Tutor on TUC Courses and labour studies BA and MA) and Nigel Williams (TUC Centre Co-ordinator and current student on the Ruskin labour studies MA!).

Even though the future of further and higher education in the UK remains uncertain, it is days like these which remind you of the central importance that education can play in, quite simply, making things happen.

In Solidarity

Ian

Turn the Tide

2011-07-07T04:59:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

The phone hacking scandal could prove to be a critical juncture at which to strike definitively at News International and Murdoch.

There is plenty going at the moment and you should see it as your duty to get involved.

Sign up for the protests that are being organised by the new FaceBook group - they are working constructively to chuck high grade oil onto the flames which are licking the heels of those companies which are fleeing the NI stable: http://www.facebook.com/boycottNOTW#!/boycottNOTW#!/boycottNOTW?sk=photos

There is the explictly anti-Murdoch/BSkyB petition at 38 Degree: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/murdoch-deal-petition#petition

Avaaz too are taking the NoW scandal to attempt the BSkyB takeover: http://www.avaaz.org/en/murdoch_messages_2/?fp

I have even come across Tories (without whom where would Murdoch be?!) attempting to hitch a ride on the boycott wagon!

In Solidarity

Ian

This is What Anger Looks Like!

2011-07-01T02:37:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

Despite the under-reporting of the fantastic turnout for yesterday's day of action, I am pleased to read this morning the news of concerted strike action across the UK.

I am also pleased to record my own, small contribution to the action in Oxford city centre yesterday where hundreds of trade unionists took over the city centre at lunchtime.

The two pictures here are testimony to the proud throng which bemused tourists and delighted the

locals. Although the ConDems will continue to paint us as a minority, they cannot contain the pure anger that was out on the street yesterday.

I look forward the the planned waves of further action and guarantee you that Ruskin College staff will be there taking a rightful place amongst sisters and brothers of the British labour movement.

In Solidarity.

Ian

In Solidarity with All Strikers on 30th June 2011

2011-06-29T00:45:00.001-07:00

International Trade Union Ties Re-Built

2011-06-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Apologies for the delay in posting a new item since the last but I have recently been on bereavement leave following the tragic news of the death of my brother Weldon Manborde.

Thank you to the many people who have sent messages of condolence - a great help at a difficult time.

My brother sadly passed away I was with students of the MA programme that in Cyprus.

We were being hosted by officers of the Cyprus Workers' Federation (SEK). The trip came in to being as 5 officers of SEK are currently part-time students of the MA.

What I hadn't realised however was that SEK saw the opportunity of the visit as repayment of a long-standing debt to Ruskin, and I am pleased to see the visit as one of the ways of rebuilding the historical ties between the two organisations.

Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 SEK, (see the SEK web-site for more historical information: http://www.sek.org.cy/?q=en) alongside many other parts of the labour movement, found itself fragmented and struggling as resources and infrastructure were displaced. A number of SEK officers were hosted by Ruskin as a result for 3 months in 1974 which gave the Federation time and scope to consider how it would respond to the partitioning of the island and the weakening of the organisation as a result.

Despite this SEK is now the largest trade union federation on the island and I am proud of the fact that SEK and Ruskin are able to develop a new relationship on the back of support provided to them by Ruskin at a difficult time in the Federation's history.

I send messages of thanks and solidarity to our colleagues in SEK (and I know the MA students had a great time as your guests) and look forward to growth and stability of organised labour on the island.

In Solidarity

Ian

We are a Union Town!

2011-05-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Please take a moment to watch, and download, the fantastic song Union Town, sung by Tom Morello.

The song is quite literally the soundtrack to the momentous trade union victory in Wisconsin.

But that fight goes on and the organisation Save Workers provides a great site (and link to video/song) to get updates on the fight to protect union rights in the US.

Visit the site today: http://saveworkers.org/

In Solidarity

Ian

Something new in the British Labour Movement

2011-05-19T01:24:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

It isn't often the case that you can always look forward to signs of renewal and change in the British labour movement, but I'm gearing up for the next few days which promises to deliver this in two, small, but significant ways.

First, I'll be working at the inaugural event to launch the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU, UK). The original US-based Coalition has proved particularly successful in driving up the numbers of black members and activists across the labour movement in the States, and in strategically positioning the interests of black workers as central to the mainstream interests of the broader labour movement (http://www.cbtu.org/).

The CBTU UK is a (www.unionbook.org/group/coalitionofblacktradeunionistsuk) is promising that this inaugural event (to be held at Ruskin College) provides a strategic framework for the organisation based on the needs and interests of black workers, not least in the context of the ConDem's response to the economic crisis.

After this I am heading off to Manchester for the 99th Biennial General Council Meeting (BGCM) of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) in my role as the Federation's Projects Officer.

Although we are a small organisation, we are unique in representing the interests of small, specialist trade unions and professional associations. The GFTU has a history central to the growth and development of the British trade union movement in the 20th Century. Historical background information, including that around our Walter Crane designed logo (pictured left) can be seen at: www.gftu.org/content/3/6/

For the labour movement anoraks amongst you details of the conference are available here: www.gftu.org/content/3/3/26/

The BGCM will witness the nearing of the end of the role of Mike Bradley as General Secretary of the GFTU and the election of a new President who will take the place of Joe Marino, who has also retired from his role as General Secretary of the Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union (BFAWU). The conference is a pivotal moment in the history of the GFTU as it will vote on a new mechanism to elect the new GS.

From a personal perspective I would argue that small, specialist trade unions are vital to the health and vigour of labour movements globally, and so the future role of the GFTU is a key aspect of the debate around union revitalisation in the UK.

I am looking forward to being with a large, diverse range of trade union sisters and brothers over the next few days and any comments/questions about this work is, as ever, welcome.

In Solidarity

Ian

In Solidarity with PCS

2011-05-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Colleagues, just about to head off to the PCS annual conference in Brighton. A chance to spend some quality time with reps from the trade union (in CPSA as it then was) in which I discovered my lifelong passion in, and commitment to, trade unionism. It was via CPSA activism that I won the TUC scholarship to Ruskin College in 1989 and it was in that same union that I experienced first hand Thatcher's hatred of all things collective. And through that union in the 1980's I learnt of how important solidarity was and is, particularly as I joined the yearly march in Cheltenham to demand that trade unions be returned to GCHQ and that the workers sacked for defending their union membership be returned to work. I have a lot to thank that union for and haven't forgotten that debt, not least since it was that that scholarship which set me on the path to working at Ruskin College.

Another reason I welcome the opportunity to work closely with this union is that, like others in the public sector, its members are at the coalface in delivering services desparately needed by those at the margins of British society. But now these workers are exposed to the brutal assault on public services, and of all of the attacks that I feel most personally it is that at the Equality and Humans Rights Commission (EHRC).

And why? It was whilst working at the predecessor Equal Opportunities Commission in Manchester in 1986 (which along with the CRE and DRC formed the EHRC in 2007) that I began my activism with CPSA. The EOC then, as the EHRC now, lived life under a Conservative government (we'll ignore the Lib Dems in this 'coalition' as the Tories are quite happy to also) destined to weaken the work of an organisation vested with a statutory duty to root-out and challenge discrimination - in the case of the EOC on the basis of gender.

What makes the current attack on the EHRC worse than those at the EOC is the connivance and contrivance of its leadership (Trevor Phillips being at the centre) whom, one would have assumed, would have been working hard to protect the vital services that the Conservatives are kicking into the long grass with the demand that the Commission reduces it operation budget by an unprecented 68% (from £70 million in 2007 to £22.5 by 2015).

The recent national action (pictured left) against the immediate impact of the cuts on invaluable public advice services is the first of a series of action that the union is organising. As with other action against public sector cuts your help and support is needed. Links to the national petition, details of the action at the EHRC and further details of the cuts - and of all current PCS campaigns can be seen at the union's national website: http://www.pcs.org.uk/

Any comments/feedback welcome.

In Solidarity

Ian

Human Rights - Civil Rights - Trade Union Rights

2011-05-05T04:24:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

Pressure of work since coming back from leave has meant that I (quite disgracefully) did not post an item for either Workers' Memorial Day (28th April or May Day.

To try and remedy this catastrophe I am posting this fantastic image of Martin Luther King (and one of his many pro-union quotes) I came across recently when discussing a book that an MA student has used for a recent assignment.

Poor Workers' Unions by Vannessa Tait is, from my perspective, a book of tremendous scope and from several perspectives. One of the most important is that it charts the linkage between the social movement of the 60's civil rights protests and that of trade union demands for basic rights (particularly pay) for black workers. The coverage also of what historically have been called 'poor workers' unions' is also important to understanding trade union history, particularly in the US, as it helps delinate between the those unions which not only have a troubled history in the organisation and representation of the interets of black workers, but whom also disinhereted the interests of those workers outside of 'skilled' professions.

A review of Tait's book can seen here: http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/121-Review_of_Poor_Workers'_Unions.htm

The overall trajectory of the civil rights movement in the US can be seen as one moving from human rights (in simply recognising the existence as black people as equal to that of whites - particularly in the context of the constitution) to civil rights (with a focus on the right to vote, the abolishing of segregration etc.) and the transition to the embodiment of these achievements within the context of trade union and other social rights.

We know that the last period in the life of Martin Luther King was one where he connected social justice with the grinding poverty of black people across the US and aligned himself with trade union demands for a minimum wage and the protection of basic freedoms.

It is a legacy that all trade unionists must firstly become familiar with in its historical sense and secondly commit to as a programme of action that is still as vital today as it was then.

Any thoughts and comments are, as ever, welcome.

In Solidarity.

Ian

The Young are the Heart of the Movement

2011-04-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

With the words 'the young are the heart of the movement' Salman Jaffar Al Mahfoodh, General Secretary of the General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions (GFBTU) identifies what lays at the heart of the revolt and resistance in Bahrain.

The ITUC is calling upon trade unions and trade unionists globally to support the efforts of the GFBTU, as part of a wider civil society coalition, in resisting a vicious assault on its members and on workers, and citizens, in Bahrain.

Details of the current situation for the labour movement in Bahrain can be seen via this link and you will also see ways in which you can provide moral and practical support: http://www.ituc-csi.org/bahrain.html

In urging your support the ITUC is unequivocal about the threat posed to trade unionists:

The people of Bahrain are living in a state of fear of further killings and other violence, arbitrary detention, and loss of their livelihoods. Bahrain is sliding into absolute dictatorship, and the elimination of trade union activity is being given a high priority by those in the ruling circles who intend to complete the transformation of the country into a totalitarian state.

Please do all you can to support the ITUC's campaign and forward the link to the ITUC material to as many trade union (and allied) friends and colleagues as you can.

In Solidarity

Ian

Good People - Different Places

2011-04-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Colleagues, a great way to end the week and just about to head off for a few days in the sun. Finished the week with UNISON activists (below) at Wolverhampton Acute NHS Trust. Like all other colleagues in the public sector these fine women and men face tremendous challenges ahead but will of course do their very best to defend the interests of their members. I was hugely impressed by the significant degree of knowledge and experience these reps had - a tribute to the British labour movement. And then from on to the wedding (see the two pics below) of my nephew Stephen to Deborah in Manchester. What great weather for a wonderful wedding. All of the Manborde family were there and we had (as Manborde's do at parties) a fantastic time. Such a pity that we don't get the chance to do this more often. What a great way to end the Spring term at Ruskin College and move forward into the Summer period. If only I could spend all of my time like this! Ian.

