ForeFront

Issue Number  | Spring 2006

What’s new?
What works?
Unions21Week of Events
Unions 21 decided this year to take its ‘open space’ for
trade union debate way beyond the confines of London.
Between 27 February and 4 March, we held a series
of meetings on the broad theme “What’s new? What
works? Modern unions and life at work”.
Our five events attracted speakers from the STUC, the
Scottish Executive and the House of Commons, the Irish
Congress of Trade Unions, the Swedish union SIF, the FBU,
USDAW, NASUWT, the Midlands Regional TUC, Community,
NATFHE, University of Warwick, CWU, Prospect, the Work
Foundation, and of course, Congress House and No10
Downing Street.
Our audiences came from over 30 different unions,
including all the biggest unions and many of the smaller
organisations. Our ‘open space’ was getting mighty
crowded!
Stefan Rousseau / PA

At the Glasgow meeting (page 2) Linda Shanahan of the FBU flanked by John Lloyd, chair of
Unions21 (on her right) and John Park, assistant secretary of the STUC

ForeFront is published by Unions 21 in association with Unity Trust Bank www.unity.uk.com

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 Glasgow
Modern Unions and Social Europe
WORKING with the STUC, Unions 21 gathered together a economic framework agreement that is translated into sector
wide range of speakers to discuss some of the different agreements which, in turn, individual companies finalise
forms of social partnership throughout Europe. Europe has locally. Interesting for a British audience, was the realisation
been slipping off the progressive agenda recently and our that these agreements are legally enforceable.
day in Glasgow set out to put that right.
Sweden’s labour court tends to rule that collective
Scotland was an appropriate setting for this debate, as the bargaining agreements are implied terms and conditions of
STUC and the devolved government have a Memorandum of employment for all workers, even those who may not always
Understanding (MOU) that provides formal rights for unions be covered by an agreement.
to have access to the Scottish government. The MOU shows
This day was rich in lessons for the UK. Our STUC hosts, John
how important it is for unions to be ready to speak on a
Park and Grahame Smith, were clear that the STUC MOU was
range of issues to civil servants as well as the opportunities
a model that could create real influence for the union voice
provided to meet ministers.
in both industry and the wider society. It states that ‘The
Tom McCabe the Scottish Executive’s Minister for Finance STUC can expect the Scottish Executive to acknowledge that
said that this level of consultation is useful to every level of trade unions play an important role in sustaining effective
government. He values the Scottish TUC’s experience and democracy in society, particularly at the workplace and
networks. He hopes to use the structures for aiding public that the existence of good employment practices are a key
service reform and both he and Linda Shanahan from the contributor to economic and social justice.’
FBU valued the government/union relationship in addressing
Grahame was honest about the scale of the challenge to
the issue of violence against public servants.
unions produced by this type of relationship. Employers
The meeting also heard from Fergus Whelan from the ICTU, were slow to engage with it and unions in Scotland have to
whose union experience within the Irish national agreement recognise that this process is resource intensive – particularly
was instructive. Fergus described an economy that was if they are to also take their issues to UK and European
growing – but where manufacturing is losing jobs while the government structures.
services and construction sectors continue to grow. Union
membership is rising but union density is falling.
The national agreements have a demonstrable value to
employers through predicable wage rises and industrial
peace in an era of industrial growth and change.
Nevertheless, Fergus thought it a valid system that allows
unions welcome influence on the ‘social wage’ as it trades
wage moderation for tax reform outside the workplace.
Problems remain, such as the recent Irish Ferries dispute,
where the company tried to replace Irish workers with
migrants on 3euros an hour. Peter Cassels, former ICTU
general secretary and now working at the National Centre
for Performance, has commented on the difficulties
of translating this style of social partnership into local Stefan Carlsson, vice president of the Swedish white collar union SIF
workplaces.
The Swedish ‘social model’ involves national, sector and
workplace levels of social partnership. Having 80% of
workers in unions helps to sustain union relevance, but
Stefan Carlsson, the vice-president of Swedish white-collar
union SIF, was also wary of threats raised by a weak Services
Directive. For example, a recent case had arisen of a school
refurbishment contract in the town of Waxholm near
Stockholm involving Latvian construction workers being paid
less than the Swedish national rates.
However he felt that the Swedish system still has a distinct
vigour to it. The employers and unions conclude the Tom McCabe, the Scottish Executive’s Minister for Finance


