The state of the unions

The decline in union membership did slow in 1998. However it was the 18th year of successive decline in membership, which was 40% below its peak in 1979. There has been a fall from 39% of all employees in 1989 to 30% in 1998. Union membership at 7.8 million is now at its lowest level since 1945. The decline in union density (percentage of workers in a union in each industry) also slowed in 1998 (34.1% in 1989 to 26.9% in 1998). The number of workplaces with a recognised union has also dropped, in workplaces with over 25 employees 48.9% recognised a union in 1993, by 1998 that had dropped to 43.5%.

The impact of this decline has not been even and the differential impact has had important results. Union density among employees in production industry has fallen from 45% in 1989 to 31% in 1998, and so is now at the same level as in service industries. In all manual jobs density has dropped 14% since 1989 to the same level as non-manual jobs. Union membership amongst those with higher education below a degree is the highest of any educational background, and professionals have the highest union density of any job. These changes in the shape of the movement are to a large extent due to the difference between the public sector and private sector.

The attacks on unionism in privatised industries may make this weakness in private sector unionism even worse as the privatised industries help to hold up the figures for the private sector. Another very worrying trend is the very low level of membership amongst young workers. In 1998 union density for those under 20 was only 4% and even for 20 to 29 year-olds it was only 20%. There also seems to be evidence that this is in fact a generation gap is set to run through the movement and not one that will be solved by this generation joining unions later on in life.

The evidence shows that this decline is not due to a change in the nature of work but is due to the balance of the class struggle. The l998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey reported that 53% of employees work in the largest 11% of workplaces and two thirds of the smallest workplaces are part of a larger organisation. On the causes for the decline in union density the authors said 'virtually none of the [fall in the level of union recognition] arose from the fact that the [new workplaces] were more likely to be in the private services sector and employ more part-timers... it was because new workplaces, controlling for sector and workforce composition were less likely to recognise unions than workplaces that had been shutdown. (Cully et al. p241. The 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey).

Decline in union membership is a common pattern across the world, driven by common factors including bosses' efforts to gear up to sharper international competition, lost political confidence in the ranks of labour and IMF and government austerity plans often including privatisation and cuts. Outside the ex-Stalinist states, where the figures are misleading due to the death or transformation of 'labour front' unions, the UK had one of the largest falls in union density worldwide in 1985-1995 at 27.7%.

Instructively, in some advanced countries where the unions collaborated with social-democratic 'pink Thatcherite' governments, the losses were even worse than in Britain where unions faced a head-on attack by Thatcherism. In Australia, union density fell 29.6% and in France 37.2%. Some countries, notably South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, have seen sizeable rises in union strength; some North European trade union movements have increased their already high union densities (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland.)

Perhaps most instructively for Britain, in 1999 the US unions recorded their largest increase in membership for 20 years (up 265,000 to 16.5 million - but still only 13.9% of the workforce) That has been done by a real (if limited) shift in orientation in the last four years the US unions have doubled the amount they have spent on organising. Increased class struggle has played a major role - the victory of the teamsters in the UPS strike may prove to have been a turning point for the US unions. The 40,000 strong union turn out at the Seattle demo is indicative of a new mood too.

This brief survey shows that far from the worst being over for union decline it may continue under the New Labour government if the unions fall into line behind a Blair.

In Britain the decline in union membership is the bitter fruit of the failure of the unions to fight. The only time since 1979 when union membership stopped falling was the period of the 1984-85 miners strike. Workers want unions that fight, not crap about partnership with their exploiter, the boss.

1998 saw the lowest number of hours lost through industrial action ever recorded in Britain. The class struggle remains at a very low level. This has allowed the leaders of the unions to go off into flights of fantasy about partnership being the key to rebuilding the movement. There are moves at the lower levels of some unions to take up the organising techniques of the better elements of the US and Australian union movements, but this remains on a small scale.

This, then, is the background to the unions' response to the most pro-capitalist and anti-working class Labour government in British history. The response of the union leadership has been a sickening display of occasional blasts of hot air preceded and followed with obsequies, forelock tugging to the government. The pathetic story of the minimal, sorry minimum wage has been topped by the farce of the Employment Relations Act. The union leaderships have swallowed it down, and kept smiling and saying thank you to the Blairites. The Employment Relations Act will only become active in the year 2000 but it may also unleash a battle within the unions as it gives bosses the option of signing sweetheart recognition deals with one union to lock out other unions. The AEEU has already done this at the Western Mail whose management wanted to bar members of the GPMU and NUJ from winning recognition. Under the Act this will be legally binding for at least 3 years regardless of the number of members in any of the unions. With the AEEU leadership preparing to swallow up MSF and championing partnership a battle for the most basic ideas of trade unionism is looming.