A Procession of the Damned

2011-04-05T01:27:00.000-07:00

Colleagues, You must wonder whether turkeys do indeed vote for christmas with the news this morning that something called the 'Event & Movement - Rally Against Debt' is planning a pro-cuts march. Pro-cuts?! I do hope these people very quickly and quite desparately require the services of an element of the public sector and of one of its employees that they seem to despise so much. You don't like to stereotype but you know automatically what type of character will appear (if they do appear) when you read on their web-site (http://rallyagainstdebt.org/) that the initiative was the brainchild of UKIP fiends going by the names of Annabel and Harry. We mustn't however write this initiative off. As discussed in today's Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/04/pro-cuts-rally-against-debt?INTCMP=SRCH) this cabal has the potential to (de)generate into a UK version of the Tea Party Movement - of which they claim they won't be - until the Guardian identifies clear, tangible alliances between the people behind the pro-cuts march and the anti-Obama rightwing movement in the US. We cannot dismiss them neither as these people are the continuum of the far-right's politics of hatred for any form of initiative that seeks to address and redress the fallout from hardline neoliberal economic and social policies. All being well the left and the TU movement in this country is able to develop a sizeable response to what these people are doing and, hopefully, the police will not intervene when they are chased into the Thames by the Black Bloc! I look forward to seeing you in London on May 14 (the date they reckon they will be on the streets) and I very much look forward to what a good friend of mind would call 'a ruck' (i.e. a fight). Cheers Ian PS: Thanks to Roger Sutton (GFTU) for the picture from TUC March on 26th March. See all pictures here: www.gftu.org/content/3/1/10/article/75/

A March for the Alternative

2011-03-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

Colleagues, a great day was spent in London yesterday for the highly successful TUC March for the Alternative. I was able to travel down with Manjit Singh (TSSA Steward at Coventry Railway Station) and his son Bally (last pictures shown below) and was pleased to bump into so many friends and colleagues along the route of the march. A great head of steam was built up yesterday, it is important that we use own 'kettle' to help create some momentum behind the sheer anger and force that it across the UK.

Knowledge is Power: Unity is Strength

2011-03-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

Colleagues from Ruskin College, Des McDermott (left) and John Walker (right) support striking UCU members at the University of Oxford on Tuesday this week.

They are proudly displaying for the first time our new UCU branch banner, provided by the UCU - but lacking a UCU logo!

Ian

Guest Item: Asbestos - Still a Global Threat

2011-03-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

I am very pleased to provide the opportunity and space for a specialist guest-written item on my blog.

I have been approached by Eric Stevenson (a health and safety advocate) to help publicise the continuing global threat posed from asbestos mining, production and use.

There are a lot of resources available to trade unionists on the dangers posed from asbestos and Eric's piece helpfully identifies these, and if you contact me I can send links to these as well

Quebec is home to one of the most successful asbestos mines in history. Since 1879, residents of the town have maintained a working relationship with their namesake. The Jeffrey Mine, today the world’s largest asbestos mine, has produced as much as 150,000 tons of asbestos since 2006. However with the dwindling deposit of the ore available, production has practically halted. That is, until very recently. It has been discovered that beneath the ground of the Jeffrey Mine lies the world’s largest deposit of untouched asbestos. With the discovery have come prospective buyers and investors.

They plan to resurrect the mine and consequently the town by offering jobs to the out of work miners there.However, with the rejuvenation of [http://www.mesotheliomalawsuit.org/] Jeffery Mine comes the medical problem that asbestos poses to employees and to those to whom the product will be exported. Asbestos has been banned from commercial use in several countries, despite its low cost and its fire-resistant properties, largely because asbestos is now widely known as a potent carcinogen.When disturbed, sanded, broken, burnt, or cut, asbestos and asbestos materials release nearly invisible fibers into the air. These fibers settle on the clothes, hair, and shoes of those who handle the product and loved ones and family members are also very likely to come in contact with the fibers. When the fine fibers are inhaled or ingested, tissue scarring results in mesothelioma, a cancer that ravages the lining of the lungs, the abdomen, and the heart.[http://www.mesotheliomasymptoms.com/mesothelioma-symptoms] Mesothelioma symptom are subtle and very often lie dormant for 20 to 50 years after initial asbestos exposure.

Because workers and those with asbestos products in their homes are unaware of the cancer, it has ample time to metastasize, spreading to other vital organs without triggering symptoms. If mesothelioma is at all diagnosed before the death of the victim, it is often already at a late stage. Victims of the disease suffer from harsh treatment that often proves ineffective.Because many in developing countries are not yet aware of the danger of asbestos, the Jeffrey Mine’s potential buyer plans to export hundreds of thousands of tons of the toxic material to unsuspecting contractors and workers.

Despite the fact that [lhttp://www.mesotheliomasymptoms.com/mesothelioma-life-expectancy] mesothelioma life expectancy[/link] rates are devastatingly low and even Canada has regulations and laws against using asbestos for manufacturing within its borders, the Jeffrey Mine fully insists that the products will not harm other buyers or workers.The refusal of the Jeffrey Mine to accept responsibility for the devastating effects that asbestos will have on those exposed to it shows that ethics is being pushed aside for the more appetizing idea of profit.

As a worldwide community, it is up to all of us, to those who have been made aware of the dangers of such toxins, to put a stop to the blatant violation of human rights and to prevent the [http://www.mesotheliomasymptoms.com] Mesotheliomafrom unnecessarily affecting others.

Eric Stevenson is a health and safety advocate who resides in the Southeastern US, and has found his voice by shinning light onto commonly overlooked issues.

For questions about this article feel free to contact him at epicsurvivor@gmail.com

Please do post items around your own experience of handling cases in the workplace which relate to asbestos and do contact Eric direct with any questions/comments.

Ian

The Moral Position on the Right to Strike

2011-03-06T04:19:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

The Court of Appeal ruling on the appeal brought by ASLEF and the RMT has brought the UK's labour movement welcome news - not least in the context of a potential increase in industrial action in the months/years to come.

Drawing on the BBC News online piece on the story the background to the decision is this:

Aslef and the RMT challenged injunctions blocking strikes over small faults in procedure, such as polling those not entitled to vote.

The Court of Appeal clarified the law, saying unions cannot be expected to always have up-to-date membership records.

The court said in future that the information should be "as accurate as was reasonably practicable" and that allowances should be made for "small accidental failures" in administration.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12651785

The response of the RMT's General Secretary, Bob Crow, neatly (and typically) drew out the moral and political implications of the decision:

“This morning’s judgment is not only a victory for staff on Serco Docklands and RMT’s 80,000 members but it is also a massive victory for the seven million trade unionists in the UK.

The Serco Docklands injunction on balloting process would have taken the anti-union laws in this country to within a whisker of effectively banning the right to strike if it had been allowed to stand and would have tightened the noose around the neck.

This landmark victory for working people in this country could not have been secured without the sterling work of Richard Arthur and Doug Christie from Thompson’s solicitors and the advocacy of RMT’s standing counsel John Hendy QC."

RMT Press Release: http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=143021&int1stParentNodeID=89732

Naturally we can expect the government to attempto to 'reform' the law on industrial action partly as a result of its current 'consultation' of resolving workplace disputes.

In any case the CoA decision is a thumbs up for the thousands of trade unionists facing job loss and a great boost for the TUC March on 26th March.

See you all there!

Ian

Ma nitkellimx bil-Malti

2011-02-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Just a brief item before I head off for a week of sunshine (hopefully) and (some) rest in Malta with my family.

All being well I'll also be meeting colleagues from the General Workers Union (http://www.gwu.org.mt/) and labour studies department at the University of Malta (http://www.um.edu.mt/cls).

The image posted with this item is of the GWU symbol on the first class stamp printed in 1983 to mark the 40 year anniversary of the formation of the island's largest union.

The historical development of the labour movement in Malta mirrors that of the UK given the strong historical links and is definitely worth investigation - send me an e-mail and I can send some reading.

Will post a new item when back.

Cheers!

Ian

PS The title of this post translates to 'I don't speak Maltese' as this has to be one of most difficult languages to read let alone speak, although I will be giving it a go. As stated in the Encyclopædia Britannica Maltese is the Semitic language of the Southern Central group spoken on the island of Malta. Maltese developed from a dialect of Arabic and is closely related to the western Arabic dialects of Algeria and Tunisia. Strongly influenced by the Italian dialect spoken in Sicily, Maltese is the only form of Arabic to be written in the Latin alphabet.

There is Power in a Union

2011-02-09T10:39:00.001-08:00

Colleagues,

A friend of mine has recently brought this new book (published in September last year) to my attention. To my shame I wasn't aware that it had been published but on reviewing it found it to be one of the most readable and honest books on the development of the labour movement in the US - of which there are hundreds.

To save time (forgive me for this) in doing the book justice I have lifted the book's review from the UCS bookstore - from where all good trade unionists should buy a copy:

This sympathetic, thoughtful and highly readable history of the American labor movement traces unionism from the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1820s to organized labor’s decline in the 1980s and struggle for survival and growth today.

Philip Dray’s ambition is to show us the vital accomplishments of unionism over the past 200 years and illuminate its central role in our social, political, economic, and cultural evolution. There Is Power in a Union is an epic, character-driven narrative that locates this struggle for security and dignity in all its various settings: on picket lines and in union halls, jails, assembly lines, corporate boardrooms, the courts, the halls of Congress, and the White House.

The author demonstrates, viscerally and dramatically, the urgency of the fight for fairness and economic democracy — a struggle that remains especially urgent today, when ordinary Americans are so anxious and beset by economic woes at the hands of employer greed and a new global capitalism that threatens to create a permanent underclass. He notes that security of full-time employees is also threatened in the new 24-hours-a-day workplace dominated by computers and e-mail, which he calls "the electronic collar." Illustrated with dozens of photos, posters and more.

"The unending struggle between unions and big business has never been more vividly told. Philip Dray is a marvelous storyteller who brings history memorably alive, and you will not soon forget the tales of murder and greed, commitment and sacrifice that fill these pages. But this is more than history; the compelling saga of labor as a crucible for social change should prompt some honest and hard debate about what’s happening to workingmen and -women today."
BILL MOYERS, JOURNALIST (HOST OF PBS'S BILL MOYERS JOURNAL)
http://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp7/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=powerunion

Ian

The Slippery Slope Starts Here

2011-02-04T01:27:00.000-08:00

With the formal start of the Government's consultation exercise on 'reforming' the process for resolving workplace disputes the sledgehammer is just about to swing on the weak framework of employment rights that UK workers have in comparison to our brothers and sisters on the Continent.

If you look at the consultation paperwork (http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/resolving-workplace-disputes?cat=open) it is no suprise that the Tories have cast this assult on rights within the context of their own austerity measures and, as a result, they wish to
'remove barriers to growth and job creation'.

It beggar's belief that the Tories retain their ideological assumption that a weakening of employment protection = an increase in employment within the economy. This was the same assumption that decried the introduction of the minimum wage (a downward pressure on wages and mass unemployment the lunatics cried) and instead we saw an increase in employemnt and a flattening of wage variance at the lower end of the labour force.

One of the more worrying features of their proposals is the extension back to two years of the qualifying period for the right to take to Employment Tribunal a claim of unfair dismissal. The consultation documents delights in the fact that such a change would result in
'3,700-4,700 fewer claims being made to tribunal' and what of the legitimate claims of unfair dismissal within this number who will fall foul of the change?

