In term of language, how often do we use plural words which position the individual within the collective in a consistent fashion?  ‘Our union’ rather than ‘the union’ or ‘it’?  Look through your recent publications and just question whether or not it consistently brings together the notion of ‘we’.

Secondly, action can play a role in creating the sense of collective identity.  For example, 20 October is going to be a visual representation of the ‘we’.

However, we do have to be mindful that while building the ‘we’ we can create a ‘them’ as our identity is being defined in relation to other people.  This then creates the opportunity to be painted as ‘vested interest’.  I see events such as 20 Oct as a way that the trade union movement demonstrates the inclusiveness of our ‘we’.  While the movement called and organised the march, it is open to all.

Let’s consider our ‘Power of We’ and how we build on that this week.

Our focus on this blog is in organising, and by extension, growing stronger unions, so it was with great interest that I read Seamus Milne’s column in the Guardian entitled ‘The problem with unions is that they’re not strong enough’.   At the end of the piece I was left thinking ‘what are the solutions?’

In a considered piece, Seamus lays out the challenges that we face as a movement and the impact that it has on the wider society.  As we have mentioned before, the decline in union membership and collective bargaining has an impact on how we are all doing in our economy and wider society.  He states:

Between 1975 and 2007, the share of wages in national income fell from 65% to 54%, while escalating inequality within that smaller share has meant stagnating real wages for low and average earners.

Quite rightly, we focus on the decline in union membership; it’s where we derive our power and influence.  But, what what does that loss mean to our everyday lives?  The figure quoted above is just that.  A loss in membership, of influence in a sector and in the ability for workers to collective bargaining for their wages and conditions resulting in stagnating wages and a reduced share.

But let’s put these figures in some context.  The ETUI has the average level of union membership across the EU at 23% which puts us above average,  higher than Germany (19%), Spain (16%) and France (8%).  The nordic countries are racing ahead with an average of 70% between them.   So how are we able to be above the EU average and have such a gap in comparison to other nations?  The quick answer is that in contrast to the UK, other European trade unions have much more influence sectorally which has been institutionally enshrined.    Unions are not solely reliant on membership for influence.   Is this the answer to our challenges?

Repeatedly on this blog we say that there is no silver bullet to the challenges we face, we must look at a range of options available to us and consider their suitability to our problems.  So what are the possible solutions?

Earlier this year, some of us posted blogs on this, and rather than rehash all the postings, I wanted to highlight some passages which can contribute to the debate.

Firstly, Carl blogged on  how unions can give people the power they need to get what they want.  In that posting he suggested:

Such innovative approaches might include increasing collective bargaining coverage by organising along supply chains, bringing trade union membership within reach of the majority of employees who work where there isn’t a union via affinity schemes and promoting trade unions more generally and membership and activity specifically via both current and future campaign work.

In my own posting on building for the long term, I argued that we need to remember that organising is about building accessible campaigns that resonate and build activism:

…we need to reorientate our view of success of campaigns to incorporate organising more fully.  By doing that, we move away from gimmicks, from relaunches and branding for its own sake.  To win on the issue is important, but equally so is building a sustainable grassroots who continue to campaign, demand change and build for it.

Finally, on an optimistic note, Paul reminded us that David is winning more often than we think.  And that when unions take a proactive role (my emphasis) in their workplaces, and communities the results benefit all:

At a time when tens of thousands of union members face the prospect of losing their jobs, and are struggling to make ends meet, I’m reluctant to reach for pat assurances that all is well. Of course, all is not well. 2011 was a tough year for unions and their members. 2012 looks like being tougher still. But that makes it even more important that we take heart from – and celebrate – each and every success we have

Speaking in the article, one member said current employment law) offers “excessive protections” to workers. “People who are coasting – it should be easier to let them go, to give the unemployed a chance. It is a delicate balancing act, but it should be decided in favour of the latter.”  We have talked before about the attack on facility time and the wider implicaitons of these policy proposals.    I recommend that you read that posting for a bit of context on this approach to curtailing union and worker rights. 

