10 Years of the Organising Academy: Purpose, Practice and Prospect Dr Melanie Simms Associate Professor Industrial Relations Research Unit Dr Jane Holgate Research Fellow Working Lives Research Institute

2Warwick Business School New Unionism Objectives – culture change 1.Recruit and train a cadre of specialist organisers Attract new ‘kinds’ of people to work in union movement 2.Target under-represented workers for union membership 3.Encourage unions to invest in organising activity – both ‘infill’ and ‘greenfield’ 4.Encourage expansionist activity to non-unionised sectors and workplaces 5.Promote a specific approach to trade unionism which emphasises membership involvement and participation

3Warwick Business School Organising Academy Launched in central to New Unionism – main externally visible initiative Emphasised transformational objectives of NU Also intended to professionalise and specialise organising One year training programme for 30 – 40 specialist organisers Very different profile (age, gender, experience) than generalist officers Time spent in training (TUC) and on-the-job (in sponsoring unions)

4Warwick Business School Tension: what are we organising for? Fundamental political tension in the purpose of organising activity - and therefore of NU and OA: 1.Participative unionism: Promoting a particular, member-led approach to trade unionism. Response to problem of lack of relevance of unions. 2.Managed unionism: Immediate response to declining membership, bargaining leverage, declining finances etc. Management and professionalisation of organising process. Never expressed coherently, never really explored Debate expressed as ‘organising’ being contrasted with ‘partnership’ (Heery 1998, Carter and Fairbrother 1998)

5Warwick Business School Research data 10 year, longitudinal study 1 year participant observation of Academy (1998) 5 major surveys: union policies (x2), Academy graduates, evaluation of training, organising projects Interviews with around 250 key participants In-depth analysis of 5 organising campaigns – and pen portraits of many more Documentary analysis esp. organising policies, recognition agreements etc. Most recent round: Nuffield Foundation project – Simms and Holgate, 2007/8

6Warwick Business School Recruit and train a cadre of specialist organisers Successful on many measures TUC records vague – we identified 215 graduates over 9 years Over 70% still working in union movement – around half as specialist organisers, half in other roles Training rated as effective, appropriate and relevant However, differences between core skills (rated higher) and strategic skills (rated lower)

7Warwick Business School Targeting under-represented groups Non-standard work - weak (Heery et al 2002) BME workers – evidence stronger (Holgate 2004, 2005) but still significant barriers Migrant workers – some high profile cases (e.g. Domino’s pizza) but inconsistent and difficult to sustain Largely a function of the labour market segregation of these workers – demands expansionist organising activity

8Warwick Business School Encourage expansionist organising activity More equivocal Some evidence – CAC process still being used, Unite’s Justice for Cleaners campaigns (Wills 2007) But most unions recognise that infill work is a more efficient use of scarce resources CAC applications tailed off to c60 p.a. – GMB and Unite dominate Little evidence of voluntary recognition growing significantly across the economy (Blanden et al 2006)

9Warwick Business School Encourage investment in union organising activity Very difficult to evaluate – but certainly far off the 10% target set in late 1990s Existence of specialist organisers and organising units in most unions marks a change with the past But still in the minority – organising still strongly perceived as an entry level job, comparatively poorer terms and conditions, few senior jobs, little career progression

10Warwick Business School Encourage a participatory approach to trade unionism Mixed – organising is now on the agenda Provides a narrative and justification: For organisers as ‘agents of change’ And for a ‘roadmap’ for change But evidence of deep tension between ‘servicing’ and ‘organising’ functions: Unintended consequence of professionalising the organising role Organising not ‘mainstreamed’ in most unions Organisers – fighting an entrenched, dominant culture A direct consequence of the tension between managed unionism and participatory unionism

11Warwick Business School So why does this matter? 10 years of organising has not delivered significant membership growth - although decline may have been worse without it Unions are, generally, not trying to move into un- unionised sectors Organising skills can be lost as specialist organisers move into generalist roles Some evidence of culture change but some areas more visible movement than others - strong narrative of change (Stuart and Martinez Lucio 2008) Directly related to the tension(s) inherent in ‘organising’