The Tories (as it is they who control the government and the attack dogs here) are clear that they will continue, perhaps at even greater a pace than Gordon Brown, the neo-liberal assault on social and welfare protection within the British economy.

As the labour movement prepares for industrial action this year we can expect a new wave of 'reform' that will bite deeply into our capacity and capability to organise and respond to the large scale assult on the public sector and standards in British society generally. We have to resist this in any way we can.

Please take the time to read the consultation document and make sure that your trade union is providing a response. Your general thoughts on this piece are also welcome.

Ian

Egypt: The Workers' Voice

2011-01-30T03:34:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

As the state of emergency in Tunisia bled (literally) into the fleeing of the ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, it was quite clear that, there after, all expectation was of an impact on the largest of all Arab nations, Egypt.

I have the priviledged experience of meeting with and working alongside the Egyptian Centre for Workers' and Trade Union Services (CWTUS) (http://www.ctuws.com/).

Historically the Centre has operated as the quasi-official centre for independent trade unionism in a country where the official labour movement has traditionally been operated and run by the state.

The ITUC's 2010 Annual Survey of the Violation of Trade Union rights provides, as ever, a critically concise snapshot of the state of organised labour in a country under siege:

http://survey.ituc-csi.org/+-Egypt-+.html

As you will see the Survey's report on Egypt charts the way in which the CWTUS has attempted to build an independent labour movement, albeit in the face of a vicious campaign of state-insprited brutality.

It is clear that as the regime of Hosni Mubarak desparately attempts to cling to power a variety of civil society organisations, including the CWTUS, are succesfullly mobilising thousands of protesters across Egypt.

The end game for the Mubarak regime is part testament to the resilience of many organisations like the CWTUS who have, despite the harsh realities of life under dictator, maintained their strength largely through the spirited resolve of the Egyptian working class.

I have maintained contact with the CWTUS and have followed closely the yearly waves of strike action that bursts through the constraints of the official labour movement. Although this has typically result in sackings, jailings and assault it has not diminished the willingness of Egyptians to engage in action that is deemed to, in part at least, challenge the authority of the state.

Clearly the next few days will be critical in determining Egypt's future. And in ensuring that the voice of the Egyptian worker is part of the next stage in dialogue the CWTUS will no doubt continue to play their essential role in building a free, independent labour movement.

I am sure that I speak for many in the UK trade union movement when I send the CWTUS a message of solidarity and strength for the period ahead.

Ian

And So I Stood: David Kitson (25.08.19 - 09.11.10)

2011-01-18T13:32:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

For over 20 years I have kept and treasured a (now dog-eared) large poster which was printed to celebrate the release in 1984 from a South African prison of David Kitson ANC activist, SACP member and pivotal cadre member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK, or Spear of the Nation) the armed wing of the ANC.

With David's death in Johannesburg before Christmas we should both mourn the sad loss of a true fighter in the South African liberation struggle, but also remember the acts of treachery and collusion that led to his political isolation when he moved from South Africa to London following his release.

As a student at Ruskin College in the 1980's I am my contemporaries knew of David's connections with Ruskin as a Ruskin student himself and then, disgracefully, in the way that he was mistreated by his own union (TASS a forerunner of MSF) which withdrew his union-funded opportunity to teach at Ruskin having been shunned by the ANC.

There are some wonderful tributes to David Kitson that do greater justice than I could in recording and celebrating his life. Please take the time to read these and please post comments when you have read these.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/17/david-kitson-obituary

http://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/international/2008-obituary-david-kitson-principled-communist-and-freedom-fighter-frfi-218-dec-2010--jan-2011.html

Thanks

Ian

Thank you LabourStart!

2011-01-14T07:41:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Apologies for my late start to blogging in 2011. I have been heavily tied up with teaching since the start of the New Year and have just finished a great 3-day course with local reps of the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP) in London.

To kick off 2011 I am using the LabouStart picture of 2010. The caption for the winning entry reads:

The 2010 Photo of the Year winner: Farmworkers early in the morning, waiting to start the Pilgrimage for Freedom, a 50 km march for migrant workers rights, from Leamington to Windsor Ontario on Thanksgiving 2010 .

Sticking with LabourStart I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by its range and shape of current industrial unrest across the globe. From protests in Tunisia to the on-going strike action in Cambodia LabourStart provides the global labour movement with an essential service - long may Eric Lee and his team of labour correspondents thrive to perform this function.

So, my first posting for 2011 is a short reminder to, as LabourStart suggests, make sure this site is the one where you start your day (http://www.labourstart.org/).

My very best wishes for 2011.

Ian

2011: We are the Lions

2010-12-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

"What you are running is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips. Others are lions who can bite your head off. We are those lions, Mr Manager."

When I heard the sad news that Jayaben Desai has passed away on 23rd December I couldn't decide whether her death signalled, once again, the irrevocable decline of the of the British trade union movement or instead provides a helpful narrative from which we can draw lessons for what will be a challenging period ahead.

Whichever your view will depend on the significance that you apportion to the famous Grunwick indistrial dispute of of 1977-78. For many people, including me, the importance of the dispute was the extent to which the dispute, led by Desai, challenged the government with the demand that workers automatically have trade union recognition when the majority of the workforce wanted it.

Although the strike was ultimately broken it became a rallying point for the majority of the British trade union movement and smashed the racist/sexist myth that black and Asian women could not of themselves build for and lead industrial protest.

There is a good (albeit) brief obituary in today's Guardian which I commend to you all of you as an excellent way to pay respects to Jayaben and to prepare for 2011:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/28/jayaben-desai-obituary

I would like to wish you all the very best for 2011 and I look forward to documenting all of the challenges and changes to labour and social movements both in the UK and internationally.

Ian

A Winter of Discontent - or not?

2010-12-20T06:30:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

On the same day that a number of trade union leaders are meeting Cameron at No. 10 to threaten, amongst other things, a programme of industrial action during 2011, I have just issued a press release (in my role as Projects Officer at the General Federation of Trade Unions) to announce a major European transnational project which will promote alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms - is this good or poor timing?

The background to the GFTU's initiative is the increasing workplace tension across the EU caused as a result of governmental austerity measures and employer belt-tightening in the face of the recession.

Naturally, as witnessed in Greece, France, Ireland etc., workers have taken to the streets and at the same time there has been an increase in the volume of workplace disputes resolved without recourse to court settlement.

A very useful snapshot on the rise of ADR was produced by the European Foundation for the Improvement in Living & Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) last year, and written by John Purcell at the Industrial Relations Research Unit (IRRU) at Warwick Univ:
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/docs/eiro/tn0910039s/tn0910039s.pdf

Although there are some understandable variances in the approaches used by European trade unions to indsutrial action and to ADR itself the report concluded:

There is some evidence to suggest that attitudes to the use of ADR in individual labour or employment disputes are becoming more positive. In the last 10 years, 15 countries have seen initiatives of some sort in ADR. Trade unions are generally in favour of ADR, while employer organisations in most countries now support it and governments increasingly view ADR as a cost-effective and speedy alternative to court proceedings. It is suggested in some quarters that lawyers and judges are less enthusiastic about ADR, while others contend that it is the judges who are pioneering forms of pre-hearing mediation. All of these findings suggest that there is likely to be an increased take-up of ADR in the future.

Perhaps this is the reason that the GFTU has been awarded the funding by the European Commission, but a starker truth is that the industrial relations scene in the UK is set to become relatively bleak, and that any measure that encourages employers to settle disputes is no bad thing.

As Bob Crow has been quoted today as saying in reference to Len McCluskey's call for strike action:

"Len McCluskey is spot on. We need co-ordinated action, and a social and political movement that mirrors the anti-poll tax campaign if we are to turn the tide on the fiscal fascism of this ConDem government."

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12037166

Whether ADR is sufficient to respond to the growing crisis in the UK remains to be seen, but anyone who would like more information on the project is welcome to get in touch. Please send an e-mail to me: ian@gftu.org.uk

Just how do you mobilise for protest?

2010-12-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

With the news today that UNISON has set up a £20m war chest which, to quote Dave Prentis, has been created because:

"We are facing the biggest onslaught against our members, and the services they provide, in our history.

We are determined to use this money to help our members on the ground to fight for jobs and services.

"We are sending out a clear message to the coalition Government that we will not stand by and see our public services devastated, without putting up a fight.

"The money will be used to step up campaigning and to help our branches and regions combat savage cuts to jobs and services in their local communities.

"Unison members are angry and frustrated that this Government has refused to look at any of many viable alternatives to cutting public services."

Just how this money will be utilised remains to be seen. What is not in doubt however, is the significant degree of sophistication and organisation of student protest which has been undertaken for a lot less. There are great pictures of today's protests at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/gallery/2010/dec/08/tweeted-student-protest-pictures

Much of the focus in labour and trade union studies in analysing what works in catalysing protest is based on John Kelly's mobilisation theory.

Kelly's theory seeks to identfy and explain "how individuals are transformed into collective actors willing and able to create and sustain collective organization and to engage in collective action against their employers"

There are many accounts of Kelly's theory in practice, this one isn't too bad:

Mobilisation theory focuses on the social processes of collective action. Notably this involves how interests come to be defined as common or oppositional, the processes by which groups gain the capacity to act collectively, and the organisation and opportunity requirements for collective action. Kelly’s interest in mobilisation theory is in exploring how people come to see their interests as a common concern and generate within a group, a feeling of injustice, which is powerful enough to move an individual reaction or attitude to a collective response.

Various elements of relationships and social interactions are seen as important in generating this sense of injustice and persuading people to come together in collective action in the trade union context. In particular, the actions of key union activists or union leaders are seen as crucial in promoting group cohesion and identity, persuading members of the costs and benefits of collective action and defending the collective action taken in the face of counter-mobilisation.
(Ref: http://www.btinternet.com/~davidbeaumont/msf/hogan.html)

So, the principles of effective worker mobilisation are:

- Strong, effective leadership
- A collective sense of grievance
- A desire to resolve the grievance collectively

My question now then for British trade unions is the how and when?

Ian

A World to Win: The Work of Global Unions

2010-11-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

What better time for the a group of students from the international labour and trade union studies MA at Ruskin to explore the work of European and global trade union institutions than the same week of further student discontent in London and during the run up to protests in Dublin today directly attacking the government's austerit package as a result of the EU bailout.

The MA visit to Brussels allows students to investigate at first hand how national and European trade unions influence the work of the EU institutions. Similarly, meetings with global union federations (GUFs) enable a better appreciation of key global challenges to labour movements and the way in which GUFs respond.

Below is a sample of pictures from the four-day day and show (top to bottom): Isabelle Schomann (legal researcher at the European Trade Union Institute), Kathleen Walker-Shaw who heads the GMB's Brussels office, and in the final picture Duncan Smith (Education International) and Jim Baker (Co-ordinator, Global Council of Unions).

Given the proximity of the visit to national and Irish protest, which represent the phenomenon of fallout from the global recession, the student group had a perfect backdrop against which to assess how trade unions can respond to the continuity of neoliberal economic and political strategy and the way in which it is shaped and propelled by constituent agencies from the World Bank to the European Union.

A great time was had by the students and I look forward to their greater understanding of the work of unions at the European and global levels being evidenced in their written and seminar work.

Ian

The UCU/NUS Demo 10.11.10

2010-11-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

I can now reveal the location of my short video of the UCU/NUS Demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmj7z0WFSNY

Photos from the UCU/NUS Demo 10.11.10

2010-11-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

I am pleased to say that the UCU branch of Ruskin College and the Ruskin Students Union were out in full force at the packed demo against the coalition HE education cuts today in London.