Union leaders are detached from union members. They have material privileges - big salaries, comfortable offices and lifestyles - and spend their time with managers, politicians and other union bureaucrats, rather than in the workplace or on the picket line. They deliberately demobilise struggle and close down any channels of democracy through which rank-and-file members could control their union. Rank-and-file struggle upsets rather than excites them. This is not just a matter of personality weakness, it is the nature of a union bureaucracy content with the comforts of office, and built around negotiating within capitalism rather than changing it. We are not syndicalists, while fighting to build rank and file organisations we also take the structures of the movement seriously. It remains our policy to stand for in elections for union positions. We aspire to give the unions a fighting leadership, and while recognising the pressures we grasp every opportunity to take positions in the unions based on rank and file support for class struggle politics, our accountability to workers and under direction of the AWL.

The Left in the Unions

The left is in a poor position, the old CP broad lefts have continued to rot away both politically and in strength, they have either become indistinguishable from the leadership and in some cases one of its props, as in the TGWU, or they have so little fight as to be insignificant, as in the GPMU.

'Left wing leaders', for example Crow in the RMT, and G Martin in UNISON, have lacked the guts to take on the union leadership. This is a reflection of a real caution amongst many of the left who would rather follow an upswing in militancy than lead it. As Trotsky put it in the 1930's:

'Even amongst the workers who had at one time risen to the first ranks, there are not a few tiered and disillusioned ones. They will remain, at least for the next period as bystanders. When a programme or an organisation wears out the generation which carried it on its shoulders wears out with it. The movement is revitalised by the youth who are free of responsibilities for the past... Only the fresh enthusiasm and aggressive spirit of the youth can guarantee the preliminary successes in the struggle, only these successes can return the best elements of the older generation to the road of revolution'.

Dave Rix's election to ASLEF Gen Sec has been the only real victory of the left in union elections, but Christine Blower's NUT showing was disappointing. The free fall of the Militant/Socialist Party has severely weekend them but they remain the main organised left force in the CWU (but only on the ex-NCU side, and even here they are hemmed-in by independent lefts and us) and in the PCS. They also remain a force in UNISON which is the only place outside of the NUT, where the SWP have a sizeable number of members. The left, especially the revolutionary left are still very weak in the main manual and private sector unions, the old CP influence is all but gone too. This makes it an urgent necessity that we focus on turning out the remaining activists to new layers in the unions and to the task of fighting to organise the unorganised. That means organising the workers in unions but with no fighting leadership, and of course, the millions of workers who remain outside unions. This requires us to campaign on the basic issues. We can not afford to spend all our time fighting other long standing left or not-so-left union activists, neither must we become the loyal dogs-body, carrying the local union structures on our own.

Campaigning, over basic issues, turning the unions out to recruit, will give us contact with fresh people who on the whole will not carry the scars of old battles. As we have seen young workers should be a key target. To do this we will have to find new ways to organise and talk to people who will often not have any experience of the movement. The poor state of the left gives us even less of an excuse to remain purely the best union activists relying on our union contacts to pick up contacts for the AWL. We must have a drive on 'talking socialism on the job' to our workmates most of whom may not be activists in the union but may well be interested in socialism.

The nature of the New Labour government has raised the need to fight for working class representation. This will be covered in the document on the unions and labour however raising the need for working class political representation will become more an more central to our union activity in the coming period. A very clear way of raising our ideas on this in the unions is the fight to scrap the anti-union laws and for positive rights for trade unionists.

The United Campaign for the Repeal of the Anti-Trade Union Laws

Every dispute comes into conflict with, or has to find its way through, the labyrinth of the anti-union laws. The defeat of these laws is vital and will depend on wide-spread defiance combined with a powerful political campaign. Strike support work is the bread and butter of our general industrial activity, the fight against the anti-union laws is always a relevant and important link to our wider politics during any strike and on any picket line. We remain a key player in the national campaign, we also run the London region through which we have been able to run a highly successful lobby and 300 strong rally in parliament that involved many new contacts.

