Nick McCarthy
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Re:Whatever happened to "new unionism" in the UK? - 05/11/2006 19:50
Hi there
As Paul points out partership agreements are difficult to define. However the issue is not often what a relationship is called which is important, but the power relationship between the union and the employer.
In practical terms one of the areas where there seems to me a contradiction between "organising" and "partnership" is control over communications. In classic partnership agreements communication with members is often joint (with employers) and during bargaining often includes confidentiality arrangements. In these circumstances unions are not able to mobilise members around issues of injustice, a key element of the organising approach to growth.
David Metcalf posed the challenge for unions in organising the 3.3m non-members within recogntion agreements. Understanding the effect of union / employer relationships on our ability to organise these non-members seems to me to be vital.
By the way new unionism hasn't disappeared - but to those of us who have spent 10 years working to develop coherent organsing strategies within unions maybe it isn't new anymore!
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