THE FUTURE FOR UNION COMMUNITY ORGANISING Editor: Dan Whittle © Unions21 2013 Design: Kate Copsey
Unions21 Registered Office: Unions21 c/o ATL 7 Northumberland Street London, WC2N 5RD www.Unions21.org.uk
Further Acknowledgements David Braniff-Herbert, Sam Tarry, Kathryn Perera, Marion Colverd
Rob Jenks, Senior Community Organiser of the TSSA; About this publication George Gabriel from Nottingham Citizens and the event was chaired by Catherine Atkinson, Secretary of the Unions21 provides an ‘open space’ for discussion Society of Labour Lawyers. on the future of the trade union movement and the world of work. Unions21 has helped shape unions Our roundtable discussions (available to watch on since 1993 by providing evidence, advice, new youtube.com/Unions21) have helped shaped this thinking and networks. publication, which we hope will stimulate much needed The growing interest in union community organising and further debate and analysis of union community the development of community-based strategies is an organising, its strengths and weaknesses, and area which Unions21 has been exploring for several significance to the future of unions. years. Sue Ferns This year we held roundtable discussions in Brighton Chair of Unions21 and Nottingham to bring those at the forefront of union community organising together.
At the Brighton event in April our panellist were Mathew Danaher, UNISON’s community organising coordinator; Dr Ian Greenwood from the University of Leeds; Stewart Owadally a Community Organiser for Movement for Change and Simon Burgess from Brighton Labour Party. The event was chaired by Paul Bromley, a Regional Officer from the Society of Radiographers.
At our event in Nottingham in June we brought together Liane Groves, Unite Community National Organiser; Unions21 roundtable in Nottingham Contents
Foreword p03
For the People, Of the People, By the People Kevin Rowan, Head of Organisation and Services at the TUC Carl Roper, TUC National Organiser
1: Introduction p07
A turn to community organising in the UK? Professor Jane Holgate, Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change, University of Leeds
2: Community organising at the heart of a union p13
Michael Leahy, General Secretary of Community the Union
3: A path to building a more powerful movement p17
James Scott, Community Organiser for Movement for Change
4: Case studies: TSSA’s organising for public transport p21 a) TSSA’s London Taxi and Private Hire Project p21 Rob Jenks – TSSA Senior Community Organiser b) The community campaign to save rail manufacturing in Derby p25 George Woods – TSSA Community Organiser
5: Promoting Social Responsibility p29
John Hudson – PFA Director of Community
1 This publication has been supported by TU Thanks to the support of our charity which has Fund Managers which has a strong history of pledged a 4 year grant to help fund the salary of supporting community projects. the Club’s Advice & Advocacy Worker, Alison sees approximately 75 people a month. Many of these TU Fund Managers Limited was founded by the people do not have the literacy skills to be able to Trade Union movement in 1961 and is wholly owned deal with bureaucracy and many find the housing by the T.U.U.T. Charitable Trust. With only one and benefit system confusing, alien and intimidating. shareholder, management profits from TU go direct to our charity, thereby allowing us to support a range The following case illustrates the 999 Club’s work of worthy causes. thanks to our financial support:- ‘M’ is 57 years old and has worked all of his life One such beneficiary is the 999 Club, which offers in a variety of jobs, renting lodgings as he went comfort, respite, advice and guidance to the most along. When his last job finished, he could not find isolated, excluded and lonely people in society. The another and so, when his money ran out, he became Club’s 5,000 users suffer multiple problems, often the homeless and ended up in the 999 Club night shelter. result of rotten childhoods, which manifest into any Alison found him a room in a shared house in Abbey combination - homeless, addicted, physically and Wood, owned by a private landlord, with whom she mentally-ill, ex-offenders, victims of crime and abuse, has developed a good working relationship. She elderly as well as the neglected and vulnerable secured a Crisis Loan and helped him apply for children of the 999 Club’s users. benefits. M now has a roof over his head while he looks for further work. The 999 Club operates two centres in one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the London Borough of www.tufm.co.uk Lewisham, namely Deptford and Downham. The Club also runs a small nursery for vulnerable families and every winter, a temporary night shelter.
2 Foreword
For the people, of the people, by the people – Unions and community organising - Kevin Rowan and Carl Roper
Over recent years the use of the terms embraced community organising and ‘community organising’ and ‘community has employed American community campaigning’ has increased considerably organiser Arnie Graf to advise on how it within the trade union and wider labour can revitalise its constituency parties; and movement. They have been used to of course Movement for Change, although describe a range of activities from genuine not formally linked to the Labour Party was community based organising to community established in 2010. campaigning and coalition building. The increased prevalence of ‘community’ in This is all enormously welcome and the discourse around how to establish and encouraging. At a time when the pressures maintain ‘strong unions’ reflects a growing on ordinary people from government aspiration of trade unions and other policies and employers can appear organisations to reach out to new groups of overwhelming, the increase in community people and to give voice and through that and people centred organising that has power to those in society in most need of it. the specific purpose of capturing and using the power that people create when A number of trade unions now have working in collaboration with each other is community organising strategies and massively important. have employed dedicated community organisers. To take a few examples, TSSA Whilst the jury is still out in respect of is using community organising practices of evaluating the impact of these and other coalition building to build support amongst initiatives, they do show a propensity to commuters for their rail campaigns and innovation and a determination to reach last year Unite launched its Community parts of the community and sectors of membership scheme, an attempt to the economy where union presence and engage with and mobilise unemployed influence is limited. workers. Unison has a programme of reaching into communities through It would be a mistake, however, to assume ‘Community Learning Champions’ and all communities are ‘unorganised’. many unions have used the Union Learning Regardless of whether the community Fund ULF to take the ‘learning offer’ into is defined by place or locality, common community groups and organisations. identity, or just common interest there is The Labour Party, particularly since the often some form of organisation to be election of Ed Miliband as leader, has found. It is often the institutional cultural
3 clash that is a source of tension between representatives of community orientated disciplined, democratic, well-established, campaign groups and organisations trade union organisational structures display an ignorance of what unions are and the more spontaneous, often issue- and have achieved whenever they speak led, bottom-up dynamics of community of us and sometimes even to us. organisations. There can sometimes also be a tendency in the determination to embrace community These tensions are, of course, also organising to forget the strengths of opportunities, affording unions the trade union organisation and what it chance to identify common cause, and to has achieved. Compare the number of collaborate and coalesce on the basis of times you’ve read glowing testaments by genuine dynamic activism. This aspiration progressive journalists (and even some is certainly central to the TUC’s recently trade union officials) to the great work of launched ‘Campaign Plan’ which seeks London Citizens in respect of the Living to place the TUC on a much stronger Wage, to the scarcity of coverage given to campaign footing. the wage increases secured by unions, the jobs and services saved or the work of our Of course unions were the original workplace reps who every day make life at community organisers, and indeed existing work better or even just more tolerable for union workplace reps are eight times more tens of thousands of people. likely to be active in their local communities than other members of the general public. Last year the TUC as part of its Future On this basis, the relationships that we that Works campaign ran what were in develop with other ‘community organising’ effect three community organising pilots advocates and organisations should be in the North West, the Midlands and North based less on them teaching us how to London. They were useful not only in organise but rather on that all important that they produced some innovative and question of how we can turn the power we effective campaign work, but also in what create working with each other into power they revealed about the awareness of over campaign targets. and capacity to engage in collaborative community organising at a local and even That is not to say that unions have nothing hyper-local level. “ There is clearly a sense Whilst the pilots received support from some unions nationally and regionally, that reaching into com- engagement by local union branches was munities increases the less consistent. There are good reasons for this, not least the massive pressure local trade union voice, both reps are under in the current political and industrial context, but just as reps are the in terms of how loudly real face of the union at work, they can it is heard and also make the biggest union contribution to how widely.” community organising. The pilots also revealed what we have to learn from others in respect of actions, long suspected, that in the UK the extent tactics and strategies but all too often the of structured and purposeful community
4 organising and what the Australian within communities of power and leverage community organiser and academic and use innovative tactics to successfully Amanda Tattersall has called ‘power mobilise people against clear campaign coalitions’ is limited. Although subject to a targets (whoever it is who can give the great deal of discussion and attention over constituency what they want). Unions might recent years, there remains a significant also ask if we are increasing our reach, lack of understanding about community influence and organisational capacity? organising in the UK and relatively few examples, particularly outside London, There is clearly a sense that reaching of it being practiced. This suggests that into communities increases the trade organisations (unions and others) aren’t union voice, both in terms of how loudly yet geared up to make the necessary it is heard and also how widely. There is investment of resources and compromises also little doubt that broader campaign in respect of policy and modes of operation coalitions, particularly those that embrace that are required to both engage with groups and individuals hit hardest by the and make community organising and coalition government’s austerity and cuts campaigning effective. programme, add considerable weight to the relevance and legitimacy of TUC and As well as drawing lessons from this recent union campaigns. initiative, unions might draw some lessons from the early years of the New Unionism In the context of public services project that saw the development of the Organising Academy. We would do well “ Finding new ways to avoid what has been called ‘organising fundamentalism’ - a tendency to see the for people to hear process of organising, rather than the about and experience outcome, as more important; and linked to this, we should not be afraid to rigorously the campaigning evaluate the effectiveness of what we are doing. dynamic of trade unions is important.” The most basic test of the effectiveness of any campaign is ‘are we winning?’ campaigning, for example, trade unions but if you’re looking for something are often unfairly characterised as ‘provider more sophisticated you may look to the interests’. Community based campaigning aforementioned Amada Tattersall, Janice helps to demonstrate that trade unions Fine from the US and our own Jane are not merely concerned with jobs, Holgate; all of whom have produced employment standards and pay (not that excellent work studying and evaluation there is anything wrong with that), but community organising in a variety of that their priorities also extend to service contexts. provision, both in terms of quality and of scope. All three suggest that successful community organising and coalition This is important as here is a gap between building initiatives contain the following public opinion and experience of trade elements; they create and strengthen unions. The concept of trade unions and alliances; they build an understanding being in one is certainly more popular than
5 both the statistics on union membership supported emphasis on community and the coverage in the media would organising offers unions the opportunity suggest. The problem for unions is that to supplement the all important task too many people have never had a lived of increasing union membership and experience of being in a union and think recognition and improve the work they do that unions are a good idea for people in relation to three key areas of activity. other than themselves, so finding new ways for people to hear about and experience Firstly, reaching out to the majority of the campaigning dynamic of trade unions workers in the UK who don’t work in is important. a unionised workplace, in a way that enables us to demonstrate our relevance The extent to which this genuinely to them and effectiveness as campaigning collective voice is resonating with organisations. Secondly, improving our audiences that don’t already share our industrial leverage by bringing pressure to values and influencing those who are the bear on employers from a much broader target of our campaigns, is less clear. There base than just the union members in a is little evidence, yet, that the government particular workplace or company. Finally, is inclined to change course in respect of to win wide public support for political and its economic policy and whilst the majority economic campaigns on a range of issues of the public believe that the cuts are unfair, from a new economy, decent services and they still believe that they are necessary. rights and respect at work.
Learning from what has been undertaken “ Learning from what and achieved so far will be critical, as will finding the answers that enable has been undertaken the movement to cover the hard yards and achieved so far of turning membership of community coalitions into membership of stronger will be critical.” unions that can create not just better workplaces for our members but a fairer To conclude, it is clear that a more society for all. strategic, properly resourced and widely
6 1: Introduction
A turn to community organising in the UK? Professor Jane Holgate
Recent years have seen a number of undertaking organising work with local UK unions considering how to (re) community organisations. The aim was to engage with communities in order to assess the advantages of this type of work rebuild the links that were so important The conclusion was that: to the origins and development of trade unionism. We’ve seen parts of The time is ripe for greater community the UK union movement investing time engagement and partnership working and resources into exploring whether between voluntary and community community organising can engage organisations and British trade unions… new actors and new union members in developing community-based strategies fighting for workers rights and against in conjunction with other third sector social injustice more broadly. groups will be crucial to the success of campaigns against imminent public But are we really witnessing a turn to sector cuts, determining whether unions community-based organising and, if so, can successfully win the hearts and in what form/s, and what does this mean minds of the broader public at national, for the unions involved? What role are regional and local levels. ‘new actors’ playing in the employment relationship? And, is this a fundamental shift Clearly, the global economic crisis of in the organising agenda, or as some critics 2008 and the subsequent cuts to jobs claim a retreat from industrial organising? and workers’ terms and conditions of employment, as well as the increase in While it’s important not to exaggerate the unemployment have been important factors extent to which UK unions are involving in helping to focus union minds. While most themselves in community organising, it’s unions have never recovered the ground noteworthy that the Trades Union Congress they lost in terms of power and membership (TUC) and a number of affiliate unions are following the adoption of neoliberal taking significant steps to broaden their economic policies and the recession in the base and work with communities outside 1980s, the crisis which began in 2008 and their normal spheres of operation. is predicted to continue for many years yet, is unprecedented in recent memory. In 2008, the TUC initiated a ‘Active Unions, It’s resulting in significant numbers of union Active Communities’ project whereby it jobs being lost as the cuts hit hardest in the funded a number of trades union councils highly unionised public sector.
