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  Issue No 15 Official Organ of LaborNet 28 May 1999  

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Unions

TWU: The Workplace Union

By Mark Hearn

Ring Tony Sheldon, State Secretary of the NSW Transport Workers Union, and if you don't get through straight away you're told it's because "I'm organising members at the moment".

 
 

TWU State Secretary Tony Sheldon (sitting, back left) with members at Greenacre Distribution Centre. "It's the way we used to organise 25 years ago. It empowers the rank and file, and develops more loyalty and accountability within the union".

Don't laugh; this is a man with a mobile phone implant, long used to dawn service on behalf of members in transport yards across the state - and helps explains why no-one took him on during the last TWU elections. He was elected un-opposed.

A consistent grass-roots approach to organising propelled Tony Sheldon to the top job; he sees no reason to change strategy now. The phone thing has spread to the TWU office: whoever picks up the receiver will assure the enquiring member that they have reached the TWU, organising Union. A small change, of itself, but one representing a profound shift in union culture - a shift to proactive recruiting and service in almost every aspect of the TWU's organising, structure and administration.

Sheldon says the main aim of the TWU's new recruitment program is "to activate members in non-union companies". Note the almost frightening lack of doubt in that statement: the members are already there, just waiting for instruction, ready to sign up - activate - those wayward non-unionists. It works. The TWU increased members by 893 in the last year.

Most of that recruiting has been done by workplace delegates and - you guessed it - "activists". These rank and filers are trained to fulfil the TWU's mission by recruiting new members and implementing workplace campaigns. The TWU trains hundreds of delegates and activists a year - a two day "Winning the Workplace" program, with another one day refresher course six weeks later, and a five day occupational health and safety program.

Tony Sheldon says the delegates and activists receive a massive confidence boost through the training programs. "You can see the relief on their faces. Now I know what to do, how to go about organising". All up, the TWU has a network of 540 delegates and 120 activists.

The TWU currently channels this enthusiasm into campaigns like the "petition projects". 600 bus drivers recently signed a petition - distributed by TWU delegates and activists - protesting a decision by the NSW Department of Transport to revoke a colleague's licence over a misconduct charge - without any reference to judicial or appeal process. Justice for their mate means justice for all of them. What union organising is all about.

Another petition is currently circulating amongst long distance drivers, campaigning for a standard "contract determination" (a bit like an award). Tony Sheldon explains that the drivers, always under pressure to get the job done fast in a highly competitive industry, "want a safe workplace, and decent conditions. It's up to the Government to come to regulate the industry."

Members not only support the union's approach to organising - they're prepared to put money on it. 92% of TWU members in the Sanitary, Garbage and Trade Waste industry recently voted to support a plan to pay 10% on top of their normal membership fees to establish a dedicated organising fund for the industry, to be administered by the rank and file and the TWU. The more members signed up, the stronger their collective clout when bargaining with employers.

Not that everything is left to the rank and file. The TWU has 20 full-time organisers, plus campaign officers, an organising director, legal officers, a super officer, a full-time trainer. For Tony Sheldon, that's just the backbone of the organising structure, which to succeed, must spread into workplaces across the state. "Only a strong rank and file network can give the union that kind of reach."

Sheldon has no doubts about the benefits of the TWU's activism. "It's the way we used to organise 25 years ago. It empowers the rank and file, and develops more loyalty and accountability within the union". It's truly amazing. He managed to say all that before the phone rang again...


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*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 15 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Back to the Grassroots
Trade union trainer Jill Biddington looks at old problems through a new lens. Her message: talk to the workers.
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*  Unions: TWU: The Workplace Union
Ring Tony Sheldon, State Secretary of the NSW Transport Workers Union, and if you don't get through straight away you're told it's because "I'm organising members at the moment".
*
*  History: Proud to be a Member
Retired transport workers remind young members of the struggles which produced the benefits they now enjoy.
*
*  Indigenous: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
Australia's treatment of its indigenous people is a problem that won't go away.
*
*  Review: Popcorn Goes for the Crunch
A Sydney production attempts to bring Ben Elton's satire of film-shplatt cinema to life.
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*  Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
View the latest issue of Labour review, Labour Council's fortnightly update on industrial issues.
*
*  Health: Being Lead Astray
Workers in a range of occupations are exposed to lead and are not being made aware of the hazards
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News
»  Labor Council Unveils New Public Face
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»  Revealed: New, Meaner Breed of Body Hire
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»  Unions Wins Own Safety Prosecution
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»  Timor Protest Calls for UN Troops
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»  Pay Equity Jitters as Report Gathers Dust
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»  Paid Maternity Leave: One Step Forward - One Step Back
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»  Court Victory for PNG Workers
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»  First For Union With Multicultural Arts Grant
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»  Cleaners Clean Up In Backpay Bonanza
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»  Unions Join Sorry Ceremony
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Columns
»  Guest Report
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Piers Watch
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Letters to the editor
»  Concern at Timor Attitudes
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