I have placed my photos on Flikr, see link below, and you can see a couple here.

I am trying to get my videos onto YouTube but it's not as simple as I had thought. Please try searching YouTube using my name or NUS/UCU demo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80253489@N00/

Cheers!

Ian

Industrial Action at the ILO

2010-11-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

This past weekend I ran the first residential workshop of the MA in international labour and trade union studies that I manage at Ruskin College.
During the Saturday session Dan Blackburn of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR) delivered a session to the student group on the work of the ILO.

I happened to mention to the group that Ruskin maintained good working relations with the staff union at the ILO and that in the past the union had documented poor treatment of staff and an overall disregard for the role of the staff union.

By coincidence the staff union has taken the decision this week to undertake industrial action following a series of events where staff terms and conditions of employment were ruthlessly undermined and where the staff union were intimidated and felt that basic freedoms to collectively bargain were violated.

My colleague at the staff union Chris Land-Kazlauskas (President of the ILO Staff Union) has distributed the e-mail below today. Please do all you can to support the staff at the ILO.

Dear friends,

As many of you know, the industrial relations climate in many of our organizations – and in the Common System as a whole – has been eroding for some time. Of course, the International Labour Organization is not immune to this phenomenon. Censorship, strong-arm tactics, and even retaliation against staff representatives are becoming all too common in the international civil service.

Today, I am writing to inform you of an industrial action which will take place in the ILO – in headquarters and across the regions – beginning this week. An Extraordinary General Meeting will take place on Wednesday, 10 November 2010, where the Staff Union Committee will make proposals for specific industrial action. It is expected that the first action will take place immediately following the EGM, and actions have also been planned throughout the regions.

The ILO Staff Union Committee would appreciate any support you may wish to provide, and if you wish, participation in any events planned for your duty station. I am attaching some advance information to give you an idea of the situation.

Messages of solidarity would be welcome prior to the General Meeting on Wednesday. They can be addressed to syndicat@ilo.org. Any letters you wish to address to the ILO Administration would also be welcomed. They can be directed to somavia@ilo.org, with copy to syndicat@ilo.org.

We will keep you informed. Once again, the future of collective bargaining and industrial relations in the UN System hangs in the balance.

In solidarity,

Chris Land-Kazlauskas
Christopher Land-KazlauskasChairperson, Staff Union Committee of the
International Labour Organization - ILO
4, route des Morillons CH-1211 Geneva 22Fax: +41.22.799.82.71
Tél: +41.22.799.7958
skype: clandkazVisit our website: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/staffun/membership/join/why.htm
Or follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/staffunion

Power in Coalition: Strategies for Strong Unions and Social Change

2010-11-03T08:21:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

On my first hearing of this new book from Amanda Tattersall I thought that it was the first tract (of many to come no doubt) proselytising on the virtues of the ramshackle coalition that fronts itself as the current government.

Actually what we have instead is a first class comparative analysis (US, Canada, Australia) of what it takes to make the intersection of labour movement growth and the achievement of wider social goals possible.

I have to honestly admit a usual disinclination on my part to read material on strategies to renew/revitalise labour movements when the message is from any one of the 3 countries covered by the new book, with a slight exception for Canada, but I am happy to give this the thumbs up.

My interest in the book stems firstly from the fact that the author brings a significant labour movement pedigree to the literature on social movement unionism, and that the case studies provide a long-term root and branch analysis of workers in long-term struggle in healthcare for example.

I won't go on at length about the book other than to say that you can get it from the labourstart bookstore using the link below and that there is a really good blog that Amanda runs - see link on right.

http://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp7/index.php?sid=8jk9z6i17h859vi3y8zco3j83wmi2l0w&app=ecom&ns=prodsearchp&ecom--prodsearch--string=power+in+coalition

Ian

Congratulations!

2010-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Earlier this year I congratulated the part-time MA ILTUS cohort 2008-10 for completing the MA with the submission of their dissertations.

I would like now to congratulate them further with the announcement that all five students have been awarded the MA following the MA exam board at Ruskin last Friday.

So, Carol, Linda, Walton, Ant and Ricky my very best wishes to you all!

Ian

The Changing World of Work: New Forms of Labour Organisation

2010-10-20T03:26:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

I was with a first class group of trade unionists from across the European Union brought together by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) to develop their English language skills. Thanks again to John Stirling and Glynis Brydon for facilitating my session. Thanks also to the group for asking a challenging range of questions and working hard on the range of activities.

This post is for the students from the session yesterday and provides a response to the some of the discussion.

Online Labour Movement Organising Strategy
- There is a significant body of material that analyses the work to-date of labour movement organisations in applying new technology for organing purposes. Send me an e-mail and I will send a sample. Here is an example: http://www.btinternet.com/~davidbeaumont/msf/hogan.html

- Don't forget to use UnionBook (http://www.unionbook.org/) to develop/maintain links between trade unionists. Why not start a UnionBook forum to facilitate long-term dialogue between the group of students on the course?

- Use LabourStart (http://www.labourstart.org/) to check on trade union/labour movement developmens globally

- Eric Lee created LabourStart and UnionBook and advises union's globally on their strategies to adopt new technology for a range of purposes, including organising. You should encourage your unions to contract him to advise your union on its strategy. Please e-mail me and I will forward Eric's contact details. Read more about Eric: http://www.ericlee.info/1955/07/about_eric_lee_1.html

- If you are interested in contacting the BPO e-Union their web-site is: http://bpounion.wordpress.com/

Organising in the Informal Economy
- Again, their is a large body of material on both how to organise workers in the informal economy and material that analyses trade union strategy. E-mail me for a sample of this material.

- A very good example of the materials available has been produced by IFWEA: http://www.ifwea.org/resources/0001/buildRightsBuildUnionsDVD.pdf

Social Movement Unionism
- Once again, a lot of material available on this, please e-mail for examples.

- Here is an example of the material available from LabourNet Germany: http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/gewerkschaft/smu/The_New_Unions_Crit_Soc.htm

- It was suggested yesterday that these alliances could be relatively weak. Here is an article that provides an example of this: http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/2/2/9/2/pages22923/p22923-1.php

My Blog
You will find in my blog an extensive range of links to a wide body of labour and trade movement (and related) organisations. Please also keep an eye on my blog for the reporting of developments in labour movements globally.

It was good to meet you all yesterday, and I do wish you well in your work as part of the global labour movement.

Yours Fraternally

Ian

Welcome to the MA ILTUS @ Ruskin

2010-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

This weekend a group of 25 international trade union activists and officers gathered at Ruskin College for the introductory workshop of the MA that I run at Ruskin College in international labour and trade union studies (ILTUS).

This highly talented and experienced group comprised representatives of several countries and of a number of UK trade unions including the NUJ, GMB, COMMUNITY and NIPSA.

I wish the new cohort all the very best over the next 12 or 24 months and I know that what they gain from the MA will go straight back into building the international labour movement.

Ian

Bread & Milk at the Commonwealth Games

2010-09-23T04:57:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

As the preparations for the start of the Commonwealth Games in India continue to unravel what is exposed is the truly shocking exploitation of children as part of construction projects.

The image on the left is evidence of the children of labourers on the construction projects working to clear rubble etc., and thereafter being 'paid' with bread, milk and possibly lunch from the the project's contractor. The Indian government wanted to exploit the games as a showcase for Indian's increasing modernity, it reveals instead a casual, wholesale, alternative form of exploitation altogether.

You can see other images from the construction of the infrastructure for the Games at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/feb/02/child-labour-commonwealth-games-india#/?picture=358844731&index=1

A boycott of the games is being called, but is being opposed in many quarters, the issue of child labour being one of the issues.

Your view?

Thanks

Ian

If not you, who? If not now, when?

2010-09-19T09:05:00.001-07:00

http://sites.google.com/site/righttoworkconference/home

There is Power in A Union

2010-09-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Any self-respecting trade unionist knows at least of one song, poem, picture or general image that personifies the will and spirit of trade unionism.

For many, as for me, the song is The Ballad of Joe Hill. I've just recently been sorting/updating my collection of labour movement songs and was reminded of a great archive of labour songs that is maintained under the website of Labor Notes:

http://labornotes.org/2010/08/workers-world-awaken-theres-power-union

Whilst on the issue of cultural aspects of labour history, can I also suggest that you sign up for e-mail alerts from the Working Class Movement Library? Apart from being a world class labour movement resource, the WCML host a monthly series of talks, exhibitions, musicians etc. Although I can't always make the events I like to at least follow the range of artists that they are profiling:

http://www.wcml.org.uk/

Cheers!

Ian

Lies, Damned Lies & The Taxpayers' Alliance

2010-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

On Sunday (5th Sep) the right-wing, Conservative-party linked Tax Payers' Alliance, will push further on their assault of the UK trade union movement with a claim that trade union facility time in the public waste is contributing to the 'waste' that has led to the government's public sector spending deficit.

Whilst we know that the vital work of trade unions is pivotal in driving up standards, reducing costs, saving lives etc., the TPA continue to get a favourable press, not least in the right-wing media

This bunch of malcontents and zealots do not represent the interests of UK taxpayers (and certainly not the 6 million+ trade union member tax payers) but have already set out their anti-trade union stall with a recent 'research note' attacking the pay of general secretaries:

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/2010/07/new-tpa-research-trade-union-rich-list.html

Whilst the salary and benefits of some general secretaries are indefensible the TPA are engaging in a targeted, strategic campaign that trade unions will need to rebut in a systematic, rigorous manner.

Plenty of research exists which definitively establishes the 'business case' for trade unionism, the difficulty will be turning this into something that the public will listen to in the same way they do the distortion and dissembling of the TPA.

I'd welcome feedback on how trade unions can demonstrate their workplace 'value' and also how this can be translated into a message that will appeal to the public.

Thanks

Ian

UnionBook 2.0 Launched

2010-08-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Our friends at LabourStart have worked hard on improving the glitches and problems in the first version of UnionBook and are proud to announce the launch of UnionBook 2.0.

I have copied and pasted below a text from Eric Lee on Wednesday. Please visit the new site, register, and this this facility, not FaceBook, for all of your online networking, particularly that which is TU related. Thanks. Ian

The current version of UnionBook - the social network for trade unionists established in late 2008 - is costly, clunky and ineffective. It's been buggy and very hard to fix.
At the LabourStart conference in Canada last month we talked about ways to improve it.

Today I'm proud to anounce the launch of UnionBook 2.0.

The features available are better than what we currently offer. It is much easier to fix, configure and add things to. It also looks a lot better.

But we need to test it in practice, to see if we can get a Facebook-like experience for UnionBook.

Please sign up for an account today here and then take the new UnionBook out for a test drive:

post your photos, videos and music
join existing groups and create new ones
add comments to other people's content
add events to our online labour calendar
post entries to your blog
update your status
make friends
use the online chat to talk with other trade unionists online
invite friends and fellow union members to sign up too
send us your questions, comments, and suggestions - use the special group called "UnionBook Help and Support Network" to do so

In joining the new UnionBook, you'll be helping us create a powerful tool, an online global community of trade unionists. And I hope you'll also have fun doing so.

Thanks very much!

Eric Lee

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Protecting Jobs from 'Flexibility'

2010-08-17T05:45:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

I have today submitted, with my colleague Judith Jackson at the GFTU, a proposal to fund a multilateral European project that seeks to encourage trade unions and employers to increase their use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (ADR) as a measure to, amongst other elements, safeguard jobs in the context of the global economic downturn.

