© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
An introduction to membership participation in British trade unions,
with reference to the National Union of Teachers
A University of Manchester Working Paper, September 2004
Gemma Edwards, Department of Sociology
The following report is intended as an
introduction to some of the issues
surrounding membership participation
in British trade unions, with particular
reference to the National Union of
Teachers (NUT). Existing literature on
union participation and membership
activism is reviewed in this context,
alongside the latest national statistics
on union participation from the
Department of Trade and Industry
(Palmer et al 2004). Where
appropriate, I refer to my ongoing
research project on NUT membership
participation1, and specifically, to the
data collected from twenty-five indepth interviews with NUT ‘activists’2.
theories of membership participation
presented in existing literature.
The paper is divided into three
sections: in section one I identify the
issue of membership non-participation
in the NUT, providing two essential
‘disclaimers’ which need to be
considered by anyone addressing the
‘problem’ of ‘non-participation’, in
section two I highlight the problem of
non-participation in the NUT as both a
general problem and as one which
requires the special consideration of
women and young members if it is to
be appropriately addressed, and finally
in section three I review some of the
Figure 1
Total number of paid-up NUT members, at
four yearly intervals from 1979
Section one: participation in trade
unions
The NUT is an interesting case when
considering the question of trade union
participation in the current British
context. As a union, it has continued to
increase its membership since the early
1990s, despite a dip in numbers
throughout the 1980s. This dip is the
likely after-effect of the teacher strikes
of 1984-7 and the anti-trade union
legislation that followed (Barber 1992,
64) (Figure 1).
Year
2003
1999
1995
1991
1987
1983
1979
Number of members
contributing to the NUT
General Fund
267,671
228,438
192,009
178,112
195,126
226,227
260,727
Source of statistics: NUT Annual Returns to the
Certification Officer.
Note, Annual Returns state the ‘membership total’ for a
trade union, however, CO figures are thought to suffer
from a degree of inflation (Disney et al 1998, 3). I have
therefore used the figure relating to ‘number of members
contributing to the general fund’ instead. This figure
includes only those paying membership subscriptions and
therefore gives a more accurate picture, as well as being
closer to figures published elsewhere, such as the Annual
TUC Returns.
1
This research is part of a PhD project based at the
University of Manchester and funded by the Economic and
Social Research Council. The data referred to represents
the first phase of interviews conducted January-July 2004.
2
NUT ‘activists’ were defined for sampling purposes as
those who held an official position in the NUT from
school representative upwards (see page 4 for a discussion
of the methodological issues involved in defining
‘activism’). Phase two begins October 2004 and involves
interviews with 30 members of the NUT who do not
participate in official union positions. This qualitative
research strategy will be coupled with the analysis of
relevant secondary datasets on NUT participation. The
project is due to complete October 2006.
The NUT’s growing membership
seemingly goes against the welldocumented decline in trade union
1
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
density3 since 1979 (Disney et al 1998,
Brook 2002). Although, the latest
research indicates that rates of
membership are beginning to stabilise,
and a slight increase in employee
union density of 0.1% was recorded
between autumn 2002 and 2003
(Palmer et al 20044).
with recruiting members to positions
within the union. In short, the problem
is with union activism. This statement
does, however, require at least two
disclaimers.
Disclaimer One
Firstly, it is acknowledged that the
problem
of
membership
nonparticipation or ‘membership apathy’
as it is sometimes referred to in the
literature (Lipset 1954, Roy 1968,
Franzway 2000), is not a new one,
either for trade unions or academic
reflection. Many have been keen to
point out that mass non-participation in
union affairs is indeed the norm for
trade unions. In 1954 S.M Lipset made
the following observation, which is
often quoted in research seeking to
address the ‘problem’ of membership
participation (see Roy 1968, Lawrence
1994, 13):
The sustained growth of the NUT is
partly because as a public sector whitecollar union it has been less affected by
changes relating to the decline of
manufacturing industries and issues
around union recognition in the private
sector5 (Lawrence 1994, 41, Disney et
al 1998). This is not to say however
that the political context of the 1980s
failed to have a profound effect on
teacher unionism (Seifert 1987, Barber
1992), creating a more hostile
environment through measures like the
removal of national negotiating rights
over pay6. Teacher unions have
therefore also been subject to
restrictions and have managed to
recover numbers in spite of this.
