Trade Union Approaches to History in Education

Trade union approaches to history in their education and training programmes A report for the History & Policy Trade Union Forum by the Trade Union Research Unit, Ruskin College, Oxford By Rupert Griffin November 2012 Contents Acknowledgments 3 Foreword 4 1 Executive summary 7 2 Aims 9 3 Methodology 9 4 Findings 10 a) How history features in trade union websites 10 b) How history features in education and training 12 c) Education or training? 14 d) Possible areas of collaboration between unions and H&P 15 5 Case studies: the RMT and UNISON 16 The RMT 16 Unison 18 6 Elements of a new model 21 7 Recommendations 22 Further reading and websites 23 Appendix: History & Policy Trade Union History Fellowship Questionnaire 2 Acknowledgements Special thanks must go to Dr. Alastair Reid, Dr. Jim Moher, Fiona Holland and Douglas Dowell at History & Policy for providing the Trade Union Research Unit (TURU) at Ruskin College with the opportunity to conduct this research and also for their guidance, facilitation and support in seeing the project through. The researchers would like to thank the King’s Business Futures Fund at King's College London for funding the project. Donald Cameron at UNISON deserves special mention for taking the time to provide insightful and valuable comments throughout the project. Andy Gilchrist at the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) is also thanked for his participation and in allowing the use of the RMT’s educational provision as a case study. This project would not have been possible without the interviews and questionnaire responses of trade union officials from Prospect, the Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA), the Communication Workers Union (CWU), the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Unite the Union, the University and College Union (UCU) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Union Learn tutors. Final thanks must go the members of the History & Policy Trade Union Forum, chaired by John Edmonds, for their feedback on the draft report. Finally, Denis Gregory deserves special mention for providing invaluable support and advice throughout the project as well as the insightful foreword that follows. 3 Foreword That the trade union movement in the UK has a long and proud history is both understood and revered by most union activists. Many histories of individual unions have been written and a visit to a union head office inevitably reveals other visual trappings of a union’s history. Reception areas of most union head offices abound with busts of previous general secretaries, old photographs of governing bodies, inscribed tablets of wood and stone and other memorabilia, all celebrating the past glories, campaigns and personalities that have helped establish and develop the union. Latterly union websites have, to varying extents, also included an overview of the union’s history and development. Unions are rightly proud of their history. Yet, to the uninitiated and indeed for many union members, this long and proud history remains largely unknown. Among the many possible explanations for this is what is widely perceived as the ‘demonization’ of trade unionism promoted in the 1980s by the first two Thatcher administrations, combined with the subsequent decline in union membership that has virtually destroyed the inter- generational narratives by which working class families have traditionally passed on trade-union values and beliefs. The outcome is to leave large swathes of the UK’s workforce with at best a hazy notion of what trade unions stand for and, at worst, a negative view born out of the bigotry and prejudice that have been the staples of union-bashing activity in recent decades. It is commonplace to hear union activists and recruiters remark that they frequently have to remind workmates that ‘it was the union who fought for their terms and conditions, the union who won health and safety protection at the workplace and the union that campaigned and struggled for equal pay and equal opportunities’. Such comments are a clear indication that for many workers the history and purpose of trade unions have been submerged and forgotten. For young workers, the vast majority of whom are not trade union members, this is a particular problem. The challenge for trade unions is how to use their history and traditions to enthuse, educate, inspire and mobilise workers. There are a number of ways that history can play a constructive 4 part in modern trade unionism. Promoting a sense of history to counter the negative image of trade unions is plainly an important task and one that is increasingly recognised as being central to the recruitment of non-members. For this to be achieved, education and training for union activists in the history of their union and of the national and international union movement is a fundamental requirement. This can be buttressed by additional opportunities to delve into the history of a union, which could be assisted by a sympathetically designed website. A central aim of H&P's Trade Union Education Project has been to establish the extent to which unions in the UK are using their individual histories in education and training programmes to create ways of linking with their past that will enthuse existing members and inspire non- members to join them. Another aim was to examine the feasibility of connecting professional labour historians with unions in ways that might help unions think through the challenges posed by both contemporary and longstanding difficulties in the workplace. While the world of work has undeniably changed, the issues and problems that work relationships generate have proved to be remarkably persistent and durable. There is 'nothing new under the sun' as far as labour relations are concerned. Moreover, the historical knowledge and labour relations experience that most unions can draw upon when called into action at the workplace is, more often than not, deeper and better grounded than that available to many managers. Where unions are well established, it is not uncommon for them have a longer presence at the workplace than managers who frequently pass through on fairly short tenures. In this context, a sense of history in order to avoid reinventing the wheel and revisiting old mistakes is important. This in turn raises a number of questions. Firstly, are unions making the best use of locally-embedded historical knowledge when contemplating specific initiatives or actions at the workplace? Secondly, to what extent might union officers and activists tasked with defending and advancing their members’ interests benefit from the advice and insight of a historian? Thirdly, should the skills of historical research and interpretation be added to the range of skills that are included in the basic training unions give to their officers and activists? 5 This modest project sets out some answers to these questions and proposes ways that history and historians could play a constructive role in shaping the future of trade union activity in the UK. Denis Gregory 6 1. Executive Summary The Trade Union Education Project sought to understand the extent to which trade unions make use of the history of their particular union, or trade union history more generally, in their education and training programmes. The research was conducted by the Trade Union Research Unit at Ruskin College, Oxford in association with the History & Policy Trade Union Forum and with the support of the King’s Business Futures Fund at King's College London. Researchers examined the approaches of 19 major trade unions, as well as the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), to understand whether, how and why they use history – and how historians could facilitate the inclusion of more history in trade union education provision. In total 10 trade union officials concerned with education provision participated in the research through interviews and questionnaires. Key Findings 1.1 Trade unions do provide a history of their own organisations and refer to broader trade union history but this is limited 14 out of 21 of the largest unions (in terms of membership) provide a brief history of their own organisation on their websites. Trade union history rarely features in education courses currently offered by unions. Where it does, it is usually in a brief overview. One reason for this lack of provision is the sometimes acrimonious process of merger, whereby smaller unions have merged to form larger unions. In some cases it is union policy to avoid discussions of these difficult and often divisive periods of their history. The inclusion of history in union education is to some extent determined by the aims of that education provision: the emphasis is on skills training, to enable union representa- tives to carry out their roles, rather than 'chalk and talk' lectures – in which the inclusion 7 of history could be perceived as challenging, irrelevant and a luxury the union could not afford. 1.2 There is scope for expanding the provision of history in union education and training Some respondents believe that with the increasing popularity of history in the media and in public life generally, trade union and labour history would be of interest, particularly to members under 30. This is evidenced by attendance at events such as the Durham Min- ers’ Gala and Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival and Rally. Examples exist of union history being included in skills training courses - known as 'membership development' - and there is scope for expansion. UNISON and the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) offer examples of best practice in their provision of trade union history within education and membership development programmes. History & Policy could assist with the history component of union education by: o providing guest speakers o providing a historical context to organising, campaigning and negotiating o providing training in historical research methods o creating a ‘virtual college’ of workshops and events o attaching PhD students to unions who would become in-house historians in ex- change for access to archives.

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