The Response of Labour in the Economic Crisis

Colleagues,

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

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

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

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

You can view the GLU summer conference programme at:

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

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

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

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

Cheers

Ian

Responding to the 'C' Word

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

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

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?

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

What's the Point of Trade Union Leadership?

Colleagues,

So much of my work these days focuses on trade union leadership particularly within the debate around decline and renewal. Amongst other areas of work I have been monitoring for the GFTU the roll-out of a pilot series of courses on leadership and management, accredited by the Institute for Leadership and Management (ILM), at Northern College.

This weekend I am teaching on a leadership development course that falls under the auspices of a 2008-10 GFTU-Ruskin College UMF project around researching and developing future leaders.

Just recently though I have been wondering about the role and significance of classic trade union leaders not least Ken Gill (pictured above) who sadly passed away recently. Even the right-wing press gave him grudging credit for his discipline, deceny and effectivness: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6359702.ece

In contrast however, we have recently witnessed highly effective unlawful industrial action organised across the energy sector (Lindsey Oil Refinery strikers pictured left) by a different type of grassroots leadership acting autonomously, utilising ICT effectively and acting concertedly in the face of significant mangerial agression and transgression.

Gregor Gall has chronicled this phenomenon and in a piece in the Guardian in June stated:

The current dispute has two dimensions. One is that the workers concerned are capable and willing, unlike many other workers (unionised or not), to take robust collective action to defend their right to work in the midst of a recession. This comes down not just to being unionised but being well organised at the workplace level with shop stewards, mass meetings and a collective confidence to act. Underlying this is the nature of the labour market in the industry where job security is absent with building projects beginning and ending when completed, with employment contracts based on this.

See the full article at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/19/lindsey-oil-refinery-strikes

In thinking this through and placing it within the broader discussions around the future shape and function of trade unionism (particularly in the UK) the distinctions between transformational and transaction leaderships of old become very interesting.

I do ask trade union studies students of this subject what their perspective is of leadership for the future. Typically the reply is that it must be much more diverse, reflective of the views and aspirations of workers and supportive of methods to effect and reflect responsive in structure and policy - tall orders indeed!

At the same time however significant interest in this new layer of trade union education should, I think, be seen as one way to, albeit gradually, to question where we are going as a movement and to properly refine and understand who should be in the vanguard of this.

If I can pose a question here based on the title for this post - what's the point of trade union leadership?

Contributions very much welcome.

Cheers

Ian

No Pain No Gain? Shares v Pay as Economic Reward

Colleagues,

As a teacher of trade union/labour studies for over 15 years now I have never found a time that wasn't 'interesting'. Similarly, as a leftist, I always see the historic permutations in our modern times.

And so to the latest news that the British Airline Pilot's Association (BALPA) has agreed to a unique pay bargaining outcome which over the next five years will see pilots have share allocations instead of pay increases.

Some of you might find such an outcome deplorable. Please have a look at today's article in The Observer Will Hutton if that's the case: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/21/will-hutton-british-airways-pay

Although Hutton writes within the context of trade union 'partnership' in an era of decaying capitalism I personally don't think that we as trade unionists should write him off automatically.

Hutton's position is much broader and you can see this in his video following a Unions21 event earlier this year. In it he propounds a more fundamental review of, for example, the position of trade unions where the state takes a greater stake in financial services: http://www.unions21.org.uk/node/51

In addition, in the Observer piece, he cites the work of Daniel Kahneman (2002 Nobel Prize Winner for Economics) to support the increased recognition of the position of workers to validate their greater significance in pay determination. There is a great interview with Kahneman on YouTube where you can derive some sense of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4LdtAJaZPA

These events run alongside the momentous decision by the United Automotive Workers of America (UAW) to agree a controlling share in General Motors http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090529/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_uaw

For me much of these recent developments came together when earlier this month when I chaired a Unions21 event on the position of trade unions and cooperatives. Ultimately the suggestion at this event, and with what I have referred to here, suggests that we must discuss the controlling role of workers in relation to the organisation's they work for - a lot of this reminds me to some degree of what I read as a teenager in the work of Coates & Topham and workers' control.

The global economic depression is ironically accelerating the debate (and outcomes) around the greater degree of direct worker intervention in corporate financial activity.

Is this a bad thing?

Please let me know what you think.

As ever I hope that I stimulate alternative views. If I do please be constructive with your criticism.

Cheers

Ian