Even in trade unions and professional
associations
which
affect
the
individual’s occupational role vitally,
such membership apathy is the usual
state of affairs in the absence of severe
organisational crisis (Lipset 1954).
Due to this growth in membership the
wealth of literature on declining trade
union participation is not the focus for
the NUT and apart from where ideas
are transferable to the question of
membership participation, this body of
literature will be largely left aside. The
problem for the NUT is not with
recruiting workers to the union, but
This view is also often shared by those
looking at political participation more
widely. Dahl, for example, argues that
considering the costs of participation in
political groups and parties, the
puzzling question is not why some
people do not participate, but, on the
contrary, why some people do (Dahl
1961) (see also Olson 1965).
3
Trade union density is the proportion of all people in
employment who are members of trade unions.
4
Palmer et al report for the Department of Trade and
Industry on trade union membership 2003. In this report
they claim that the rate of union membership remained
unchanged between 2002 and 2003 at 26.6% of all people
in employment, whilst employee trade union density
increased from 29.2% in 2002 to 29.3% in 2003. This
increase was put down to a growth in the number of public
sector employees (Palmer at al 2003, 1).
5
In the UK, less than 1 in 5 private sector employees are
union members, compared with nearly 3 in 5 public sector
employees (Palmer et al 2004, 1).
6
Following the teacher strikes of 1984-7, the Conservative
Government introduced the Teachers’ Pay and Conditions
Act (2 March 1987). This Act legislated out of existence
the Burnham Committees, on which the NUT had been
represented in national pay negotiations since 1918
(Seifert 1987, 250).
These academic observations have not,
however, prevented concerns being
raised over membership participation,
either within trade unions themselves
or industrial relations research. In
February 2004, the NUT formed a
‘Union Democracy Working Party’ to
discuss new ways of increasing
membership
involvement.
This
measure
followed
the
‘Union
2
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
Democracy’ resolution agreed by
Conference in 2003. This stated that:
visit local and county associations we
cannot get in touch with members
unless they are prepared to come to
meetings. What is the effect of this
apathy? First, members are cut off
from their representatives and do not
know what is being done on their
behalf. Secondly, inactive members
have no part in influencing, guiding or
controlling the policy of the union.
The machinery of the union is
thoroughly democratic. It enables
every member to express opinions and
to influence policy. But if members do
not attend meetings, discussions and
the resolutions which emerge are not
truly representative. Thirdly, lethargy
in the membership results in officials
and representatives being chosen from
only a part of the membership (NUT
General Secretary 1955, quoted in
Roy 1968, 46).
Conference believes that it is
important for the future of the Union
that more members become involved
in its activities and its decisionmaking.
Conference urges the National
Executive to address democracy issues
at each level of union organisation,
national, regional, local and at school
levels and to consider ways in which
the staff of the Union contribute to
membership participation within the
Union.
(Resolution on Union Democracy,
NUT Conference 2003).
The NUT Working Party is due to
report back to Conference with its
findings in 2005. Issues of membership
participation are, therefore, both
immediate and central to the NUT.
The issue of membership participation
can be traced back further than this,
however, to the editorial opening of
The Schoolmaster7 in 1872:
There must be no apathy. Every
member must actively fulfil his or her
share of the duties which membership
involves. (Editorial: ‘Setting out the
vision
of
the
NUT’,
The
Schoolmaster, March 30, 1872,
p.137).
Concerns of this nature are not,
however, ‘new’ to the Union. Roy’s
(1968) study of participation in the
NUT reveals anxiety over the issue
back in the 1950s and 1960s. Using
historical
records
from
local
association
minute
books,
he
concluded that there had been a ‘steady
decline’ in attendance at NUT
meetings and events from the 1870s to
the 1960s, signalling a fall in active
involvement. Roy also cites the 1955
General Secretary address to NUT
National Conference. This is worth
quoting at length in order to establish
that the issue of non-participation has
at times been a key part of the NUT’s
historical, as well as present-day,
agenda.
