A few months ago, a colleague and I started a new website called Creative Unions. Both of us have worked for years in the trade union movement, as organisers and in campaigns and communications.

The thing that we noticed was that there was incredible variety in the professionalism of union campaigns, design and communications. While some unions hired professionals, others relied on organisers or communications officers to diverse tasks, ranging from updating websites, writing media releases, designing flyers or preparing policy briefings. Even unions that did demonstrate a high standard for one campaign, could see it drop for another. A near-ubiquitous characteristic of unions was a lack of effective use of new media and social networks.

We decided that we would track down effective union campaigns, design and communications from around the world, and show case them. Our goal was to educate and inform our comrades in the international labour movement. After all, the challenges faced by teachers or public sector workers in Canada are likely to be similar to those in the UK, Australia or New Zealand. A great campaign idea, or awesome poster design for a safety campaign in the EU would be useful for a safety campaign elsewhere.

Most of all, we wanted to lift the standards for union campaigns. Too often, we had seen a union’s posters, leaflets or website fail to meet basic design principles or usability standards. Too often we have seen poorly thought through key messages be demolished by the spin of a well-resourced employer. Too often have we seen thousands of dollars spent on magazines and leaflets with no thought about typography or colour palettes. Too often have we seen tens of thousands of emails sent to members without an ask, or without open-tracking.

Thus was Creative Unions born from these experiences.

After a few months of searching and posting examples of innovative or effective campaigns, we sat down and wrote our manifesto. The manifesto set out the principles we believed would underpin a professional, effective campaign. It covers social networking and new media, design, and effective copy writing. Since then, in addition to posting links to effective posters, websites or campaigns, we have also written blog posts with our advice and ideas about how unions can campaign, communicate or design more effectively.

We have been very pleased with the support from the international labour movement for our website. We have hundreds of email subscribers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers from all around the world, from Burkina Faso to London, from the Czech Republic to Japan and Argentina.

The most important part of the site, is not our opinions. We hold no monopoly on the truth. The real value in Creative Unions is the comments and contributions from the world-wide labour movement. From unionists, organisers, and communications staff telling their stories, their experiences and giving their tips.

The international labour movement has improved the lives of untold millions. Now it is time for us to work together to improve the skills of each other.

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Posted on November 30th, 2009 by Alex White filed under: Union campaigns

The new year will bring around 15 new Organising Academy trainees working on placements in and around both the public and private sector.  Organising workers in areas like postal services, teaching, students, civil services and telecoms. 

“But aren’t these areas already unionised?”  I hear you ask, the short answer being “Yes!”.  But even these areas which are historically unionised have sufferered reductions in density because of increased employment (obviously before the recession kicked in!), privatisation and casualisation.   Workers have been joining industries and haven’t been asked to join the union (No 1 reason given for not becoming a member) but also, don’t see the point of joining because they’re only temporary.

Given the announcement today that the “flexiforce”  is set to not only continue but to increase (CBI), we have to get the message out there that it is even more important to join a union as a temporary worker so we have  strong unions in the workplace.  Individual employment rights are great but rely on each individual knowing them, asserting them, and winning them.  Collectively bargaining over rights at work is quicker, easier and more powerful – well I would say that wouldn’t I?  But don’t forget that around 7,300,000 others agree! 

The 9th key recommendation of the Commission on Vulnerable Employment stated “Unions must act to ensure they represent the interests of vulnerable workers”.  A project not only vital to union density, but more importantly to those workers who will continue to be employed in short term, temporary, fixed term, agency, casual (anymore for anymore?) work.  So, on this basis two TUC Academy Organisers are going to support union efforts organising ”vulnerable workers”.  Can’t wait to get started!

Liz Blackshaw is the Director of the TUC Organising Academy

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Posted on November 25th, 2009 by Liz filed under: Union organising

In response to my post below, a few people have asked me what unions can do to offer more support for interns.

This is, of course, a really good point.  Because no matter how informed a young person might be entering an internship, without an organised workplace and back up from their union, they might still find themselves isolated and open to exploitation.

So this is why the TUC is taking action in the following three ways:

First, providing more information materials on the rights of interns that can be used by union reps and interns alike.

Secondly, providing briefing and training sessions to union reps and officers, with a view to building their knowledge of and capacity to support interns in the workplace.

Thirdly, lobbying Government to work more effectively in enforcing the rights of interns.  There’s particular scope for Government interventions through the Graduate Talent Pool and the engagement of employers through the Backing Young Britain initiative for ensuring minimum standards for interns are upheld and enforced.

Of course, its the work our union reps do in the workplace that will make the most difference.  And that’s why the TUC and unions must work together to provide the support those reps need to support young people at work in these difficult times.

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Posted on November 25th, 2009 by Matt Dykes filed under: Union campaigns

Irish unions are on strike today (25 November) against the government cuts in wages (on top of earlier cuts in pensions) that are designed to bridge the deficit caused by the global economic crisis. A quarter of a million public sector unions are on strike, making it bigger than any strike since the 1970s. Unions reject the idea that public sector workers should pay for the crisis that was caused by top bankers – they favour a longer timescale for addressing the deficit, and tax rises for the rich. Is this a taste of what’s to come if the UK follows the same path, as the Conservatives have suggested?

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Posted on November 25th, 2009 by Owen Tudor filed under: Global solidarity

The TUC and Ruskin Council are pleased to invite you to attend the launch celebrating their new partnership at the Ruskin College site, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HE on  Friday 4th December 2009 from 1pm.  All Organising Academy graduates are welcome to attend and join in the celebrations!  Please RSVP to rhemstock@ruskin.ac.uk

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Posted on November 24th, 2009 by Liz filed under: Union organising

TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, speaking on what trade unions want from a Copenhagen deal, and how the transition to a low carbon economy would benefit British workers. From the Government’s ACT ON COPENHAGEN website.

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Posted on November 24th, 2009 by StrongerUnions filed under: Union news

I recently had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Marshall Ganz the US organiser who (if you’ve never heard of him) designed the Camp Obama training sessions that played a significant role the successful mobilisation of volunteers during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign last year. 

During my meeting, we discussed his belief that unions need to adopt a strategic approach to the work of rebuilding and revitalisation, but crucially that the strategies that they develop (the how) should be allied to the cares and concerns of those they are seeking to organise (the why). 

On the face of it, that’s nothing too different from the ‘organising around issues’ based approach that has underpinned much of the UK trade union movements work on organising over the last 10 years. 

However Ganz goes further than this and argues that we must explore and understand the values of workers and 0nly after we’ve done this can we develop a narrative that will succeed in persuading people to take action in their individual and collective self interest; to use what they have (resources) to get what they need (power and influence) to get what they want.

And of course, if this applies to unions in an industrial/workplace context it also applies to the political work that they do and by extension to the political parties themselves.  In short, as well as the how (to take action) there has to be a WHY (it is in their interests and speaks to their values).

I recalled my meeting with Marshall Ganz when I heard of the Labour party’s new ‘Volunteer Taskforce’ and then read two articles recently published by Progress; the first by Hannah Blythyn on the Progress website and the second by Peter Kellner in the October edition of the Progress magazine.

The Volunteer Taskforce’ is according to this report on the Progress web site adopting some of the best practice from Barack Obama’s US Presidential campaign in ‘harnessing the talents’ of members and supporters in running campaigns.

Hannah’s article makes an excellent case for the crucial input of unions organising for the Labour party in the run up to the next general election.  She rightly cites the work of unions in the US during the Obama campaign and notes the work that both her own union, Unite and also the GMB are doing to replicate this.

So, two excellent examples of ‘the how’.  But what about ‘the why’?

The Kellner article ‘Labour’s lost voters’ reports on the results of a poll conducted during the week of the European Elections in June and that identifies the differences between ‘loyal’ labour voters (those who voted Labour in 2005 and intend to do so again) and ‘lost’ Labour voters (those who voted Labour in 2005 but who wouldn’t do so now).

The key finding of the survey is that these Labour voters have been ‘lost’ not because they have been won over by the Conservative party, but rather that they have been repelled by the Labour party.

For example, according to the poll 78 per cent think that the party used to care about their concerns, but just 14 per cent think that it still does. Also, again 78 per cent of the ‘lost’ voters think it SHOULD be the government’s priority to help ‘ordinary working people’, but only 22 per cent of them think that this IS one of Labour’s priorities.

The message for me here is that having systems and strategies in place that focus resources on strategic priorities and objectives and that seek to create opportunities for participation are only part of what needs to be done, and without creating the ‘why’ (people should get active) the effects of these strategies will always be limited.

All of this applies to unions, as well as to political parties, as we confront our organising challenges. Last year the TUC conducted a survey that found that the majority of the largest 15 unions now had national and/or regional organising and recruitment strategies. 

This is good news and is an indication of how far the movement in the UK has come in the last 10 years in attempting to address membership decline, but in order to build on this we have to continue to develop an effective narrative as to why working people should not just join unions but also become active.

It has perhaps been easier in to convince people that joining a union is a practical way of insuring themselves should they have an individual problem in work, but harder to make the motivation for joining the desire to be part of a collective response to problems or way of realising shared ambitions and aspirations. 

However if we draw upon the history of the movement and listen to the cares, concerns, hopes and aspirations of the members we have and those we hope to have in the future; and at the same time continue to develop a model of trade unionism at workplaces where collective participation is an essential rather than optional part of how we deliver on the priorities of members, I am sure that we can succeed.

Carl Roper is the TUC National Organiser

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Posted on November 24th, 2009 by Carl Roper filed under: Union organising, Union reps