APPROACHES TO
ORGANISING
Carl Roper
National Organiser, Trades Union Congress
managers
organisers
entrepreneurs
bureaucracy
Civic
Organisation
markets
CLIENTS
Members/Citizens
CUSTOMERS
SOCIAL
SERVICE
SOCIAL ACTION
SOCIAL
MARKETING
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Defining organising 1
Its about the union drawing its strength from its good workplace organisation
That means;
•
high membership/density,
•
good bargaining coverage and
•
the presence of workplace reps and activists.
Whatever else we do, wherever else we operate, if we don’t have strong workplace organisation
then our power and influence is limited.
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
© Marshall Ganz Harvard University
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Defining organising 2
It’s not about ‘organising vs. servicing’ because representation is important!
•
All unions need to be able to represent and service their members BUT the key is how is
this done
•
Issues and concerns should as far as possible be dealt with by well-trained, local workplace
reps
•
Freeing up union officers and staff to play a more strategic, facilitating role.
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Defining organising 3
Campaigning is KEY!
•
Campaigning that is VALUES and ISSUES focused
•
Campaigns that are targeted – who can give us what we want?
•
Campaigns that develop leverage – what will make the target give us what we want?
•
Campaigns that are empowering – they create opportunities for activity and build
capacity
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Cycle of organising
Issue
Evaluate
Research
Implement
Analysis
Plan
Strategic approaches
STRATEGY in organising is how we…
organise what we have
to create what we need
to get what we (and our members) want
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Strategic planning for unions
•
•
•
Creates a vehicle for involving officers, staff and
members, in…
Creating a framework about problems and challenges
that face the union, that...
Places an emphasis on action, rather than reaction
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Strategic planning for unions
Membership priorities –
current and prospective
Environmental priorities
– shaped by external
factors
Core Strategy
–
Why are we
here?
Institutional priorities –
political and
organisational
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Strategic Choice Framework
Strategic Leverage
Low
High
Third position:
Stronger internal
organisation;
increased
opportunity to
shape external
factors
Initial position:
Weak organisation;
low leverage
Second position:
Stronger internal
organisation; low
leverage
Low
Organisational Capacity
© David Weil: Boston University / Harvard University
TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Factors affecting strategic leverage
Economic Climate/
Product Market
Technology /
Work
Organisation
Union
Labour Market
Features
© David Weil: Boston University / Harvard University
Social
Attitudes
Political / Regulatory
Institutions
Some challenges?
• How do we engage key stakeholders within the union?
• How do we turn members into contributors to - rather
than just consumers of - union resources?
• How do we do this as PART of the unions day to day
activity rather than as separate process?
“In democratic countries,
knowledge of how to combine is
the mother of all other forms of
knowledge; on its progress
depends that of all the others.“
Alexis de Tocqueville
TRADES UNION CONGRESS