Received from: CWU
Merged into composite 01
We face a crisis in trade union membership, with less than 50 per cent of public sector workers and less than 12 per cent of private sector workers in a union. Younger workers are also less likely to join a union and new research shows a similar trend with lower-paid workers.
The cause of this is clear. The unbridled growth of the gig economy, outsourcing, agency work, new technologies and AI has encouraged employers to adopt cheaper and more fragmented employment models, which are nearly impossible to effectively unionise.
The solution is also clear. Individual rights in the workplace can only take us so far – we need a raft of new collective rights and sectoral bargaining agreements, alongside greater cooperation between unions and new models of unionism.
Congress therefore agrees that the TUC:
i. produces a sectoral bargaining strategy to be agreed by the General Council, including a plan to introduce sectoral level agreements in at least three sectors within the next six months.
ii. launches a campaign calling for the Labour government to build on the new deal for workers by extending sectoral bargaining agreements in this parliament, to address growing work and wealth inequality.
iii. initiates a working group to both produce the sectoral bargaining strategy and report to the General Council, in six months, on greater cooperation between unions and new models of trade unionism that can organise more effectively within sectors of the economy.
Communication Workers Union
AMENDMENT
Add new bullet after bullet iii.:
“iv. make union recognition, and contribution to established grouped trade union facility time arrangements, a condition for receiving public funding in all sectors, including multi-academy trusts, free schools, and publicly funded independent schools.”
NASUWT
AMENDMENT
Add new bullet after bullet iii.:
“iv. Congress calls on the TUC to demand the government fulfil its pledge of the “greatest number of insourcings in a generation,” starting with the civil service. Bringing contracts back in-house will boost accountability, improve services, and secure better conditions for workers, including younger workers.”
Public and Commercial Services Union