Is There a Union Revitalisation in Europe and North America - Essay Example

?To what extent can we argue that there is union Revitalisation in Europe and North America As Europe and North America developed into the capitalistparadises of a globalised world, the employer-employee relations in these regions have undergone drastic and complex changes in the last two decades. In a general assessment, it is opined that unionism is on the decline all over the world, and also in these regions, owing to the changes that globalisation brought about in the dynamism of class relations. But all the same, the dissillusionment with globalisation has emerged as a parallel trend as was visible in the protest against the Seattle summit and also in developing countries, against economic liberalisation. In this context, it cannot be assumed that union revitalisation will happen hassle-free. There have been signs of worker self- aggrandisement in certain areas, but there have also been instances of total relapse into passivity in certain spheres. But a new phenomenon that is emerging is the structural changes that have been happening on the union front, and if viewed from backdrop, it can be argued that there is union revitalisation in a new form in Europe and UK. The global alliances that are emerging in labour sector, the increased presence of women, and ethnic minorities in the global work force, and the new forms of workers organisations like the ‘worker centres’ of USA, have been some indicators of change. Taking into account all these nes factors and influences, we can argue that there is a non-traditional kind of union revitalisaton in Europe and North America. North America and European Union have been depending more and more on immigrant labourers to meet their workforce needs. There are also attempts going on to assimilate these migratory workers into the host country’s mainstream work force. In the United States, one in five people is from another nationality (Ohlemacker, 2007). In 2006, BBC reported that 70,000 people were waiting to get citizenship in UK (BBC News, 2006). The European Union has made it mandatory for its member nations, “a ‘duty of equality’ in regard to pay” (Healy and Heery, 2004: p.4). This has opened up a whole lot of equal opportunities and has thus increased the social diversity of the work force (Healy and Heery 2004: p.4). Women and migrant workers from developing countries have been getting better representation in the wok force in Europe, as a result of this. As this phenomenon alters the social landscape of the work force, it has influenced the general state of towards trade unionism as well. For example, “the creation of low-paid, insecure, temporary and part-time jobs, which are disproportionately filled by women, minority ethnic citizens and young people” has resulted in weakening of the bargaining power of the workers and also an increase in “poverty and… unemployment” among such vulnerable groups (Healy and Heery, 2004, pp.17). In such a scenario, the question is whether the conventional trade unions are waking up to face the new challenges and organise the totally changed work force. There are divergant opinions on this issue. Johnson and Jarley (2004) have drawn attention to the re-emergence of “social movement unionism in the United States with a rhetoric centering on demands for ‘work place dignity’ and ‘social justice’” (543-44). Ongoing rejuvenation efforts inside the trade unions are supposed to aim at reforms that will change the attitude of trade unions “from passive service organisations, bulti largely on an economic exchange logic with members, to active organising-driven unions, built on a logic of social exchange” (Johnson and Jarley 2004: 544; Heery 2001; Turner and Hurd 2001). In UK, it has been observed that decentralisation of public sector enterprises into local level management, has led to new feelings of insecurites among the workers and has become a “catalyst for union revival” (Calveley and Healy 2003: 98). Some researchers (Calveley and Healy 2003: 98; Fairbrother 1996: 141) have also opined that though there is a visible decline in unionism in the backdrop of decentralisation, at the local level, new forms of “participatory unionism” have been emerging in UK. Also latest available figures have shown that the rate of occurance of strikes in UK “has increased from 6 per 1000 in 2005 to 28 in 2006” (Hale 2008, pp.32). But in the OECD nations, the strike rate has remained almost the same in the years 2005 and 2006 (Hale 2008, pp.32). If we consider the data of the period between 1997-2001 and 2002-2006, there is an average 17.5% increase in strike rate in European Union but in the OECD nations, strike rate is seen to be decreased by 23% (Hale 2008, pp.32-33). These figures are a little bit confusing and does not provide any clear data supporting the revival of trade unionism. But it is evident from this data that in Europe, there has been an increase in trade union activities. Also it is revealed that trade union activity peaked in 2002 in EU and then declined up to the year 2006 (Hale 2008, pp.34). Incidently, this rise and fall some what correlates with the rise and fall of global economy as well. But another interesting fact is that during the same period (1997-2001 to 2002-2006) mentioned above, in EU and OECD countries, the strike rates were higher in production and construction industries and lower in service sector (Hale 2008, pp.35). When taken as a whole, in Europe, trade