General Council Report 2002: Chapter 10

General Council Report

• promoting trade unionism
• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Promoting Trade Unionism Task Group
• 10.3 workSMART
• 10.4 New Unionism
• 10.5 Young people

promoting trade unionism

10.1 Introduction

Last year’s Congress adopted the report of the Promoting Trade Unionism Task Group Reaching the missing millions which set out proposals, based on extensive research, for a series of initiatives aimed at complementing the work of unions in the areas of recruitment and organisation and building on the work of the New Unionism Task Group and Organising Academy.

The proposals were discussed in detail at the special residential meeting of the General Council held in October and this chapter reports on the developments of the project over the past year. It also reports on the work of the New Unionism project and the work with young people.

10.2 Promoting Trade Unionism Task Group

Reaching the missing millions, the report of the Task Group, accepted at the 2001 Congress set out a great deal of research on the state of trade unionism today and the opinions of employees.

It also contained recommendations in a range of areas on how unions and the TUC can best promote trade unionism, recruit and organise new members and service and retain existing members. Members of TUC staff have responded to a range of invitations from affiliates and other organisations to present and explain the report’s findings throughout the year. Many of the recommendations and findings have influenced other General Council initiatives reported elsewhere, such as new efforts to recruit, educate and support union reps.

Composite 8, which was remitted at the 2001 Congress, made a series of suggestions for promoting trade unionism. All of these have been acted on, with the exception of the call for unions to jointly fund a major advertising campaign. The General Council asked for remission of the motion on the grounds that the cost of an effective advertising campaign would runs into millions of pounds, and the limited resources available could be spent in better ways though the recommendations of the Task Group’s report.

The special General Council in October received a substantial presentation from Butterfield 8, the strategic communications agency appointed to advise the task group on how to take forward the specific recommendations for TUC initiatives, and in particular how the TUC can use the internet to reach non trade unionists and shift their perceptions of trade unionism in order to make the recruitment and organising initiatives of affiliated unions easier.

Promoting Trade Unionism Task Group

General Council: Bill Morris (Chair), Jonathan Baume, Tony Burke, Bill Connor, Veronica Dunn, John Edmonds, Sir Ken Jackson, Mick Leahy, Roger Lyons, Leslie Manasseh, Gloria Mills, Paul Noon, Phil Pinder, Dave Prentis, Maureen Rooney, Richard Rosser, Sir Tony Young

Unions: Rory Murphy, UNIFI

National Union of Students: Mark Atkinson, Nadya Kassan

External advisors: Richard Freeman,

Will Hutton, David Pitt-Watson, Chris Powell

TUC Staff: John Monks, Brendan Barber, David Coats, Frances O’Grady, Nigel Stanley, Mike Power, Raj Jethwa, Paul Nowak

Three ambitious initiatives were suggested in Reaching the missing millions. Firstly, a new website aimed at people at work, particularly non union members in new service economy jobs; secondly, a website, sponsored by the National Union of Students, set up to support graduates in the transition from college to work; and, thirdly, a new advice initiative to be run in conjunction with existing advice agencies in order to provide support and advice to those most likely to have problems with rogue employers and but who were unlikely to have access to the internet.

The special General Council meeting agreed that these were ambitious and resource intensive initiatives, but gave the go-ahead for further development work on all three.

It was subsequently reported to the Task Group and Executive that there were considerable difficulties in pressing ahead with the graduate and advice initiatives. In the presentation to the special General Council it was made clear that there were real problems in working on a web initiative with any commercial content with the National Union of Students because of their contractual relationships. The NUS database of students is also relatively recent and contains very few students likely to graduate in the next couple of years, which makes promotion extremely hard. NUS remain keen to co-operate with the TUC and other initiatives are reported later in this chapter. It was agreed that it would perhaps make more sense to integrate a recent graduate channel into the main TUC initiative, workSMART.

