New unionism network
This New Unionism Network is worth following.
http://www.newunionism.net” promotes the principles of organizing, workplace democracy, internationalism and creative thinking in the union movement. It includes:
State of the unions
A ‘one stop shop’ for quick information on national union
membership numbers, union density, membership trends and labor rights.
Among other things, the data confirms our earlier reports of overall growth
in the global movement. Our list of the “top 20 most unionised countries”
also shows quite clearly that size and influence do not necessarily go
hand-in-hand.
Beyond hierarchy
Nobody has more experience with poor management, in all its forms, than
trade unions. What have we learned? What models should we be arguing for instead? Conor Cradden takes a good hard look at organisational hierarchy and ‘management’s right to manage’. In doing so, he launches our new discussion series: ‘Towards a Union Theory of Management’.
The end of ideocracy
The recent crop of stimulus packages offers unions a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to compare real outcomes of economic strategies. How will we feel when we look back in 10 years? Will we wish we had adopted Thailand¹s trickle up² model, giving money straight to those who need it most? Or will we wish we’d followed the US example, covering as many bases as possible? The European Union is turning the crisis into an opportunity, making significant steps towards a greener world. And then there¹s the option of the big spend-up on infrastructure, as exemplified by countries like Norway. One thing is certain: unions must now help bring economics under democratic control. The age of Ideocracy – rule by ideology – is over.
Organizing meets social partnership
Eddy Stam and Ron Meyer are experienced unionists from the Netherlands. One is a seasoned veteran, now working at international level, the other a
determined young organizer working with the rank and file. They’re good
friends, and they¹re pretty much agreed: the European model of social
partnership unionism has a lot to learn from the organizing model of the
Americas. In the course of our interview they also suggest an answer to one of the key questions facing unionists today: Organizing for what?
High performance workplaces
Max Ogden reports on some interesting work New Zealand unions are doing around the concept of “high performance workplaces”. In short, they are seeking to raise the quality of work against a backdrop of improved
performance. Furthermore, they are wanting to embed this process in
collective negotiations. You can read more about the approach.
Towards a new unionism in Mexico
The struggle for new and independent unions in Mexico involves ghost
unions, corrupt bureaucrats, legitimised thuggery and battling drug
cartels. It is also a struggle against labour movement corruption. In this
article Richard Leitch updates his earlier story on the exemplary
solidarity work of two unions the United Electrical Workers of America
(UE
(FAT
Whistleblower heaven
A shocking 56% of U.S. employees witnessed ethical misconduct at work in
2007, and that figure is growing, despite law changes prompted by the Enron scandal. This is before the revelations of the current financial crisis. But now, on the bright side, there is a game-changing tool to help working people expose corporate and political abuses. It’s called Wikileaks
Since its launch in 2006 it has received over 1.2 million documents.
Confidentiality is heavily protected, and a public review process ensures
that reports are thoroughly analyzed for credibility and veracity. Is
Wikileaks politically motivated? Hell yes! The organisation makes no bones
about it. “We believe Wikileaks is the strongest way we have of generating
the true democracy and good governance on which all mankind’s dreams
depend.”