 Manchester
Modern Unions and the Quality of Work
THIS meeting was held, courtesy of USDAW, in the room
at the Mechanics Institute in Manchester where the first
TUC in 1868 was held. Far be it for Unions 21 to compare
ourselves with those awesome pioneers of the movement,
but the first summons to the TUC encapsulated what
we think Unions 21 is all about 138 years later. The TUC
was called on to ‘assume the character of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science and the
Social Science Association…..and that papers, previously
carefully prepared, shall be laid before the Congress…with
a view of the merits and demerits of each question being
thoroughly ventilated…’
David Coats’ paper on ‘Working Futures’ certainly lived up to
the pioneers’ understanding of what a trade union debate
should be. John Hannett, general secretary of USDAW joined
David in examining a series of ‘myths’ about work – that we
will all be ‘knowledge’ workers in the future, work in small
firms, change jobs frequently, be pauperised by globalisation,
work till we drop, defer to an individualistic culture and only
through militancy will we discover the best route to union
resurgence.
The meeting discussed the concept of the ‘hour glass’ labour
market. The centre of the traditional workforce – skilled craft
Birmingham
Modern Unions as a Sword of Justice
ACADEMIC opinion is convinced that trade unions are
too slow in promoting our role as a ‘sword of justice’ in
the workplace. Roger McKenzie TUC Regional Secretary
for the Midlands spoke about the need for equality to be
embedded in union structures and used as a collective
bargaining tool to unite workers and attract new members
to the trade union movement.
He said: “We cannot tell employers to put their houses in
order without trade unions first doing the same. Let’s get
down to the basic foundations of why we came together as
trade unions in the first place, we need to look at people who
are still being discriminated against in the workplace and see
how we can help them”.
Joe Mann, National Secretary of Community, explained
how his union has boosted membership by becoming
involved in causes such as campaigning for concessionary
travel for people with disabilities. Getting involved in such
issues is another way of involving people in trade unions. He
and reasonably well paid manual work – is fast shrinking and
being replaced by growth of graduate occupations at one
end of the labour market and a growth, too, of jobs at the
bottom of the labour market. Growing income inequality
and falling social mobility result as the qualifications needed
to escape from the unskilled lower end of the labour market
elude growing numbers of workers.
The shrinking middle ground is the heartland of union
membership, particularly in the manufacturing sector.
Workers who have never been in a union now exceed the
combined totals of current members and ex-members added
together.
In the lively debate that followed, Frank Hayle from Accord
pointed out that unions have to segment their appeal – what
works for the people at the bottom of the hour glass will not
attract those managers and aspirational graduates in the
top half of the hour glass. Coinciding with the publication
of the Women and Work Commission report Frank Holt,
the Regional Secretary of Unison, also spoke of the role
of women workers and the issue of equal pay. With more
women now in unions than men, this issue must engage
union concern as a priority.
highlighted the amount of time and resources unions place
in campaigning for changes to the law to gain equality for
marginalised groups. He told the meeting that, while this
is vital, legal changes will mean little unless unions work
to change the culture of inequality which exists in many
workplaces.
NASUWT Senior Assistant Secretary Roger Darke, who
chaired the event, summed up the importance of unions
coming together to discuss equality issues.
He said: “I can see how far our unions have come and yes,
we have to go a lot further. We have to be honest enough to
say where our own problems are rather than just setting out
what we want the employers to do.
This sort of event does that because we are being honest
outside of our own trade unions. We should celebrate
what we have achieved so far, but we should also not be
complacent.”

 London
Modern Unions: Organising our Future
PROFESSOR Mike Terry, author of much of the DTI’s
research into the effectiveness of union-employer
partnership work, spoke about the challenges in
making partnership work. Whereas some agreements
had provided for improvements in training and work
organisation, agendas had become tired and were in
danger of being hi-jacked by managerial imperatives on
‘flexibility’.
Unions needed to turn to using the Information and
Consultation directive from Europe in order to upskill their
capacity to influence decision making – and to give them the
possibility of ‘influencing strategic thinking in a company, not
simply achieving a slight adjustment to collective bargaining’.
He warned his audience – who included visitors to Prospect
from Swedish union SEKO on a fraternal visit – not to
‘fetishise’ the power of secondary action in believing that
if we could only have the strike laws of the 1970s back,
‘our problems would have melted like snow in the sun’. He
queried how often strikes had involved the strong helping
the weak, and was much more concerned that unions should
use the Information and Consultation Directive to get into
non-union workplaces.
He was dismayed by what he saw as the ‘antipathy, vacillation
and vagueness’ displayed by unions over the directive,
New Supporters of Unions 21:
USDAW and Abbey National Group
Union join up
Unions 21 is very pleased to welcome two new supporting
unions: USDAW and the Abbey National Group Union.
John Hannett, USDAW General Secretary, says that he is
“delighted USDAW will again work closely with Unions 21. I
believe Unions 21 can play a leading role in the discussions
on the many challenges trade unions face going forward. I
personally look forward to participating in future seminars
and discussions”.
Linda Rolph is equally positive, believing that being part of
Unions 21 gives ANGU “an invaluable opportunity to interact
with other unions and share experiences and information
which will be mutually beneficial to both us and them. This is
a very demanding time for ANGU, as Abbey is still in a period
massive change, having been taken over by Grupo Santander

