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Essential Skills for Building Stronger Unions

Essential Skills for Building Stronger Unions. By: Deluxe Bwalya Mwansa Director of Workers Education, Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers, (ZUFIAW), 1 st floor, Luangwa House, Cairo Road, Lusaka E-mail: deluxemwns7@gmail.com Mobile 0976096714. Introduction.

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Essential Skills for Building Stronger Unions

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  1. Essential Skills for Building Stronger Unions By: Deluxe Bwalya Mwansa Director of Workers Education, Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers, (ZUFIAW), 1st floor, Luangwa House, Cairo Road, Lusaka E-mail: deluxemwns7@gmail.com Mobile 0976096714

  2. Introduction • Strategic and creative thinking about effective approaches to build our trade union

  3. Introduction • Developing your own skills so that you can go to new and existing members and other union representatives with confidence and ideas to win their support.

  4. Introduction • Equip trade unionists with the skills and knowledge to build stronger, bigger trade unions as the best way to win a better deal for working people

  5. Organising • Today everybody needs to be an organiser in order to build or rebuild our unions and win more power and practical improvements in working people’s lives.

  6. Organising • Getting people active and involved • Just one new member or a few new faces at a meeting is a success that can be built on and start the union bandwagon rolling.

  7. Organising Opportunities • Church • Bar • Restaurant • Hospital • Bus stops • On the bus • Funeral • Community meeting • Dating • Hotel • Training event • Conference • School • Everyday trade union work

  8. Approach- How? Why join the union Why NOT join the Union Already well paid Individual contracts Casualisation Unions are troublemakers Lack of accountability Fear factor Unions too weak For people who are weak • Pay rise • Social security • Improved working conditions • To survive • Inspiration • Social protection

  9. Key aspects of a trade union • Membership • Financial resources • Leadership vision • Internal Democracy • Unity • Structures – sustainable • Bargaining capacity • Membership service • Clear strategies • Advanced political education • Solidarity • Class consiousness

  10. Issues to tackle • Gender /equality • HIV-AIDS • Economic Justice • Dignity at Work • Globalisation • Collective Bargaining

  11. What outcomes do you want? • Increase membership • Build capacity in committee/s • Create awareness in economic justice • Raise awareness in HIV-AIDS to encourage VCT • Improve collective bargaining skills • Improve membership representation on grievance committees

  12. Who will be involved? • Branch Officials • District Officials • Provincial Officials • Full Time union staff • National union leadership • Educators • Women activists

  13. What you will do if things do not work out • Improve communication • Develop materials • Interact with local membership/population • Provide training • Employ persuasion • Sharpen public speaking skills

  14. How will you know if things do not work out? • Record keeping • Resources mobilisation • Prioritising • Communication-reporting • Interacting with leadership • Monitoring & Evaluation Plan • Retention of membership

  15. Back Up Plan • Top Down Approach • Bottom Up Approach • Lateral Approach8

  16. How Strong is Your Union? • Building the Union Team • Involving members • Unions and management • What is happening in Your Sector and Union?

  17. Building the Union Team • Does the union in your area reflect the profile of the institution in terms of gender, age, job category , tribe, etc? • Does yours area of union work have an organising committee? • Do you meet with others regularly in your area of work to plan or carry out union building activities?

  18. Building the Union Team • Are reports prepared or given on the work of your union building activities? • If a union representative gave up their post would there be others ready to volunteer to take it on? • Are union representatives involved in positive, active issues, not just problems?

  19. Building the Union Team • Do all union representatives take opportunities to work together. Eg promotion events, teachers day etc • Do you and other representatives know where they fit into the union structure? • Have all the union rep. and those involved in union activity attended at least one union training course organised by national trade union centre?

  20. Building the Union Team • Do the union representative regularly keep in touch with their appropriate committee representatives(minimum once a month)? • Is there a means by which union representatives communicate with each other? Eg newsletter, email • Do union representatives get involved in decision making?

  21. Building the Union Team • Do union representatives initiate union building activities or do they just follow instructions from more senior or experienced representatives? • Are new representatives/activists offered mentoring and shadowing opportunities with more experienced representatives? • Does the full time officials work with representatives to plan an manage union activity?

  22. Involving Members • Do members recruitment activities take place regularly? • Do union rep. have a plan to recruit and sustain members? • Are Branch meetings well attended? • Do union rep. have an input into new staff inductions? • Do reps. Know where non-members are and why they are not in the union?

  23. Involving members • Do reps. Know who union members are and who are potential members? • Do members know who their union representatives are? • Do members know what issues the union is pursuing? • Are members encouraged to become active in the union?

  24. Involving members • Are potential members/members invited to take on particular tasks to support their union work? • Are there mechanisms in place that members can contribute their ideas and opinions about the union . E.g newsletter, e-mail forum, meetings? • Is there a network of activists who will help out with activities to build the union?

  25. Involving members • Is the union visible in the organisation? (posters, notice boards, events, recruitment campaigns, learning promotions) do people regularly talk about it in the organisation and in asocial setting? • Do members have confidence in the grievance and disciplinary procedures? • Would you like to help out with union tasks e.g distributing leaflets at work, putting up posters, pass on information to other members by email?

  26. Unions and Management • Do management keep union representatives and members informed of what is going on in the business? • Do unions have good facilities for carrying out union business (notice boards, private room for interviewing members etc)? • Is the union full time officer rarely needed for representation because elected representatives have confidence to do it themselves?

  27. Answers • Yes • No • Don’t Know

  28. 22 to 53 marks Congratulations ! You are well organised union but you can think of a few more improvements

  29. 11-21 marks Looks like you have been trying and have quite a lot of things in place but you can still improve

  30. 0-5 marks Poorly organised but don’t give up. There are lots of things you can do and you need to find some representatives and members to help

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