Span on Unions
Span has done a series of six (to date) posts on myths about unions. They’re subjective of course but worth reading. I’m linking to each below, with some brief comments of my own.
Union Myth #1 – Union membership is compulsory
Span is of course quite right that union membership is not compulsory. I don’t actually know of anyone who asserts they are incidentally. However they are compulsory if you wish to be on a collective contract (you could try forming your own of course) and in the public sector the Government does give considerable incentives for public servants to join the union.
Also in some workplaces, such as schools, not belonging to a union can result in shall we say strong disapproval.
Union Myth #2 – All unionists want to grow up to be Labour MPs
I could be flippant and say Span’s defence is some want to be Green MPs instead, but no she has a valid point that those who use unions as a stepping stone for parliamentary ambitions are in the minority.
It is interesting to note though that while not many Unionists become Labour MPs, most Labour MPs were unionists.
union myths – #3 unions are just like businesses
Span says that unions are democratic and members have ultimate control. This is true, but I think glosses over the institutional reality that unions (just like almost any democratic society) tend to have an inner core who are hugely influential and powerful. The opportunity for an individual to change things is quite limited unless they are prepared to devote every waking hour to campaigning for change. As I said this is not just a feature of unions but of many groups.
union myths – #4 unions just protect the incompetent
Span posts on the need for proper process, and she is correct that this is important. But I think the current law does weigh process too heavily over substance. Span herself notes that she has never seen a disciplinary process done without at least one flaw. It is difficult to have perfect process, especially small employers who do not have inhouse legal and HR teams.
I would recommend all employers read this post though as Span has provided a useful little checklist of what you should do for fair process.
I would also assert that in certain areas like education, unions do actively protect incompetent teachers. We can debate that some other time.
Union Myths #5 – Shortland Street tells it like it is
I’m hoping no-one really does treat Shortland Street as a guide to reality.
Union Myths #6 – Unions just go on strike all the time
Well of course they don’t – the law doesn’t allow it. 
I will say that strikes are much rarer than the bad old days of the 1970s and 1980s. Here’s the total number of work days lost through stoppages for each parliamentary term:
1970 – 72 574,000
1973 – 75 670,000
1976 – 78 1,305,000
1979 – 81 1,143,000
1982 – 84 1,126,000
1985 – 87 2,451,000
1988 – 90 906,000
1991 – 93 237,000
1994 – 96 161,000
1997 – 99 53,000
2000 – 02 100,333
2003 – 05 55,654
One can see the dramatic (and excellent) effect the ECA had in the early 1990s bringing work stoppages down to eventually a low of 53,000 person days over three years. It doubled in Labour’s first term (but still way lower than in the past) and went back down in their second term. One year into their third term it is 28,000 which suggest an increase again.
Kudos to Span for posting a good series of issues based posts. If I could be disciplined enough I should do a series on myths around being an employer and small business owner. The issues around recruitment, retention, compliance costs, paperwork, staff morale, cashflow, sacking staff etc are many and varied.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Myth 4 can be disputed considering teaching unions will fight to the death against paying better teachers more than poor teachers.
Because Span is staunchly in the camp of the unions she doesn’t see what it is like for those who choose not to join, like in schools and in some public sector departments. My teachers always were quite nasty to non union staff members.
Take away the number of unionists or union “organisers” from the current bunch of Labour MPs and you’d find a very empty caucus room! It seems the most likely career path from being an organiser is either unemplyment or becoming an MP.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:20 am
She’s promised me to do a post on what union organisers actually do.
Personally I can’t wait for that one.
April 27th, 2007 at 4:26 am
yes, me neither. Will have my bullshit detector set to full!
April 27th, 2007 at 8:20 am
She already has….it was nothing.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Take away the number of unionists or union “organisers” from the current bunch of Labour MPs and you’d find a very empty caucus room! It seems the most likely career path from being an organiser is either unemplyment or becoming an MP.
Again, why is this always such a surprise to people on the right? I’ll spell it out for you once again:
The labour movement aims to improve the lives of working people, and has both an industrial and a political arm. The trade unions form the industrial arm and the Labour Party (hence the name) forms the political arm.
It is therefore only natural that a lot of Labour MPs will have at some stage been involved in the union movement, just as many of union members and officials are members of the Labour Party.
Now we’ve had this little history lesson, does it all make a bit more sense to you?