It was made clear in the report to Congress and at the special General Council that the proposal to develop a work-related advice service would only be feasible if we could form a partnership with the voluntary sector and persuade the Government to fund it. However there is a strong voluntary sector campaign for a statutory employment enforcement agency, which would use the model of Inland Revenue enforcement of the minimum wage to extend policing of employment rights to other issues. There is not therefore the basis for a common approach to government for funding an enhanced advice service for workers, although discussions continue. There is however support for joint working on projects aimed at vulnerable members of the workforce, and initiatives, such as those to support migrant workers, are reported elsewhere.

10.3 workSMART

Perhaps the key recommendation of Reaching the missing millions for the TUC was that the TUC should prepare a new web-based service for people at work in the broadly defined new economy. It would aim to provide advice, information and some limited services for people at work, as well as providing a gateway to union membership. The tone would be as much about helping people get on at work as dealing with problems.

The special General Council meeting agreed to allocate funds to build a pilot version of the website, and this was presented to the May meeting of the Task Group. The new website (www.worksmart.org.uk) went live (without a formal launch) in April and was demonstrated to the Promoting Trade Unionism Task Group’s meeting in May.

The initial content consisted of:

· A 55,000 word employment rights database presented as a series of questions and answers, this rook account of the request in remitted Composite 8 for a new TUC publication on employment rights. The new workSMART content adds to existing TUC publications such as your rights at work - a TUC Guide and the know your rights leaflets reported in chapter 13.

· A jargon buster that contains a glossary of employment rights terms - that can be easily added to as it automatically indexes the database.

· A newsletter which will combine a light hearted tone with news about work-related issues and TUC campaigns.

· A union finder that can help prospective members identify appropriate unions for their job. This has been developed in conjunction with the Labour Research Department’s PayLine database. It allows users to search by company name or the sector of the economy in which they work to establish whether their current employer recognises unions. If not, it shows which companies within that sector are unionised and which unions they recognise, and suggests that users should consider unions recognised by similar employers to the one they work for. A browsable list of unions with contact details is also provided, and unions were invited, in the June TUC MAIL, to provide additional contact and other information about the union. The Labour Research Department has set up a facility to allow unions to register additional agreements via its web site. Details of all new recognition agreements reported in Trade Union Trends have added and affiliated unions will be given the option of including current organising campaigns when the next Trade Union Trends survey is circulated.

Composite 8 asked for 'a single gateway telephone number to ensure anyone wanting to join a union can do so without needing to know in advance the appropriate union for their workplace.' This facility on workSMART offers precisely that, and the same approach is used by the TUC’s know your rights line (reported in chapter 13) when responding to membership enquiries. A dedicated phone number should be in place by the 2002 Congress.

The preview version of the site received good feedback, and was welcomed by the Task Group and the Executive Committee at their July meeting.

Before the site’s formal launch, due to take place in the run up to the 2002 Congress, the following additional content and features were planned:

· A health channel presented in a similar format to the rights advice. The content is largely drawn from the TUC book Keeping Well at Work. The site will provide a guide to helpful material available on the web, including that provided by unions and the TUC.

· The beginnings of a pensions channel, which will initially be based around an on-line pensions calculator developed with government assistance by the Association of British Insurers. This will allow people to see how much they need to save to secure a decent pension.

A proposal to include a personal injury service in the launch version of workSMART was deferred pending further consideration by the General Council.

Future content will to some extent depend on feedback from site users, but possible developments include

· More advice and information on pensions, and other personal finance issues such as tax.

· A jobs channel with job search facilities provided by a link to one or more established web based employment sites, combined with helpful advice on job searching, CVs, interview tips and other job related information.

· Topical campaigning with a populist focus that links to TUC objectives, and helps build the site’s profile, such as more bank holidays.

· Training, learning and personal development material.

· Help, information and advice for people involved in setting up new works councils delivered in a way that will assist, or start, union organising in companies that do not recognise unions.

10.4 New Unionism

The last year has seen the continued development of the New Unionism Project. Progress has been made against all the four broad aims of the project - helping unions shift toward an organising culture; supporting union efforts to direct resources toward organising; helping unions develop their existing membership bases while at the same time encouraging growth into new, less-unionised sectors of the economy; and sharpening the appeal of unions to women, young workers, black workers and workers working on part-time, short-term or agency contracts.

