Training Sessions - Page 4

Session 4 - Planning for Workplace Organisation

Workers achieve the most when union membership is strong.

Many employers and governments want each worker to sign an individual contract - this is a recipe for unfairness and a weak, divided workforce.

What Will Happen If We Fail to Recruit and Organise?

• Your ability to negotiate any issues will be weakened
• Workers will be less willing to have the union take up their problems
• You will lose credibility with your employer and workers

Our union

• Will lose influence with governments over such issues as health and safety laws, training and education, employment
• Will have less weight when appearing in industrial tribunals
• Will be less able to provide services to members (eg legal, workers compensation)

Workers and our union must always present well argued cases to employer and governments - with the added support of an organised workforce our case will be rock solid.

Workplace organising and recruitment are your number one responsibility

We need a strong and organised membership

• to build a better work life for the people in your workplace, and
• to enable our union to improve workers' standards generally.

Organising Your Workplace

What is Organising?

Organising means:

One worker getting disciplined for not completing their work may really be a larger issue of understaffing.

Thinking of strategies and actions to win our issues as a group.

Group grievances, petitions about an issue, mass meetings with the boss, work bans etc.

Building the union.

Organising is not only about solving problems or winning issues, but doing it in a way that builds the union - that involves the membership and develops leaders.

Organising is fundamentally how we move power from management to the union.

Workplace Organising should be built from the:

• Worries and concerns of the workers themselves
• Effective use of our unions experience and resources.

Assessing your workplace - Questions to Answer

What proportion of workers are members?

How involved and interested are they?

Who are the non members? Are they a particular group (eg. do they work in the same area? Are they in the same age group?

Are there any obvious workplace issues?

Ask yourself "What other factors might affect the level of membership and organisation in our workplace?

Two Keys to success

• Have a plan
• Always talk one-to-one to workers

Start your planning by making a map

Simply draw a plan, showing each work area and each worker who works where. Then you can identify what the issues are, where you have members, where you have members that are involved and where you most need them.

Keep your map up-to-date. Add information as you get it, build up a good, accurate picture of your workplace

Look at your map and ask:

1. Where are we strong already? Where are our weaknesses

2. Where are the major issues?

3. Do we have a strong union presence in order to take an issue on or do we need to build one?

4. Who might be the best people to approach first?

5. Who might be able to help by influencing others?

From here you can work out your strategy for building membership, activity and organisation.

Contact your local branch to find out more about organising your workplace and additional training courses that are available.