For those interested in ADR I would strongly encourage you to review the definitive range of resources available at the wed-sites of the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Working Lives (Eurofound). You can reach both (as well as the sites monitoring European trends on workplace restructuring and employment conditions) at: www.eurofound.europa.eu/

In preparing the submission, and scanning the European industrial relations horizon, its clear that we are in the midst of intense reform of employment and labour market practices that indicate a critical impact on the functioning of trade unionism on all strategic fronts.

In the UK in particular the zeal to dismantle workplace and employment safeguards provides a useful snapshot of wider European policy (not least in the guise of 'flexicurity). Whilst it is clear that trade unions seek to safeguard employment, as in the successful outcome of the BAA talks at ACAS this week, the degree to which bodies like the CBI and IoD seek dislodge employment security, under the guise of employer flexibility, should start to ring alarm bells for workers in all sectors and most workplaces.

In one of many similar demands the CBI is demanding that industrial action ballots and redundancy notification periods are drastically changed in such a way that workers' attempts to respond via industrial action to potentially job losses is reduced to such a degree that it challenges basic notions of social justice: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2010/07/articles/uk1007039i.htm

Clearly the coalition government favours these clamours, not least as a way to bulldozer through mass job loss in the public sector with little real threat of industrial action as an impediment to their neo-liberal agenda.

With even bodies like the CIPD however suggesting that too rapid a scale of reform increasing the likelihood of workplace unrest and industrial action, it is no surprise then that ADR is seen as a way to address European workplace restructuring that is taking place as a direct result of the global economic downturn. The worry however, in the context of the UK at least, is that models of ADR from across the EU rest on relatively neutral state inteference in the employment relationship - not so in the UK.

So, as employer's organisations continue to demand legal reforms that diminish the workplace bargaining status of trade unions on what practical basis can trade unions respond - particularly if the status and legitimacy of trade unionism finds no favour with the current government?

I welcome your contributions.

Ian

Won in 60 Seconds

2010-08-11T02:23:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Am now back, and partially refreshed, from a fantastic break in France.

Whilst ploughing my way through the huge pile of e-mails that have stacked up whilst I was away I have found a shameless plug from a UNISON colleague to vote for his region's video entry into this year's TUC 60 second video competition.

Is 60 seconds of video format enough to win over new union members?

You be the judge (literally) and have a look at the entries:

http://www.tuc60seconds.org.uk/

Any thoughts/comments on the quality/impact/etc. of the submissions will be welcome.

Cheers

Ian

Migrant Labour in Times of Crisis

2010-07-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Can I encourage you all to download and read the latest edition of CLR-News produced by the European Institute for Construction Labour Research:

http://www.clr-news.org/CLR-News/CLR%20News%202-2010.pdf

The Institute comprises a dynamic, authoritative cooperative network of researchers and trade union officers at European level directly engaged in research and trade union activity across the EU.

I was particularly interested in a comment in the latest CLR News (entitled Migrant Workers in a Time of Crisis) which came out of a seminar held in May earlier this year called The economic crisis: a disaster for trade unions or an opportunity for revitalisation?

Ultimately the seminar suggested that the context of the global recession (particular within construction) created relatively greater opportunity for mobilisation and revitalisation.

A suggestion for this conclusion came from the following notion:
Social protest movements have historically intensified at the beginning of an economic upturn, when people realise there are problems with distribution as a result of the inadequacy of the political leadership. Therefore, there is a vital role for trade unions to be involved, and the French are typically exemplary in terms of organising protest movements. (p.60)

An interesting point I thought however, what I remain to feel confident about is the strategic response of the UK labour movement in particular to what is emerging, day-by-day, as a frontal, ideologically-driven assault on not just the public sector, but also trade union rights.

If we are to see a greater propensity for the UK labour movement to engage in what we know are social movements I am very interested in what will act as the drivers and catalysts for this, particularly in the way that we engage with (or construct) a wideranging public resenment toward the fiscal review of public expenditure, with mobilising activity allied to the labour movement.

So, my question generally is, if we agree with the assertion from the CLR seminar, from where does the activity arise that creates the social movement protests to the Con-Dem-induced crisis emerging across the UK?

Ian

I am away on holiday to France from 25th July (a country that knows how to organise a strike!) and won't be back until 8th August.

Critical Pedagogy as Trade Union Strategy

2010-07-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

I've just been reviewing the July edition of The Shop Steward, journal of COSATU, and have been struck, as always, by the dominant theme of political education and consciousness raising as a critical feature of trade union organising strategy.

See the latest edition of the journal and archive to later editions here: http://www.cosatu.org.za/list.php?type=Shopsteward#

I've been fortunate over the years to work closely with a number of South African trade unionsists and have been conscious of the extent to which trade union education and political education are synonymous in that country in a way that it no longer is in the UK.

On the COSATU web-site there is a link to the distinct philosophy that underpins the Congress's educational strategy. COSATU places its approach within the context of 'critical pedagogy'. The Wikipedia link provides a definition:

"Habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning, first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional clichés, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning, root causes, social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action, event, object, process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse."

This pedagogy (approach to teaching) is a core feature of COSATU's political and industrial and I was interested in the way that this feature in two new developments.

The first was in the wording (see p48 of the journal) of a declaration from a mass education conference hosted by COSATU in April and bringing together over 200 community, trade union and political organisations. The event sought to the COSATU 10th Congress Mandate:

(i) to deepen ideological work on a mass base through mass political education and the development of alternative consciousness,
(ii) to advance a programme for transformation of South Africa and the world we live in; and
(iii) for an organisational development and building programme responsive to new realities, and able to build community participation and leadership as part of ensuring maximum unity of the working class.

In order to achieve this, the conference adopted the following declaration:

During the week of 13 – 16 April 2010, we, over 200 delegates from trade unions, labour service organisations and community organisations met in Johannesburg to assess the momentum of class struggle in order to initiate and plan a strong mass education campaign whose primary aim is to raise class consciousness and develop alternative forms of knowledge and struggle in order to build working class power.

The second phenomenon of a deeply politically entrenched attitide to trade union education (see p.47) is in the launch of the SACP/NEWAHU Chris Hani Brigade. The initiative seeks to draw trade union activists into the role of political commisars in the image of the murdered political activist Chris Hani:

The union’s primary aim is to establish a team of national commissars who will continue with the struggle by actively working and educating our society about the socialist principles
that were championed by Cde Hani. These commissars will then in turn, run a similar programme in their respective provinces, supported and guided by the national office.

The educational programme for those selected includes:

1. Introduction to Marxist Theory
2. Introduction to Political Economy
3. The National Democratic Revolution and the struggle for Socialism – what role for trade unions?
4. Capitalism, Patriarchy and women oppression
5. Working Class internationalism
6. Political Economy of Health and Education

As I reflected on just two examples of educational activity of COSATU I pondered the vital role of trade union education in the UK as a direct response to the deeply reactionary political agenda of the coalition.

I know and understand that we cannot simply replicate in the UK the political philisophy of marketedly different economic and political contexts however, what I anxiously wait to see in the UK is the development of a dynamic, rigorous, sophisticated response to the continuity of a neo-liberal agenda that seeks to initially undermine, but ultimately smash trade union organisation as we know it.

The education of trade union activists can and should play a part in such a strategy and I welcome comments on whether, if it all you agree with anything said here and, if yes, what this educational agenda would comprise, and what it would seek to achieve.

Ian

Congratulations!

2010-07-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Just wanted to write a note of thanks to all of the current international labour and trade union studies MA students at Ruskin, who have this week completed the Herculean task of getting their dissertations researched, written, and in the for the deadline of 30th June - all 20,000 words!

It has been a true privilege to have worked with these brothers and sisters over their 2 years at Ruskin and I do wish them well in their future work in support of the global trade union movement.

Just so you can put a name to a face they are:

Seated from left: Walton Pantland, Sue Ledwith (previous co-ordinator of MA programme), some odd Mancunian fellah and Carol Jess.

Standing from left: Rick Cottam, Anthony Foster and Linda Delgado.

I am sure these fine trade unionists will now have a well-earned, long summer break!

Cheers

Ian

International Organising Strategies

2010-06-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Just a brief report on a weekend spent amongst a wide-ranging, inspiring group of friends and colleagues.

From Friday to Saturday lunchtime I joined an eminent group of trade unionist activists, researchers and academics to form a rountable on international trade union organising strategies as part of the Northern College Social Forum.

Pictured left (speaking to group) is Keith Hodgson (REO for UNISON Northern Region)
who focused on the work of the Cuban Medical Brigades as part of a strategy to engage younger workers with trade union activity. We also heard from Mary Compton (past President of the NUT and now a divisional secretary) the driving force behind the webs-site http://www.teachersolidarity.com/blog/index.php which documents the global neo-liberal assault on teachers and on teaching trade unions - well worth checking on month-by-month.

We were joined also by the well-respected writer on labour and trade union issues Celia Mather who, amongst a strong body of work particularly on organising workers in the informal economy, was reporting on the work she had completed just this week with a global group of trade unions and NGOS representing domestic workers who had achieved the momentous goal of negotiating an ILO core labour standard on the rights of domestic workers.

There is some background information from the ILO on the plight of domestic workers here:
http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Feature_stories/lang--en/WCMS_140916/index.htm

More important however, is the web-site of the global group behind this drive:
http://www.domesticworkerrights.org/?q=node/13

It was also great to see and hear from a good friend, Ian Fitzgerald of Northumbria University. Ian is widely respected across the labour movement for his analysis of the relative strengths and weaknesses of trade union organising strategy following A8 accession, and in particular of Polish migration to the UK.

It was a pity to see the end of the rountable not least as, for a small group, the breadth and depth of experience and knowledge was phenomenal.

I did have to leave however, as in the afternoon I had the opportunity to join an equally well-respected body of speakers at an event that forms part of Co-ops Fortnight.

The event, at Methodist Central Hall (Westminster) was one of many and titled Co-operatives and Trade Unions: Working Towards a Common End. The event was chaired by Dan Whittle (Director of Unions21 - seated on right side of screen). I spoke of recent developments within the UK and US labour movements that suggested incremental steps towards greater degrees of forms of employee ownership.

I was pleased that we were joined by a good friend James Stribley (GMB Regional Convenor South Yorkshire - seated to my right) who spoke of the fantastic achievement of a group of GMB members who had been made redundant by Remploy but who have formed a co-operative (with the backing of the GMB) and who are baseed in York.

A key feature of the workshop was a presenatation by Stirling Smith (Co-operative College - standing) on the ILO core convention of the role of co-operatives within economic development and the valuable role of the convention in securing workers' rights and enabling greater degrees of mobilisation and collectivisation by workers, particlarly those in the informal economy in developing countries.

The last piece of news I want to report on is an event at Northern College that was running simultaneously to the Social Forum.

Given Northern's place in the history of the UK labour movement, and in particular of the mining communities of South Yorkshire, I was really pleased to see that the College was the venue for the 25th anniversary conference of the 84/85 miners' strike. The event 25 Years on – Reflections on the Miners Strike of 1984/85 was being run by a number of Northern Staff who were ex-miners. More details at:
http://www.northern.ac.uk/doc/events/25_Year_on_Northern_College_Conference_June_19_2010.pdf

I was really pleased a good friend at Northern, Phil Fitzpatrick, ex-miner turned librarian (now there's a great story!) on the reception desk for the event.

