The social network for trade unionists - a LabourStart project.
Youth in the unions (2) -- debate
Wojciech Figiel: It looks as if employers are better organised than us. What can we do in such a situation? For example doesn't new technology give us a chance to improve the way we function and enable us to reach out to young people?
Julia Kubisa: Internet is only a tool. To be effective you have to put in a lot of work and have the knowledge on how to make the internet useful. It is not enough to send emails. Online you have to build a society. New technology gives a lot of possibilities for sure when workers can easily share their experiences. For example on an internet forum we can openly discuss how to form a trade union instead of talking about it at work.
Piotr Ostrowski: Unfortunately the use of new technology, even the most basic, is very weak in trade unions. Some even admit that they do not use the internet because they don't really know how to. In the long run people trust analog ways of communication. In order to encourage the young to look at and use trade union sites on the internet it would be useful to have on these sites guides that help people on how to cope with everyday life in their workplace.
Bojan Stanisławski: At the present moment information technology is used to help those trade unions that are already functioning. I am not noticing however, activities that would reach out to people outside of the movement...
Julia Kubisa: There are those kind of initiatives, for example the website solidarnoscnakryzys.pl (Solidarity against the crisis -- transl. note.). This is a good model for action. On this site it is explained in an understandable way the source of the crisis. It also shows the propostions from the government on how to tackle the crisis and the answers from "Solidarity". However let us not lie to ourselves. The setting up of websites does not mean that young people will come flocking to trade unions affiliated with OPZZ or any other national organization. First of all we have to think about what we want to tell them and later with the help of new technology we show them that message. Another example is the "Uśmiechnięta Kasjerka" (smiling cashier) campaign. From my own point of view it is very effective.
Bojan Stanisławski: Although these campaigns were done by a hired PR firm. The trade unions and the left do not have media support that could arrange those kind of campaigns so as not to rely on the services of outside companies who do not really potray the aims of the trade unions...
Piotr Ostrowski: It is true that trade unions do not have media support and if they already have they cannot take advantage of them. Though the trade unionists are not effective in this department if someone from outside has an idea he can make it effective with the help of trade unions. There are people who can sacrifice a lot of energy in doing something sensible for political parties, groups or trade unions but when not even one person tells them "thank you" they lose motivation. Or they do something out of a good heart and then someone tells them that everything has been done badly.
It is important then to take note if somewhere inside the structures there are people who want to give the trade unions something. We should bring such people closer and encourage them to work with us. It is you who are the best example of that. Your editorial team has shown that you can publish a good trade union magazine with your own ideas and programmes but within the structures of OPZZ and using the logo of OPZZ. Although for sure that was not easy, you effectively pressed the right buttons.
Wojciech Figiel: Do trade unions have anything to offer young people in general?
Julia Kubisa: First of all young people have to be listened to. What are their problems? The moment that a young person becomes an adult it usually becomes clear how difficult it is to buy an apartment or to start a family on a short term contract. These are the basic issues that the trade unions should try to address. On the other hand we can suggest different solutions but we should know that these are deep rooted issues. Amongst the young there is a tendency of signing short term contracts.
Bojan Stanisławski: Should we then go openly and actively to the youth? Using even the simplest methods available to us, even giving out leaflets on the campuses of the big educational institutions in Warsaw. Most of them are just a few metres from the OPZZ building in Warsaw...
Piotr Ostrowski: That is a great idea! For example since years back I have been discussing in our club that even for 45 minutes in lectures on knowing society's traits we should pay attention to the possibility of finding people who want to take action. What is interesting is that the bigger percentage of trade union members are people with higher or medium level education. That also works in our favour.
Wojciech Figiel: Is it also not fair to say that trade unions need a plan to attract the youth?
Piotr Ostrowski: At the Institute of Sociology at the University of Warsaw I had a seminar titled ”The youth in trade unions -- reproduction or revitalisation?”. In this study we are interested in why the youth join trade unions (when they do). We try to look for young people who are in trade unions. We concentrated on two sectors -- mobile phones and the post. From those studies we have seen that the leaders of trade unions play a very important role. If a leader is able to show what the trade union does for the worker then the young people join such a structure. They notice that something takes place in this union. The role of the trade union leader is potrayed as positive and strong such that they decide to join. That is the answer to the question "What are the activists at the 'bottom' suppossed to do?". When we go further it is not hard to imagine that such a worker will pass on positive information about trade unions to his peers. Young people joining trade unions are impressed by topics like fighting for a pay rise, stopping the reduction of working hours, arranging for christmas presents... What is important is that those whom we interviewed said that if they were to change jobs they would still join a trade union.
Julia Kubisa: You cannot only depend on individual charisma. The role of the trade union is to support good local leaders for example through organizing for them training. European tradition is training for the young trade unionists. That is a very good idea but again it demands a lot of effort. Above all financial effort.
Julia Kubisa: Internet is only a tool. To be effective you have to put in a lot of work and have the knowledge on how to make the internet useful. It is not enough to send emails. Online you have to build a society. New technology gives a lot of possibilities for sure when workers can easily share their experiences. For example on an internet forum we can openly discuss how to form a trade union instead of talking about it at work.
Piotr Ostrowski: Unfortunately the use of new technology, even the most basic, is very weak in trade unions. Some even admit that they do not use the internet because they don't really know how to. In the long run people trust analog ways of communication. In order to encourage the young to look at and use trade union sites on the internet it would be useful to have on these sites guides that help people on how to cope with everyday life in their workplace.
Bojan Stanisławski: At the present moment information technology is used to help those trade unions that are already functioning. I am not noticing however, activities that would reach out to people outside of the movement...
Julia Kubisa: There are those kind of initiatives, for example the website solidarnoscnakryzys.pl (Solidarity against the crisis -- transl. note.). This is a good model for action. On this site it is explained in an understandable way the source of the crisis. It also shows the propostions from the government on how to tackle the crisis and the answers from "Solidarity". However let us not lie to ourselves. The setting up of websites does not mean that young people will come flocking to trade unions affiliated with OPZZ or any other national organization. First of all we have to think about what we want to tell them and later with the help of new technology we show them that message. Another example is the "Uśmiechnięta Kasjerka" (smiling cashier) campaign. From my own point of view it is very effective.
Bojan Stanisławski: Although these campaigns were done by a hired PR firm. The trade unions and the left do not have media support that could arrange those kind of campaigns so as not to rely on the services of outside companies who do not really potray the aims of the trade unions...
Piotr Ostrowski: It is true that trade unions do not have media support and if they already have they cannot take advantage of them. Though the trade unionists are not effective in this department if someone from outside has an idea he can make it effective with the help of trade unions. There are people who can sacrifice a lot of energy in doing something sensible for political parties, groups or trade unions but when not even one person tells them "thank you" they lose motivation. Or they do something out of a good heart and then someone tells them that everything has been done badly.
It is important then to take note if somewhere inside the structures there are people who want to give the trade unions something. We should bring such people closer and encourage them to work with us. It is you who are the best example of that. Your editorial team has shown that you can publish a good trade union magazine with your own ideas and programmes but within the structures of OPZZ and using the logo of OPZZ. Although for sure that was not easy, you effectively pressed the right buttons.
Wojciech Figiel: Do trade unions have anything to offer young people in general?
Julia Kubisa: First of all young people have to be listened to. What are their problems? The moment that a young person becomes an adult it usually becomes clear how difficult it is to buy an apartment or to start a family on a short term contract. These are the basic issues that the trade unions should try to address. On the other hand we can suggest different solutions but we should know that these are deep rooted issues. Amongst the young there is a tendency of signing short term contracts.
Bojan Stanisławski: Should we then go openly and actively to the youth? Using even the simplest methods available to us, even giving out leaflets on the campuses of the big educational institutions in Warsaw. Most of them are just a few metres from the OPZZ building in Warsaw...
Piotr Ostrowski: That is a great idea! For example since years back I have been discussing in our club that even for 45 minutes in lectures on knowing society's traits we should pay attention to the possibility of finding people who want to take action. What is interesting is that the bigger percentage of trade union members are people with higher or medium level education. That also works in our favour.
Wojciech Figiel: Is it also not fair to say that trade unions need a plan to attract the youth?
Piotr Ostrowski: At the Institute of Sociology at the University of Warsaw I had a seminar titled ”The youth in trade unions -- reproduction or revitalisation?”. In this study we are interested in why the youth join trade unions (when they do). We try to look for young people who are in trade unions. We concentrated on two sectors -- mobile phones and the post. From those studies we have seen that the leaders of trade unions play a very important role. If a leader is able to show what the trade union does for the worker then the young people join such a structure. They notice that something takes place in this union. The role of the trade union leader is potrayed as positive and strong such that they decide to join. That is the answer to the question "What are the activists at the 'bottom' suppossed to do?". When we go further it is not hard to imagine that such a worker will pass on positive information about trade unions to his peers. Young people joining trade unions are impressed by topics like fighting for a pay rise, stopping the reduction of working hours, arranging for christmas presents... What is important is that those whom we interviewed said that if they were to change jobs they would still join a trade union.
Julia Kubisa: You cannot only depend on individual charisma. The role of the trade union is to support good local leaders for example through organizing for them training. European tradition is training for the young trade unionists. That is a very good idea but again it demands a lot of effort. Above all financial effort.
See part 1
Translation: Marlon NziramasangaAdd a Comment
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