In March 2002 Paul Nowak was appointed as Project Director, replacing Mike Connelly, who left to take up a senior position outside the TUC. Prior to his appointment, Paul was the TUC’s regional secretary in the North East and Cumbria and, significantly, was also a graduate of the Organising Academy’s first intake in 1998.

New Unionism Task Group

General Council: Tony Burke (Chair), Barry Camfield, Paul Gates, Pat Hawkes, Leslie Manasseh, Ed Sweeney, Ged Nichols, Phil Pinder, Sir Tony Young.

Unions: Bill Walsh (Amicus), Sally Hunt (AUT), Geoff Bagnall (CATU), Donald McDonald (CWU), Doug Nicholls (CYWU), Andy Snoddy (GPMU), Eddie Lynch (ISTC), Kevin Pass (ISTC), Hugh Lanning (PCS), Allan Kerr (UNISON), John Hannett (USDAW).

Co-optees: Martin Boyle (PCS), John Partridge (TGWU), Grace Mitchell (CWU), Ian McLaughlin (UNISON).

TUC Youth Forum: Kelly Hillock, Paul Pike.

Academic Advisor: Professor Ed Heery

TUC Staff: Brendan Barber, Frances O’Grady, Paul Nowak, Raj Jethwa, Louise Chinnery.

Organising Academy

A total of 35 Academy Organisers, in two intakes, entered the Organising Academy in the last 12 months, and a wide number of unions continue to sponsor the Academy. Several unions, including the NUJ and the FDA will be sponsoring Academy Organisers, for the first time, in the next intake.

As well as the continuing development of the Organising Academy programme, the Project has worked with the National Education Centre to develop a ‘graduate’ programme for Academy Organisers undertaking a second year of training. In addition, the project and the NEC have worked with individual unions to develop tailored training programmes for both full-time officers and organising staff, and lay activists.

As the Organising Academy enters its fifth year, plans are underway to carry out a strategic review of the programme to ensure its continued success.

Organising Academy Steering Group

General Council: Tony Burke (Chair),

Paul Gates, Leslie Manasseh, Ed Sweeney.

Unions: Bill Walsh (Amicus), Sally Hunt (AUT), Geoff Bagnall (CATU), Andy Snoddy (GPMU), Kevin Pass (ISTC), Paula Lanning (NATFHE), Tim Poil (NGSU), Martin Boyle (PCS), Alan Piper (UNIFI) Allan Kerr (UNISON), Ian McLaughlin (UNISON), John Hannett (USDAW).

Coaches: Gerry Ryan (CWU), Andrew Harden (GPMU), Davy Edmont (GPMU), Louisa Bull (GPMU), Christine Hardacre (ISTC), Mike Jones (ISTC), Heather Pottage (ISTC),

Heather Meldrum (ISTC), Amanda Oates (PCS), Shirley Davies (PCS), Sarah Jane Miller (TSSA), Fiona Westwood (UNISON),

Pete Lowe (UNISON), Ruth Smith (UNISON),

Phil Wood (UNISON), Jane Holland (USDAW), Sharon Hargraves (USDAW)

Academic Advisor: Professor Ed Heery

TUC Staff: Brendan Barber, Frances O’Grady, Paul Nowak, Raj Jethwa, Hilary Oakley, Louise Chinnery, Jenny Dixon, Liz Rees, Linda Kelly, Alison McGarry, Jackie Williams.

Students at work

Over the course of the year the TUC has continued to work closely with the National Union of Students (NUS). As last year, the NUS has agreed that every NUS membership card will carry the number of the TUC Know Your Rights line. Following the address by the general secretary, to last year’s NUS Conference, the close working relationship between the NUS and the TUC was reaffirmed this year when TUC President, Tony Young, addressed its annual conference in April.

In addition to collaborating with the NUS, the TUC has also entered into discussions with the National Association of Student Employment Staff (NASES). This is the national body for those employed in ‘jobshops’, college or university-based employment agencies. The TUC established a dialogue with NASES on the importance of supporting agencies which provide responsible employment for students, especially in a climate of increasing student debt. The TUC also signalled its desire that students who find work through such employment service should be encouraged to join trade unions. This dialogue culminated in the TUC sending a speaker to address the NASES Annual Conference at the beginning of July.

