Organizing Campaign

Introduction

Under the Canadian labour legislation, employees have the right to select freely to become a member of a trade union and take part in lawful activities initiated by the trade union. The idea of becoming a member of a trade union is first introduced using an organizing campaign, which is undertaken by a trade union in a workplace with the primary objective of persuading employees to select the union as their legal representative.[1] An organizing campaign is a crucial component of the industrial relations system since its failure or success plays a significant role in determining whether the trade union becomes a legal representative of the trade union or not. This denotes the significance of having an in-depth understanding of the concept of an organizing campaign, how it is implemented, and the legislation governing its conduct. Trade unions organize with the primary objective of providing employees with a voice at the workplace. Collective bargaining and trade union representation offer employees with an opportunity through which they can safeguard and enhance their living standards and working conditions. In addition, organizing helps in building ad strengthening the trade union, which goes beyond numbers to include its vigor and strength as an organization.[2] New workers joining the union establish new enthusiasm; this is because an increase in the size of the union membership and density tends to enhance its influence and power with employers and improves their power and voice in the larger community.[3] This paper reviews existing literature regarding the organizing campaigns for trade unions in Canada. Specifically, this paper focuses on steps of an organizing campaign for a trade union, and factors affecting the success of an organizing campaign.

Factors influencing employees’ support for a trade union

            There is adequate literature pointing out the variables influencing employees’ decisions to support a trade union. Trade unions must take into account these factors in order to design their organizing campaigns to meet employees’ demands. In addition, these factors are of ultimate significance to employers who have the intent of resisting unionization because of the need to take into consideration employee’s motivation to support a trade union.[4] Researchers point out a number of factors classified into personal, workplace, societal and economic factors. Personal factors include parental attitudes, union activity and instrumentality. For instance, if parents were active and had positive attitudes towards trade unions, then it is highly likely that they will support a trade union. Instrumentality involves employees’ perception towards the changes that the trade union can implement. Fundamentally, employees having a pro-union attitude are not likely to support a trade union if they hold the belief that the trade union is not capable of implementing their desired changes. The key to winning employees’ support is perception and identity; trade unions have to create a perception among employees that it is capable of achieving their desires, even if the union lacks the capability to do so.[5]

With respect to workplace factors, studies point out that employee dissatisfaction with the working conditions is the primary motivation for workers to join a trade union. Employee dissatisfaction is derived from a myriad of factors including compensation rates, management actions, especially refusal to rectify problems. The attitudes of other employees in the workplaces about the trade union also influence the support of an individual in supporting a trade union. For instance, an individual is likely to support a trade union if coworkers are positive towards unions; the basic argument is that work related factor tends to influence an individual’s decision to join a trade union.[6] The workplace structure and type of work also tend to influence employees’ support towards joining a trade union. Therefore, it is vital for trade unions to position themselves in a manner that they are perceived to provide solutions to work related problems affecting employees.

Economic factors affecting the support of a trade union include the unemployment levels; wherein organizing campaigns are likely to become successful if employees perceive unionization as a means of attaining job security. Inflation rates also influence employees’ decision to support a trade union; for instance, employees are likely to support an organizing campaign in order to offset decreases in real wages imposed by inflation.[7]

Societal factors affecting employees’ support for an organizing campaign includes the general societal attitudes towards trade unions, union related experiences among families and friends, demographic characteristics, and personal benefits of becoming a member of a trade union. In the light of the above discussion, trade unions must take into account the factors influencing employee’s decisions to support an organizing campaign.[8] With the dramatic changes in the conventional workplace environment imposed by technological advancements and globalization, trade unions must position themselves to address the effects on the organization of work and the lives of employees. For instance, organizing campaigns can be a success if they position themselves to address problems of mounting social inequity and marginalization of some sections of the workforce.[9]

Steps in Ensuring a Successful Organizing Campaign

            The outcome of a successful organizing campaign is being able to appeal for acknowledgment as the bargaining agent and legal representative for workers. As a bargaining agent, the union receives the legal recognition as the sole representative of workers, wherein the trade union acts on behalf of employees through negotiations with employers and oversees the implementation of the reached collective agreement.[10] An organizing campaign can be implemented by trade unions or employees; for instance, a trade union may be informed of employees who are dissatisfied and contact them to assess whether they have an interest in forming or joining a trade union. In Canada, organizing campaigns for trade unions in the private sector adhere to the same model described below.

