Worker Identification with the Trade Union at the Workplace: A Comparison of the Impact of Partnership, Organising and Social Unionism Models of Union Renewal on Union Joining (Working Paper)

ILPC March 2010 RutgersUniversity

Dr Iona Byford

University of Portsmouth

Introduction

This paper is concerned with the processes of how workers identify with their union at work. Identifying with the union and its aims and values is one of the most important antecedents to union joining and has ramifications for the likelihood of further involvement with the union and therefore the success of union renewal (Klandermans 1986).Three key factors contribute to the decision to join a union, firstly,family connections with unions (Blanden and Machin 2003); secondly, Metochi (2002) highlights the importance of local union leadership in determining union joining; and thirdly, Jarley (2005) states that identity with the union in the form of a shared social capital amongst members both at the workplace and outside could be used for renewal purposes. Mobilisation Theory (Kelly 1998) has been used as an explanatory framework for the research. Its relevance is that it links the attribution of work problems to the employer (a likely reason for union joining) with a sense of shared social identity and the quality of leadership.All the influences on identifying with the union are mediated through the renewal strategy undertaken at the workplace.

The findings from this research indicated that the type and choice of union renewal strategy influenced the way that the union is identified with by workers locally and therefore impacted on the success or otherwise of union renewal.

The structure of the paper will be in four sections; first, the literature will be considered; second, the research methods will be discussed; third, the research context under the three strategies and then the findings from the workplace will be detailed; and thefourth and final section will provide some discussion.

Identity and Trade Unionism

In order for members to want to join and become both involved and active within the union at their workplace they need to be able to identify with the union and what it stands for both as individuals and as collective workers, and at home and in the wider community (Waddington and Whitston 1997; Kelly 1998; Roche and Geary 2005). Not identifying with the union is also an important contributor towards not joining the union at their workplace. Issues of identity are therefore an important and significant factor in terms of trying to consolidate membership in unionised workplaces. In investigating who it is that joins the union and then gets involved in collective action the most significant factor in deciding to participate in the activities of a union is the strength in the sense of group identification (Kelly and Kelly 1994) ie. The individuals level of identification with the union and the distancing of out groups such as employers or non members. Redman and Snape (2004:849) refer to the capacity to participate as coming from the degree of affective commitment to the union which reflects ‘a shared sense of values, identity and pride in the union, going beyond a purely instrumental attachment’. Machin and Blanden (2000) also show that family connections with the union movement have an important influence in encouraging commitment and involvement with unions by new members. Klandermans (1986) identifies an identity with trade union values as being amongst three reasons for joining the union at work, the other two being a cost benefit analysis and a sense of job satisfaction. Guest and Dewe (1988) find that if unions made involvement in their activities more appealing then more members would maybe join through a stronger identification with the union’s aims. One influence on whether and how members identify with the union or not at their workplace will depend on the leadership of the local branch and according to Metochi (2002:102) their subsequent participation will depend on how active the leader is in promoting both direct and indirect forms of participation. He describes their behaviour at the workplace as ‘serving to crystallize member’s perceptions of the union as an organisation, and of the extent to which the organisation values and supports its membership’.

It could be argued that identifying with a trade union has become more problematic since the notions of class and collective identity have been considered as being more marginal to peoples’ sense of identity and self image than has been the case in the past. Savage et al (2001) found that although people were less likely to place themselves within a class, they were happy to talk about class in a wider political sense but wanted to see themselves as being ‘outside’ specific classes. In terms of identifying with a union as providing part of the mechanism by which unions might renew themselves Jarley (2005:4) advocates returning to a model of mutual aid. He identifies this type of unionism as being ‘social – capital unionism’. It would draw on the social capital of members. He says ‘that unions are a vehicle for social capital formation and maintenance can hardly be disputed’. Workers have shared networks within their communities which implicitly identify with one another; it is on this identity that Jarley feels the logic of mutual aid can be built. Union renewal would stem from an extension and development of worker networks already in place in the wider community inside the workplace.