These types of attacks are not new for unions, yet as the challenges become more subtle, how can unions ensure that they are making the best decisions for members, activists and wider organisation?

To help union executives guide their unions through the challenges ahead, we created the Lay Leadership Development Programme.  This programme is designed specifically for members of union executives to give them the tools they need to respond to key strategic and organisational challenges, increase members and member participation and how unions can campaign more effectively.

The programme is set over three two-day modules:

• challenges, strategy and resources
• strategic campaigning and governance
• global organising.

The dates for this year are:

• 29–30 Nov 2012
• 17–18 Jan 2013
• 28 Feb–1 Mar 2013

For more information, how to apply and for costs, please contact organisingacademy@tuc.org.uk.

Then why not consider applying for a place as a Trainee Organiser at the Organising Academy?

Joining the TUC Organising Academy many moons ago was one of the best decisions I ever took.  I learnt so much about how to make a campaign effective, how to enable and empower workers to be activists and represent colleagues and a greater understanding of how to motivate and mobilise people.

But what exactly does it entail I hear you ask.  Well, as an Academy Organiser, you will complete a 12 month, work and training placement with a sponsoring union during which time you will undergo a comprehensive training programme in addition to applying your skills as an organiser in workplaces.

The training programme is delivered by us at the Organising Academy in partnership with Ruskin College.  At the end of course you will receive the Diploma in Organising (Level 3) which is equivalent to attaining an A-Level.

Completion of the placement year and the training programme has been the stepping-stone for the vast majority of Organising Academy graduates to a career within the trade union movement.

For more information on the posts, you can go over to our recruitment pages.

Renewing our partnership with Ruskin College, we are delivering a range of courses which support increasing the capacity of unions to be strong, effective and campaigning organisations.

One of the courses that we are pleased is returning is the Award for Supporting Organising which is a course specifically for union support staff to enable them to feel that they can contribute to the organising and campaign work undertaken by their unions.  We have had such a high demand for this course, we’ve run it bespoke for unions and are even putting on regional courses.

We also had enquiries on how we support officers who are responsible for managing and leading organisers and officers and this has translated into the new Certificate in Advanced Organising (Management path).

This is all alongside our existing and long established courses, the Diploma in Organising and the Certificate in Advanced Organising.  Both of which have two entry points throughout the year.

If you are in a leadership position already within your union, the programme also contains details of the TUC’s Leading Change and Lay Leadership Development Programmes.

Joining instructions are in the pack but if you would like more information, please contact us at organisingacademy@tuc.org.uk

This has become ever more important given the result of the battle that trade unionists faced in Wisconsin.  The win for Scott Walker and the Republicans was not just a battle on collective bargaining rights, but on removing unions from Wisconsin.  Remove unions and we see a fundamental pillar which protects working people and raises living standards fall.  Remove unions and see funding for candidates that support a right to bargain gone.  Rachel Maddow’s article on this hit the nail on the head, as too did Carl’s recent posting on strategic initiatives.

At Grassroots, I was reminded in Neil Kingsnorth’s (Friends of the Earth) contribution of the need for movements to have campaigns and for campaigns to be a part of movements.  In being part of those movements we recognise that we will take different approaches but all for the common movements.  Greg Thomson highlighted for me the need to think to the future and from starting where people are, not where we want them to be and when Fiona Ranford’s asserted the need for action to be recognised as empowering, I though of how this resonated with my own experiences of organising and campaigning.  Lastly, Fr. Paul Butler stressed the importance of love and hope and in remembering we do this because of love for others.

I learnt a lot from all the speakers (for a full list go to grassrootsuk.org) but for me, the above were key lessons, not only  in terms of the Wisconsin battle but also our own campaigns when asserting our rights to collective bargain and organise.

This question resurfaced while I was watching this article on the Rachel Maddow show.  In describing the Republican attack on the rights to abused women who have come to the US via marriage (and whose visas depended on this relationship), she outlines the relationship between the owners of sites that advertise mail order brides (who this law helps) and the groups who are lobbying to repeal the law. Half way through the piece, I began to consider again about the impact that money has on building support for campaigns coupled with a focus on slogans, messages and polling.