The Mayday demonstration was not a great success but neither was it a disgrace. It was disappointing that some AWL branches did not bother to mobilise for it and ignored group policy and priorities.

The campaign seems to have lost some of its pull, this is in part due to the SLP's officership but is also because the Employment Relations Act is done and dusted. Interestingly the union leaders who bust a gut to stop their unions challenging the weakness of 'Fairness at work' seem more laid back now they have delivered for Blair. Still the campaign remains an excellent tool for us, it is supported by 11 national unions, it remains a focus for us in the CWU and could be a uniting element in all our union work, it can be used to raise anti_partnership class struggle arguments and the issue of working class political representation we need to use it more. We must get more speakers out to union meetings and get the issue on to every union conference agenda. The Campaign should organise more campaigning action e.g. boycotts and protests against anti_union employers, stunts or demonstrations outside court hearings. Even small local events like this will involve trade unionists and others, and will make a refreshing change from the endless round of meetings, conferences and resolutions.

The Campaign should organise solidarity and a physical presence whenever workers (prepare for or) take strike action. This will help to expose the anti-union laws and to involve workers who may be confronting this issue for the first time. We should also actively seek out and encourage unofficial action and defiance of the laws - in a responsible fashion, and where a sufficient level of support and confidence exists amongst rank-and-file workers.

Signs of Hope

The news is not all bad, despite the decline in union influence and size the British trade unions are true mass organisation, with huge financial resources On the ground too unions have an impressive base, 75% of unionised workplaces have one or more rep or shop steward, 40% of all British workplaces. This has remained the same since 1990. This army of activists will in the right conditions and with some leadership be the core of a revival of class struggle. Thatcher did not destroy this core and Blair will not be able to either.

The class struggle is at a low ebb, but it is not dead, as Sir Ken Jackson found out to his cost when, after declaring the demise of the strike weapon, his own members on the Jubilee Tube works struck and won, despite the unions denouncing the strike.

Economic growth will increasingly tip the scales in workers favour in the labour market and will lead to more industrial action.

The ongoing attack on public sector workers has spurred both Wandsworth and Haringey UNISON branches to take well supported strike action. It can not be long before the patience of other local government and health workers runs out either over conditions or the continuing pressure down on pay.

Firefighters have defeated the attack on their hard-won national pay system through the threat of strike action.

The postal workers have continued to be a beacon of unofficial action, they have also through out major national deal which was the final part of a crap deal resulting from the 1987 national strike. With privatisation looming and no real progress on pay or hours the postal workers may well lead the first major strike challenge to New Labour.

The Ford walk outs over racism and the Critchley and Magnet strikes have shown that solidarity is still the backbone of the movement. The cowardice of union leaders who blame the laws. have prevented workers using industrial action in solidarity.

Call center staff who are also members of the CWU went on strike for the first time in late 1999 and won. While it would be foolish to see these signs of life as a full scale revival they may prove to be the first steps. It is our job to make the most of every opportunity and do all we can to be in the best shape possible for the revival whenever it comes.

Producing a workplace bulletin is a great way of promoting socialism to workers, and of putting across positive ideas for ways forward on issues facing people at work. Producing a bulletin ensures that we are continually explaining ourselves to ordinary workers.

Building a rank-and-file movement

We have long advocated rank-and-file organisation. We now need to go beyond simply advocating it, and start to fill in the detail of what this means, and then set about creating it. A rank-and-file organisation is not a group of lefty hacks meeting in a pub talking for hours about rule changes and never about strikes, talking to each other but never to workers. It may not even be a shop stewards committee if the shop stewards or reps are largely conservative, anti-political advocates with a cosy relationship with management. We should look at relevant examples, both historical (e.g. 1970s shop stewards movement) and contemporary (e.g. JLE Sparks). This should be the main theme of our next national industrial school/event.

Workplace Bulletins

A workplace bulletin is a lot more than just a leaflet put out by a union fraction. It can be an agitator, educator and organiser. A fraction/branch activity - contact work, intervening into workplace struggles and union issues, promoting AWL initiatives, political education - can all turn around the axis of the workplace bulletin. To do this effectively, the bulletin needs to: (a) cover both workplace issues and 'big ideas'; (b) be produced and distributed in a regular, organised fashion; and (c) involve activists and workers in producing it, who, in turn, bring us new ideas and perspectives we can learn from.