One explanation of renewal processes is provided by Mobilisation theory. According to Kelly (1998) mobilisation, participation, and shared social identity are likely to be stronger in an environment where the aims and objectives of unions and employers are more sharply differentiated. The employment relations environment created by the three different strategies impacts on this process in that in a partnership setting the objectives are constructed around the idea of mutual gains and therefore mobilisation around differentiated interests is minimised. For the organising and social unionism strategies, mobilisation is likely to be stronger because the objectives of unions and employers are more differentiated due to the fact that these strategies are union generated without employer influence and are more likely to seek to challenge employer prerogatives.The facets of the theory which are particularly important here are firstly, the attribution of problems or issues at work to the employer, secondly, the importance of social identity in terms of creating a group cohesiveness to act both individually and collectively against the employer and finally, leadership, meaning the process of framing the issues of injustice by the shop stewards and/or colleagues into a challenge to the employer around which other union members can rally and join the union.

Methods

The case studies were all undertaken in unionised workplaces. The three strategies were compared through the use of questionnaires and interviews generating both quantitative and qualitative data. The focus of the research was on rank and file members and non-members at workplace level. The partnership case study comprised one workplace and one union (USDAW); the organising case study comprised four workplaces and three unions (UNISON, USDAW and COMMUNITY); and the social unionism case study comprised 3 workplaces and one union (CAW Canadian Auto Workers). The data comprised 642 survey responses and thirty interviews. Identity with the union was investigated in the survey by asking questions related to the influences on their choice of whether to join a union, family connections to unions, the importance of union membership to them, how they saw a ‘typical’ trade unionist in terms of social class, gender, and type of employment and who they blamed for problems at work. Non-members were also asked why they had chosen not to join. The findings are presented under six headings, first, the ER context and the renewal strategy; second, the influences on union joining; third, Family connections to unions; fourth, union identity at work and outside work; fifth, social identity and trade unions; and finally, attribution of problems at work.

Findings

1. Employment Relations Context and the Renewal Strategy

The type of employment relations environment created at the workplace through the use of the particular renewal strategy used provides a backdrop to the findings below. It is these backgrounds which influence the notions of identity associated with the type of trade unionism pursued at these workplaces.

Partnership

The employment relations climate generated by the partnership strategy is reflected in a quote from the manager at the case study store in talking about current union management relations as compared to previous experiences before the partnership agreement, when he says:

We have a good working relationship based on partnership really. So quite a big change from a few years ago where it used to be us and them ……….it’s now working together and the union basically signs up to our policies”. (Tesco Store Manager, October 2004)

This quote sets the tone for the climate and practice in which employment relations are undertaken at store, local and national level within Tesco and is indicative of an employer dominant agreement(Kelly2005).

Organising

In the context of this research, organising is concerned with consolidation of members and therefore the issue of non-members is pertinent here. Despite working in a unionised workplace the research found non members had many reasons for not joining under an organising strategy as articulated below;

I was made redundant and the union promised to help during unemployment. I never heard from the union once, not even to find out why I had stopped paying the premiums, so obviously I was not important to them, therefore the union wasn’t important to me (July 2005).

I find it unacceptable for a third party ie. a union to negotiate my contractual terms and for me to be bound by those negotiations. I am not a union member and yet they can affect my terms (July 2005).

At a previous employment, the entire establishment closed down resulting in mass redundancy. The union ceased to fight for us. I felt they had been told to stay out of it. None of the union officers were made redundant, they were all deployed elsewhere.

I found in the past that union reps were only in that position to look after themselves and if you had any issues and had a better job or earned more money than them, they would not be interested in fighting any issues that you had problems with (July 2005).

Social Unionism

The employment relations climate created in a workplace where social unionism is the renewal strategy used is indicated below. As the CAW constitution states, “Social Unionism means unionism which is rooted in the workplace but understands the importance of participating in, and influencing, the general direction of society” andas Gindin (1995) continues,

The CAW always rejected business unionism, a unionism that limited itself to the price its members got for their labour. In contrast, the union espoused social unionism , a unionism that considered workers as more than just sellers of labour, that was sensitive to broader concerns, and that contributed to those in need in the community and internationally.

Moreover, Buzz Hargrove (CAW President) stated in an interview with the researcher,

It (Social Unionism) says we draw our strength from our members and the dues they pay and our main obligation is to represent them and their families. But then we extend our commitment into the communities and the provinces in the country in terms of political, social and economic issues that face everybody, especially the underprivileged, and those without power or voice in the decision making in our country (February 2005).

The education of activists and members is an important union responsibility and one that the CAW takes very seriously as shown by its commitment to the PEL (Paid Educational Leave) Programme. Hargrove states;

We have a $50 million world class educational centre and we have trained people in adult education from our workplaces, they’re all members of our union that come out of our workplaces to provide education and training to other workers and activists. We spend more money on training and education than the rest of the labour movement in Canada put together and that makes our union much different to other unions. We force the companies to pay for it. We have adopted an old Marxist slogan called ‘make the rich pay’. It is designed to build an activist group across the union (February 2005).

Findings from the Workplaces

2. Influences on Union Joining

Union Renewal strategies / Partnership / Organising(Public sector) / Organising
(Private sector) / Social Unionism
You believe in trade union principles / 12% / 45% / 35% / 40%
You were encouraged to join by the shop steward / 8% / 14% / 36% / 25%
You were encouraged to join by your work colleagues / 8% / 6% / 8% / 24%

The employment relations environment created in part by the renewal strategies impacts on the influences on union joining. Partnership with the employer does not create a strong belief in trade union principles whereas the organising and social unionism models of renewal create a stronger awareness of the principles of trade unionism. Within the organising case study there were 4 workplaces with 2 in the public sector and 2 in the private sector. The belief in trade union principles was 45% in the public sector workplaces and 35% in the private sector. This reflected the more deeply embedded nature of trade unionism within public sector workplaces.

Shop stewards are an important influence in an employee’s decision as to whether they decide to join a union or not. In the partnership setting the shop stewards have allocated time during the induction process to talk to the new employees about the trade union but what gets said in that session is also influenced by the employer in that a video is supposed to be shown concerning the merits of the partnership approach. However, as one steward reported she tried to avoid using it and preferred to design her own sessions;

I don’t use it; I think its crap, personally ... all it does is, it’s a 20 minute video on the Partnership. It tells you nothing about shop stewards, it doesn’t tell you anything about what the Union does, what they’re for, and it doesn’t tell you about the history of the Union. (September 2004)

The organising and social unionism settings created an environment where shop stewards and work colleagues were more influential in the process of an employee deciding to join a union than the partnership strategy. This is unsurprising perhaps but does indicate that the type of renewal strategy used alongside employer policy impacts on an individuals likelihood of joining a union. The efforts of the stewards in the private sector to encourage employees to join were twice as successful as their colleagues in the public sector. This reflects the difference in organising strategy as implemented by the parent union. In the public sector (UNISON) workplaces targets were set for a gain in annual membership numbers whereas in the private sector (USDAW) no such targets were set.

3 - Family Connections

It has been shown in previous research that people are more likely to join unions if they have some exposure to union activities through their families (Blanden and Machin 2003)

TABLE 2 – FAMILY CONNECTIONS

Union Renewal Strategy / Partnership / Organising / Social Unionism
Have any of your close family members (parents,brothers,sisters) ever been a union member? / 27% / 36% / 58%
Have any of your close family members (parents,brothers, sisters) ever been a shop steward? / 7% / 8% / 23%

These results show that union membership within close family members is an important influence on union joining whatever the renewal strategy being pursued. This prior knowledge of unions and what they do impacts on the likelihood of joining and is particularly important in the social unionism setting. This may be attributed to the lack of a union presence in many workplaces in Canada, so that where there is a presence and involvement, it becomes significant.

For activists there was evidence which was supported in this case study that exposure to a union environment within the family made it more likely that you would become involved, as one shop steward said:

And, I mean, it’s like me. I mean my dad was in the Union all his life, my mum’s in the Union even though it’s a totally different one, both different ones to what I’m in. My dad was a Shop Steward for the T&G for years and years, forever. And they asked me to be a Shop Steward many, many years ago and I went home and spoke to my dad about it because I didn’t really know what was involved, this was like a very long time ago, when I worked for Tesco’s before, because I worked for them and then left and came back (February 2006).

With the exception of the social unionism environment, having close family members who had been shop stewards was at a low level and reflects the marginal nature of a more committed involvement and therefore identification with union values beyond their instrumental use.