Union Organising in a Recognised Environment — A Case Study of Mobilisation

This chapter focuses on the presence of the 3.4m non-members in Britain who are covered by union recognition agreements (Metcalf 2003: 186). The presence of these so-called ‘free riders’, namely, those who benefit from improved conditions negotiated by unions through collective bargaining but choose not to be union members, is abundant evidence — were it needed — that recognition agreements with employers are alone not sufficient to make employees voluntarily decide to join the salient union there. Hypothetically, organising new members and servicing increased numbers of members covered by recognition agreements should be less resource intensive than organising non-members in workplaces without union recognition. Therefore, resources could then subsequently be released to organise in workplaces without recognition. How unions approach the challenge of organising these 3.4m non-members is examined through a case study of a medium-sized public sector union in Britain, the Public, Commercial and Services (PCS) union. It has increased its overall membership density by 3.6% between 2001 and 2007 while overall union density for the same period in Britain has fallen by 1.3% and by 0.7% in the public sector (Mercer and Notley 2008: 17, 19). The chapter explores the strategies and tactics that unions use in relation to employers and members from a radical perspective (see Inset 6.1).