Global Employment Trends 2008

Colleagues,

I am just in the process of preparing for a workshop at Ruskin College with a visiting group of officers and activists from public sector unions in Nigeria.

A key theme will be an exploration of the key findings from the latest global employment trends research from the Inernational Labour Organisation (ILO).

You can see a sumamry of the research at: http://www.ilocarib.org.tt/oldwww/news/2008/global%20EMP%20trends.htm

One of the most worrying issues is the prediction that the current economic meltdown precipitates a massive increase globally in unemployment.

Here in the UK we can start to see the increases particularly as reported on a quarterly basis by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The national 'at a glance' is always useful: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/instantfigures.asp

More specifically we can see the immediate impact within the finance sector not least with job losses at Northern Rock and now Bradford and Bingley.

The issue for trade unions however, and particularly within the context of the UK, is whether this is necessarily bad news within the long-term debate around renewal of the trade union movement.

My particular question is that, despite immediate in terms of job losses, whether significant economic instabilty reaffirms with workers on a long-term basis the need to stabilise their employment position via trade union membership?

Naturally you have various equations that impact on this not least the relatively higher growth of jobs within the public sector and greater propensity in that sector for un/non-unionisation.

My question aside from this however is still, can economic slowdown be good in the long-term for union growth?

There is much academic literature on this point - send me a note if you are interested and I'll e-mail back some useful reading.

As usual, any comments, questions or just gripes are welcome.

Cheers

Ian

A Guide to Union Blogging

Colleagues,

As those of you who visit this blog will know,I readily encourage activists to share information via these forums and I also encourage you to create your own blog.

To help you now get a sense of what's out there and how best to approach blogging the network for union blogging TIGMOO (http://www.tigmoo.co.uk/) have produced a really helpful guide which you can download free from the site.

The approach to using electronic forums is one of the more interesting ways in which we can seek to stabilise and rejuvenate the movement. Please have a look at an earlier post about the India-based e-union to get a sense of what I mean.

Can I also ask you to have a look at and contribute to the blog that TIGMOO listed as the number 1 union blog in the UK Ian's Red Blog. There is a link to this from the links section of the blog.

Any questions or comments are welcome.

Cheers

Ian

Bereavement Leave

Colleagues,

Until further notice I am on bereavement leave and won't be creating any new posts as a result.

Many thanks to those friends and associates who have passed on their condolences folllowing the death of my mother on 1st September.

Best wishes

Ian

A New Academic Year: Northern College Diploma in Trade Union Studies

Colleagues,

Tomorrow I join other tutors for a meeting at Northern College to, amongst other things, examine the new educational programme of UNITE.

In addition I'll be meeting colleagues who I work with at Northern to review the priorities for this academic year.

As many of my colleagues will tell you it's difficult to avoid getting bogged down in the bureacuracy that oversees adult learning in the UK and at the same time monitor trends across the movement. But we manage this somehow which makes Northern's educational provision for the trade union movement amongst the best in the UK.

Within that provision I'd like to promote the College's diploma in trade union studies. It is just the right vehicle for any activist who wants to gain a higher level qualification and/or pursue a career within a trade union.

To gain more information please go to http://www.northern.ac.uk/ or ring my colleague Sheila Robinson on 01226 776000.

Cheers

Ian

The Future of Organising Migrant Workers

Colleagues,

An interesting article in this Sunday's Observer reminded many observers of the subject that the significant migration to the UK following the accession of 8 new states (often referred to as the A8 accession states) to the EU is now in the decline. It is no new news to anyone who understands migration that it ebbs and flows. This is essentially what makes the blatant racism of bodies like MigrationWatch so disgraceful. This type of body, just like the BNP, can never answer the purely cyclical capitalist demand of, for example fruit pickers. I take this example as ironically in the same edition of the Observer apple growers bemoan flexibility in the government's changed stance on the numbers of migrant students allowed temporary visas to undertake this seasonal work. Read the Observer article below:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/24/migrantworkers

A more union-specific point I wish to make however is, alas again, how short-sighted the UK trade union movement is in only making an effort so secure the recruitment of migrant workers in the face of A8 accession when in fact migration is perpetual phenomenon of the UK economy.

Let's hope that the structures and resources that UNITE for example have put into organising the migrant worker is more than the usual flash in the pan.

What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Cheers

Ian

Show Your Support for Iranian Labour Activists

Colleagues,

I am writing to underline the urgency of Labourstart's current initiative to oppose the oppression of labour movement activists by the Iranian state.

Go to the following to follow the campaign:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgibin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=416

As Labourstate cites:

We must all redouble our efforts in the next few days to prevent thisbarbaric sentence from being carried out, to prevent the execution ofthe teacher Farzad Kamangar, and to push for the release of alljailed worker activists in Iran.

As we all know we must support trade union activists across the globe and seek to secure their safe treatment.

Messages of support should be sent to Labourstart.

Thank you Comrades

Irish Social Partnership Unravelling?

Dear Colleagues,

Back now refreshed from two weeks in an extremely rainy Ireland.

Whilst over their it was clear that the economic slowdown and looming depression were taking their toll on the long-standing social partnership agreement between the trade union movement and the state.

An interesting example of this was reported in the Irish Independent and like similar stories there reports on employers renaging on pay agreements established under this partnership.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/union-to-lodge--5pc-payhike-claims-in-wake-of-talks-collapse-1453684.html

Although have similar examples of this historically in the UK do you think that it is something that UK unions should return to or if anything resist?

As usual, your comments are welcome.

Cheers

Ian