If non-participation by members was to
be the norm, as Lipset suggested, the
NUT clearly set out against it and
sought instead to instil an expectation
of active involvement. For a union
priding
itself
on
democratic
organisation (Manzer 1970, 49),
membership duties involve attending
meetings, participating in debates over
policy, and formulating memoranda to
be voted on by representatives at
conference (Figure 2). Additionally,
some members would be required to
take on positions of leadership and
responsibility at each of these levels.
When I became General Secretary of
the NUT, I was determined that so far
as national duties would allow, my
colleagues and I would make
ourselves accessible. Like our officers
and executive members, we would go
to the members. But even when we
7
The Schoolmaster was the NUT magazine, which began
in 1872 with the inception of the National Union of
Elementary Teachers. It is now called The Teacher.
3
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
Figure 2
The Democratic Structure of the NUT
like Roy 1968, and Manzer 1970). This
observation converges with the
literature on participation in the
political science field more generally.
Parry et al, for instance, argue that any
study of participation is also, in one
way or another, a study of democracy.
Further, they suggest that democratic
ideals influence a researcher’s
interpretation of exhibited levels of
citizen participation (Parry et al 1992).
Local Association meetings
↓
Debates between members
↓
Voting at meetings
↓
Motions for conference
↓
Voting by NUT representatives at Annual
Conference decides Union policy
Similarly, our ideas on what form
membership participation should take
influence our definitions of what
counts as ‘participation’ and thus our
assessments of decline/crisis/apathy. In
this respect, the NUT’s democratic
vision puts the emphasis on attendance
at meetings and conferences, and
previous studies have tended to define
participation in terms of these
activities. Interestingly, this is the case
in Roy’s (1968) study of NUT
‘membership apathy’. The extent to
which an account of members’ union
activities can shed light upon their
engagement with union affairs is,
however, questionable8. Through the
use of qualitative interviewing, the
research in progress aims to let NUT
members themselves define what
counts as participation, raising the
possibility that forms other than
meetings and official roles should be
considered as meaningful ways to be
active within the union.
Source: NUT HQ
A problem with membership nonparticipation therefore signals a
problem with the workings of union
democracy, at least in terms of the
NUT’s ideal vision. Again, the issue of
getting members involved in these
democratic processes is not ‘new’. In
Manzer’s examination of NUT
membership participation in 1970, he
estimated that 75% of members
consistently failed to attend General
Meetings
of
the
local
NUT
associations (Manzer 1970, 31).
Summary
The assertion that there is a presentday problem with membership nonparticipation in the NUT needs to be
qualified by stressing that membership
non-participation is often seen as the
norm in trade unions, and that the
problem creating concern today is not
a ‘new’ problem facing the NUT.
Summary
The assertion that there is a presentday ‘problem’ with membership
participation in the NUT needs to be
qualified by stressing that the
Disclaimer Two
To a large extent, expectations of how
much a member should participate in
their union determine how far
membership non-participation is to be
regarded as a ‘problem’ for the union.
In this respect, the NUT’s democratic
vision, as outlined above, translates
into an expectation of participation that
leads to a ‘problem’ when this ideal is
not made reality (as reflected in studies
8
Parry et al put forward a convincing argument against
defining ‘participation’ as a ‘form of action’ because it, 1)
excludes those who have an interest or opinion but do not
act, 2) it excludes peoples’ dispositions towards taking
action and therefore ignores ‘participation potential’
(Barnes and Kasse 1979) (Parry et al 1992, 16). It is
therefore a particularly inappropriate measure of ‘apathy’,
which implies something about a member’s attitude as
well as a lack of action.
4
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
identification of a ‘problem’ with
participation depends largely upon
expectations of participation levels, as
well as on what forms of participation
are taken as the basis of definition.
eight (NUT Local
Secretary, April 2004).
Association
Non-participation can be said to be
widespread in that the majority of
people do not participate, and this
includes men and women, young and
old, and teachers of varying ethnic
identities. It is not, therefore, just a
question of how to get groups
traditionally seen as less active to
participate (like women and young
people), for example, but how to get
anybody to participate. This was
stressed
by
NUT
School
Representatives
and
Divisional
Secretaries in interviews.
For the purposes of this paper, nonparticipation will be discussed in the
following section in terms of official
positions, but this is not to deny the
importance of other, subjectively
defined
forms,
of
meaningful
participation on the part of members.