A while back I read David Plouffe’s Audacity to Win which described how their planned and ran the Obama election campaign.  With my organiser’s hat on, I found it a really interesting and thought provoking book.  In his description of how they built a grassroots membership and activism and the importance of this to winning the election, I was struck at first by how this was very similar to an organising campaign rather than any elections I had witnessed.

What impact did this emphasis on people have on the campaign?  Profound in terms of leadership, and authenticity.  If there was a negative ad about Obama, the network of activists would refute it to their families, friends and colleagues.  While looking after the front lawn, they would talk to their neighbours about why they supported him and what he stood for that was in their interest.  What had the most impact on that person’s viewpoint and was able to effectively bring someone on board?  Was it the ad or the person they trusted and respected?  Often we overlook the power of human interactions and subtle leadership.  The person in the community, workplace or family who everyone looks to for guidance or trusts in analysis.  Get that person on board and despite the prevailing winds, a campaign will be in a good position.

I advise campaigners and organisers to look at structuring plans in five basic areas:

• Goal: what are you trying to achieve (be specific!)
• Organisational considerations: all of your resources plus what you know you’ll probably need.
• Constituents:  Allies and opponents and who you want to campaign with/for.
• Target: Who is the person that will make the decision you will get you what you want.
• Tactics: Actions that will build up your organisation, and put pressure on your target.

I’m highlighting this because the order of the planning underlines where a campaign should put its emphasis.  Who is on your side and will be your advocates should come a long time before working out your slogan or title.  Groups as mentioned on the Maddow show have endless pots of money to spend on snazzy logos, slogans and ads.  When we try to compete on their terms we lose and overlook the most powerful resource that those of us on the progressive spectrum have - potential of people power.

There is a reason why astroturfing is so big in the US, it’s because those campaign groups have no organisation or people power and have to make it up.  We don’t.  Concentrate on how your campaign will build up your base rather than snazzy logos and slogans because the word of a trusted person is worth more than an ad.

Grassroots is being held at the TUC, Congress House, Great Russell St, London on 26 May.  To register go to http://grassrootsuk.org/register-to-come/ 

Campaigning can be tricky.  You have a position and you want someone else to agree with you.  You try all manner of tactics to press your positions.  Send out press releases and hope that there’s space in your local newspaper.  The trudge can be relentless and sometimes no end in sight.  Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t.  But what happens when the dust has settled and the campaigning is over?  What does it really mean to win or lose? 

In these times, that is the greatest challenge we face.  Whether it is for elections, for a plastic bag free area or for better, more equitable pay and conditions, we need to reorientate our view of success of campaigns to incorporate organising more fully.  By doing that, we move away from gimmicks, from relaunches and branding for its own sake.  To win on the issue is important, but equally so is building a sustainable grassroots who continue to campaign, demand change and build for it.

What am I talking about when I talk about organising?  In the trade union movement, we debate about what it means for us to organise, and I’m not here to be prescriptive on how others view it, but to explain how I view campaigning is also to talk about my approach to organising.  For me, organising is about empowerment and hunger for change; creating a sustainable organisation that can weather success and failure.  To do that, we need to work on the issues that people care about, stand up for our values and, crucially, deploy our resources in the most effective way possible.  Campaigns can rise and fall, but people and their power remains if we organise rather than just campaign.

How do we move from purely campaigning to organising?

• Pick the right issue.  Talk about it in the way that is understandable to a lot of people and relates to our core values.
• Engage and involve people at every step of the campaign.  Think about how you build teams; step back as much as possible and let others take ownership of the campaign.  I can get some press if people are mobilise for the day, but we’re going to change the world if we organise for the long term.
• Be ready to learn.  A key element of our ability to be successful when organising is our readiness to learn from others, to look outside our world and be humbled and to recognise we don’t always have the answers.  The flip side to this is our willingness to share successes and failures with others.