7 As such, we have seen unions such as this activity and the much wider debates Public and Commercial Services union taking place around community organising, and Unison take steps to make alliances for example by the government and its ‘Big with community organisations to build up Society’ and the Labour Party’s ‘Movement their membership and organisation. So for Change’ are creating a certain amount too, the GMB union, who received £305k of ‘noise’ and interest around this issue. But from the Union Modernisation Fund in are these new developments, or a return to 2008 for a community organising project, the past? adopted an approach ‘to work purely in the communities and not the workplace. Unions and community: This was a new strategy for a union, and origins and developments built on the developing methodology and As we know the history of trade union experience of community organising.’ formation in the UK is inextricably linked to the places and spaces in which people But private sector unions are also looking lived and worked. In the early days of the to community organising to strengthen their formation of journeymen’s associations negotiating power with government and in the late eighteenth century, and even, employers. The rail union, the Transport in some places, well into the twentieth Salaried Staff Association (TSSA), set up a century, most workers lived in the vicinity community organising team in 2010, trying of their work. This meant that communities to forge a common purpose and interest and workers were closely bound together among rail users who are concerned about in their localities in a way that is much less fare increases and ticket office closures on the case today. the railways. As trade union historian Malcolm Chase In December 2011, Unite––the UK’s largest notes, trade unions, until the nineteenth- private sector trade union––announced it century, occupied a more central place was introducing a new membership scheme in the associational life of their members, ‘to ensure those pushed to the margins of where they would engage in self-help society can benefit from collective power’. initiatives outside of the workplace and in Unite’s new ‘community membership’ the local communities in which they were category is aimed at students, people who situated. He explains: are unemployed and others not in work–– categories of people who normally don’t Unions were far from simply being have a relationship with unions. Unite claims an expression of new solidarities that their community organising initiative will engendered by industrialisation… ‘organise the marginalised and revolutionise The communities in which they [trade British trade unionism’. While perhaps a little unionists] lived and worked had overstated, Unite’s community organising their own networks, structures and initiative is a significant development in therefore capacities to organise… the UK union movement’s ‘turn’ towards Trade union consciousness and community organising. community consciousness were virtually coterminous. So, as we can see, there’s a range of community organising activity that has However, these strong links between trade begun to develop over the last few years. union consciousness and community It is, as yet, only small scale. Nevertheless, consciousness have been severely
8 weakened and, in most places no longer and, part of this, involves building external exist. As unions developed power and solidarity with the wider communities became incorporated into industrial beyond the workplace. relations machinery and the institutions of capitalism through the process of It’s argued here that this approach is tripartism, the links between unions and largely motivated by three things: the community became less conscious. Even success of the broad-based community more so, when the Thatcher governments organisation, London Citizens and its succeeded in undermining trade union high profile campaign for a living wage; power and trade union membership was local and national politicians noticing how halved. During this period unions became this organisation is able to mobilise local more inward looking and more focused on people around community activity, and servicing their surviving membership, and thirdly; unions and political parties waking unions became less visible in the wider up to the potential for growth within their community. own organisations.
Union decline and power has sparked By way of explanation: London Citizens –– considerable debate over the future of trade a broad-based community organisation, unions, and particularly, unions’ ability to made up largely of faith communities, transform themselves into organisations able schools, universities, a few union branches, to respond to the current social, political and and a small number of NGOs––began economic climate of our time. For the last campaigning for a London Living Wage couple of decades academic attention has in east London in 2001. Since then, it has been focused on the behaviour of national persuaded over 100 employers to provide trade union federations, particularly in the the living wage to their staff. Leading USA, Australia and the UK as they have organisations like KPMG and Barclays, the attempted to instil an organising strategy Olympic Delivery Authority and the Greater based upon a particular model of union London Authority have become living organising. wage employers and become influential advocates. Now, two decades later, after the shift to the ‘organising model’, there is a sense Jane Wills, long time researcher into that another ‘turn’ maybe on the way: while the living wage, has calculated that the community organising, or more specifically campaign has won over £70 million, lifting in this context, community unionism, has over 10,000 families out of working poverty. a longer legacy and tradition in the USA, London Citizens has employed campaign there has been growing interest in the tactics, such as holding public figures to subject in the UK. account at large assemblies, where CEOs and political figures, are asked to commit What are the factors behind the interest to support the organisation’s demands in community unionism? in front of thousands of London Citizens’ While the focus in unions is still largely on members. This traditional community servicing and industrial concerns, there’s organising tactic––holding politicians to a sense that a broader social and political account in front of their electorate has been message (one that goes beyond worker highly successful. Their public assemblies self-interest) is needed to re-assert the have gained mass media coverage and importance of unions in the current age raised the profile of Citizens UK and that
9 of community organising, more generally. community/union organising? How do This community coalition is credited with they help us analyse what is taking the instigation of a wider debate and place? And, what do they add to our development around community organising understanding of the role of different in the UK. actors in the employment relationship in today’s economic climate and increasingly It’s spurred on the UK Labour Party, which fragmenting labour markets? had to contend with losing the last General Election and over half its membership Class or ‘community’?: since 1997, to experiment with community debates on community unionism organising. Following his election as The source of today’s debates on Labour leader, Ed Milliband, employed community unionism can be traced back Arnie Graf, long-time USA community to the 1960s and in particular, to C Wright organiser and director of the Industrial Mills’ Letter to the New Left. In this paper, Areas Foundation, as a consultant. Graf Mills criticises ‘the Left’ who cling to labour, has been brought in to help revitalise or the working class’ as the agents of the Labour Party using a grass-roots change: ‘Such a labour metaphysic, I community organising approach of think, is a legacy from Victorian Marxism building one-to-one relationships, that is now quite unrealistic…Of course empowering members, and engaging a we can’t “write off the working class.” But more diverse set of members who want to we must study all that, and freshly. Where play an active role in the party and their labour exists as an agency, of course we local communities. must work with it, but we must not treat it as The Necessary Lever’ . Others have In addition, David Miliband, Foreign claimed the US civil rights movement as Secretary in the last Labour Government, contributing to the shift to community- set up Movement for Change (MfC) during based politics and praxis, whereby those his campaign for leadership of the Labour marginalised sections of society had not Party to engage Labour Party members been incorporated into the system in the in London Citizens’ style house meetings way that the organised working-class had and one-to-one discussions with the by operating inside the corporate system aim of creating a 10,000 strong army of through business unionism. community organisers. Writers in these early days struggled to MfC has a team of professional community develop a theory of community unionism, organisers and claims to have trained finding it difficult to identify where in ‘the around 1500 Labour Party members and community’ the organised resistance would claims its roots within co-operative groups, emerge, particularly as this was likely to trade unions, community societies and be without ‘working-class consciousness’ local Labour parties, which make up the and a coherent political ideology around wider labour movement. which to collectivise. For example, James O’Connor in a paper on ‘Towards a theory These actions and events have made of community unions’ states: ‘the only really a significant contribution to the current baffling problem with which community and growing interest by trade unions unions will have to contend is the problem in community organising in the UK, but of tactics; there is no political weapon what are the theoretical debates around easily available which can replace the
10 industrial strike, although it may very well But there are also a number of other issues be that civil disobedience is the seed from for unions to consider when entering which more effective and appropriate into community-coalitions, particularly in tactics will grow’. terms of their obligations to members, their democratic structures and decision- Since this time, the debates have, more making. recently, coalesced around a number of key points: definition – for example This idea of ‘new actors’ getting involved trying to conceptualise what is meant by in employment relations and how unions community unionism; the different types deal with the their role is at the heart of of union/community engagement and how union/community organising can whether or not this is just another form of and does work in practice. We have seen social movement unionism; the different an expansion of research and writing factors influencing union engagement on non-union forms of organisation in community organising––e.g. ad hoc around work-related issues, most notably instrumentalism, supportive coalition, around workers centres in the USA and mutual support, or deep coalition-building; the extensive interest in the community the tensions and constraints on unions organising of groups like Citizens UK and working outside the industrial arena, and their counterparts in the US, Germany and the role of ‘new actors’ in the employment Australia. Yet, there is perhaps, a need to relationship. understand the concept and role of new actors in community-unionism more widely. The main points of agreement, though, are that the changing geographies of Rather than thinking of these new actors employment, the economic crisis and as just additional players in shaping its devastating impact upon workers, employment relations at the workplace/ and the inability of unions to motivate community level, we perhaps need to their members to act, are all leading to a think much more broadly about the role realisation that unions need to broaden the these new actors could play as they scope of their activity. And, that, unions intervene in community/union-organising, can’t do this alone. but also to study what they may add towards developing the strategic thinking Another question posed earlier was what necessary to build external solidary. does community organising mean for the unions involved. For a number of unions For example, as Richard Hyman, Emeritus it has meant an investment of significant Professor of Industrial Relations, has financial resource, but more importantly, pointed out, unions need to respond to it has meant questioning their traditional the external and internal challenges that tactics and strategies and looking to have had such a detrimental affect on develop different ways of working that collective representation. And, to do this, are able to incorporate the type of ‘new unions need the type of strategic thinking actors’ getting involved in the employment that comes from ‘a leadership team from relationship. In accommodating non- diverse backgrounds and with a range traditional partners, it has meant unions of organisational experiences’ but is ceding some of their control on their ‘side’ least likely when there is a homogeneous of the employment relationship. leadership group deeply embedded in bureaucratic routines’.