particularly as they are faced by the roll-back of collective
bargaining especially in the private sector.
Professor Terry questioned whether trade union mergers
were the answer to growth, a theme that Paul Mackney
was willing to take up in the wake of his union’s recent
successful merger with the AUT to form the University and
College Union. He was proud of the way the new union
had been negotiated by the AUT and NATFHE in a ‘spirit of
mutual generosity’ and that the industrial logic of the merger
outweighed the cultural differences between the two old
unions.
They were creating a union that could address the modern
world of further and higher education. It was no use hoping
‘ things have got to become more like they never were’
said Paul. The union was working hard to establish equality
agreements throughout the sector as well as holding
‘witness days’ for black members to be able to express
their reality at work. Paul was struck by his attendance at a
recent event where thousands of young people had fallen
perfectly silent to listen to Nelson Mandela. Such audiences
would surely include the next generation of champions for
workplace equality hoped that we would learn the lessons
of the success of campaigns like ‘Make Poverty History’ so
that unions can become part of a coalition of progressive
organisations.
in late 2004. Many of the changes that Grupo Santander
intended to make have already happened and some are
currently taking place. The net effect of this on ANGU is that
we have had to work very hard to protect the interests of our
members in the face of these changes. We have also had
to deal with management levels both nationally (Abbey’s
Management here in the UK) and internationally (with Grupo
Santander’s Board of Directors in Spain) as well as setting
up a Works Council to liaise with our Spanish counterpart
unions.
At times this has been a steep learning curve but we are very
satisfied with our progress. We look forward to sharing our
experiences with other unions who are part of Unions 21 and
would be interested to hear of their experiences”.
 London
Modern Unions and Life at Work
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber
ON Saturday 4 March Steve Sinott, general secretary of
the NUT, welcomed over 100 people to the final meeting
of Unions 21 Week. Steve recalled a Unions 21 meeting
addressed by the late general secretary of the NASUWT,
Eamon O’Kane on the issue of teacher unity, as one of the
best meetings he had ever attended.
The first keynote speaker was TUC general secretary,
Brendan Barber, who spoke with real emphasis both on
the challenges facing the movement and the relationship
between government and unions. He said that ‘the central
challenge is to grow and renew – at a time of sweeping
economic change driven by the increasingly powerful forces
of globalisation’.
Billy Hayes and Frank Doran MP
If despair and abuse exist anywhere in Britain today, it is the
migrant worker who is most likely to encounter it. Brendan
gave credit for the government’s sterling work in reducing
unemployment. ‘We should never underestimate or sell
short this transformation ’ Brendan said, but it is still clear that
quality of working life issues also need addressing – perhaps
‘not just through better rights – though they are needed
– but by enforcing the ones that we are meant to enjoy’.
Brendan identified much more work in progress, whilst
celebrating the strong government support for the
union movement’s success on the skills agenda. He
anticipated progress on discussions over facilities for
union representatives in order to improve our workplace
effectiveness.
Brendan highlighted further work to relax the ‘unreasonable
restrictions’ on union freedoms to take industrial action and
was positive throughout about our capacity to contribute to
Britain at work. It was demonstrable that union workplaces
were safer, more family-friendly, had better ‘voice’, more
reasonable pension arrangements and were comparatively
less discriminatory.
In the end though, he wanted to see more recognition from
government of the ‘important contribution’ unions make
to the national debate. This was illustrated, for example,
through the achievement of changes to the European
Services Directive, success in getting smoking at work
banned and on pensions. The latter could be contrasted
with the CBI’s ‘supremely cynical and unprincipled special
pleading’, showing a ‘desperately depressing lack of any sense
of community responsibility’. continued...
Michael Leahy and Sue Ferns

 London
The Prime Minister’s speech, which followed, was the first
exclusively on trade union issues for many years – in fact
since one delivered to a Unions 21 event in 1994. It was
very pleasing that he felt our open space was the place to
come to think out loud with us about the future of our trade
unions – particularly in reference to our relationships with
government.
What was notable about the speech was the tone in which
it was delivered. This was not a critical depreciation of the
union role, but a thoughtful musing on what his experience
showed him we might do to fulfil our enormous potential
in the modern global economy. ‘In an era of globalisation
there are multiple insecurities in which the helping hand
of a trade union can make a difference between someone
sinking or surviving’, the Prime Minister said.
He drew attention to union work in the wider civil society
and linked the road for restoration of trade union fortunes
to the similar road taken by the Labour government. We
have to deploy our ‘most basic value – solidarity’ in the
modern world, where its relevance remains ‘undeniable’.
We have to defend the worker, not a specific job. With the
insecurity of global work, all around us, we have to take
advantage of people’s need for us. After all, said Tony Blair,
‘if everything were constant and comfortable, trade unions
wouldn’t be needed.’

The Prime Minister pointed out that the work unions do
– especially on lifelong learning – remains unknown to
so many people who would surely join unions if they saw
us as part of their route map to emancipation. In quoting
the ‘innovative’ ways of collective action demonstrated by
the multi-union NHS agreement ‘Agenda for Change’ or
USDAW’s LEAP programme, the Prime Minister was at pains
to applaud trade union advancement for the individual
through collective representation.
He went on to urge unions to involve themselves in the
growing civic importance attached to local community
action. Once again, he thought there was a huge
opportunity for unions to bring adult skills, childcare, legal
advice, community relations and anti-social exclusion
initiatives throughout society.
Tony Blair did not shirk the issue of the source of trade
union political strength. ‘It is out of this interaction with
the community and the strength and relevance of unions
in representing people that the true political power of
trade unions arises.’ On the trade union/Labour Party
link, he said that the ‘influence of the trade unions is only
effective in proportion to the weight they have in broader
society and the reasonableness of the case they make.’ Our
future political power ‘will derive from unions’ standing
and support among people. In turn, this derives not from
industrial militancy or historical party relationships, but
from how well unions perform their proper functions. Do
well, and politicians respond. They have to.’
He illustrated this by demonstrating the sheer authority
of the TUC’s work on pensions, described by Tony Blair as
‘exemplary and of great importance to the country’. Further
union participation in anti-racism activities, support for
unions abroad, community building, language teaching for
migrant workers and a huge place at the forefront of the
Make Poverty History campaign gave him an ‘optimistic’
view of our future.
The Prime Minister then took questions from the floor and
won warm applause from the audience for the relaxed and
cheerful tone of the debate as much as for the content
of the replies. He answered questions about pensions,
social partnership in the teaching profession context, the
importance of graduates in industry and the possibilities of
a new form of conflict resolution in the public services.
Then in final panel session Michael Leahy, general secretary
of Community, and Billy Hayes, general secretary of the
Communications Workers Union, shared a platform with
Frank Doran MP, chair of the trade union group of Labour
MPs.
Unions 21 would like to thank Thompsons, the STUC, USDAW
and NASUWT for their sponsorship of Unions 21 Week meetings
and also the TUC and NUT for providing the facilities for the
meetings in London.
 Wan te d :
Ideas to revitalise the
trade union movement Paul Nowak – TUC National Organiser
On April 24 the TUC helped to launch the ‘Union Ideas
Network’, a new initiative aimed at building a strong,
sustainable and vibrant link between unions, academics
and the wider policy making community. Hosted by
the Centre for Industrial Relations at Keele University
and the Work & Employment Research Centre at the
University of Northumbria, the UIN aims to build on the
success of previous and existing initiatives to link unions
and academics more effectively, such as the London &
Scottish Union Research Networks.
Based primarily around a new interactive web-site, www.
uin.org.uk, the UIN is open to academics and policy
makers with an interest in helping to revitalise the trade
union movement, as well as union officers, researchers,
organisers and activists.
All interesting and worthy stuff, but why is it important
to link unions, academics and the wider policy making
community more effectively? At the heart of the UIN is
the belief that union decline in the UK and across the
industrialised world is, contrary to what some observers
would have us believe, neither inevitable nor irreversible.
But just as decline is not inevitable, neither is renewal;
rebuilding and revitalising our unions will not happen by
accident. Instead unions have to invest in growth, rather
than manage decline, and think creatively about better
ways of organising and representing union members in
the workplace and beyond.
The TUC sees the UIN as a crucial element of this renewal
process – allowing policy makers and practitioners to
share ideas, experience and information more effectively;
spreading best practice and innovation; and opening up
a genuine discussion about the best way to rebuild our
unions.
Paul Nowak is the TUC’s National Organiser and a member of the UIN working group.
For further information about the UIN, or to subscribe, go to www.uin.org.uk
Partly this will be achieved by improving links between
industrial and employment relations academics and
unions, but if the UIN is to be a real success it also needs
to engage academics and policy makers working across
a whole range of areas – such as economic regeneration,
equalities, regional governance, public service reform,
pensions and many more. It also needs the active support
of union officers, organisers and activists.
The UIN will hopefully make it easier for unions to access
a wide range of academic research and information;
and act as a brokerage point between unions and the
academic/policy making community.
So how can you get involved in the UIN? The first and
most important thing to is to get on-line and register at
www.uin.org.uk. Each registered user can set up their
own, free, personalised home-page where they can
indicate their research and policy interests, post articles
and extracts, provide contact information, create links to
external web-sites and use the UIN bulletin boards.
The next thing to do is to ask your University,
organisation or union to subscribe to the UIN – it only
costs £75 per annum and gives your organisation
the opportunity to practically support and shape the
development of the UIN.
And the last thing to do is to get thinking! The UIN needs
your ideas, your input and your commitment to work.
Help us build a strong ‘Union Ideas Network’; which in
turn will hopefully play a small but crucial part in building
a stronger, more effective and more representative trade
union movement.

