The labour movement today faces some significant challenges. In 1979, more than 13 million people belonged to a union – over half of the workforce. Today that figure is just 6.5 million or one in four workers. Just 14 per cent of private sector workers are in a union, and with those members concentrated in areas such as manufacturing, retail and finance, large swaths of the labour market are barely represented at all.
The challenge is particularly acute with younger workers – many members of Generation Y are either ignorant of trade unions, or they don’t see them as relevant to their situation. Workers in their 20s are less than half as likely to be members as those in their 50s.
Despite these challenges, there are some examples of where unions have bucked the trend. Take Community, for example. Its origins lie in the steel industry and traditional manufacturing but as the economy has changed, so has Community. It has branched out into new sectors where they have given working people a collective voice for the first time.
One of the things that marks Community out is its focus on partnership. It is a deeply held view throughout the union that employees and employers have a fundamental shared interest in the sustainability and success of their organisation. It’s only a stable and profitable employer that can offer job security and improvements in pay, terms and conditions.
They recognise that there will not always be agreement between themselves and the management and they are prepared to fight for their members when necessary. But – in the words of Michael Leahy, Community’s general secretary – they prefer ‘the force of argument to the argument of force.’
We recently undertook a major study into Community’s approach and organising. It demonstrates the power of partnership working. For me, the most powerful example was the SSI Steel plant on Teesside. Following the mothballing of the plant, Community and the other local unions launched their ‘Save our Steel’ campaign which was crucial in securing a new buyer who brought the site back to life. We also saw how they’d built relationships in growing sectors with TNT Post and Serco and how they’d helped turn around the fortunes of RSBI, making it an all-to rare success story in terms of supported employment for disabled workers.
We were also struck by Community’s commitment to ongoing training and development. Having represented steelworkers through the difficult period of industrial decline, they know only too well that people need help to train and retrain to be able to compete in a rapidly changing labour market. And they are also one of the pioneers of ‘community organising’ in the union movement – bringing together coalitions of support to fight for shared interest.
Labour still need to flesh out their vision for a One Nation Economy. Trade unions were recently described by Chuka Umunna as ‘wealth creators for this country.’ But what place will they have in a One Nation Economy, as we seek to rebuild, and to restore growth?
The partnership approach is absolutely crucial here: engaged and representative trade unions working closely with employers to secure the long-term success of the organisation; then working to ensure the fair distribution of the rewards of that success. To me, that relationship needs to lie at the heart of a One Nation economy.
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Nita Clarke is director of the IPA @IPA_Involve. You can download the report Delivering through Partnership: Community the Union here.
On Sunday, Nita will be speaking at:
One nation trade unionism: can employees win more by working in partnership with employers?
12.45pm, Sunday 22 September
Brighton Media Centre, 15-17 Middle St, Brighton BN1 1AL (just outside the secure zone)
Toby Perkins MP shadow small business minister
Michael J. Leahy OBE general secretary, Community
Nita Clarke chief executive, IPA
Maurice Glasman peer and Blue Labour founder
Chair: Sarah Veale head of equality and employment rights, TUC
Register your place for this event below.