Despite, being an organiser and campaigner for many years, I’m still in a process of learning which is why I’m excited about our conference on 26 May called Grassroots.  It brings together a wide range of organisations and activists who are looking to learn from each other, challenge perceptions and be as effective as we can.  We’re going to hear new approaches to strategy and tactics, good ways to communicate and lastly how we are going to organise meaningfully.

In focussing on organising in our campaigns, I’m going to amend a well known phrase: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, but lets make that small group as big as we can.

Grassroots is being held at the TUC, Congress House, Great Russell St, London on 26 May.  To register go to www.grassrootsuk.org/register-to-come

So, what were the figures and what do they mean for trade unions?

Headline figures

• Across the whole workforce, union membership fell by 143,000 despite an increase in private sector membership (up by 43,000), and now stands at 6.4 million.  Union density (the percentage of workers who are union members) fell by 0.6% to 26%.
• 31.2 % of all employees were covered by a collective bargaining arrangement, up from 30.8% and unions are now present in 44.9% of workplaces , down from 46%.

Getting a bigger break down in terms of private/public sector, the figures look more like this:

• In the public sector, despite a membership fall of 186,000, union denisty rose by 0.2% to 56.5%; bargaining coverage rose by 3.3% to 67.8% and the amount of public sector workplaces where there is a trade union presence rose to 87.1% from 85.8%.
• In the private sector, membership rose by 43,000 but density fell by 0.1%; bargaining coverage has been maintained, staying steady at 16.9% and union presence in workplaces fell to 28.5% from 29.6%.
• In the male/female split, density remains higher amongst women employees (28.7%) than amongst male employees (23.4%).

Analysis

These figures represent a mixed picture of decline and increase from the figures for 2010.  And the points I’d raise on the initial analysis of the figures are:

1. We are seeing a continued fall in total union membership.  While the rise in private sector membership is welcome, total union membership continues to fall.  However, unlike the 1980s and 1990s, this fall is much shallower and the differentials in decline are much less pronounced.  The large decrease in membership should also be taken into the wider context of an overall loss of public sector jobs (369,000) in the same period.
2. Decline in presence should be of concern for unions. 
3. The picture on union density is mixed.  In 2011, overall density fell by 0.6% which is the norm since 1995 (it fell in all but three years).  However, public sector density rose slightly which is the first increase since 2000 and even in the private sector, which saw a fall of 0.1%, saw its smallest decline since 2000.
4. Collective bargaining has risen.  The area where we had a real concern, saw a slight reversal of trend with the first increase in workers covered by collective agreements since 1998.  This is great news but we need to keep this trend going up to have an impact on worker wages. 

A mixed picture for us then with some positives which we didn’t have in 2010, but still one that shows that we need to work hard to continue to organise and unionise.  Look out for postings over the next week from our union contributors to see what it means for their sectors and unions.

This is why I’m really pleased to be a part of a new venture called Grassroots.

On 26 May in London, trade unions and progressive organisations, who are committed to tackling the big challenges we face right now, will meet to share and hear the most exciting and practical ideas on campaigning, organising and mobilisation. 

Designed to enable activists and campaigners from across the movement, Grassroots will focus on three areas:

Rise up! Building support – How we campaign effectively around issues that demonstrate a need for change.

2, 4, 6, 8: How will people congregate – How can we build membership organisations that engage?

Reaching Out – How do we communicate our messages effectively?

For each theme, there will be three speakers who will be given 20 minutes to put forward their idea and demonstrate its practical use.  After we’ve heard all the ideas, there is a networking session to allow all participants to discuss what they’ve heard and share experiences.

Interested in bring involved?

There are three ways you and your organisation can be involved:

1. Submit an idea – do you have an idea on one of the themes that you think would be worth sharing?
2. Be a part on the day – take a stall, add info on the pack or advertise on our website
3. Advertise to your members and supporters

To register, head over to www.grassrootsuk.org or you can follow the event on Twitter @grassroots_uk

Look forward to seeing you there!