 Coming up...
an exciting programme of events
Following the terrific success of the Unions 21 week
in March we’re now gearing up for a series of events
over the summer and autumn.
Trade Union Recognition –
How was it for you?
The 1999 Employment Act established the statutory
procedure for trade union recognition. Some changes were
introduced in the 2004 Employment Relations Act and many
unions have now used the procedures to secure recognition.
Others have attempted to use the legal route to recognition
and found that delivery has not always lived up to the
promise.
Unions 21 is organising an important seminar where unions
can pool their experiences and discuss ideas.
Some key questions:
Q Is statutory recognition all it was cracked up to be?
Q Has the legislation changed the “background music”.
Q Can unions get more from the voluntary route?
These questions and others will be discussed by speakers from
unions and others interested in this critical debate.
TUC and Labour Party Conference
Just when you thought it was safe to get back from the
summer holidays it’s time for the major conferences. Unions
21 will be at the TUC in Brighton from 11-14 September
and at the Labour Party Conference from 24-29 September
in Manchester. Watch out for details of Unions 21 events at
www.unions21.org.uk.
The Union Modernisation Fund
The Union Modernisation Fund was set up to enhance
the ability of trade unions to make a full and effective
contribution to constructive employment relations and
to the economy as a whole. Phase One has now been
completed and many unions have successfully bid for a wide
range of innovative projects. All sorts of organisations will
be looking at the way the fund has been used and its future
development.
Here in Unions 21 we want to look at the wider benefits of
the projects – how they can increase the capacity of the
trade union movement as a whole and how we can learn
from each other for future phases of the fund.
Unions 21 will soon announce details of an event bringing
together unions who have submitted bids and put together
some imaginative projects. This will be of interest to unions
who have successful bids, others who have still to bid and
those who want to try again after an unsuccessful bid in
Phase One.
Examples of UMF Projects
TGWU - Establishment of a Migrant Workers Support Unit
offering services such as translation, advice on employment
rights, and signposting to community support services. The
pilot project will focus on sectors and locations most affected
by the Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004.
Equity - Creation and piloting of online talent directories
allowing Equity members to market themselves directly to
prospective employers.
USDAW - Develop and test a best practice management
model including mechanisms and management tools for
evaluating the operational performance of the union as a
whole, linked to the appraisal of individual staff.
Community - A programme of training for senior union staff
in globalisation and labour market trends, culture change,
organisational strategy and managing finances and human
resources.
Connect - Creation of an online knowledge management
system which will act as a one-stop-shop for information and
advice, with different levels of access for members, reps and
staff.
NUT - Establishment of a new section of the union’s website
for lay representatives, providing them with information and
resources tailored to their needs, as well as opportunities to
exchange information and experience.
Prospect - Establishment of electronic document
management and distribution systems accompanied by
a change management programme to train staff in new
work processes to increase the efficiency of information
management and sharing.
GMB - Development of a membership strategy to encourage
greater participation of black and minority ethnic members
and provide diversity training for all GMB staff.
Amicus - Project to improve the communication efficiency
of branch secretaries and enhance engagement and
participation of lay branch members.
Union Conferences
The union conference season is now upon us and Unions
21 is always ready to receive invitations to organise fringe
meetings or take part in other events at union conferences.
Get in touch and we’ll certainly get there if we can.