Interview

Back to the Grassroots

Interview with Peter Lewis

Trade union trainer Jill Biddington looks at old problems through a new lens. Her message: talk to the workers.

	Jill Biddington

The word "organising" has become a bit of a catchword within the union movement in recent years. What does it mean to you?

Organising is basically the process of moving people from being consciously an individual worker into part of a collective so they are working together to improve their working life, be it pay and conditions or other aspects of their working life.

So for unions, does that mean a shift as well?

I think unions have to shift their recognition from those who pay their way as union members to those who are potentially union members, so they are attempting to expand their relevance to people who are workers, not just the traditional members.

How does that differ from the way unions have operated in the past

The way that unions have operated in the past is that they have been strong in male dominated areas of employment where there is a tradition of unionism. Today there's a shift to non-traditional forms of work like part-time and casual work, more female involvement and people coming from other countries which may not have such a tradition of unionism. Organising then is the challenge of introducing unionism to these people, both as a concept and as a way of improving their lives.

And how does one do that?

The key is that we need to make a conscious shift to adopt new approaches. We need to make it happen on a one to one basis. That can be very time-consuming to go out and talk to people about what trade unions do. and debunk a lot of the myths and stereotypes held by people who feel threatened by unions like to talk about a lot.

One of TUTA's main roles is to train up organisers to do that, what do you do to help them shift this focus.

The first thing we do is go in and say "let's have a look at the environment we're operating in and let's acknowledge that it is at best challenging because of the decline in membership numbers. We do take a realistic look and then ask ourselves what are the significant barriers we have to deal with here? These are not just constructed by conservative politicians, some are obstacles the union movement has put in place themselves.,..

Such as?

Such as: have a look at the way some unions prepare communications for their members. Are you producing something you were doing in the early 60s? Are there 12 photos of the general secretary in there and should there be more photos of members? How do you speak to members or potential members? Do you just talk at them or do you spend more time listening to them? Do you treat each member as a sort of adventure in trying to understand how they relate to their workplace before you actually talk to them about what it means to be part of a broader network? These are critical issues. A lot of the stuff we do actually relates to that communication process; one-to-one organising, building networks, developing delegates, all the way through to helping union managers strategically position their unions to capitalise on the new trends.

This is an area where the US seems a long way ahead of Australia. What are we learning from them in terms of operating in a hostile environment?

I think it's true that parts of the US movement are a long way ahead of us, but there are cultural differences so it's not always good to make those comparisons. The things we are learning from their experience in a hostile environment is that you have to be strategic, you have to be absolutely committed to going out and organising as your fundamental reason for existing and that you should get rid of anything that doesn't relate to organising.

So what would you be getting rid of?

Well, is it really important to have a conference of senior union executives or is it more important to get the people who organise members together to talk about their experiences? It's got a lot to do with how the finances are spent too, making sure that financial control and all those issues are dedicated to organising. That's the critical thing that's come out of the States, because I think in Australia there's still a tendency to spend money on non-organising aspects.

Give me some good news stories about how this approach has worked?

There's the NSW branch of the Media Alliance which has changed its approach from being fairly bureaucratic and looking after the day-to-day management of the union to going out to the workplaces to meet with delegates in workplaces. So the state executive does not meet in the union hall anymore, they meet in the workplace. That is a big move as a focus -- the executive saying we have to go out and lead the organising drive. I think the TWU has some good stories about organising coach captains and working towards what is a different notion of the workplace. Most unions are actually embracing this sense of organising. Some unions think they've 'got it' and the real threat there is that of complacency and that they don't need to keep challenging themselves. But generally, most unions see the challenge but sometimes don't know the best way to approach it.

You come from the finance sector, how have unions met the challenge in that industry?

I think in a whole variety of ways. The FSU, like most unions, is still grappling with the change but in recent years the union has really dedicated itself to understanding the membership and the potential membership in a better way. About eight years ago they undertook a significant survey and used that as a method for looking at the ways they communicate, the way they structure themselves and the way they reviewed their structures, to ensure they are pitching themselves to their membership.

A lot of this sounds like a question of marketing to the membership, which is something unions have traditionally shied away from ...

If I'm sounding like that then I'm wrong, because I don't want it to sound like unions have to come up with THE service or THE product and then market it. Organising is about going up to a worker and asking: what are the things that are important to you? and then trying to use that as part of the agenda. And then taking it a step further and asking: how strongly do you feel about this? If you really want X, are you prepared to get involved? So it's not so much a tertiary marketing campaign as a step back to the basic battle of getting the hearts and minds, but critically, getting activists as well. Organising is not just about get membership dollars in, it is very much about winning people to the union movement and to become advocates for the movement -- in the workplace, on the bus, in the home; not zealots, but committed and proud union members.

And so are you optimistic that the union movement has a future?

Absolutely. I think humanity will always find a way to organise and it won't matter what you call it, but in Australiawe have a predominance of working people and they will always find a way to organise.

Jill Biddington is TUTA's national union education officer

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  Issue 15 contents

»	Labor Council Unveils New Public Face
»	Revealed: New, Meaner Breed of Body Hire
»	Unions Wins Own Safety Prosecution
»	Timor Protest Calls for UN Troops
»	Pay Equity Jitters as Report Gathers Dust
»	Paid Maternity Leave: One Step Forward - One Step Back
»	Court Victory for PNG Workers
»	First For Union With Multicultural Arts Grant
»	Cleaners Clean Up In Backpay Bonanza
»	Unions Join Sorry Ceremony

»	Guest Report
»	Sport
»	Trades Hall
»	Piers Watch

»	Concern at Timor Attitudes

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