Conclusions

Our key perspectives should therefore remain:

- To build rank and file organisations within our unions and across the movement.

- To recruit workers to the AWL and organise a periphery of sympathisers.

- To win the unions to refounding working class political representation, and for a workers' government.

Our aims for the coming year should be:

- Organise at least one national AWL union event for comrades and contacts.

- To write for and sell Action, the paper should be central to all our industrial activity.

- Significantly increase the number of workplace bulletins we publish.

- To organise active fractions that meet regularly and organise the intervention of comrades in their workplaces, their local union structures and the unions national conferences. Every fraction should carry out an audit of contacts on a regular basis.

- To increase WL and AfS sales and subs in every fraction.

- To talk socialism on the job and recruit to the AWL from our unions and our workplaces.

- To have a profile for the AWL, broad union groups, and the United Campaign at every union conference.

- To put motions into every Union conference, Regional TUC and the TUC Congress on the anti-union laws.

Checklist of activities

Individual comrades

- Establish themselves in their workplace. (If the workplace is one where it is difficult to do significant union or political work, the comrade should talk to their branch and the secretariat about 'colonising' into a different workplace). Get themselves known as a competent worker, a politically knowledgeable person, and one who reliably stands up for workers' rights.

- Seek out people in the workplace interested in politics, and get talking to them about their ideas and about socialism. Seek to introduce them to our paper and magazine, to draw them into systematic discussions and activities, and to recruit them.

- Establish themselves in their union branches.

- Seek out people in the union branch interested in politics, and get talking to them about their ideas and about socialism.

- Seek to introduce them to our paper and magazine, to draw them into systematic discussions and activities, and to recruit them.

- Regularly put up motions in the union branch.

- Contest union positions.

- If they have any responsible position in the union branch, systematically to seek to open out the union branch to younger, newer members.

Branches

- Regularly discuss comrades' workplace and union activity. Actively support comrades in industrial disputes at their workplaces. Actively support other industrial disputes.

- Seek trade-unionist contacts; seek political discussions with them; regularly offer them campaigning activities (United Campaign, welfare state, etc.); offer them support in their industrial disputes.

- Regularly distribute an industrial bulletin in at least one local workplace: either a local edition of Postalworker, or another bulletin decided locally.

Fractions

- Elect an organiser who regularly contacts all members of the fraction to listen to news and ideas and offer advice.

- Circulate model motions.

- Meet regularly.

- Organise interventions at union conferences (motions and so on, and also AWL political interventions - literature sales, political contact work, etc)

- Maintain a list of contacts regularly communicated with by phone and e-mail. Regularly revise and 'weed' the list.

The EC and Industrial sub-committee

- Organise the AWL to support industrial disputes of national importance.

- Assist and supervise workplace-bulletin work.

- Assist and supervise fraction organisers.

- Organise national campaign activity (United Campaign, welfare state, etc.)

- Organise national schools and events.

- Monitor developments in the unions, and industrial coverage in the paper and magazine.

Addendum on Europe, by Clive B

The European capitalist class has developed a high degree of continental unity through the EU. But the revolutionary left and the labour movement as a whole has been weak, or bureaucratic, in matching this development.

Steps towards co-operation, joint action, discussion and unity both of the European trade union movement and the revolutionary left should be a major priority. The AWL has informal links with a few European tendencies, and has participated in events in Europe. We have also been quite good at following debates and activities on the European revolutionary left, especially in France. We should build on this.

1) Agitationally, the need for European joint action by trade unions and the revolutionary left should be an important plank of what we routinely say.

2) At the trade union level, a campaign for, eg, a EU-wide minimum wage would be a huge step forward. Joint activity by the revolutionary left to initiate it might be possible. (This is only an example: we should investigate possibilities).

3) We should investigate the possibilities for closer discussion and joint action by the European revolutionary left. For instance, there could be a web site which all tendencies across Europe can contribute to, informing each other of their activities, circulating discussion documents, etc. We probably could not meaningfully initiate such a thing, but we could raise it with other revolutionary groups in Europe.

4) We should encourage suggestions for any other ideas on this theme, from within the AWL, or the British, or the European left.