11 If you were to compare community outside of the ‘traditional working class’ not organisers and trade unionists, you may only playing a new role in the employment find more community organisers fitting relationship, but also providing an answer to into the former category and trade union James O’Connor’s ‘baffling problem’ of what leadership into the latter. Despite women tactics community unions can use to be now having a higher membership than effective in the employment arena. men in the UK union movement and black workers having a higher union density Traditionally unions have tied themselves to than white workers, the majority of lay and traditional class politics with industrial action staff leadership of trade unions remains, to in the form of strikes as the ultimate threat use that well worn phrase, ‘pale, male and to force employers into agreement. But the stale’. So there is perhaps a lesson here declining power of the union movement for unions to consider how to expand and has removed this threat from many unions, develop the diversity of their organisations weakening their ability to act to defend their if they are to reach into the wider members’ jobs and terms and conditions, constituencies of non-members. such that a number are now rethinking or reshaping their overall purpose. As we have seen from community groups like London Citizens, UK Uncut and The global economic crisis and the other NGOs, the strategic choices made response to it from the many spontaneous by these new actors operating ‘in the social justice movements that have sprung community’ and outside the industrial up in the UK and across the world (e.g. the relations model (with its focus on the Occupy movement and UK Uncut)––most of workplace) may be very different to those which are community-based––are perhaps of unions, management or the state. Less examples of ‘other actors’ that O’Connor constrained by rules, legal processes and talked about providing the seed of civil employment contracts, these other actors disobedience from which more effective and are able to engage in less-conventional appropriate tactics could arise. methods of activity to persuade the ‘traditional actors’ (the state, employers and It is perhaps time, that we, as industrial trade unions) to change their behaviour. relations academics and active trade unionists, take a much greater step outside This has been evident in the living-wage the arena of workplace industrial relations campaigns where moral arguments, public to give more thought to the neglected pressure, embarrassment and the notion spaces of social reproduction and of corporate social responsibility have consumption and the wider communities been used to good effect to put forward in which workers live their lives. To do so social justice arguments. In many ways might give greater insight into how unions this could been seen as a move away need to respond to declining power at the from the ‘class’ arguments that have been point of production and how ‘community’ central to left politics and much ‘traditional’ might be harnessed as an important and (and industrial focused) trade union powerful actor both in the employment consciousness. As C Wright Mill’s said, and relationship and in the broader social and as was quoted earlier, ‘where labour exists political demands made by unions. as an agency, of course we must work with it, but we must not treat is as The Necessary Lever’. Here, in these forms of community organising, we are witnessing agency
12 2: Community organising at the heart of a union
Michael Leahy, General Secretary of Community the Union
Our history in the community had a shared experience of industrial Recently, much has been made of unions decline through the 80s and 90s but both recruiting unemployed members, as if this retained their strong identities in the areas is something new for the movement. The where they had represented members. In National League of the Blind and Disabled particular, the ISTC’s response to industrial (NLBD), a founding section of Community, change was not just to campaign against has been representing and advocating steel plant closures, but also to support for unemployed disabled people since it members leaving the steel industry to was founded in 1899. It was the march of gain new skills and new employment. NLBD members in 1920 that was not only Consequently, many former steelworkers, an example of community organising but who were retrained through the union’s own also inspired the Jarrow March many years learning and support organisation, not only later. The NLBD march successfully put retained their membership as they moved pressure on the government to introduce into new employment but also retained an the Blind Persons Act 1920, which created identity as an ISTC or Community member. a statutory duty to ‘promote the welfare of blind persons’. The union continued to Through organising these members, recognise that pragmatic political change Community now has a network of was as necessary to support disabled ‘community branches’ across the UK, people as was an industrial organising with active branch committees, getting strategy and this required organising in involved in community activities as well communities as well as workplaces. as supporting branch members with traditional union representation. The ethos of supporting our members beyond the workplace, when they lost Beyond the workplace employment or were made redundant, is Thus the union has retained close ties something that was among the founding to particular towns or areas even when principles for Community almost a decade the industry, the original reason for our ago. Both the ISTC and KFAT unions, presence, has gone. Community continues which merged to form Community, were to see itself as an integral part of the strongly identified with particular industrial community in those areas and recognises communities across the UK – such as the that its responsibilities extend well beyond steel towns of South Wales or the footwear the workplace, hence the union’s name. industry in Northamptonshire. Both unions The question then arises of how you
13 organise in those communities. For Geoff Waterfield, Community branch the union it has manifested itself in two secretary and Chair of the Multi-Union ways, which to some extent inter-linked. Committee at Corus in Redcar. Geoff was First of all is building relationships that the spokesperson for an entire community secure ongoing community support for when he talked passionately about the our members’ jobs and their industries, need to keep steelmaking on Teesside. which can mobilised if a workplace comes Stories are important when you try to move under threat. The second form is when we people to action and the following quote look beyond the factory gate to the world from Geoff, in an interview with the New outside and take action to create better Statesman, gives an example of what communities where our members live. inspired people to join the campaign:
Our ability to be effective in our members’ ‘’When I see a blast furnace, I see a communities is still founded on the thing of beauty. I see something that industrial strength of the union. Strong, has given thousands and thousands organised workplace branches will always of people a way of life, a good, honest remain essential to delivering for members wage, the ability to pay their mortgages, in workplaces and in their communities. go on holidays, and bring up their Without industrial credibility or strength in families. That to me is fabulous, that is numbers, our ability to act is limited. But a beautiful thing. When you come to because we remain industrially powerful Middlesbrough and see that skyline in many sectors and workplaces then that . . . that blast furnace is the heart of provides the capacity to reach out beyond Teesside. As long as it pumps, there is our industrial base. life in Teesside. ICI were massive around here and they fell to pieces. When the Saving our Steel hard times come, people just pull out. Perhaps the best example of mobilising But you can’t just pull out of the steel community support for our members was industry.” with the ‘Save our Steel’ campaign on Teesside. At the end of 2009, Corus (now The belief that the steel industry had to stay Tata Steel), announced the mothballing of on Teesside is what motivated Geoff and the Redcar steelmaking and ironmaking his colleagues to build relationships and works. Although the union successfully win backing right across the area. The local worked with the company to avoid council building flew the Save our Steel flag any hard redundancies, hundreds of throughout the campaign. Middlesbrough people took early retirement or voluntary Football Club was an active supporter, redundancy and therefore, thousands of giving campaigners the opportunity to jobs . The union was determined to restart parade the Save our Steel banner around steelmaking on Teesside and so the ‘Save the pitch before a match and getting its our Steel’ campaign began. players to train in Save our Steel t-shirts. Local churches were also involved, with Community organising practitioners talk the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, about the importance of developing giving his personal backing. Through these leaders who can motivate and mobilise relationships and with the support and people to make change in their resources of the union, Geoff and his team communities. The ‘Save our Steel’ mobilised over 7,000 people on a Save our campaign had just such a person in Steel march through Redcar.