Section two: membership nonparticipation in the NUT
The non-participation of members in
NUT meetings and official positions is
a widespread problem affecting every
local association involved in the
research to date9. This is a good
indictor of a national situation in which
membership non-participation of this
type is a key concern for union
activists and, furthermore, union
democracy. The following comment on
local levels of participation was fairly
typical of interviewees:
National Trends in union
membership
In terms of the national picture, women
are now catching up with men in terms
of trade union density. In 2003, men’s
union density was only 0.1% higher
than that of women (Palmer et al,
2004, 5). This was due to a growth in
women’s union membership coupled
with a fall in men’s membership over
the previous year (Palmer et al 2003,
3).
How would you describe the levels of
participation in the NUT in your area?
Trends relating to age and union
membership are also reflected in the
latest national statistics. In 2003 trade
union density for UK 16-24 year olds
was 5.6%, compared to 45.3% for
those aged 35-49 (Palmer at al 2004).
Whilst past studies have pointed to
such a correlation between age and
union membership (with older workers
more likely to be unionised than
younger workers) (Conlon and
Gallagher 1987), more recent research
shows how this correlation is
influenced by changes in the nature of
the labour market entered into by
younger generations of workers, rather
than by age as a characteristic of the
worker alone (Disney et al 1998).
Disney et al thus make an important
From nil, absolutely zilch - they pay
membership and its an insurance
scheme and then they ring you when
they’ve got a disaster - through to
those people who do come to meetings
but don’t want to take an active role,
which is absolutely fine because
people are very, very busy - through to
the hardcore, which is about eight of
us (which is pathetic out of a
membership of about six hundred),
who meet very, very regularly and
spearhead campaigns up there. And
that number of eight has gone down
from about thirty, to a hardcore of
9
Sampling took place in the north-west and south-west of
England. Areas represented include Bristol, Somerset &
North Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Cheshire,
Manchester, Bolton, Tameside, Bury, Trafford, Stockport,
Liverpool and Lancaster & Morecambe.
5
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
Figure 3
Positions held by men and women in NUT
Associations in England & Wales, 2002
differentiation between age and cohort
(or generation) (Disney at al 1998, 910).
Position in
union
association
Secretary
These national patterns in trade union
membership have some relevance
when
considering
membership
participation in the NUT. Even though
non-participation is widespread among
members, there are still clear patterns
relating to issues of identity in the
minority who do participate in official
positions.
Female NUT members
The NUT does not have a problem
attracting female members. Latest
TUC figures show that 182,677 out of
a total of 239,796 NUT members are
female (TUC Membership Return,
2003). This means that women are by
far the majority of NUT members
(76%). This numerical dominance does
not however translate into higher levels
of union activism by women NUT
members compared to their male
counterparts.
Number
held by
men
194
(65%)
Number
held by
women
102
(35%)
Total
296
(100%)
Treasurer
178
(65%)
97
(35%)
275
(100%)
President
112
(44%)
145
(56%)
257
(100%)
Equal
Opportunities
43
(20%)
173
(80%)
216
(100%)
Health &
Safety
141
(65%)
75
(35%)
216
(100%)
Teacher
Support
Network (TSN)
92
(43%)
121
(57%)
213
(100%)
Membership
117
(53%)
104
(47%)
221
(100%)
Totals
877
(52%)
817
(48%)
1694
(100%)
Source of information on who holds association
positions: Index of NUT Annual Report 2003, ‘List of
Associations in Union 2002’ pp. 357-425.
Note: A member can sometimes hold more than one
position in an association. Where this is the case, that
member has been counted in each instance. The ‘total’
column therefore represents the total number of positions
in associations, rather than the total number of members
participating in the associations (which will be lower
because of multi-position holding).
Note: In rare cases where the names listed are
inconclusive of the sex of the position-holder, the position
has been recorded as held by a female.
Figure 3 shows the positions held by
men and women in NUT associations
in England and Wales, derived from
the listings in the NUT Annual Report
for 2003.
