How Can Trade Union Act Strategically?

To reinvent themselves as organization and what it is to be a trade union, the involvement of the critical scrutiny and redefinition of unions’ existing learning strategies and structure, and more fundamentally of their understanding of their environment, are needed to challenge for attracting and representing far more diverse employee constituency. Organizational learning also required trade unions to develop toward what is already known to overcome such conservative bias that strategic innovation often requires a process of creative destruction.

Membership activism, union democracy and social capital

The most effective union movements combined, in an articulate manner: strong central organization (coordinated leadership) with vibrant local activity (high membership participation). However, in shaping the trade union power in face of economic internationalization there is a need to build a virtuous circle of proactive capacity, active democracy and higher-level strategic support as the basis for an effective strategic for labour (pp. 203).

Union solidarity undergoes a fragmentation than ever in an era of generally decentralized industrial relations, increasingly localized threats and growing of corporate power. However, how can fragmentation be overcome? Diversity cannot be suppressed, it must be accepted, even welcomed. Nevertheless, the collectivism value of union identity can be encouraged to perceive common interests despite difference of diversities group within unions.

Union is also a human face that requires them to interact socially and builds social network with the civil society, it allows them to define potential resources for power and advantage to challenge economic and political dominant, a basis of resistance. Therefore, the social-capital unionism suggested by Jarley (pp. 205) helps unions to build union capacity to borrow and extend the social capital of its most well-connected members; and the fact that social networks, because not confined to purely workplace issues, can be sustained among workers who are mobiles across employers, makes union membership more readily to portable across firm. This is also enhance solidarity and could effectively in recruiting and involving young workers in the union, as well as in broader political activism.

Vocabularies of motive, ideologies and utopias

The trade union strategic capacity can be, and need to be, enhanced through internal dialogue, discussion and debate. However, it should be moved beyond the process of discourse and dialogue to the content.

Union is sword of justice for contesting against oppression, inequality and discrimination. To defend employees at workplace is the most important work of trade unions and it implies a spirit for cooperation with other social movements.

In some extend, the class struggle has convinced trade union to win back their legitimacy as the neoliberal agenda treats to push fierce competitiveness. Besides, it suggests work and workers to adapt to new economic realities. Trade unions should look for alternative ways of connecting economy and society, work and life, and they should be in the forefront of defining these alternatives. Trade unions need a new vision, even a new utopia if they are to become subjects rather than objects of history (pp. 2007).

Reference: Hyman, R.: How can trade union act strategically; Transfer 2/07; 13; pp. 193-210.