14 The pride and passion in being a steel in helping the union to achieve that aim. community was what inspired the eventual A number of activists have participated in owner, SSI, to come forward. SSI’s intensive training and many of them have President, Win Viriyaprapaikit, had seen gone on to lead campaigns in their local coverage of the march and could see areas on issues such as the living wage that a company that invested in Redcar or payday lending. Movement for Change steel would have not only a skilled and also facilitated a session at our conference committed workforce but also the support and we will be building on the action of an entire community. pledges that were made by delegates. Some of our branches have built Tragically, Geoff didn’t get to see his dream relationships with local food banks. In of steelmaking restarting on Teesside. He Scunthorpe, the organising capacity of died suddenly of leukaemia in August 2011 Community activists has seen the local and SSI restarted production in April 2012. food bank, set up by Scunthorpe Baptist A memorial to Geoff was commissioned Church, receive record food donations and is fittingly made from the last steel slab as well as benefit from a successful produced before the mothballing and the fundraising drive to cover the warehousing first slab produced by SSI. Through the costs for the year. Now our activists are power to organise beyond the workplace getting organised to change the service we’d saved our steel. the food bank provides so that it doesn’t just distribute food but also provides more Power in our communities support and guidance when people are As a Labour Party affiliated union, we referred to the food bank. recognised we needed to do things Community is looking to extend this type of differently when Labour lost the election community project to other areas of the UK but we also understood that being out of where we are organised. power in Westminster didn’t mean being out of power in our communities. So Investing in our communities since the Coalition took office, there has Organising a community is made easier been an increasing focus on how we can by investing in that community to empower support our members to mitigate the worst people. That’s why we’re developing a excesses of the government’s austerity new community-based project. Led by measures. This means the union centrally Community members, the project brings providing both small amounts of financial pupils from deprived backgrounds (those support but also looking at building the on free school meals, in local authority capacity of our members to take action in care, young carers, or from a family with their communities. no experience of higher education) in years 9, 10 and 11 at Sandfields and However, to keep community organising GlanAfan Comprehensive Schools in at the heart of what we do we understand Port Talbot together with students from that we should improve the effectiveness Swansea University undergraduate and of our members’ interventions in their postgraduate courses who, along with communities. This means supporting local Community activists, will act as members to develop their skills – to build mentors. Working with partners the South relationships, run listening campaigns and West Wales Reaching Wider Partnership move people to action. We have found an (SWWRWP) and Swansea University, the excellent partner in Movement for Change project aims to benefit individual pupils by
15 raising attainment and aspiration to higher level study; enhancing support for more Conclusion able pupils from deprived backgrounds; and reinforcing existing widening-access As this booklet demonstrates, there support experienced by pupils. is a good deal of debate around regarding what community organising This is a good example of how our own or community unionism actually does community unionism is rooted in our for trade unions. From Community’s members’ communities – outward-facing, point of view we do not see it as a beyond the workplace and investing in the separate activity that can be taken or future of a community. left. For us, it is at the heart of the ethos of the union. It’s about creating a sense of belonging and maintaining a sense of community.
Nevertheless, there are practical benefits that arise from this. Our high retention rates of those who have left industries where we were traditionally organised is proof that this approach works. Furthermore, what our members achieved on Teesside has been reinforced by a higher membership density than we had under the previous owners. This is partly because the new workforce recognised just how far the union was prepared to go to protect their jobs and partly because the confidence and cohesion that our reps developed through the community campaign was brought into re-organising their workplace.
From Community’s point of view there is no debate around community organising – other than how we can best develop and support our members to do more of it. We are a growing union and this is underpinned by what we do in our members’ communities. We want that to continue.
16 3: A path to building a more powerful movement
James Scott, Community Organiser for Movement for Change
Unions are turning to the tools of training new civil leaders, building lasting community organising because they public relationships of self-interest between offer a means for building a stronger individuals and institutions within civil and more active membership while at society, and by taking direct action that the same time resonating with traditional brings about change. Community unionism forms of union organising is the act of a trade union participating as an equal partner within a ‘People’s Modern community organising was Organisation’ of civil society institutions. developed by Saul Alinsky in 1930s For example, a trade union branch may Chicago. His first organising project was choose to become a member of a local the Back of the Yards Neighbourhood alliance alongside faith groups, other Council, a ‘People’s Organisation’ that union branches, schools, universities and sought to bridge the divide between the NGOs. That alliance will then agree issues community based politics of Chicago’s of common concern across all member churches and the industrial politics of institutions, and work collectively to take the local Packinghouse Workers Union. action on those issues. This experience led Alinsky to establish the Industrial Areas Foundation, a US- By this definition community unionism is wide alliance of people’s organisations not just the act of trade unions becoming that exists to this day. Over the following active beyond the workplace, be that the decades, generations of professional establishment of a union-ran community community organisers took Alinsky’s centre or the building of community political techniques and built similar local campaigns. Rather it is when a union organisations across America. In the 1980s organisation decides to engage as a full his model of politics was brought to Britain and equal member in a broad alliance by Citizens UK, and is now being used alongside other civil society institutions. within the Labour Movement by Movement While some union organisations may for Change. choose to engage in a local alliance in this way, others may wish to use the tools The purpose of community organising is and principles of community organising to build a civil society powerful enough to to build the capacity of their membership be able to hold to account both the market and to develop a culture of action. For and the state. It does this by generating this approach, there are four key tools (all power for the powerless; identifying and with significant cross-over between the
17 traditional tools of a union organiser) that I will tell the story of two Movement can be used. These are currently deployed for Change campaigns to illustrate and taught by Movement for Change when these points. working in partnership with organisations across the Labour Movement. Movement for Change activists in Cardiff took an unexpected and fun action to 1. The Individual Meeting achieve their campaign objectives. The primary tool of a community organiser, Through 121s they learnt that their city’s used to build public relationships and the private rented housing was in a bad state. power of your union organisation. Absent landlords, terrible conditions, animal infestations, dishonest letting 2. An Organising Strategy agents; all problems told through stories To ensure intentionality and strategic from people across the community. purpose in all your work, outlining your Sensing widespread anger, and having objectives and tactics. built the right relationships through their 121s, the M4C activists decided to form 3. Actions and Reactions Home Sweet Home (HSH), a campaign Taking action that leads to purposeful group that aimed to improve the condition change are both a means and an end in of privately rented homes in Cardiff. community organising.
