Innovative Trade Union Strategies

By Dirk Kloosterboer

Unions in many countries have seen their memberships decline during the past years. In addition, their position has weakened as a result of factors including a globalizing economy, erosion of workers rights and increasing labour market flexibility.

Some unions, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, have responded to this situation by running assertive organising campaigns at the workplace, engaging in strategic research, strengthening their position in local communities and launching internationally coordinated campaigns. Increasingly, such approaches are also providing inspiration for unions in Europe.

The new strategies have as yet not solved the problems of the trade union movement. In most countries, union density is still declining. However, some unions and some local coalitions have been surprisingly successful, gaining tens or even hundreds of thousands of new members and improving the conditions of millions of workers, often low-paid workers in the growing service sector.

The present report describes some examples of innovative trade unionism. At the moment, it is difficult to say what kind of approach will work under what circumstances: this is still very much a matter of trial and error. That said, there do seem to be some general characteristics that can be identified in many successful initiatives.

Organising new groups

Many initiatives focus on organising new groups, which are underrepresented among the unions' membership: young people, ethnic minorities, and workers in the growing services sectors. Organising these groups is essential if the trade union movement is to remain a relevant social actor in the future.

Unions have developed systematic approaches to workplace organising and have set up institutes to train new organisers. Although organising campaigns generally do not specifically target groups such as ethnic minorities; some of the most successful campaigns have been in sectors with high shares of minority workers.

Bottom up and top down

Initiatives need to be bottom up in order to have real grassroots support and to reflect the issues that are of concern to the population. However, they also need a strong commitment from the top, in order to overcome resistance to change and to have the level of coordination that is needed to be able to take on large corporations and to influence government policies.

Local and international

At the local level, unions build community support and test innovative approaches. At the same time, international networks are crucial to be able to cope with the consequences of a globalising economy.

At the local level, unions have launched living wage campaigns, set up workers' centres, created think tanks, campaigned for worker-friendly economic development policies and launched political campaigns, often mobilising low-income voters. Increasingly, campaigns are also being coordinated internationally.

Social justice

Opponents often try to depict unions as outsiders who are fighting for narrow self interests. In order to counter this, unions frame their objectives as social justice issues. For example, American unions have been able to win the support of Republican voters for initiatives that aim to ensure that every worker receives a decent wage.

Coalitions

Coalitions with community organisations strengthen the support for political campaigns, help unions get in touch with 'hard to reach' workers and help counter the image of unions pursuing narrow self-interests.

Long-term commitment

Some crucial campaigns have taken as long as twelve years before bearing fruit. It is important to convince union members (and staff) of the importance of investing time and resources in long-term objectives.

Partnership not without strength

Collaboration with employers and with governments can yield important results, provided that unions do so from a position of strength and actively involve their membership in what they do.

Battle of ideas

In many countries, unions have to cope with a political climate that is hostile to workers and their organisations. Some unions have successfully set up think tanks and worked with research institutes to regain the initiative and gather support for alternative economic and social visions.

Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV)