Trade unions are working hard to reverse the trend – in many countries – of falling membership. Since a number of years, increased exchange of experience is taking place, and sometimes the transfer of organizing approaches is attempted. Organising strategies are not only about increasing membership, but at the same time about renewing trade union democracy, including new groups of membership, building a union on rank and file involvement – and increasing trade union power through all of these. In this track we are exploring a number of examples and strategies.
Workshops we are exploring at this point in time include:
The organizing debate in Europe– experience with (adapted) US models in Europe
All over Europe, in the last years unions have been experimenting with “new” (sometimes going back to old traditions) organizing approaches. We want to look at a number of examples from recent years and ask – what made them successful? What problems were encountered? (How) was international embeddedness important for those successes?
Organising in the fast food industry:
Fast food restaurants are said to be difficult to organize, as they often they employ the most vulnerable categories of workers und precarious employment relationships. However in several countries and under various circumstances, unions are actively organizing and defending the rights of these workers. In this workshop, they come together to share experiences and insights.
Organizing along the supply chain: challenges and examples
Organising globally: creating networks in TNC and globalizing workers struggles:
Building networks within TNCs can be seen as the first step to building global industrial relations and workers powers within TNCs, who are among the most powerful actors globally. Speakers will talk about their work to build and maintain such networks and the struggles they have fought.
Winning struggles – Strategic campaigns
Trade Unions are campaigning all the time offline and online – but often we miss the time to reflect on what makes a campaign successful – and how do we can plan and implement our campaigns in order to make success more likely. In this workshop we want to take a look at examples of successful campaigns and ask what did make the succesfull, and what are the corner stones of successful strategic campaigning.