In November, a leaflet was launched jointly with the NUS and NASES to highlight employment rights to working students. After an initial run of 100,000 leaflets being distributed directly to working students through jobshops, a further 40,000 were produced and distributed. The leaflet will be published again to coincide with the increase in national minimum wage. This was accompanied by the TUC sending a number of speakers to address NUS rallies across the country on student employment and hardship.

Union City

In July, unions in Leicester joined together to recruit workers in jobs across the city. Under the banner of Union City, the TUC and individual unions worked to bring the benefits of trade unionism to employees not currently enjoying the protection of union membership. This was a New Unionism initiative organised by the TUC in the Midlands. To support this campaign, the TUC highlighted a number of issues affecting workers

in Leicester and the East Midlands. These include the pay gap between men and women in Leicester, unemployment, low skill levels and issues around enforcement of the minimum wage.

The TUC worked with unions to produce tailored publicity materials and have co-ordinated a union presence at community events and festivals. This publicity was anchored around a number of events organised by the Midlands TUC on health and safety, learning and skills, information and consultation and tackling racism. A number factors were examined to determine the city in which to pilot this project. These included the nature of existing union relations with local communities, good inter-union relations at a local level and the capacity of the TUC within that region. The campaign was successful in bringing a number of unions together and in achieving a high media profile for unions during the campaign (see also chapter 12).

Organise 2001

This year’s conference for organisers, Organise 2001, took place at Congress House on Saturday 17 November. Over 250 activists and organisers from across the movement gathered to hear GMB General Secretary John Edmonds, TUC President Tony Young, Polly Toynbee of The Guardian and The Times Industrial Editor Christine Buckley discuss the current state of employment relations in Britain. The conference looked at the external environment that unions are operating in and the impact this has upon organising campaigns. Topics included the political context of organising and media perspectives of trade unionism.

Key campaigning themes that the conference addressed included organising in new sectors of the economy. Discussions centred around how organising campaigns can focus on issues affecting workers in growth areas of the economy which have not traditionally had a union presence. Another important topic under discussion at the conference was revitalising workplace reps and how support and training for reps could be improved. In addition the conference focused on getting more people, especially younger people, to come forward as reps. The conference also looked at the implications of the information and consultation directive for union organising campaigns.

Another important theme for Organise 2001 was the impact of globalisation, and among other issues, the conference looked at ways of linking union organisation in the developed world with improving labour standards in the developing world.

Spreading the message

Over the last 12 months the New Unionism Project has continued to publish Organising News, a briefing for organisers, to provide news and facilitate discussion on the organising campaigns and techniques. Organising News has a direct mailing list of nearly a thousand organisers and activists, and has carried stories on membership trends, organising campaigns and successful recognition agreements. It has also featured articles from union national officers about strategies for growth and revitalising workplace reps.

In September 2002, the project published a report, Organising to Win, which highlighted practical cases where unions have succeeded in organising the unorganised.

Policy development

Since its inception in 1996, the New Unionism project has maintained strong links with other union centres around the globe, particularly those at the forefront of encouraging unions to make the switch to organising. In the last year the Project has maintained and strengthened these links. Practical examples of this include facilitating meetings between UK unions and leading advocates for change from around the world such as Darien Fenton, National Secretary of the Service Food Workers Union of New Zealand, and Andy Banks and Teresa Conrow from the US. In addition, the Project has assisted organisers from the UK unions to visit countries, including US and Russia, to exchange ideas and experiences, or facilitate training sessions.

The Project is also exploring ways of strengthening its links with the academic community in the UK and abroad - to help underpin the project with accessible and creditable academic research, and to build on the existing relationship with Cardiff University. Although Cardiff University’s formal assessment of the Organising Academy has drawn to a close, Ed Heery and his colleagues are still publishing a regular update on their work, details which can be found at (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/carbs/research/ turu/index.html).