As ever Phil was able to coin a perfect phrase to match the mood of the event, when he suggested that, as a result of the Tories (with Lib Dem connivance) being back in power, the miners were once again grouping and coming together at Northern - did David Cameron know?

What a lot to pack into a weekend but still I was able, surrounded by women and men connected to trade unionism locally, nationally and globally, to witness events that mark our history and spell out our future.

Any comments welcome.

Cheers!

Ian

52 Ways to Change the World (Co-operatively)

2010-06-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

As part of Co-operatives Fortnight I am speaking at an event this Saturday at the Central Hall in Westminster with the theme: Co-operatives and Trade Unions: Working for a Common End.

See more: www.thereisanalternative.coop/node/7024

Some of you may remember the event last year that I organised in collaboration with Unions21 and Co-ops UK with a very similar theme. Coincidentially Dan Whittle, who is the Director of Unions 21, and who chaired last year's Manchester-based event, is also chairing Saturday's discussion.

The issue of the overlap (or not) between trade union membership (and activism) within the context of an employee-owned enterprise is one that is little-debated within the trade union movement in the UK (on the continent, this is not a problem and, as usual, they are much further ahead in investigating and supporting collaborative activity) although, where it does arise, it tends to lead, in my experience at least, to be killed off fairly quickly, not least now that Cameron has 'found' co-operatives as a useful vehicle to further assault the public sector.

Regardless of this we must, again from my own personal perspective, firstly acknowledge the legacy that co-operativism has bestowed on the wider labour movement and try and make sense of this within a modern context. We cannot contine to ignore what employee ownership can mean to trade unionists.

For example, on Saturday I am speaking on a platform with James Stribley (regional lay convenor for South Yorkshire with the GMB) who will outline the inovative way in which former Remploy employees have formed a workers' co-op following the closure of their workshop in York earlier this year. The co-operative (which formally became a legal entity in May) has its own web-site: http://www.disabledworkers.org.uk/

So, for me, a knee-jerk reaction against employee ownership within the UK labour movement is no longer (and never was) a legitimate, credible response, not least (as in the case in York) for workers able to own the means of production and create a form of employment in the face of unemployment.

I do hope that this posting elicits some robust (although respectful) feedback.

Cheers

Ian

A Moral Outrage

2010-06-11T01:18:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

The latest e-mail from Labourstart's Eric Lee is headed A Moral Outrage and his anger is not misplaced.

For Eric is commenting on the increase (yes, sadly an increase) in the number of trade unionists murdered last year and whose deaths are identified in the ITUC's latest Annual Survey of the Violation of Trade Union Rights:

http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-annual-survey.html

The ITUC has been able to gather evidence that indicates a 30% increase in the rate of murders.

Please go to the link for the 2010 Annual Survey to download a copy and also view the shocking video (available via YouTube) that accompanies it.

Please do what you can across your own trade union and labour networks to help share details of the Survey and to ensure that this issue receives the attention it deserves.

I'd welcome any comments on the report once you have had a look and suggestions for methods of being able to raise the Survey during workplace and branch discussions.

Cheers

Ian

Employment Rights & Vulnerable Workers

2010-05-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

I have previously mentioned my role at the GFTU and the current national project I am managing which will provide, amongst other elements, employment rights information to vulnerable workers, via a series of information rights fairs, across the UK.

As an update, I have been working with Thompsons Solicitors to jointly produce a new series of factsheets that will be distributed at the fairs, and via project partners and allied organisations.

You can obtain electronic versions of the new factsheets by going to:

http://www.gftu.org/content/3/1/13/article/67/

Any feedback on the factsheets is welcome.

Cheers!

Ian

Unite Here!

2010-05-18T12:37:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

I had this week an e-mail from a close friend in the US who is allied to the coalition of organisations behind the labour organising movement Unite Here!

Our American sisters and brothers allied to Unite Here are worthy of our attention not least because their organising drives engage younger, creative, vibrant mechanisms to draw attention to their work and hit hard at employer exploitation.

The latest manifestation of their creative talents is a flashmob assault on a notoriously anti-union hotel. Have a look at the flashmob event and see part of the future of organising:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-79pX1IOqPU

What I particularly like about this organisation is their essential zeal to combine the very best of traditional, in your face, organising tools with web-based information dissemination strategies.

To see what I mean have a look at the allied web sites:

http://www.sleepwiththerightpeople.org/

http://www.behindthelabel.org/

The overall message from Unite Here! is one of a sophisticated, integrated sectoral organising strategy, based on coalition building direct action initiatives with a core message driven across the web. I couldn't think of a better model of a way the way forward for the global labour movement.

Or am I wrong?

Please follow the links, view the video and tell me, what are the relative strengths and weaknesses of what Unite Here! are doing?

Cheers

Ian

Hold On, This'll Be a Rocky Ride!

2010-05-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Who of us could possible witness the unfolding events of the past 24 hours without wondering what the travesty of a Con-Lib coalition will mean for the trade union movement and our allies across progressive social movements in the UK and internationally?

I do not believe that the Lib Dems as Tory allies in government will be able to effectively moderate the worst inclinations of a party desperate to unleash a turbocharged wave of neo-liberal slash and burn policy across the public sector and and who are hell bent on eradicating the relatively minor workplace safeguards. For example, the Tories have literally foamed at the mouth in creating lies about excessive health and safety legislation and the need to rein in red tape. The impact of this mantra on the HSE can only be disastrous.

You can of course expect me to document accurately what this 'government' expects to unfurl as an employment and industrial policy and in partcular I am keen to see the actual policy outcome of the supposed clash between the two party's manifestos around employment.

Whatever the outcome, we will spend the next four years in a battle for the future of the labour movement in this country, moreso than at any time over the past 13 years. I am up for this, I am sure you are.

What do you say should be our first steps?

Cheers!

Ian

The Internet & The Labour Movement

2010-05-09T11:05:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

I spent this weekend with students who are completing the labour and trade union studies MA at Ruskin that I manage.

Sadly, this was their last residential workshop (and they are working hard on their dissertations) but as recognition of their hard work and effort I was able to secure the input of Eric Lee (LabourStart, UnionBook etc) as guest speaker on Friday night.

Eric is pictured here addressing students.

You can see a brief biog of Eric here.

www.ericlee.info/1955/07/about_eric_lee_1.html

For those unfamilar with the significant academic work of Eric's the most significant starting point is the 1996 publication of his pivotal work The Labour Movement and the Internet: The New Internationalism.

You can review abstracts and read reviews at this link:

http://www.labourstart.org/thebook.html

In addition to Eric's coverage there is a significant body of literature on the significance of the Web (in particular in the form of its latest guise as Web 2.0) an example is:

http://laborstrategies.blogs.com/global_labor_strategies/2008/10/social-movements-20.html

Amongst Eric's comments on the current state of play on the application of web technologies and the labour movement were:

1. Too many unions were wholly replacing web-based activity with 'actual word' mobilisation.

2. Often unions were guilty of Internet colonialism and only offering English as the reading language available, wholly disabiling the potential of member engagement where members do not use English as their first language. In addition, where a first language is used, there is a lack of recognition of member competence of literacy skills.

Eric's session was a fantastic opportunity to gain a global perspective on the applicability (or not) of the web as it relates to trade union activity.

In short Eric's view is, the Internet is a great tool, but only one of many which are based on the continuing physical, real world, manifestation of worker mobilisation and consciousness-raising.

Any comments on what I've said here is very welcome.

Cheers!

Ian

The Law Versus the Trade Unions: IER Seminar

2010-05-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

The outcomes of the General Election tomorrow will have ramifications for the trade union movement, and of course for workers generally, across a wide range of fronts.

There is much evidence already of Tory thinking around trade union rights and of industrial relations generally.

The Institute of Employment Rights have convenved a seminar with a stellar cast of speakers to discuss and consider the outcomes of the general election with a specific remit of the future of trade union rights.

Attendance is free so, if you can attend please do, as we must all be party to the discussion and examination of the impact of any reform on the way we move forward as a movement.

Go to the following link for more details: www.ier.org.uk/node/465

Cheers

Ian

May Day 2010

2010-05-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

I am pleased to report that on this May Day I am thoroughly surrounded by strong, vibrant evidence of the vitality of this movement of ours.

I am at Ruskin College this weekend in part to meet a new group of students starting out on the long road towards the achievement of the College's BA in International Labour & Trade Union Studies (ILTUS).

A very fine bunch of women and men - I wish them all well.

Being in Oxford I can happily report also on a very well attended march and rally in defence in jobs and the public sector as part of the city's May Day celebrations.

I always draw on illustrations from Walter Crane for May Day, and the Workers' Garland image shown here is as good as any he created.

I wish you all the best for this global workers' day of celebration. Let us reflect on the need for solidartity with workers globally and prepare for whatever it is that comes out of the general election next week.

My very best wishes.

Ian

Remember the Dead: Fight for the Living

2010-04-28T03:12:00.001-07:00

Colleagues, My very best wishes to those of you engaged in remembrance activity across the country and internationally today on one of the most important days of trade union activity.

Ian

Tenerife Libre!

2010-04-26T05:27:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

In my last post I used the unfortunate term' short' to refer to an impending holiday in Tenerife.

As you all now know, subject to the volcanish ash from Iceland my 'short' stay was all but that and I only managed to get home last Saturday!

Please bear with me as I get to grips with outstanding e-mails etc., and will post an item over the next week.

Cheers!

Ian

Workers of the World.....

2010-04-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

I'm preparing for a short break in Tenerife over the Easter break (no more posted items until after 19th April) and very pleased to report that trade unionism is alive and well in the Canary Islands.

Pictured left are trade unionsts from the Intersindical Canaria (IC) on 25 March opposing a range of austerity measures introduced by the national and regional governments.

As can be imagined within a predominantly tourist-based economy, wages are are on average lower than in Spain and unemployment is much higher than on the Spanish mainland.

Whilst on the island I hope to be able to extend a message of support to the IC and I'll let you know how I get on when I return.

Hope you all have a good break over Easter.

Best wishes

Ian

From Sick Note to Fit Note: A New Workplace Regime

2010-03-23T15:10:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

In a posting last year I highlighted the impending introduction of changes to the long-established method of certification for sickness absence.

6 April 2010 will herald a new regime in managing employee sickness absence with the introduction of the "Statement of Fitness for Work" or "Fit Note" as it is more commonly called. Fit notes will replace the current incapacity certificates which have been around in their present format since the 1920s in an attempt to reduce the incidence and costs of workplace absence. As the name suggests, the new regime focuses on encouraging employers and employees to work towards an early return to work in appropriate circumstances.

Thompsons Solicitors contributed to the consultation phase around the development of this new concept. Naturally the firm were seeking reassurances in the methods used to introduce the new system. See full details here:

http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/ltext/department-work-pensions.htm

In introducing the fit note the government's mantra is that it creates a new method by which employee's full capability of undertaking some form of work is better scrutinised and made more likely.

Have a look at what the DWP has to say in rolling-out the new system:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2009/may-2009/emp170-280509.shtml

The TUC has produced a very useful guide to the new proposals and aims to help reps prepare for its workplace implications. A pdf version of the TUC can be seen here:

http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/fitnote.pdf

Please take the time to look in detail at the information provided in the links and let me know what you see as the potential issues in your workplace.

Cheers!

Ian

The Role & Future of Trade Union Education

2010-03-11T04:06:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Can I encourage you to attend an event that is being organised by the Campaign for Independent Working Class Education (IWCE) on Saturday 27th March (11am-4pm) at Ruskin College.

