I did a fringe even for The Snith Institute and Unions 21 on putting the economic case for trade unions at the Labour Party Conference last evening. One of the questions made me think in the light of the comments made by three union general secretaries sitting on the panel with me.
The question was about how unions could get into the new wave of small companies that are a feature of the 21st century economy.
The answer seemed obvious to me. I believe that unions might serve the interests of the employees of a business but that their presence is a major bonus to its management in numerous ways. Recognition builds trust. The openness in relationships required does the same. The belief that attempts are being made by all sides to do the right thing only builds on that.
And what is apparent is that unions have the skills, in employment law, contracts, health and safety, and so much more that many small employers need and do not know where to find at reasonable cost.
Why aren't the union movement going to small employers and saying that if those employers will recognise the right of the union to help their members then the employer can gain by getting access to essential services as well, on these issues? There would have to be some ring-fencing, of course: one side can't represent both in a dispute but the vast majority of union work is not about disputes as such, it is about getting things done properly. If many employers do not know how to do that, and I am sure they do not, why not sell it as a service to them that benefits the employees of the business they work for?
I float it as an idea. I'd call it the entrepreneurial union.
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In the USA in the United Steel Workers Union a sister Union to UNITe, have in partnership with the Mondragon Coops of the Basque Country,mm come up with the Union cooperative modal.
The information below relates mainly to Worker Cooperatives but there is no reason why cooperative forms might not blend well with small business, especially socially directed mutual forms of finance that seeks to support workers and community.
Community wealth organization and Geo Cooperives web site have information on this
http://www.community.wealth.org/content/union-co-op-model
http://www.geo.coop/node/node/199
Directly from the United Steel Workers re Union Cooperative Model : http://www.usw.org/union/…/The-Union-Coop-Model-March-26-2012.pdf
Framing it an ‘entrepreneurial’ mode is a way of stealing your opponents thunder I guess!
The German model is worth citing. They created what they called ‘Mitbesstimung’ or an atmosphere of co-existence that has worked well and illustrates how Unions are vital in Industry.
it’s also worth flashing this graph about: http://www.epi.org/blog/union-decline-rising-inequality-charts/ and emphasisze how ‘bad for business it is a la Ted Hannauer!
As I’m sure your’e aware this is something that can be obtained at reasonable cost by joining the FSB and I’m not sure how useful having an extra layer of people to deal with that generally comes with union membership would be considered more, or even as, useful. If you run open and flat management as most small businesses I’ve encountered do, it is even less of a goer.
And for the unions there is also the problem of running with both the hare and the hounds…
I am aware many have reservations about FSB
Possibly they do – but it is at least member owned!
This is a good idea generally. The union could also use their political influence )to further the cause of small business in the many cases where small business is at odds with their real enemy – the corporation. Two areas that come to mind are competition policy (retail, especially) and the corrupt practices in town planning.
Yes, if both the employers and the unions can change the narrative into one of dialogue not dialects. I believe there is a lot of common ground but not much common language. Get the right behaviours in place and the rest should follow. In Catholic Social Teaching and social enterprise in Italy and South America this comes under the principle of solidarity, and is gaining traction, e.g. some social enterprises are calling themselves solidarity enterprises to indicate how they wish to engage with all stakeholders.