unions “have been losing members” (Vandaele and Leschke, 2010). These conflicting reports eventually has raised the question of what could be the major factors that will prompt workers to get united under a union. The mobilization theory on trade unions has hypothesised that the perceived social injustices have a mobilizing role as far as workers and trade unions are concerned (Kelly 1998; Johnson and Jarley, 2004). But many scholars have argued that primarily it is “job dissatisfaction and union instrumentality perceptions” that prompt workers to organise into trade unions (Johnson and Jarley 2004: 544; Barling et al 1992; Kochan 1979). It has also been suggested that “members’ satisfaction, commitment and participation are dependent on workers’ perceptions about the degree to which the union values their contributions and cares about their well-being” (Johnson and Jarley 2004: 546). The constraints faced by trade unions in organising workers as identified by researchers like Heery and Simms (2008), include, problems with the “charectiristics of organisers, the nature of the organising task…and the systems in place to manage their work” (24). And the agents of change ought to be “de-centralised decision making, greater reliance on volunteers, and the strategic use of work place grievances that build worker class consciousness and generalized reciprocity norms,” according to social scientists (Johnson and Jarley 2004: 544; Banks and Metzgar, 1989). The signs of renewal of unionism can include, “the recruitment and replenishment of new generation of activists, the building of work place activity in the context of restructuring, the development and promotion of mutual support between levels of union members and leaders, and …the conditions for international unionism” (Calveley and Healy 2003: 99). Only certain signs being visible and many signs still lacking from the scene, Fitzgerald and Stirling (1999) have suggested that the transformation in the union activites can be termed only as “resilience” rather than “renewal” (99). McIlroy (1995) has also expressed reservations regarding the ‘renewal’ theory of trade unionism. Collings (1995) has also drawn attention to the developing contract system which has weakened unionism at local level. But Gall (1998), Darlington (1998), and Fairbrother (1990) have expressed positive views about the revival of unionism. If we take the three factors (injustices, dissatisfaction, union instrumentality) discussed above as the crucial elements for revival of unionism, it can be inferred that an atmosphere for the revival of unionism already exists. In US, the situation of the migrant workers have been pathetic as “low-wage immigrant workers exist within industries in which there are few or no unions or other organisational vehicles through which they can speak and act” (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.418). Now women constitute “46 percent of the UK labour force” and this feminisation can be viewed at least partially as a convenience created for greater exploitation. Employment of migrant workers also has a similar aspect as these workers will be weilding less power to bargain for their rights with the employers and hence the employers can exploit and handle their grievances easily. And majority members of these vulnerable groups end up in menial low-paid jobs (Healy and Heery, 2004). Trade unions have been aware of this sitaution and particularly in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, intensive attempts are going on to organise non-standard workers (part-time employees, temporary workers, contract workers, self-employed) who have come to inhabit a major portion of the work force in the new economic scenario (Vandaele and Leschke, 2010). But the problem is that trade unions have throughout their history stood against the creation of a non-standard workforce and despite their protest, when such a workforce came into being, they have been slow to respond to their needs. And this has been the primary reason why trade unions found in the last two-three decades, an erosion in their membership base. In the year 2000, UNISON, which is the largest trade union in UK, released its charter for black women (Healy and Heery, 2004, pp.161). This is a proof to the increasing perception among trade unions about the changing labour scenario. It is also interesting to note that the charter went beyond the conventional class perspective in its declartions. It (Healy and Heery, 2004) said: Acknowledge my Visibility Enable me to Participate Empower me to contribute Respect Me and my culture Promote a Black perspective of Awareness and Understanding Emphasise your experience but Empower me to Speak for myself Respect me as an individual and not a stereotype of a ‘perceived’ typical Black woman Develop my individual Skills and Abilities to aid the decision-making process (pp.162). There has been criticism that black workers are underrepresented in the leadership of trade unions (Healy and Heery, 2004, pp.169). Only when the unions have the capability to end such discrimination that they will win the ground support among the majority of workers, as now the majority amount to such marginalised groups. For example, in the British trade union, UNISON, 72% of the workers are women but the union has only 62 women in executive positions and in the trade union, USDAW, 60% members are women but the number of women in executive positions in this trade union is only 53 (Healy and Heery, 2004, pp.173). It is also observed in many studies (as cited by Healy and Heery, 2004) that women have less faith in trade unions than men, in the atmosphere inside unions, women feel alienated, and women find it difficult to balance between “work, union and home demands” (pp.258-59). It is clear form these facts that a total revamp of trade unions at the functional and conceptual levels, is the need of the hour. Discussing the limited success of the Lidl trade union campaign in Germany, Gajewska and Niesyto (2009) have concluded that it is the “hierarchical organisation of the campaign” which lessened grass root level involvement, and prevented it from becoming a remarkable success. It is this inability to break the structural conventionalism in existing trade unions, that has made new forms of workers’ organisations, a necessity. In US, worker centres have emerged as organising platforms for low-wage workers as they provide, “a combination of service, advocacy and organising” to such workers (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.419). The services include, “legal representation to recover unpaid wages, English classes, worker right education, and access to health clinics, bank accounts and loans” (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.420). Similarly, the advocacy taken up by worker centres comprise of activites like “researching and releasing exposes about conditions in low-wage industries, lobbying of new laws and changes in existing ones, working with government agencies to improve monitoring and grievance processes, and bringing suites against employers” (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.420). The organising aspect of the role of worker centres is involved with sustaining and developing existing labour organisations, with a focus on developing strong leadership, so that workers are empowered to act according to the needs of their socio-political realities (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.420). These manifold activities taken up by worker centres are reflective of the diversified needs felt by a worker in the modern times. Many of these needs are outside the purview of conventional trade unions or they need to be assimilated into the trade union conceptual framework. For example, learning English is a very crucial need for an immigrant worker in USA but presently the trade unions do not have that agenda included in their proclaimed ideology. This is the area that needs deeper introspection while attempting to revitalise trade union movement. Another important feature of these workers centres as compared to regular trade unions is that they have strong roots in race and ethnicity, especially those involved with immigrant workers (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.427). Another peculiarity is that these worker centres are geographically defined rather than “worksite-based” (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.427). They have also active linkages with the the labour organisations of the workers’ countries of origin, which in turn impart them a global outlook (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.428). It has been inferred that the worker centres are a bye-product of the growing unorganised service sector as a need is felt for an alternative mechanism to fill the void created by the absence of trade unions (Fine, 2005-2006, pp.430). Hurd, Milkman and Turner (2003) have shown that American trade unions have also realised the need for reframing its activities and are giving “institutional support for local efforts to organise, build coalitions and expand the scope of grass-roots politics” (pp.99). This is a welcome change that could pave way to a rejuvenation of the trade union movement in a new form. The new steps being taken by the unions are summed up by Hurd, Milkman and Turner (2003) as “organising the unorganised, innovative collective bargaining campaigns,…(and)… coalition building and grass-roots political action” by mobilising dual support from “national union and new rank-and-file leadership” and also by “mobilization” (Hurd, Milkman and Turner, 2003, pp.100). This kind of “institutional support and network mobilization” is viewed as researchers, a move ahead in the revival of unionism (Hurd, Milkman and Turner, 2003, pp.100). It is the success of such a combined policy that will decide in future, whether the ongoing revitalisation of unions will succeed or not. As Frege and Kelly (2004) have pointed out, the unions have an important role to play both in a capitalist economy and a political democracy. The injustices suffered by the workers under the increasingly alienated global work scenario along with the strengthening of political movements across nations using information and communication technologies can be looked upon as the catalysts of change. References Banks, A and Metzgar, J. 1989. ‘Participating in management: union organizing on a new terrain’, Labour Research Review, 14, pp.1-55. Barling et. al., 1992. ‘The union and its members’, New Yprk, Oxford University Press. Calveley, M. and Healy, G. March 2003, ‘Political activism and work place industrial relationsin a UK ‘failing’ school’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 41:1, pp.97-113. 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Katz, and R.W.Hurd (eds.), Rekindling the Movement: Labour’s Quest for Relevance in the 21st Century, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, pp.9-26. Read More