Figure 3 shows little overall difference
in the numbers of men and women
participating in official positions in
union associations. Men are a slight
majority at 52% of all positions. It
does, however, reveal some differences
in the type of positions men and
women tend to hold. Male members
are concentrated in positions of
Treasurer and Health & Safety Officer
(holding 65% of those positions). Men
also make up 65% of Association
Secretaries. Women, on the other hand,
make up just over half of Association
Presidents (57%) and TSN (Teacher
Support Network) Officers (57%). The
biggest concentration of women
6
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
Figure 4
The under-representation of women in NUT
associations in England & Wales 2002,
proportionate to membership numbers10
members, however, is in positions
relating to Equal Opportunities, where
they account for 80% of all officers.
The fact that men and women
participate in NUT associations in
almost equal numbers needs to be
qualified therefore by pointing to
differences in the type of positions
they are likely to hold, particularly as
men dominate higher positions like
‘Association Secretary’. Furthermore,
the equal participation of men and
women in union associations does not
translate into equal representation of
male and female members. Here it is
necessary to refer back to the latest
figures, which show that 76% of NUT
members
are
female
(TUC
Membership Return, 2003). Equal
participation for women, ironically
perhaps, still translates into a problem
of under-representation. Figure 4
highlights this by showing the number
of union association positions held by
women in relation to the number of
positions that would be proportionate
to female membership overall.
Position in
union
association
Number
held by
women
Secretary
102
Number
proportionate
to female
membership
(76%)
225
Shortfall
Treasurer
97
209
112
President
145
195
50
Equal
Opportunities
173
164
-9
Health &
Safety
75
164
89
Teacher
Support
Network (TSN)
121
162
41
Membership
104
168
64
Totals
817
1287
470
123
Source of information on who holds association
positions: Index of NUT Annual Report 2003, ‘List of
Associations in Union 2002’ pp. 357-425.
The last column of the table in figure 4
shows the shortfall of women in
association positions relative to the
proportion of the membership who are
female. It shows that although women
are
over-represented
as
Equal
Opportunities Officers, they are underrepresented in all other areas.
Essentially, this indicates that women
NUT members are disproportionately
absent from those who participate in
association positions. This clearly
suggests a gender issue with regards to
non-participation of this type. The
question of how to increase
participation therefore requires a
consideration of the experiences of
female NUT members.
The method of showing women’s under-representation
in official union positions by calculating the number of
women required in proportion to membership numbers is
used by Anna Coote in her 1980 study. Coote includes the
NUT in this study, estimating that 66% of NUT members
in 1980 were women, yet women held only 17 out of 110
full-time officials posts (Coote 1980, 11).
10
7
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
If there’s one question that should
occupy your discussions today it is
this: how do we make unions
attractive to a generation that thinks
that unions are for their mums, and
dads especially, and not for them?
(John Monks, quoted in Talking Point,
Edition 3, April/May 2001).
Young NUT members
The national correlation between age
and trade union membership also
translates into an issue within the
NUT. Interviewees gave high priority
to the non-participation of young
people in official union positions. This
has not yet been verified in terms of a
problem of under-representation (as in
the case of women, although this is
suspected). The case of young people
is rather viewed in terms of what could
be called a ‘crisis of generation’ within
the NUT, where the majority of
existing officers reach retirement age
in five to ten years. This situation
intensifies debate around how to get
younger members actively involved in
the union. It is beyond current
evidence to say whether this generation
is in the making or not, but it can be
said that young members form a
‘critical group’ in terms of nonparticipation in the eyes of many
activists. This suggests that it is a
question of ‘cohort’ rather than ‘age’,
which is the central issue for the NUT.
One interviewee commented:
In fact, the question of how to get both
women and young members active
within unions is a widely shared
concern for those contemplating the
future of British trade unionism. This
is highlighted in a ‘Unions 21’
discussion document, stating that:
The image that a youthful workforce
has of unions needs to be questioned:
the television shows mainly old men,
younger people and women need a
higher profile. The importance of
encouraging women and young
workers to become active in unions is
massive, as within the next ten years it
is estimated that almost half of current
trade union officials will be of
retirement age (Tomorrow’s Officials:
The Role of the trade union official in
the twenty-first century, 2001, from
‘Unions 21’).
Summary
The widespread nature of membership
non-participation in the NUT means
that the ‘problem’ should be treated as
a general one. It is not, for instance,
just a question of how to get
traditionally less active groups of
members more active; the problem of
participation is not just a women’s
issue, or a youth issue, it is an issue for
the majority of members.
The knock-on effect of the age of our
committee is of concern to us, about
what happens next. I’m going to pack
up after the AGM because I’ve been
doing it for ten years now and that’s
enough, and I think we’ve got
somebody who will do it, but he’s not
that much younger than me. Looking
into the future, another ten years time,
where are the next lot going to come
from? (NUT Division Secretary, June
2004).
The NUT is not alone in its concern
over the participation of young people
in trade unions. John Monks, as TUC
General Secretary, made the following
statement in 2001 at the ‘Unions 21’11
conference:
If it is to be adequately addressed,
however, patterns relating to the
identity of those that do actively
participate must be regarded. In this
minority
group,
women
are
disproportionately absent. If we couple
this with the fact that 76% of NUT
members are women, it suggests that
‘Unions 21’ is an initiative supported by several British
trade unions joining together to address the future of the
trade union movement. They hold conferences and report
back on discussion groups around topics relevant to the
changing nature of trade unions and strategies for renewal.
11
Much of their material is web-based, including their
newsletter, Talking Point (www.unions21.org.uk).
8
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
the question of how to increase union
activism is a question of how to
increase the participation of women in
official union positions.
contributed to a social trend in which
British trade unionism is seen as past
its peak.
Some theorists suggest that this is
because the changes since 1979 have
been accompanied by socio-cultural
changes, in particular, a process of
individualisation (Bassett and Cave
1993, Phelps Brown 1990). Via this
process, workers are seen to be
primarily concerned with their private
lives and families, and approach issues
at work from an individual rather than
a collective perspective. They are
therefore less likely to want to become
involved in work-based struggles and
join trade unions. The theory of
individualisation, although related to
the decline of trade union membership
overall, does have some relevance for
the
question
of
membership
participation in unions. Accurate or
not, it may, for example, help to shed
light upon generational patterns of
participation, like those highlighted in
the case of the NUT.
The minority group of NUT activists
also suffers from a generation effect,
and the apparent absence of a cohort of
young members with ‘participation
potential’ means that the question of
how to increase union activism is also
a question of how to engage a younger
generation of members in union
affairs.
Section 3: Theories of union
participation
This section briefly introduces some
theories of union participation, selected
for the resonance they have with
interviews carried out with NUT
activists to date. Together they cover
issues of non-participation relating to;
1) the ‘disinterested’ member, 2) the
‘rational’ strategic member, 3) the
‘disaffected’ member, and 4) the
‘disconnected’ member.
The individualisation thesis suggests
that union members today are,
moreover, private consumers of the
services offered to them by the union.
The idea of an ‘active’ trade union
member is therefore something of an
anachronism according to this theory.
Instead, unions should accept members
as ‘passive consumers’ and concentrate
on the services they offer if they are to
retain numbers. Williams states:
1) The ‘disinterested’ member
As mentioned in section one, theories
relating to the decline of trade union
participation are not necessarily of
great relevance to the NUT. These
theories, emerging from industrial
relations literature, account for nonparticipation in trade unions by
pointing to the changing structure of
the labour market since the 1970s
(Disney et al 1998), the impact of
labour relations affecting union
recognition
in
private
sector
employment (Bain and Price 1983),
and the legislation of recent years
(Pelling 1992), which has acted to
compound these changes. Whilst these
developments had less of an impact on
public sector white-collar unions like
the NUT in terms of membership
numbers, they have nevertheless
The shift towards a more explicit
individualised representational and
servicing function, making unions
more like organisations that have
‘consumers’ rather than active
members, has been encouraged by
some writers (Williams 1997, 501).
