Marble Falls       There’s no way to put sugar in the coffee on this: unions have suffered in countries across the world in recent decades as they faced fierce corporate and governmental opposition.   Union leaders and organizers cite many reasons to explain their loss of membership, even as polls among workers in the US for example, indicate record, 70% support.  Efforts to create a more even playing field legally have largely failed in the US against this onslaught, as well as in other countries where alliances with political parties have not been able to produce results for workers.  There may be an exception soon to this trend in Britain where the Labour government has promoted the Employment Rights Act, which offers a huge opportunity for the first time in forty years to turn the tide, if unions can gear up to take advantage of the opportunity, especially in the private section where UK density has fallen to 12%, just as US section density is closer to 5%.

The Act cleared Parliament at the end of last year, and is set to become effective sometime later this year.  A look at some of the provisions outlines the changes which could make significant differences for union organizing.  Among them are the following:

• Unions will be able to formally request access to workplaces for the purposes of recruitment and establishing local branches, rather than being barred and forced to make contacts on street corners, plant gates, check cashing outlets, and local bars.
• Unions will be able to do outreach digitally as well, enforced by a labor tribunal.
• Employers on a regular schedule will be required to remind workers that they have a right to join a union.
• Unions may see the bar lowered for scheduling a recognition vote from 10% of the workforce to as low as 2%, pending consultation.
• Unions could win a recognition vote with a majority of those voting, similar to the US rules, rather than the current UK rules that require the support of 40% of the entire workforce.
• Strike votes can be conducted by email under the Act, rather than by postal mail.
• Requirements that 50% of private sector or 40% of public sector workers support a job action is set to be eliminated completely making strikes a more accessible tactic.
• Workers will be able to supervise their own picket lines, rather than existing requirements that mandate a union official be present.
• Restrictions will be eased on soliciting donations and political contributions from members.
• Caps on damages for unfair dismal will be removed, along with higher penalties for layoffs without prior negotiations, and for unilateral changes without bargaining.

Unions almost anywhere, and certainly those in Britain that helped write the provisions of this pending legislation, would be happy with this kind of legal Christmas present’s match to their wish list.

The door will be wide open for mass organization under these new provisions, so the question for unions and employers will be whether or not organized labor is going to be able to take full advantage of these opportunities.  To do so would require immediate hiring and training of hundreds of organizers to the do the work, researchers to analyze industries and best opportunities, and leadership ready and able to raise the resources and initiate the internal changes to successfully integrate a huge surge in membership.

Believe it or not, this won’t be easy for unions.  Falling membership means scarcer resources for organizing.  Existing members may bridle at deployment of increased staff and resources moving to organizing now, rather than servicing current branches and contracts.  In the UK, as opposed to the US for example, there is not a tradition of exclusive representation, so unless unions figure out a way to cooperate, competition in various workplaces could divert energy and resources.

We’ll see.  This is a once and a lifetime opportunity for workers and unions in the UK, and meeting the challenge could revive the labor movement all over the world.