The New Unionism project is also helping to review the Winning the Organised Workplace (WOW) course materials, and making efforts to develop an on-line version of this vital resource for lay reps and activists. Further details are contained in the TUC Education Service report, chapter 12.

10.5 Young people

In the last 12 months, the TUC has worked on a number of areas to raise the profile of young people within the trade union movement and to make young people more aware of their rights. These areas have included continuing to monitor the Development Rate in the National Minimum Wage, developing a rights leaflet aimed at students and younger workers and engaging with the opportunities created by the introduction of Citizenship studies into schools and colleges.

In line with Composite 9, passed by last year’s Congress, a number of initiatives have taken place aimed at building stronger links between the trade union movement and community organisations. Many of these have had an educational focus, but other aspects of this work have involved establishing links with anti-racist organisations and those in the co-operative sector looking to involve young people in their campaigns. In addition, the TUC has had meetings with the Connexions Card Unit looking at the application of the Connexions Card among disengaged young people.

Citizenship and young people

Much of the TUC’s work has involved establishing a presence in schools as a way of building community relations and reaching out to young people from families affected by industrial change. At the 2001 Congress the TUC successfully launched a revised and updated edition of its pack for schools, A Better Way to Work. The pack was launched at a meeting attended by Congress delegates and sixth-form students. Speakers at the launch included the then Minister for Young People Ivan Lewis.

A Better Way To Work, the TUC’s schools resource pack, was originally produced in 1997. It is primarily aimed at school students studying Key Stage 4 in schools, providing activities which help teachers to prepare students for work experience and other work-related activities. Much of the material can also be used with students aged up to 19. Some of the activities are also suitable for use with young people attending youth clubs and centres. The pack is divided into five sections which deal with:

· The role of trade unions

· Rights and responsibilities

· Health and safety

· Equal opportunities

· The future of work

The new edition takes account of the changes in employment law since publication of the first edition. In particular it includes the national minimum wage, the right to paid leave, parental leave and time off. It includes new issues and many of the on-going earlier issues, such as equality, representation and protection.

This edition also takes account of the imminent introduction of Citizenship into the school curriculum. As of August 2002 Citizenship is a statutory subject for all pupils of secondary school age. Many aspects of Citizenship reflect values to which the trade union movement is sympathetic. For example, Citizenship encourages young people to discuss and explore the democratic process, equal opportunities and diversity, ways of bringing about social change, global interdependence and, particularly ‘the rights and responsibilities of consumers, employers and employees.’

Statutory Citizenship provides, for the first time, the opportunity for all pupils to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to become informed citizens. The orders require schools to give their pupils opportunities to develop skills of participation and responsible action. One of the main aims of Citizenship, as outlined in both the advisory groups chaired by Professor Bernard Crick, was to promote active citizenship. This stresses the three strands of citizenship - the civil, the political and the social. Young people, while respecting law and democracy, should also gain independence of thought and consider responsible ways of bringing about social change.

A Better Way to Work encourages an active approach to teaching and learning. Pupils are given tasks which involve them working in groups, finding things out for themselves, taking on roles, interviewing people at workplaces and forming their own opinions.

An important part of citizenship, promoted in the materials, is the involvement in education of people from outside the school environment. Teachers do not always have the necessary knowledge on specific areas of employment law, particularly when the law changes frequently. Trade unionists in the classroom can make a big impression on young people. They can use their extensive knowledge of real-life examples to bring employment issues alive. Some young people in our schools do not know about the role of trade unions, or harbour the media stereotypes. Trade unionists can break these down and help young people to recognise the constructive role trade unionists play at the workplace.

Minimum Wage Development Rate

In June 2001 the Low Pay Commission (LPC) published its recommendations in regard to the development rate. It recommended that:

· 21 year olds should be included in the adult rate

· the age coverage of the Development Rate should be kept under review

· the level of the Development rate should be £3.50 an hour from October 2001, rising to £3.60 an hour in October 2002.

The Government accepted the second and third points, but rejected any inclusion of 21 year olds in the full adult rate. This was the second time in which the LPC’s recommendation on 21 year olds was rejected.