It is not difficult to see why some of
the ideas relating to the process of
individualisation can be used to
9
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
account for the lesser likelihood of
younger generations getting involved
in trade unions. Socialised into
individualised modes of thinking about
work and society, young people lack
the collective ethics of a generation
before. The main problem with this
thesis, however, is that it cannot
establish whether more individualised
attitudes towards work and work
struggles are the result of a social
process of individualisation, or just the
cumulative effects of economic
restructuring and changes in the nature
of labour relations, giving younger
generations a qualitatively different
experience of unionism. Williams
offers
a
convincing
argument
supporting the latter viewpoint,
suggesting that political and economic
changes since 1979 have forced a
‘decollectivised’ approach to trade
unionism on the part of members and
union leaders. Rather than a cultural
shift in concerns, unions and members
have had no choice but to adapt to a
context in which launching collective
work-based struggles is increasingly
difficult:
(Parkin 1968, 140-145), it is perhaps
no wonder that younger cohorts of
workers are, in general, less attuned to
calls for union activism.
At this point in the research these are
merely speculations, however, and
interviews
with
younger
NUT
members will lead to a more concrete
analysis of their views. Also, this line
of thought is not necessarily implying
that young people are less ‘political’,
but rather that they are less political in
the manner of the generations before
them. This kind of approach to the
issue of youth participation was
articulated by some interviewees:
I do think that there is potentially and this is very much my feeling
rather than any work that’s been done
– an age differential. I think people
who are mid-40s and later have a
political view of unions, equally a
naive view that they can ring us up
and we’ll put it right like in the old
fashioned days when the leader would
say ‘right everybody out on strike…’
Younger people look at it I think in
two ways. Quite a lot of people in
teaching…just view it as an insurance
policy…and they see it at that level
and never think of it past that. And
then there’s another group that may be
members for that reason, but who
really don’t see unions as of much
relevance to them, I’m not even sure
they even know what unions do. They
almost don’t believe in unions –
‘that’s old fashioned’, that kind of
approach. Obviously the Thatcher
years come into all of that. But then
it’s easy to make that assumption isn’t
it, it’s just my feeling (NUT Division
Secretary, June 2004).
It is important to emphasise that the
extensive decollectivisation (and not
the individualisation) of employment
relations have brought about a
situation in which unions have been
compelled to focus on some of their
more
overtly
‘individualistic’
functions (Williams 1997, 510).
It is perhaps the impact of these kinds
of changes that create tensions between
younger generations and trade union
activism. Treated like consumers by
unions striving to survive political and
socio-economic changes, and lacking
collective experiences like 1968 that
act to cement a ‘political generation’12
2) The ‘rational’ strategic member
The idea of an individual consumer of
union services also gives resurgence to
theories of participation which
12
Heberle (1951) argues that generations are cemented by
shared experiences of decisive political events, hence the
concept of a ‘political generation’. The generation of older
union activists share experience of 1968; many NUT
activists talked about their involvement in student protests
or associated activities. In this manner, Parkin critically
discusses the concept of ‘political generation’ in relation to
youth involved in CND in the 1960s (Parkin 1968). In
contrast, the youngest generation of union members today
are often referred to as ‘Thatcher’s Children’; products of
a vastly different political context.
10
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
concentrate upon the union member as
a strategic ‘rational actor’ (see Snape
et al 2000). The ‘rational’ member has
an overtly instrumental orientation to
the union and decides whether or not to
participate through a calculated
process of reasoning. This involves
weighing up the personal costs and
benefits of involvement, such as
paying subscriptions in return for free
legal advice, help with work problems
or financial services.
strategies are suggested as ways to
increase the participation of women
by, for example, providing childcare
facilities at meetings or paying a
childcare allowance13. Many trade
unions, the NUT included, now
employ these kinds of practical
incentives for their members.
Whilst some of these ideas converge
with policies employed by trade unions
over the years to increase participation,
the rational actor approach is not
without its problems. For example, it
cannot account for why some members
do take on positions of responsibility
within unions, where the costs of
activism are high and the rewards (in
terms of concrete victories at least) are
often low. To explain this we need to
look beyond the ‘rational’ decision to
the
member’s
ideological
commitments, such as those relating to
trade unionism, democracy and other
political projects. Many studies point
to
the
relationship
between
commitment to norms and values of
this type and union activism (see
Fullagar et al 1994). For members with
these sorts of principles, participation
is itself the ‘reward’ and the idea of the
‘free ride’ is redundant (Hirschman
1982). The notion of the strategic
‘rational actor’ is limited perhaps to
looking at ‘why a worker might join a
union’, rather than ‘why members
participate within it’. