COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS NEW CHALLENGES AND NEW RESPONSES JANUARY 2021 COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS NEW CHALLENGES AND NEW RESPONSES Author Unions 21 Tom Hunt is Deputy Director of the Sheffield Unions 21 exists to support unions to increase their Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) at influence, impact and effectiveness within the world the University of Sheffield. He is the co-leader of of work. We will do this by working with unions, SPERI’s Labour & Decent Work research theme. supporters and stakeholders to create an open His research focuses on efforts by unions, space for research, innovation and activity to assist workers, states, industry and civil society to unions to secure a better life for working people. improve labour standards. This paper is part of its work on new economies, new workers. Unions 21 Acknowledgements 77 St John Street Funding for this project was provided by the Alex Ferry Foundation. We are grateful for their London EC1M 4NN support as well as to everyone who contributed to the research. All research and writing by Tom Hunt. www.unions21.org.uk Any errors are the authors own. 2 COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS Executive summary • The pandemic has changed how unions operate. • The report focuses on changes to member Unions have adopted new ways for workers engagement; recruitment and retention; to act and speak together, and new forms and advocacy and influencing; training members methods of campaigning, communications, and supporting reps; representation of members, recruitment, negotiating, lobbying, training and union democracy and governance. It also and representation, both on and offline, have looks at how unions adapted to remote working. been developed. Whilst there have been big changes, unions’ central purpose to defend their • Each chapter ends by highlighting key findings members’ interests and improve work has not and new challenges and questions for unions to changed. Unions have found new ways to do this consider as they plan for 2021 and beyond. and have protected lives and livelihoods. • Unions need to reflect on the changes they • Unions have secured wins for members such made during 2020 and assess what has worked as the introduction of the furlough scheme and and why, and to reflect on how COVID-19 is greater provision of PPE, influenced the national changing work and what changes unions may debate about conditions of key workers and need to make as a result. put the spotlight on low-paid, unsafe and under-valued work that many millions of workers face daily. • Whilst the pandemic has brought new challenges, overall unions have a reinvigorated sense of purpose. Staff teams have come together, member engagement has increased and deepened, activism has increased, and there are encouraging signs membership will have increased during 2020. 3 COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS Contents 1. Introduction 5 Part One: Context for adaptation 7 2. 2020 and the transformation of work 7 3. Trade unions and remote working 9 Part Two: Union adaptation 15 4. Member engagement 15 5. Member recruitment and retention 23 6. Training members and supporting reps 28 7. Advocacy and influencing 33 8. Representation of members 38 9. Union democracy and governance 43 Part Three 47 10. Forward planning 47 References 53 Appendix: contributions from unions 54 4 COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS 1: Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has turned working life may not work) to collectively resolve them. The upside down for millions of workers and with it, report shows how the fundamentals of union the work of trade unions. When large parts of the organising haven’t changed, they’ve just, at times, economy were shut down, when going to work needed to be done in different ways. In presenting became a matter of life and death, and when work its findings about the impact of the pandemic on for millions of people, including most union staff, unions, the report encourages unions to assess moved into their homes, how did unions continue to what worked and why, and to assess the situations function effectively? that their current and future members now find themselves in at the start of 2021 and how that This report explores that question and many might change in the short and long term. other challenges that unions faced and continue to grapple with during the pandemic. It shows Reflection and evaluation is an extremely hard task how unions are finding new ways for workers to do whilst the crisis still rages but the pandemic to act and speak together, and how new forms has shown why it is an urgent task because just and methods of campaigning, communications, as unions have acted quickly, so have businesses recruitment, negotiating, lobbying, training and and employers. The pandemic provides evidence of representation, both on and offline, have been how work in many sectors and industries could be developed. It also outlines how, at the same time temporarily reshaped, and how in many instances it as overhauling their organising activities, internal is already being permanently reshaped, sometimes processes, governance and democracy, unions and in ways that could benefit workers but also in ways their staff have had to adapt to the challenges of that could lead to fewer jobs, less work and worse remote working, and the stresses and strains of employment conditions. balancing this work with homeschooling, caring responsibilities and health concerns. As the full economic impact of COVID-19 becomes more apparent day by day and with a steep rise Where unions have had to innovate, it has broadly in unemployment forecast, the project has found not come in the form of a quick-fix new bit of evidence of unions that are asking themselves tech or process to be bolted onto existing union hard questions about how best to support their structures. Instead, innovation has come from members, whether their current structures and engaging with members, understanding the issues processes could be improved, and whether long- they face and trying new initiatives (which may or term strategic changes are needed as a result. 5 COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS Data Report structure The evidence presented in this report was collected The report proceeds as follows. Part 1 (Chapters between October-December 2020 and comes from 2-3) sets the context for the work of trade unions two primary sources: by outlining the rapid and far reaching changes to working lives caused by the pandemic. Chapter 2 • 149 responses to an online survey from union looks at those workers in frontline / key worker staff that asked questions about how the roles; those workers whose work ceased either pandemic has affected their work and the work temporarily (through furloughing and/or the of their union. Responses were provided from shutdown of specific sectors and industries) staff in 33 unions from countries including the or permanently (through redundancy), and the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, hardship this has brought about, and those who Sweden and the USA.1 have worked from home and the acceleration of digital work practices this has entailed. Chapter 3 • 27 in-depth interviews with union officials outlines the changes that unions had to make to from unions and union federations in the UK, their own working arrangements and practices. Australia, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA.2 Interviewees in a wide Part 2 (Chapters 4-9) explores the impact of the range of union roles were interviewed including pandemic on unions across six different features General Secretaries, Deputy and Assistant of their work: member engagement (Chapter 4); General Secretaries, Chiefs of Staff, Heads of recruitment and retention (Chapter 5); training Organising, Training Managers and Coordinators, and supporting reps (Chapter 6); advocacy and Directors of Policy and Communications, influencing (Chapter 7); representation of members Regional Organisers and Workplace Organisers. (Chapter 8), and union democracy and governance (Chapter 9). Whilst each chapter looks at a different The evidence presented is of course just a snapshot topic, the six features of unions all interact and of the vast array of work that unions have done reinforce each other. Together they represent the and are doing during the pandemic. It would be organising principles behind strong unions. impossible to do justice to the full extent of that work. The unions that have contributed to the In Part 3, Chapter 10 discusses the need for project represent employed and self-employed reflection and evaluation on what has been learnt workers in a wide range of sectors and industries from the work of unions during the pandemic so far, including the creative industries, education, and considers the challenges and questions that energy, financial services, health and social care will need to be addressed as unions plan for 2021 (all professions but specifically midwifery, nursing, and beyond. pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiography and social care). manufacturing, public administration (specifically central and local government), and transportation (specifically aviation, maritime and rail) meaning that the examples presented are drawn from across the union movement and across the world of work. 6 COVID-19 AND THE WORK OF TRADE UNIONS PART ONE CONTEXT FOR ADAPTATION 2: 2020 and the transformation of work In early 2020 when the world was becoming aware • Workers who have continued to work in their of the full dangers of COVID-19, unions were clear: normal place of work through the pandemic, a health emergency is an economic emergency and including those in ‘key worker’ roles, not just coronavirus would have disastrous implications those on the frontline of the health emergency for public health, jobs and livelihoods unless swift but all workers who have kept vital services action was taken.