4. Training and Evaluation Evaluation and leadership training are hallmarks of community organising, but can be neglected in the Labour Movement.
Strategic campaigning, rooted in pragmatism, an ability to listen and an honest assessment of power, is a hallmark of community organising. Indeed, the Home Sweet Valentines Day strategic considerations of community organisers in the UK draw them apart from The first act of HSH was to develop their those campaigners who revel in idealism, organising strategy. They undertook a in uncontrolled anger, and those who power analysis of the private rented sector employ ineffective tactics that succeed in Cardiff, and then cut down the big only in diminishing the power of the labour problems into specific issues. A number movement and encouraging those on the of the specific issues were then put into right. If our tactics are to be steps towards the ‘HSH Charter’; that landlords ensure achieving our campaign objectives, then tenants have their contact details, that they must do just that; they must move us landlords commit to responding promptly closer, in capacity or actuality, to the world to tenants, and that tenants to be given we wish to see. Or to put it another way, a welcome pack outlining contact details the action is in the reaction, and those and responsibilities for the tenant, landlord reactions must be strategically useful for and letting agent. The challenge they achieving a campaign win. then faced was getting letting agents and landlords to sign up to the Charter. This required action.
18 Looking ahead, they realised Valentine’s would undercut and challenge pay day Day was approaching. Rather than lenders in the city? protesting outside letting agents, shouting out their complaints and grievances, the Before approaching the credit unions they group decided to personally deliver a needed some leverage. To get this they Valentine’s Day cards to each of the local asked Southampton Council to implement letting agents. Shocked and amused, the a pay roll deduction system, meaning all workers and bosses in the letting agents staff would be able to save each month could not help but begin talking to them. into the credit union. Strong existing The activists then told them about the relationships with local Councillors, a letter HSH Charter and then arranged follow sent to the Leader of the Council as well up meetings. Those later meetings led as the local press, and what was simply a to agreement to work together, and then good (and free) idea, meant the Council public commitments to the Charter. By agreed to their ask. With this agreement the doing the unexpected the activists gave Sharkstoppers had what they needed. themselves the chance to build positive public relationships with one of the targets of their campaign, a necessity if your organising is going to win positive change.
In Southampton Movement for Change activists faced similar challenges. They developed a Sharkstoppers campaign group that would focus on the predatory nature and high costs of payday lenders. The first step in their strategy was to fully M4C Planning Meeting understand the problem by conducting mystery shopping of the local payday The larger of the local credit unions was lenders, banks and credit unions in invited to a public meeting. Their President their communities, roll playing different and Vice-President were eager to meet scenarios and seeing who was given a the local activists who had gone out their loan and who was rejected. They realised way to win payroll deduction, a policy the payday lenders faced no competition they had been considering pursuing for from the banks or credit union; if you some time. In the meeting the activists told wanted a small loan quickly, they were the stories of high cost loan and the feeling of only places in the city to go. being abandoned by the banks. They then began negotiations. Would the credit union In assessing their power they realised they use these additional savers to provide were quite a long way from being able to more loans to those on low incomes? The ask the mainstream banks to provide more implicit threat at this point was that the loans to people in the city. They were a few Sharkstoppers campaign would encourage dozen activists in a city on the south coast, new savers to go to the other credit union. far from the centre of global financial power An agreement was therefore reached that in London. They therefore decided to focus for every two savers recruited to the credit on the two local credit unions. How could union, one additional loan would be made the Sharkstoppers get these small local available to someone earning under £15k. unions to provide more loans in a way that A win that means for poorer communities
19 in Southampton an alternative to payday lenders is now more available. Conclusion
As detailed in these stories, actions Community organising presents should be carefully considered. They must a means for achieving greater build your organisation’s power, develop organisational capacity and strength, the strength of public relationships, and and as such hints at a path to building provide opportunities for leadership a more powerful union movement in development. Actions that are historically the UK. However the use of community repetitive, driven by pre-existing organising is still a new experiment assumptions, or which fail to build new for many, offering a novel way for and stronger public relationships (such as disorganising and reorganising our petitions) are unlikely to succeed. However politics in the Labour Movement. As embedding a culture of strategy and action such there are many challenges and within an organisation is a challenge. diversions. But commitment, time, and support from professional community To face up to this challenge means organisers will bring an energy and placing a greater emphasis on training passion to our activism. That way we and evaluation, both formal and informal. will see political action that leads both Some people have an intuitive ability to act to a stronger movement in the future politically within public life, most do not. while also creating the change we Those who do not can learn to act in public want to see in our society now. life through training. On the Movement for Change Intensive Residential training course we teach the techniques needed for building public relationships through 121s, how to conduct a power analysis, negotiation with powerful targets, creating an organising strategy, and the telling of your political narrative. These techniques have been taught to elected officials and lead activists from across the UK and Europe, who have then used them to build the power and capacity of their organisations. Informal training is that which goes on in the relationship between professional community organiser and activist, and in the development of a lead activist represents a far larger proportion of the total training delivered by the community organiser.
20 4a: TSSA’s London Taxi and Private Hire Project
Rob Jenks, TSSA Senior Community Organiser
bidders to choose from, both based in the Midlands.
Despite TfL claiming there would be no effect on the hundred people who worked in TPH, two thirds of them would have had to relocate to the Midlands whilst job cuts were secretly planned amongst the Compliance Officers who were to remain in London. Action outside Windsor House, 23rd November 2011, with some of the supporters. TfL’s Finance Board was set to approve the privatisation on 23rd November 2011 and so in a little over three weeks, we had to plan and execute a campaign.
I had worked for the union for ten years when the issue blew up, with most of that time involved with organising and representing workers in railway companies. Earlier in 2011 I had moved into the union’s new Community Organising Team in an From left to right: Jim Kelly (Unite Taxis), Grant exciting and unique trade union project Davies (LCDC), Manuel Cortes, TSSA General that has become known as Together for Secretary and Steve McNamara (LTDA) after signing Transport. the Statement of Principle In what became known at the TPH On 1st November 2011 the TSSA trade campaign, TSSA planned both industrial union was confronted with Transport and community organising elements, the for London’s (TfL) announcement that it latter on the basis that the privatisation had had carried out a tendering exercise to the potential to fatally weaken the London privatise the London Taxi and Private Hire Mayor’s Safer Travel at Night Scheme by (TPH) Office and that it had selected two cutting jobs amongst the very staff who
21 audit and inspect private hire taxi drivers private hire taxis as the core message that with the purpose of cutting down on many organisations outside TfL might listen unlicensed activity. to and rally around once they understood it was under threat. The scale of the public safety issue can be seen by the fact that in 2009/10 alone, What we found was that the black cab 143 sexual assaults had taken place in groups such as the London Cab Drivers unlicensed private hire vehicles whilst Club, Unite Taxi Branch and others readily over a six year period from 2003, 6000 saw this message and enthusiastically unlicensed drivers were arrested. joined with our initial demonstrations and leafleting sessions outside TfL’s HQ at Cuts to jobs amongst key Compliance Palestra and again at Windsor House. Officer staff would have led to reductions in We also engaged with London Assembly the number of inspections with the potential Members on the Transport Committee and for even more assaults when the Mayor’s contacted TfL Board members to make initiative, begun in 2003, was seeking to our case. Additionally, we had discussions eradicate the threat to women. with groups outside the taxi trade and political circles who we believed might be interested in public safety. “ The issue has confirmed With the mounting pressure, TfL for TSSA just how withdrew the privatisation threat but important working with went onto embark on a productivity review within the TPH office, threatening community groups a possible future attempt at privatisation can be in bringing if targets were not met.
additional influence Whilst this was a success, TSSA also to bear on employers recognised the on-going threat to workers’ jobs and the impact that that would have because many of their on public safety and so through a series actions will impact on of relationship building meetings with the leaders of a number of organised groups service users.” outside our own membership we devised a statement of principles that called for Community organising is about drawing retaining the TPH office in the public sector people and groups together around a as part of TfL, as well as for increases in common self-interest, even if they come the staff who inspect and audit taxi drivers. at it from different perspectives. By acting The statement went onto form the basis together they can increase their power and for a joint alliance with the three black influence over decision makers and so we cab groups recognised by TfL as well as had to know, both, who might be interested several other groups including Transport for and what the common interest could be. All and the London Region of the National Pensioners Convention. Listening to our members in the TPH Office we were able to readily identify the key Reaching out to London Assembly concern of public safety in unlicensed Members also led to specific manifesto
22 commitment by Labour’s 2012 London agenda, by bringing those various groups Mayoral candidate, Ken Livingstone, that together it removes the power – defined as would have removed any future prospect of the ability to act – on the part of the target TPH privatisation. organisation or individual.
The work of the Alliance continued We have also learnt that in identifying the into making a joint approach to TPH common self-interest – as with public safety management over the internal review – requires us to be genuinely receptive which union members’ staff representatives and not rigid or insistent that it is our way were telling us was seeking to ignore the or no way, even if we believe we know the concerns of service users and workers concerns that service users should have. alike. At the same time, TSSA worked This knowledge also allows us to identify closely with union reps through industrial those organisations who may wish to work channels to build strong arguments to with us but it also needs to be understood resist and modify change to rosters, hours that at its heart is the need to build of duty and the introduction of performance relationships with individuals – leaders – targets. from those organisations and which may require a period of time to work at in order TPH refused to meet with our Alliance but for the differing perspectives to be fully the pressure of this approach, combined understood and commitments secured. with TSSA’s industrial work meant that review proposals were amended and our The success of the TPH campaign – and claim for additional – not less – Compliance others – means TSSA will continue to apply Officers was conceded. this method in other arenas.
What have we learnt from this Project to date? The issue has confirmed for TSSA just how important working with community groups can be in bringing additional influence to bear on employers because many of their actions will impact on service users. This was why the union set up the Community Organising Team in the first place.
Building relationships with service users on the basis of a common self-interest, particularly with leaders from organised groups who can get their own members to play a part in a campaign is crucial to be able to demonstrate the power to act and bring additional influence to bear.
What is also interesting is that when dealing with an organisation like TPH that appears to be trying to divide and control different groups in order to advance its own
23 24 4b: The community campaign to save rail manufacturing in Derby
George Woods, TSSA Community Organiser
decimated the supply of decent jobs. Many areas have never recovered.
Often the union movement has led fierce resistance to this onslaught, but much of the time it has been forced to join the rest of their country to bear witness to the devastation, powerlessly. The demise of British manufacturing perpetuated a parallel demise in the power of the British trade union movement. The Bombardier Community Support Group protests outside a meeting of rail business leaders This meant that when the government announced in June 2011 that a critical new train-manufacturing contract had been awarded to German-based Siemens, and not to Derby-based Bombardier, much more was at stake than at first appeared.
Under threat was not just a contract, but the future of the entire tradition of rail manufacturing in Britain. Thirty thousand jobs hung in the balance, but on top of that many knew that if Bombardier Our public meeting in September 2011 attracted were to close it would mean the loss of over 300 people and revitalised the campaign Britain’s capacity to ever build trains and associated engineering projects again. The story of British manufacturing over the The expertise would be lost, exported past two decades has not been a happy elsewhere for good. For the country that one. Successive waves of factory closures gave the railways to the world, the decision have laid waste to whole communities and acquired an additional historic significance.
25 The campaign that was mounted and on the momentum began to dissipate. sustained for more than a year to counter Everyone who has ever ran a campaign this threat contains lessons for how we knows that this is normal. Without new can fight not just to preserve our industrial developments in a campaign, and without heritage and protect union members, a win to enthuse supporters, interest but how we can work with and organise can wane. The potential for continuing communities to fight alongside us. to organise the community remained but action was required to make it coherent. The union movement has not always known TSSA was approached by a group of how to nurture relationships with those Derby climate change activists and others outside of our movement, who might have in August. We were able to quickly agree a different set of values or experiences some common values and ideas and to us. What the Bombardier campaign decided that it was worth exploring what demonstrated was that not only is this could be done together to re-energise the a challenge that our movement must community and put new pressure on the take up, but that we cannot afford not to. government to change tack. As community unionism writer Amanda Tattersall put it, ‘When union density was The community support group was at its peak, unions exercised social and launched with a successful rally that economic influence alone. Today, the attracted over 300 people and displayed “workers united” are frequently defeated. the broad backing that the campaign had Social isolation and membership decline thus far generated. As Peter Robinson of make it ever more necessary for unions the Derby Climate Coalition said on the to unite with other social forces if they are night, the group set out to “work alongside to successfully advance a broad vision of the unions and workers, but able to economic and social justice.’ If unions are involve friends, families and members of to win on our issues we need to join with all the public. There are a lot of things that those in society who share our vision and can and need to be done.” On the panel can join us in practical action. Bombardier were not just plant workers and leaders offers some clues as to how we can do this of the four unions that represented the effectively. Bombardier workforce, but also two local MPs, Chris Williamson and Margaret It was obvious from the outset that the Beckett, and climate activists. Statements people of Derby were deeply opposed to of support were read out from neighbouring the government decision. Local MP Chris Tory MPs and the leader of the council. Williamson began a petition of Parliament Crucially, local business representatives that quickly amassed 50,000 names. A were present. The meeting was covered march saw more than 5,000 local people extensively by local media, and was turn out to show their support, the largest pitched as reinvigorating the city for the demonstration in the city for decades. critical next few months of the campaign. Backing for Bombardier workers even Plant workers and local councillors from came from Derby County Football Club, across the political spectrum were well whose players wore solidarity t-shirts on represented. match-day. Arising out of the rally, an open meeting for The strength of community feeling on the everyone who wanted to become active issue was clear, but as the summer wore in the campaign was announced, and out
26 of that a series of regular actions were issues was messier and more complex agreed. Some participants who had never than we would have liked. We were not been involved in a community campaign able to halt the significant number of became part of our alliance. The unions, redundancies at Bombardier, but the some of whom had treated the formation pressure felt by the government on the of the community group warily, unsure issue evidently lay behind their decision of its purpose, were soon reassured to send some additional contracts Derby’s by our steadfast strategy of respect for way. Whilst these were not on the scale the workforce’s wishes and our desire of the contract awarded to Siemens (not to put solidarity with them before other finalised until June 2013), they have considerations. allowed Bombardier to continue, in a much reduced form, in Derby. The breadth of the alliance brought its own rewards. The support of numerous local In my view, we made other less obvious businesses aided the campaign practically. steps forward. There is a greater For example, one local hotel allowed us understanding of shared purpose between use of its conference room for meetings the labour movement and environmental and press conferences. And everyone was campaigners in Derby today than there excited when our backing from the local was previously. Both have shown their Christian community helped secure a visit resolve and creativity to the other, and my to Derby and a comment on the issue from hope is that a mutual respect now exists. I the then Archbishop of Canterbury. The learnt a number of other lessons. council, ran by a coalition of Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors, helped First, be smart when you pick your goals. the unions to fund a legal challenge to their In a campaign such as the one around own government’s decision, which allowed Bombardier in Derby, it became easy for us to build an unprecedented consensus in confusion and demoralisation to set in. I the community. learnt from this the importance of coming to a common understanding from the For a few months, frenetic activity beginning of what it is you are setting out surrounded the campaign, attracting to achieve. It’s not rocket science, but national media coverage and fierce identifying a few ‘small wins’ at the start debates in the corridors of power. The would have encouraged us to stay focused unions chartered a train – the ‘Spirit of and committed on what had brought us Derby’ – to London so that hundreds of together in the first place. plant workers and their families could attend Parliament for the Transport Select Secondly, community organising isn’t Committee’s hearing on the crisis. The some great mystery. It’s about applying community activists supported the initiative the same techniques and skills that we and were present on their day, helping use to organise our workplaces to our the campaign to reach into all of Derby’s neighbourhoods. It involves raising the communities. capacity of a community to exercise power. We often mistake campaigning As is so often the case, the campaign’s for organising, but the litmus test is energy and ambition ultimately proved sustainability. If an organisation, or a too little to obtain the unequivocal wins collective or people, remain active on we wanted. In reality, the resolution of the various issues after the initial excitement,
27 you’ve been organising. If not, you’ve probably just been campaigning. That’s the difference as I see it.