April 27th, 2007 at 9:19 am
I don’t usually jump into these things but this time I’m going to.
The ‘all unionists want to grow up to be Labour MPs’…maybe not all, but a lot do. The fact that only a minority do does not mean only a minority want to: it just means only a minority make it.
The fact is its the best deal going if you’re on that particular career path.
And it leads to fraudulant situations, where union officials make decisions based not on what is best for the people they represent, but on what is best for them politically. Which would be OK, but they then go on with all that hypocritical bullshit about
A tale I heard two years ago from someone who had been quite idealistically on the Left, and was bitterly disappointed when she and and colleagues were told to shut up and not make a fuss because any industrial action would hurt the chances of their union official – Sonja Davies – getting into Parliament. This was around the time Davies died and was being seen off with great fuss.
Up the workers!
April 27th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Thanks for the promo DPF, I would note that in regard to Myth 4 I wrote that in Jan 2006, since then I would say I have seen several disciplinary processes done correctly by the employer, so it definitely is possible, and not necessarily difficult either.
About union officials wanting to be Labour (or indeed Green) MPs – I’ve probably worked with about 50 different unionists now, on a daily basis at some time or another, not counting probably another 100+ who I know more broadly. Then there are many more I don’t know at all, possibly another 200 or more. I can think of about 20 max who want to become MPs. It really is the tip of the iceberg. I would ask your readers to consider that perhaps the unionists they are most familiar with, through the media or so on, are the ones who seek that path, but the ones they have never heard of, which would be the vast bulk, truly don’t. We’re just trying to do our mahi, just like everyone else.
I’d invite those who want to criticise my posts here to consider mooching on over to the actual posts to debate, because I’m not intending to come back here and constantly refute every point. Your call.
April 27th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Don’t be selective David. The days lost due to strikes was diminishing well before the ECA. This must be looked at on a yearly basis to get the true picture. The record shows that the Labour Relations Act in 1987 was the trigger point which caused the steady reduction in strike days. Perhaps because that Act was fairer to both employees and employers. It was the Labour Government that introduced that Act In the early 90′s I wrote a piece on this reduction and submitted it to the Herald (on two occasions) but they declined to print it. It did not fit with their phiosophy and apparently were not interested in printing the true figures. They were praising the ECA at the time for the reduction in strike days
April 27th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Thanks for that info Ian, I didn’t know that.
I’d also note that one of the key points I make in my most recent Union Myths post is that the number of days lost to work stoppages was down in 2006, despite the Progressive Enterprises lock-out. The gossip has more on that here:
http://finsec.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/union-success-remains-high-as-work-stoppages-and-inflation-fall/
April 27th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Leadbeater, as condescending as you sound I suspect you are one of the first to scream about the disproportionate amount of Nat/ACT MP’s who have been or are managers, employers, wealthy, bankers, good lawyers (not those who teach it) and in all successful.
You never did explain what a union organiser did either.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Ian – I prefer the three yearly figures because individual years vary so much because of stuff like more strikes in election years. A three year cycle gives better comparisons.
April 28th, 2007 at 12:39 am
Can we get someone from the roundtable to do a series as well?
… no seriously!
April 28th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I should note, I’m not doing these posts in any kind of official capacity, just being me.
April 28th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Clint,
I have no issue with how many lawyers, managers, property speculators etc are National MPs – it quite neatly illustrates that National is the party of business.
The fact that you have to ask someone on a blog to find out what union organisers do just serves to show the position of extreme ignorance you’re coming from. Union organisers organise worksites, which means recruting members, making regular site visits, training delegates etc; bargain collective agreements, including the democratic processes during and leading up to negotiations; deal with individual workers’ issues such as unfair dismissal, sexual harassment and bullying; ensure workers have a voice in changes to their work, including issues around roster changes, contracting out, redundancies and changes to rules in the workplace; and a lot more besides. And from my experience, most organisers work really bloody hard in what can be a very stressful and thankless job. Very few I know of would do less than 50-60 hours a week.
Why don’t you call a union and just ask what an organiser does. The EPMU (which I belong to) has a freephone number at 0800 1 UNION staffed by organisers. I’m sure they’ll be able to answer any more questions you might have.
April 29th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
David. But the statistical year covers before and after an election and there could be a change of government during that time if as you suggest, an election year skews the stoppages figures, so yearly gives a better comparison.