The first crucial phase during an organizing campaign for a trade union is targeting and collecting information, which involves researching and targeting a certain workplace, or whether an employee approaches a trade union. It is imperative for trade unions to select the appropriate target. For instance, the trade union assess whether the workplace is in a sector that is appropriate for the union to organize, whether or not it has a good possibility of achieving support, whether or not it will have a bargaining power, whether or not the union understands the corporation and its business operations, and whether the union has adequate resources to initiate a successful organizing campaign. After targeting and researching followed an assessment of the probability of success, the trade unions embarks on the probe and set up, wherein it makes its initial contacts and collects sufficient information required.[11] There is the need to spot leaders in the workplace, who are likely to be incorporated in the organizing campaign. In addition, there is the need to gather information related to the accurate workforce make up such as demographical and organizational characteristics, after which the union evaluates the level of support for unionization activity. It is essential to ensure that this involves a few workers and in secrecy without the knowledge of the employers regarding the intention of the trade union.[12]

The second crucial phase in a successful organizing campaign for a trade union establishing the organizing committee, which is done after establishing that the information gathered, will lead to the organizing campaign becoming a success. The likelihood of a successful organizing campaign increases with a small representative organizing committee from the inside. When establishing the committee, it is essential to place the right individuals on the organizing committee, and ensuring that the organizing committee is sufficient and represents all the various groups within the corporation. It is also essential to train the organizing committee and ensure that they have an understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and understand the public face associated with the organizing campaign.[13] It is essential to ensure that members of the organizing committee have high levels of commitments on taking their roles. The most prevalent area of concern is the likelihood of unfair labor practices, which refers to actions undertaken by the employer that may compel employees to behave in a different way.[14]

The third crucial phase entails taking the organizing campaign to the public. The signing of cards only starts after at least 10 percent of employees and representative committee have agreed to the campaign. In case the trade union is compelled to go public, mostly because the employer happens to be informed of the organizing campaign and is beginning to act in response, the trade union should place emphasis on the recruitment of the organizing committee instead of signing cards. Sign cards should be undertaken by the members of the inside committee; this phase should be fast in order to facilitate the filing for an application for certification prior to the employer gearing up to respond to the campaign.[15] After the organizing committee is satisfied that it has adequate membership support, then the union can file for an application for certification with the relevant labor relations body. The trade union must have the exact knowledge of the bargaining unit that they are applying.[16]

The next phase entails campaigning to win, which entails taking into account the aforementioned factors influencing employees’ decision to support a trade union. It is also essential to take into account an aggressive campaign in response from the employer. The union must strive on building its momentum and adopting an offensive strategy through intensifying communication with supportive workers, fence sitters and workers who are undecided.[17]

Factors that Influence the Success of an Organizing Campaign

            A successful organizing campaign entails gathering adequate support for filing an application for certification and gathering sufficient support during representation voting. Numerous successful organizing tactics make use of rank and file strategies, which entails personal communication with members using telephone calls, focus group meetings, house calls and representative organizing committee. It is also essential for the trade union to identify what is crucial to employees, and position itself in a manner that it is aware of the issues and is committed to tackling them.[18]

The amount of control and participation from the workers also influence the success of the organizing campaign. An increase in amount of control and their participation tends to increase the probability of success because employees tend to have a better understanding of their work environment. The counter response from the employer also tends to affect the success of an organizing campaign. For instance, if employers train managers to tackle the campaign tend to reduce the success of the organizing campaign. An employer can also limit the communication between the union and employees, which reduces the probability of success.[19]

Conclusion

            The paper has pointed that the idea of employees joining a trade union commences with an organizing campaign. It is apparent that an organizing campaign is a vital component of the industrial relations system since its failure or accomplishment plays a considerable role in determining whether the trade union becomes a legal representative of the trade union or not. Research has pointed out a number of factors affecting employees’ decision to join a trade union, which include personal, workplace, societal and economic factors. The steps carried in an organizing campaign for a union include targeting and collecting information, establishing the organizing committee, taking the organizing campaign to the public, filing for an application for certification, and campaigning to win.

 

Bibliography

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Vidu, Badigannavar, and John Kelly. “Why Are some union organizing campaigns more   successful than others?” British Journal of Industrial Relations 43, no. 3 (2005): 515  535.

 

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