Lastly, it is only natural that community organising will take time to be accepted among trade unionists. It took many years for the benefits of the organising agenda to be fully recognised and then integrated into our movement’s industrial strategies. Now it is at the heart of everything we do. Previously sceptical union activists and officials were won over as they saw the advantages of organising compared to the narrow business unionism, or servicing which characterised union activity in the 1990s.
Similarly, community organising will come to be seen as an indispensable tool at our disposal. Remarkable progress on this has already been made. Most people, quite reasonably, will need to witness the power of this new approach themselves. For trade union community organisers, that’s a challenge we must aim to meet!
28 5: The Professional Footballers’ Association
Supporting social responsibility John Hudson – PFA Director of Community
During the past twelve months the greatest asset for clubs to implement these PFA have been instrumental in raising changes can be through its players and awareness of the pivotal role of our the community departments have shown members in areas of Health, Education, that they are the ideal vehicle to create the Social Inclusion and Equalities whilst also best environment for change to happen. offering guidance and support to football clubs to ensure greater commitment to It is seven years since the PFA created the communities they continue to serve. its first statistical analysis for community This is a key component of our strategic player involvement to underline the support as all 92 clubs signed up to a dedication and commitment of our capability status, which formalises Player members. Community Champions and Appearance procedures whilst embracing Player Ambassadors are now integrated the real nature of Corporate Social into the club’s programmes, whilst player Responsibility. Foundations have steadily increased over the past 12 months highlighting the It was Nelson Mandela who stated ‘One philanthropic nature shown by many of of the most difficult things is not to change the modern players. Current and former society - but to change yourself’, which players such as James Milner, Robbie couldn’t be more accurate as we seek to Elliott, Daniel Agger, Kashif Siddiqi, Kevin change the mindset of many individuals Betsy, Billy Sharpe along with Edwin, Brian who create problems in the world today. and Mark Stein have all set up their own The PFA have encouraged players to charitable Foundations with the help of the become more comfortable with their PFA over the past 12 months as we seek different ‘off field’ commitments and as to encourage and support greater social a result greater impact has been seen responsibility through the advancement throughout many of the social intervention of education, heightened awareness for and community cohesion activities. Positive research, the improvement of health and change in our society will only come when the promotion of many other good causes players and clubs understand that real both at home and abroad. investment in the local communities can be the catalyst for greater change not Player involvement has increased year on just for the future of our young people but year with over 37,000 community player also the revival of our inner cities. The appearances undertaken by Professional
29 player’s across all 92 clubs last season. These sentiments were echoed by all the The process and impact created is only as players and the Premier League Players good as the people involved so if you can kit initiative will continue this season with engage a player and identify their passion further financial contributions from our for community work then great things can members. be achieved. The close relationship with many of our Cardiff City provided the highest number charitable partners especially the Premier of appearances for last season. The League (through the Premier League players were actively involved in all of their Charity Fund), the Football League thematic areas and provided great access (through the Football League Trust) for community groups and fans at the Vale and the Football Conference Trust has Training Ground facility. Credit must also enabled greater quality of activity whilst go to the manager Malky Mackay who has ensuring that the governance, through always encouraged player engagement on monitoring and evaluation, has offered a local level. the highest standards of delivery. In addition the PFA have continued to work closely with many other national partners At the start of the 2011/12 season PFA including; Coaching for Hope, The England members from the Premier League Footballers Foundation, The Bobby Moore agreed to introduce and adopt a Player’s Fund and Know the Score (Bowel Cancer kit scheme, which saw over 1,000 free Awareness), The Princes Trust, the Duke Nike football kits distributed to under 16’s of Edinburgh’s Award, Show Racism the teams in most need of assistance across Red Card and Kick it Out (Anti-Racism the country. The players recognised the programmes) along with our International need to help young people’s participation partners FIFPro (the World Player’s in grassroots football and each Premier Union) all of whom are detailed within the League squad donated £25,000 for this evaluation. exclusive purpose creating a £500,000 charitable fund. Each player also had In March 2012, Tamika Mkandawire the opportunity to choose a junior team (Millwall F.C.) was recognised at the or school of their choice which they Football League Awards for his outstanding presented to many of their former junior contributions to help combat gun and knife clubs or Primary schools. Jamie Carragher crime in the Lewisham (South London) (Liverpool F.C.) and Leighton Baines area with the support of the Millwall F.C. (Everton F.C.) both took advantage to visit Community department. He received the their former schools to the delight of both PFA Player in the Community Award from the children and teachers. Leighton who PFA Chairman Clarke Carlisle and follows paid a surprise visit to coach the young some exceptional winners from previous children stated: years in Graham Murty, Zesh Rehman and Darren Moore. “It’s really important that as players we give back to the local community and invest in the future. Watching the young people enjoying the coaching session in their new kit was a really special moment and I’m so glad I was able to help out.”
30 Conclusion
A recent study by the Premier League highlighted that 4.7 billion people in 720 million homes worldwide watched Premier League action during the 2011/12 season exposing every incident, goal and reaction. The awareness has generated significant income for the game but with that income players are under increased scrutiny from the media who magnify every incident. It is therefore more important than ever to continue to improve the image of our game, continue to provide outstanding entertainment and to continue to acknowledge our social responsibilities.
The PFA is a supporter union of Unions21
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