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Union reps make good citizens, says TUC

Unions in the Community: A survey of union reps shows that union reps are heavily involved in campaigning and activities outside of work.

The research was carried out for the TUC by Gregor Gall, Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Hertfordshire.

Given their activities in organisations outside work, the TUC report says there is potential for unions to build on the similarities they have with community organisations and use these links to recruit new members and develop new cross-organisation community campaigns, as unions have done successfully in Australia and the United States.

Published this week, the research, found that:

• 8 per cent of reps are school governors
• 5 per cent are trustees or sit on the governing bodies of local organisations
• 19 per cent are volunteers in local community organisations like sports or social clubs
• 20 per cent of reps spend up to five hours a week on community activities

Across the UK, there are some 200,000 union reps working hard to make their workplaces safer and fairer places to be. But their good work does not stop at the factory gate or the office door.

Trade union priorities

Reflecting concerns about the recession, the report found that reps thought their unions should prioritise tackling poverty, inequality and unemployment closely followed by improving public services, and fighting racism and preventing the spread of the far right.
 
Asked about their faith, of the 27 per cent who described themselves as religious, 84 per cent said that there was a definite link between their religious faith and their union activities, citing shared values such as compassion, justice and respect.
 
Nearly three-quarters of the reps questioned also thought that unions could be doing more to boost their role in the community further, as a means both of raising their profile and encouraging more young people to become members.
 
Commenting on the research, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

“Across the UK, there are some 200,000 union reps working hard to make their workplaces safer and fairer places to be. But their good work does not stop at the factory gate or the office door. Union reps also play a vital role in their local communities, from helping out at local sports clubs to sitting on school governing bodies.
 
“Unions reps are undoubtedly good citizens and are likely to give up much of their time helping others. Their efforts in their local communities are also bringing many people within the reach of trade unions, possibly for the first time.”
 
The TUC research is published to coincide with the visit to the UK of American academic Dr Elaine Bernard who has researched organising, unions and social movements as part of her work at the Harvard Law School.
 
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The survey was carried out in December 2008 and the respondents were mainly workplace reps (58 per cent), safety reps (43 per cent) and branch officers (36 per cent). Nineteen per cent were learning reps, six per cent equality reps, six per cent convenors and three per cent were green reps. As union reps often hold more than one position, the numbers don’t add up to 100 per cent.
- Unions in the Community: A survey of union reps is available at http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/unionsinthecommunity.pdf