Owen TudorThe TUC has joined a global union campaign, backed by Amnesty International, to protest at attacks on trade unions in Fiji by the military government. You can help, by protesting online, or attending a protest outside the Fiji High Commission on Thursday 1 September at 4pm. And by telling other trade unionists about what is being done to our brothers and sisters in the Fiji Trades Union Congress.
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The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is an alliance of unions, companies and NGOs working to improve the labour rights of the 10 million workers in the global supply chains of ETI member companies. The TUC is a founding member, and I’ve just posted a blog on its website titled “What have the unions ever done for us?”- outlining the case for working with unions. So it’s only fair that I turn the question around for this blog and ask “What has the ETI ever done for us”? Quite a lot is the answer.
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Generally on a Sunday I try to steer clear of news or programmes related to the news, for so many reasons, but partly because I see so much of what’s going on related to the demise of collective bargaining and it’s nice to have a day to rest.
But, there was so much to get through on our player that I had to forgo that general rule and ended up watching a snippet of ITV’s Tonight report on the respossession of homes. In the opening credit a contributor mentions the squeeze on incomes due to stagnating wages. As I’ve mentioned before, Chris and I have regular talks about the impact of the decline in collective bargaining and the challenges that poses for unions and Carl has blogged about where we stand at the moment for coverage. Stagnating wages is evident in low collective bargaining.
I was really interested to hear that the New Statesmen have recently advertised the Webb Trust Essay Competition for 18-25 year olds to write an essay on the measure of poverty in the UK.
If Beatrice Webb were alive today and wanted to compile an index of poverty in the UK, what factors would be included, how would they be measured, and how would each factor be weighted? How would you use such an index to promote the issue of poverty in the public and political consciousness?
I’d be really keen to see the winning submissions, and wonder whether, espeically given this demographic, whether the role of unions and collective bargaining will play a part?
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I thought I’d start my first stronger unions blog by highlighting a union that is about to get a lot weaker if we don’t urgently speak up for them: the Bahraini Teachers’ Association (BTA).
The Bahraini government has left their leaders – Jalila al-Salman, and Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu – to rot in jail ever since arresting them, along with other union members back in March during the popular uprisings. Jalila began a hunger strike in protest at her continued incarceration on 3 August 2011.
Amnesty International concluded, after their usual forensic rigour, that Jalila and Mahdi:
are likely to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly as leading members of the BTA.
It is a tactic that the government have applied across the country, sacking some 2000 workers, jailing many and trying to dismantle the union movement.
Educational International have launched an urgent action appeal calling for their release. Signing it will probably be the best 20 seconds you spend all week. They are in serious trouble. And Bahrain is home one of the very few strong and independent union movements in the region, and one that unites workers across religious boundaries – at least for now.
We also need to speak up because others deliberately aren’t. While the UK Government is quick to attack Syria, and rightly so, it is painfully silent on Bahrain, presumably the price it is paying for securing the Saudi green light for its intervention into Libya (the Saudi’s have heavily back the Bahraini government). So time to spend those 20 seconds…
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Since my last posting on the blog, I’ve been in the office putting together the skeleton for the organising handbook which will accompany our Diploma in Organising course next year. I’m finishing that all up to start to make amendments to our courses next week. Today is my literature review where I’m reading and re-reading journal articles, chapters, and books that not only fit alongside our programme, but also make you think.
One such book is Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era by Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos.
It’s been described as a Rules for Radicals for the 21st Century, helping activists get to grips with what activism is in the digital world and I bought the book a few years, originally thinking it was a ‘how to’ on clicktivism, but instead, it was a series of stories that showed how online activism could work. Markos describes this book in a posting and the quote that’s been pulled out by others jumped at me too -
‘It’s no secret that I have little love for the old-school street protest model of activism – not because I’m opposed to street theater, but because it’s simply not effective in today’s world. So how do you change the world in today’s world, with its fragmented media landscape, with democratizing technologies, with dramatic changes in how we interact with each other, and with a culture evolving at neck-breaking speeds?’
This year we saw 500,000 people march for an alternative to the austerity measures that are being taken by this Government. Would Markos say that the march was and would be ineffective? And by what measure are we gauging effectiveness?
I think it’s a question of what your overall goals are. For me as an organiser, it’s not so simple as winning on an issue, there and then; it’s about creating a sustainable activism culture that continues to grow and develop. Clicktivism is great for the short hit of doing something but to really organise people around issues takes some of the ‘old-school’ methods that Markos eschews. Activism is a buffet, you pick what you need, when you need it.
Be interesting to hear your thoughts on the book. Even though you have to get it sent from the States it’s worth a read.
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Anyone that spends some time with us here at the Organising Academy will know what fans we are of John Kelly‘s mobilisation theory to explain why people get angry around issues and how campaigns can succeed or fail.
John explained his theory to TSSA members last year and someone made a great video that I use on our Developing Organising Teams module. Watch the video, it won’t take long.
When the Milly Dowler phone hacking scandal broke, it struck me how John’s theory explained how the changes and public outcry had occurred. It seemed to me that the consensus was while hacking isn’t good, celebrities or politicians court the media, so this is just an outcome of that. When it seemed to be the innocent victims of crimes and grieving families, the mood was that a line has been crossed, there was a breach in the social consensus. There was clearly a sense of right and wrong and of injustice. Instead of boycotting NI publications, the public, through twitter and facebook put pressure, exerted leverage, on advertisers. And then we saw the closure of the News of the World.
Some commentators called it public hysteria, I simply saw it as a clear example of how a campaign needs to have these clear components to ensure success. So, when you’re putting together a campaign plan, are you taking John’s ideas into account?
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After a successful pilot programme, the TUC is recruiting for the second intake into its Lay Leadership Development Programme.
The programme will provide senior lay union representatives (i.e. members of union National Executives) with a challenging and innovative package of training, discussion and support delivered over three 2-day modules. The core themes of the programme will be the way unions respond to key strategic and organisational challenges, the need to increase membership and member participation and how unions campaign more effectively both nationally and internationally.
Dates for the programme are;
- Module 1, Challenges, Strategy and Resources– November 17 and 18
- Module 2, Strategic Campaigning and Governance – January 12 and 13, 2012
- Module 3, Global Organising – March 1 and 2, 2012
All modules will take place at the TUC, Congress House, London.
The total cost of the programme will be £500 per participant, including course costs and meals. This cost does not include accommodation and/or travel.
For further information about the programme, including details of how to apply
Places on the programme are limited – with a maximum number of 20 participants – so early nominations /applications are encouraged.
Ben Moxham
Becky Wright
Carl Roper