As of 1 October 2001 the minimum wage for everybody aged 22 or over was £4.10 per hour. This is set to increase to £4.20 in October 2002. This means that, with a Development Rate of £3.50 an hour, far from narrowing the gap as previous increases had done, the gap remains the same between the Development Rate and the adult rate minimum wage.

Given these facts about the minimum wage, the TUC commissioned a survey of 16 to 21 year olds to establish the extent of their knowledge about the subject. The results were published in March as part of the TUC report Young people - what do they know? Young people were asked a series of questions about what they thought the minimum wage was for various age groups. The main finding was that most young people have a surprisingly low level of awareness about the national minimum wage. Only a third of 16 to 21 year olds knew that the minimum wage for adult workers was £4.10 an hour. Further, only 17 per cent knew that the minimum wage for 18 to 21 year olds was £3.50.

Given the lack of awareness among young people, there is much to be concerned about. There is a tendency for young people to believe the minimum wage is higher than it actually is, for workers of all age groups. However, a significant minority of young people also tend to underestimate the rate of the minimum wage. One in five young people surveyed believed that the adult rate was less than £4.10. A further one in ten thought that the minimum wage for 18 to 21 year olds was less than £3.50. A real concern is that if young people are not certain about the rate of the minimum wage, or if they believe it is lower then it actually is, they are more liable to be exploited. If people have no basic knowledge of their rights at work, it is difficult to see how they can enforce their rights and how employers can be prevented from exploiting young workers.

The TUC has consistently argued that there should be a single rate with no exemptions other than where employees are in receipt of accredited training (see statement on minimum wage in chapter 3). One of the reasons for the lack of awareness demonstrated in the survey is the confusion caused by having differential rates in the minimum wage: there is much to commend the simplicity of a single rate, especially in the light of the low level of awareness shown. However, the main argument in favour of paying all employees aged 18 or over the same minimum wage is that of fairness. To introduce a blanket exemption from the full minimum wage based purely on an individual’s age is discriminatory.

The TUC has continued to campaign for the adult rate to be paid to 18 year olds and for 16 and 17 year olds to receive a fixed percentage of the adult rate as well. In May the TUC organised a seminar to discuss the exemption of young workers from the national minimum wage. The seminar was addressed by Paul Gregg of Bristol University, a Treasury adviser and an advocate of the lower rate for young workers, and by Professor Willy Brown from the LPC. It was attended by union national officers, researchers and officers with responsibility for young members. The aim of the seminar was to develop a campaigning agenda for unions around the minimum wage. The TUC has also organised visits for members of the LPC to meet young people affected by the age exemption and practitioners involved in placing students in work.

School age working

The need for schoolchildren and young people to understand their rights at work was illustrated by last year’s TUC report, Class Struggles, which showed that as many as one in ten children with a job admitted to missing school in order to do paid work. It also revealed terrible instances of low pay and the damaging effect that working excessive hours had upon the performance of children in school. Over a quarter of children in work were too tired to do their homework or schoolwork because of their job.

The TUC continued to campaign on this issue over the course of the year and worked with organisations such as the NSPCC and the Child Employment Network to share information and discuss ways of developing a common agenda to make progress on dealing with the worst aspects of school-age working. The TUC was also a regular commentator on media report responding to issues around school age working. This included stories around the successful prosecution of a McDonald’s franchise for breaking the law on working hours.

The TUC has commissioned a report from the Children’s Legal Centre looking at the complexity of the laws and regulations relating to school age working. This report will form the basis of the TUC’s work with other organisations in this field to ensure that school-age workers are properly protected from exploitation in the workplace.

2002 Youth Conference

This year’s Youth Conference took place at the beginning of March in Eastbourne. Delegates to the conference had the chance to take part in workshops discussing employment and pension rights, organising in the workplace, globalisation and working in schools. The workshops were designed to both raise awareness of key issues among younger workers and to develop campaigns based on these themes.

Delegates to the conference were addressed by the TUC President, Tony Young. Other guest speakers included Emma Griffiths, NSPCC, and Anton Leppik from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. In the context of community relations, the conference heard from Dan Crowe, Co-op Party and Dennis Fernando from the National Assembly Against Racism.