I am contributing to the day's focus which attempts to shine a light on the short and long-term challenges to activist education, but also seeks to gain a sense of what the purpose and function of trade union education is.

Full details of the event can be seen on the Solidarity web-site:

http://solidaritymagazine.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/the-role-and-future-of-trade-union-education/

Cheers

Ian

Building Global Labour Networks

2010-02-22T21:41:00.001-08:00

Colleagues,

This post provides details of the Ruskin College MA in International Labour & Trade Union Studies (ILTUS) that has been kindly promoted by Eric Lee at LabourStart (www.labourstart.org).

Please review the information below about the MA and contact me with any questions about applying: imanborde@ruskin.ac.uk

Building Global Labour Networks – International Labour & Trade Union Studies at Ruskin College, Oxford

In October 2010 a new generation of labour activists will join the global network of those
who have benefited from study and learning on the International Trade Union & Labour
Studies Masters Degree at Ruskin College in Oxford.

In the fight for global justice have you the ideas, the passion and interest to join other
students to explore and understand the national, regional and global challenges to
organised labour?

As the world of work, society and employment continue to change and adapt do you want
to develop the knowledge and skills to critically inform the way in which labour to its
challenges and to the way it responds globally?

If yes, then you should enrol on the next MA programme.

What they say about the Ruskin MA:

Trade unionism needs to be global if it’s going to tackle issues like trade, aid and debt;
transnational corporations and migrant workers. Ruskin has always been internationalist,
preparing generations of trade union officers and activists from around the world. Now we
need a new generation of young men and especially women, to take up the challenge,
acquire the knowledge and develop the skills appropriate to the new globalisation of work.
And this programme is just what they need.
Brendan Barber, General Secretary, UK TUC

The MA has broadened my understanding of union revitalisation and examples from unions
in various parts of the world that have embarked on strategies and actions to confront and
arrest union decline and crisis
Ariel B. Castro - Senior Specialist for Workers' Activities - ILO Subregional Office for South Asia
(Full-time MA student 2008-09)

What to do Next
Attend the MA Open Day at our base in Oxford on Saturday 8th May. Meet staff and current
students. Review course reading materials. E-mail Liz Mathews (MA Administrator) to
register your place: lmathews@ruskin.ac.uk

You can see full details of the MA programme at: www.ruskin.ac.uk/course/84/summary

You can get an application form at:
www.ruskin.ac.uk/storage/files/Forms/Application_form__Jan_10_.pdf

Scholarships - UK
Some UK trade unions provide scholarships for study at Ruskin. Even if your union does not
provide a scholarship we will support you in approaching your union, and other
organisations, for financial assistance to support the payment of course fees.

Details of UK trade union scholarships: www.ruskin.ac.uk/study/finance/scholarships

Scholarships - Overseas
Overseas applicants can apply for a Chevening Scholarship to fund their study. These
scholarships are limited, highly competitive and subject to interview and clearance by the
Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Interviews are conducted in the country you apply from.

Details of the Ruskin Chevening Scholarships: www.ruskin.ac.uk/study/finance/scholarships

Scholarship application form: www.ruskin.ac.uk/pdf/ma_chevening_application_form.pdf

Ian Manborde
Ruskin College
MA ILTUS Programme Co-ordinator

What do you expect?

2010-02-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

We all know that trade union repression and intimidation knows no bounds, but the contradictions of state-led inteference in our legitimate role as trade unionists often throws up even greater acts of lunacy.

A colleague at the Korean Federation of Trade Unions drew my attention, via their national campaign against state hampering of union activity in the public sector, of the recent specific case of four teachers, activists with the Korean Teachers' & Education Worker's Union being fined for cooked -up charges of political interference. See the story at:

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2916566

The judge obviously saw no contradiction in making the statement below and the essential role of teachers to inform pupils of social, economic and political developments in their own country:

“Teachers having political opinions as individuals should be respected, but they are in a special position in society and collectively they must remain neutral, as making political statements to influence society could damage public order and legal peace"

My immediate reaction on reading my colleague's e-mail and seeing the news article was, essentially, what do you expect of teachers, even within the Korean constitutional framework who attempt simply to follow professional guidelines in carrying out their role.

Any examples of similar bureaucratic infringements of the rights and activities of trade unionists is welcome.

Cheers!

Ian

Who is the Vulnerable Worker?

2010-02-07T07:49:00.001-08:00

Colleagues,

On 24th February the GFTU launches its national project (in partnership with Thompsons Solicitors) which is aimed at providing employment rights advice to 'vulnerable workers'.

The event is in Leeds and any interested trade unionist is welcome to attend. I'll be managing this project in my part-time role as project's officer for the GFTU. Please send me an e-mail to register: ian@gftu.org.uk

Just exactly who constitutes a vulnerable worker, not least in the current economic climate, is an elastic, fast-changing phenomenon.

As a piece in today's Observer attests the need to provide security and support to the vast army of migrant workers remains as key today as it has been for centuries/decades:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/07/shanthy-town-migrants-free-flights

The place of the migrant worker as a critical focus, particularly for the trade union movement, has however expanded into the broader 'vulnerable' constutuency, and in doing so has placed a large proportion of the UK workforce into its bracket.

The GFTU project aims in particular to work with charitable and voluntary sector organisations to reach out to unorganised groups of vulnerable workers via a national series of employment rights fairs.

Innovatively we will be working also with the umbrella body for the UK employment agencies as a way to drive forward improvements in the employment practices of agencies.

This will be a highly challenging piece of work (not unlike others managed by the GFTU) which will however, offer some of the most vulnerable, exploited workers in the UK with essential advice around their employment status.

If you've any views around methods the project could employ to identify vulnerable workers who seek employment rights advice in a unbiased, independent setting please forward this information to me using the e-mail address above. Any other thoughts or comments on the project are welcome also.

Cheers!

Ian

Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff

2010-01-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff is the excellent title of a newly published volume on the history of films about the labour movement. There is some useful online material around this subject, but this is probably, currently the best book on the subject.

From Salt of the Earth to Roger and Me the book explores the fundamentally important role that film has played in exploring the challenges of organised labour and promoting its importance.

Although referred to all too briefly the book naturally includes one of my all time favourite trade union films, Matewan, which dramatises beautifully the plight of striking miners in the 1920's West Virginia Coalfields. Although brutal at times in its depiction of the savagery of anti-trade union tactics, the film is ultimately an inspirational testament to the need to collectively organise. There is a great write up of the background of the actual dispute and of the film itself at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matewan

The book is available for purchase via the LaborStart online bookstore:

https://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=prod&ref=movies&affl=labourstart

I'd really welcome feedback on the film that helped inspire your trade union activity and/or epitomises the best (or even worst)of the trade union movement.

Cheers

Ian

Haiti:The Trade Union Response

2010-01-19T01:28:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

The earthquake in Haiti demands an unequivocal global, humanitarian response - and as ever the trade union movement is at the forefront.

The ITUC has mobilised an international effort to respond to the disaster and is working closely with trade unionists in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. See here for more information: www.ituc-csi.org/haiti-earthquake-major.html.

As with other media organisations The Guardian is provising first class, first hand accounts of the aid response in Haiti and is providing details of how to provide financial and other assistance.

The Guardian live blog is at: www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/jan/19/haiti-earthquake-updates

Please continue to follow developments, particularly on the trade union front via the ITUC, and do all that you can to provide assistance.

Cheers

Ian

Happy New Year?

2010-01-04T00:55:00.001-08:00

Colleagues,

I hope you all had a good rest over the festive period and I wish you all the very best for 2010.

And what a year it looks set to be. The Guardian helped set the forecast on the industrial front with a useful background peice from the industrial action front based largely on planned action across the public sector, not least arising from the restarting of suspended action by the CWU.

Go to this link for full details:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/31/strikes-unions-unrest-militancy

As you'll see/hear/read from the media we are now in the midst of the unofficial start of the election campaign and we can expect only further dire news for the public sector in particular with regards to expected pay squeezes and job cuts.

It will be a highly depressing period from now until whenever the election is for public sector workers as both mainstream parties attempt to out-cut one another in respect of deep cuts in public sector services and/or the transfer of services into the private sector.

I'll be exposing what all of this means, particular from a grassroots trade union perspective over the coming months, and hope, in my own small way, to contribute to the fightback from the educational front.

In the meantime however, I hope you find the slide back into work an easy one.

Any thougts/comments on what we can expect in the run-up to the election will be welcome.

Cheers!

Ian

International Migration Day

2009-12-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Another year of challenges and successes for the global labour movement - and what a year ahead what with the UK's general election, the backlash over whatever comes out of Copenhagen, the start of the withdrawal from Afghanistan etc etc.

But before I call it a day and shut up shop for Christmas, can I give a plug for the ITUC's International Migration Day.

Further details of the event can be seen at:

http://www.ituc-csi.org/international-migration-day-a-new.html

Quite rightly the ITUC has put its day of action in the following context:

Within the framework of the international protection mechanisms provided by the UN and in particular the ILO, migrants should be able to exercise in full their rights to freedom of association and trade union organisation, of which they are too often deprived. They should also be entitled to an adequate social welfare system and more ethical recruitment procedures.

Sadly however the UK experience alone tends to portray a wholly different picture of the migrant experience.

And so, next year I look forward to working as project manager for the GFTU with several partners on a project designed to protect vulnerable workers, and in particular migrant workers, from workplace and social exploitation.

I'll use the blog to launch the project and provide periodic insights to progress/action etc.

In the meantime can I wish you all a very happy, peaceful and solidaristic holiday and the very best for a challenging, inspiring 2010!

Cheers

Ian

The Union Advantage

2009-12-04T02:10:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Yesterday the TUC launched a handy new publication which I can see being useful to reps in their recruitment activity.

The Union Advantage is a contemporary review of all of the benefits that accrue from trade union membership particularly as it relates to pay and health and safety matters. Although these two have been traditional features of recruitment campaigns we can now, for example, add learning and skills matters to the list.

The report can be downloaded at:

http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/unionadvantage.pdf

Running alongside the new report is a leaflet, Want Better Pay, Conditions and Benefits at Work? which reps should be using alongside any material from their own union - although some unions prefer to use their own material.

The TUC press release doesn't say where you can get the new leaflets from but if you e-mail me I'll try and find out.

What I am particularly interested in is whether you feel you can add to the TUC's report from your own experience of the value of trade union membership.

I've used that term over the years particularly with new reps when I've asked them to consider what the average member thinks as they look at their wage slip and asks, looking at the deducation for union subs, 'what did I get for that'?

Unless reps can provide a clear, strong impression of what members do in fact get out of membership they can easily find themselves on the backfoot and having to argue hard to recruit new workers and retain exisitng members.

So, what do you say is the value of trade union membership?

All and any comments welcome.

Cheers

Ian

Neil Kearney: A Life on the Frontline

2009-11-27T02:25:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

The sad, untimely death of Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the International Tailor, Leather & Garment Workers' Union, is being mourned right across the global labour movement.

I remember Neil in particular through my work as a young trade union studies tutor with what was then KFAT (now part of COMMUNITY) and of the work that he was spearheading challenging the use of child labourers in clothing manufacture in Bangladesh.

Indeed, his impact, particularly in Bangladesh, through the pioneering creation of international framework agreements (IFA) to create a minimum floor of labour standards, based on ILO core labur standards, has resulted in the national declaration of three days of mourning in Bangladesh in the clothing sector.

On the front page of the ITLGW web-site the dedication to Neil reads:

Neil died of a heart attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in the early hours of Thursday November 19. He was 59.Neil was a brilliant and passionate defender of the rights of workers who was equally at home negotiating at the highest level or talking with workers on the factory floor. In his 21 years at the head of the ITGLWF, Neil brought tireless energy and commitment to his work. Despite the pressures he faced and the scope of the problems he tackled, his sense of humour was never far away. He was an inspiration to all who knew him. With Neil’s death we lose an excellent General Secretary, a loyal colleague and a good friend.At this very sad time the thoughts of the ITGLWF and its members are with Neil’s wife Jutta and his two daughters Nicole and Caroline.More details on the funeral and the upcoming World Congress will be circulated shortly.

For those who hadn't met Neil before there's a really good YouTube clip (one amongst a large number) that gives a really good portrayal of the person and of the values that drove him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzkOawm8rOI

Neil will be greatly missed but at the same time he is someone who, working with grasroots trade union and political activists, will be remembered as central to the fight to place some of the most marginalised and exploited workers on the forefront of trade union campaigning and organising activity.

I am sure that Neil would have agreed with the famous last words words of Joe Hill who famously said before his death, 'don't mourn, organise!'.

Any comments/memories on the work of Neil that you are familiar with are welcome. Please do also add any comments/condolences to the ITLGW web-site (www.itlgw.org).

Cheers

Ian

A New Regime of Subordination

2009-11-22T03:24:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

This weekend I attended the 6th Critical Labour Studies symposium. The symposium this year had the title Crisis what Crisis: Forward to the Past? and brought together a first class range of speakers who focused on topics ranging from trade union responses to lean production in the UK car industry to the challenges of undertaking research around migration.

You can read further information about the Critical Labour Studies network at http://criticallabourstudies.org.uk/site/ you can also register for e-mail updates at:

https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES

A summary of the work of the network:

Through CLS we have developed an open working group and discussion forum that engages with many of the challenges facing researchers and trade unionists within the current environment of work and employment. By 'labour', we anticipate, in the traditions of radical researchers over the ages, a broad understanding of myriad social, economic and political agendas.

I particularly enjoyed the discussion around the launch of a new book (pictured) which charted to trade union response to the introduction of lean production techniques in UK car manufacturing. The speakers Tony Richardson and Ken Murphy (ex and current car workers and TU activists) and Paul Stewart (Strathclyde Uni) presented an engaging analysis of how the trade union movement around car manufacturing had interpreted the distinct aspects of the emerging production regime and attempted to limit its most damaging aspects.

The book was launched last week at the BMW plant at Cowley, Oxford and can be bought from Pluto Press (for an extremely reasonable £15). Follow this link to purchase the book:

http://www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=9780745328676&

I took the title for this post from the introduction to the book which essentially presents lean production as yet another exploitative framework from which workers are expected (as Ken Murphy stated) to 'give more for less'.

Interestingly, just prior to the session on the book the conference focus was on the introduction of lean managment methods within revenue and customs offices within the UK.

From a purely personal perspective I contributed to both discussions from the viewpoint that current education methodologies adopted by many trade unions limited (or explicitly excluded) the oppotunity for new trade union reps to develop a sufficient political consciousness to interpret and analyse these developments and so make historical and global connections.

The event was definitely one of those that I would strongly encourage colleagues to attend who want to engage in debate on topics that are thoughtfully presented and which pose key challenges/opportunities to the future of organised labour.

No question this time, just wanted to encourage interest in CLS and the new book.

Cheers

Ian

Strengthening Black Worker's Self-Organisation

2009-11-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

Colleagues,

Just back from a brilliant few days with a fantastic group of UNISON reps who were attending the West Midlands Black Members' Self-Organised Group Weekend School in Birmingham.

Everyone who attended launched themselves straight into the core theme of the weekend which was a focus on how to develop and run short workshops aimed at organising black workers.

This was definitely one of those weekends where trade union reps left with a sense of both achievment and also a strong urgency to get things done.

I was keen to capture some of this focus and energy by putting a few of the pictures from the weekend school onto the blog.

The outcomes from this weekend go forward to the groups AGM at the end of the month and all being well during 2010 small groups of black activists will start to run branch-based educational workshops that will continue to build on black worker's self-organisation within UNISON.

Many thanks to all of the reps who attended the weekend school and to Pearline Parker-Loney who is the group's support officer and regional officer with UNISON in the West Midlands.

Cheers!

Ian

The Future of Union Organising?

2009-11-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-10-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-24T02:57:00.001-07:00

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'?

2009-10-16T09:59:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-07T01:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

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

Responding to the 'C' Word

2009-09-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Just back from a few days at the TUC in Liverpool, leaving only after I'd caught Gordon Brown's speech to Congress yesterday afternoon.

Surveying the press this morning it's clear that the movement is taking markedly different positions in response to the statements about cuts in public expenditure with, not surprisingly, those unions affiliated to the party, attempting to spin some degree of positivism out of his statement.

First of the block were PCS with a suggestion that they may go to court to challenge Brown's proposals to make it easy to dismiss civil servants and so cut down on the central government redundancy bill. In typical combative style Mark Serwotka stated that the union would "be taking legal action in the courts about the robbery of people's rights and we will be calling every single member in this country to take industrial action."

In the other corner though Paul Kenny, Dave Prentis and Derek Simpson all commented more positively on a speech that, they argued, ring-fenced frontline services and gave a commitment to increase jobs.

Overall Brown didn't reveal anyting that delegates weren't expecting and as such there wasn't the walkout from the usual suspects as soon as he started to mention the dreaded 'c' word.

In truth however, and certainly in the period in the run up to the general election, the relationship between the party and the trade union movemement will be tense as we rightly try and place a stake on clear commitments to, for example, further reform within financial services, jobs growth and protection for vulnerable groups within the economy if Brown's prescriptions yesterday are to become manifesto commitments.

This is of course against the backdrop of polling evidence in most of the major unions that a majority of members will not be voting labour. If this is indeed the case, is there time to turn their views around and to consolidate broad trade union support for a fourth term?

Your views, as ever are welcome.

Cheers

Ian

Building a Co-operative Economy

2009-09-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

I do hope you had a good break over August. I am just back from a fantastic family holiday in Egypt and here is a picture of me quad biking in the Sinai Desert. Extremely adventurous for me to be doing this, but my daughters Ruby and Isabella threw down the challenge and I am more scared of them than I am of falling such a piece of machinery!

As usual plenty to blog about and this weekend I am contributing to the annual event for the UK Society for Co-operative Studies - more info at:

http://www3.uwic.ac.uk/English/management/RandE/wirc/Documents/UKSCS%20Annual%20Conference%202009.pdf

The blurb for the event states:

This year's conference provides an opportunity to reflect on the impact of the unfolding global financial crisis and domestic economic recession on the Co-operative Movement. It will also be a chance to relate these debates to developments such as the launch of the Third Sector Research Centre in the UK and the work of the Commission for Co-operative and Mutual Housing. As our conference will be following the International Co-operative Alliance's research conference in Oxford earlier in the week, this year's research roundtable will have an international flavour.

You may remember that in May this year I blogged about an event I jointly organised between Ruskin College, Unions21 and Coops UK which sought to rejuvenate the historical links between the trade union and cooperative movements through an exploration of modern methods to support employee ownership options for running businesses and social enterprises.

The event this weekend also examines this potential through the session I will contribute to and which is called Public Policy – Towards a Co-operative Commonwealth?

The idea of employee ownership is still a highly contentious one for the labour movement and as the May event demonstrated there is little room for debate around this from, for example, some trade union's perspective in the context of privatisation and externalisation.

Still, as employers seek alternative options to engage employees in share ownership as an alternative to increased remuneration, as with the recent agreement with BA and BALPA, and others like GM transfer stock to the UAW, it is essential that these developments are explored and understood to better support the potential for change in the economic policy of trade unions.

It is not simply enough as trade unions, particularly in the UK, have done in the past to simply ignore economic, social and political trends and assume that to do nothing is an option.

Or am I wrong, and is it heresy to suggest that workers, like those of the John Lewis Partnership, should own shares, and/or control corporate policy, in the organisations they work for?

A good, controversial topic to kick off the new academic year!

Cheers

Ian

Building Global Unions

2009-07-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

Colleagues,

Still recovering from incredibly challenging/rewarding few days.

Most important at a personal level was a reunion with comrades (last weekend) I was at Ruskin College with in the 1989-1991 year group - our first reunion in 20 years! Of course others looked old and knackered whilst I remain the picture of perfection!

Prior to this was an extremely rewarding few days in Istanbul working with the global staff association (GSA) for UNICEF. A real challenge here to enable a global union to work in practice and so much of our work was around leadership, the role of the local, regional and global representatives, campaigning skills etc. Approximately 170 staff association representatives in one place for the first, and probably last, time.

Pictured above are:

Paul Brown - WorldWideBrokers - specialist finance experts for expatriats

Alan Irwin - General Federation of Trade Unions

Indah Susanti - UN Staff Union for International War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) providing facilitator support

Sophie Morishkina - UNICEF GSA - Regional Chair for CEE/CIS

Rita Ann Wallace - President of UNICEF GSA

Rick Cottam - President UN Staff Union for International War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) providing facilitator support

Judith Jackson - General Federation of Trade Unions

Chris Land-Kazlauskas - President - Co-ordinating Committe for International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System (CCISUA) providing facilitator support. One of the bodies to which the UN staff unions/associations affiliate.

Jo Cain - Ruskin College

With support from a number of colleagues I wrote the core course for the training element of the GSA's meeting and this was entitled Building Global Unions: Leadership and Renewal. The work with the UN staff unions provides a really new dimension to my traditional work with unions in the UK and Europe. In particular the challenge is working with unions with none of the legal protections we take for granted and whose major challenges, alongside conventional terms and conditions matters, includes the problems of working in the middle of wars, armed conflicts, environmental disasters etc.

In this context those who step up to become union represenatatives need as much education and support as possible and the event in Istanbul last week was a key starting point for the UNICEF GSA.

No question for you on this post just wanted to let you know what I have been up to since my last contribution.

I am now off until the start of the Autumn term so the last post for me for a few weeks.

I do hope you all have a good break from fighting for the rights of women, men and their families.

Cheers!

Ian

Can you Ban Blacklisting?

2009-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

Colleagues,

Today the newly formed Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) launched the consultation exercise on drafting statutory protection for trade union activists and members from blacklisting by employers.

You may remember previous posts on this matter and the recent controversy when the Consulting Association Ltd were found to have been providing employers in the construction industry with details of those with an activist background.

At the time I was surprised not that the disgraceful activity was happening but that the company and employers were so inept that the were caught out.

The consultation seeks to gain views on:

The definition of a blacklist of trade unionists and the prohibition of the compilation, dissemination and use of such blacklists;
making it unlawful for organisations to refuse employment, to dismiss an employee or otherwise cause detriment to a worker for a reason related to a blacklist;
making it unlawful for an employment agency to refuse a service to a worker for a reason related to a blacklist;
providing for the employment tribunal to hear complaints about alleged breaches and award remedies based on existing trade union law; and
an alternative, to provide for the courts to hear complaints from any persons that they have suffered loss or potential loss because of a prohibited blacklisting activity

Naturally all unions are encouraged to provide a response and further details are at:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page52145.html

My question here though is whether, despite new, welcome legislation, you will ever properly be able to squash a practice that has existed as long as trade unions have.

Comments welcome.

Cheers

Ian