By Becky Wright, Executive Director, Unions 21 | 2 min
As part of a project to assist unions to organise atypical workers led by the creative unions federations in Europe, I recently had the privilege to work with two unions who are struggling with the change in the labour market making freelance more of an aspect of their membership.
For both unions, this was a chance to think about how their union operates effectively in a way that not only supports members the union is used to, but also those who the union had previously struggled with.
Understanding all workers and their needs
While it was a condensed form of our broader Building Capacity course, it was important to ensure that both groups got to grips with understanding workers and what they think, feel and do. This is even more important when working with temporary or non-traditional employment relationships. We examined how their needs might differ and how we can effectively reach out to them and reflect what they think, feel and do.
Our second day was given over to the importance of activist development, and how we can identify the right issues to focus on and then build a comprehensive campaign. This is because while traditional collective bargaining remains powerful and is an optimal goal, it can be hard to get to the negotiating table for atypical workers. Unions therefore need to think about campaigns rather than institutional arrangements, to ensure that we are addressing the issues affecting those workers.
It was fantastic! We received a structured overview of union work step by step – from laying the foundations by recruiting members all the way to building up with various targeted and thoughtful activities. And all of it was highly interactive, through group or pair work, enriched with plenty of concrete examples and anecdotes effortlessly shared by workshop leader Becky Wright.
“Becky didn’t waiver even under the avalanche of our questions and we got a lot of new insights and ideas. The training continues on an online platform – and everything we learn, we plan to put into practice together with our union colleagues.
Sandra Mlađenović, Head of the Audiovisual Translators Branch of the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists
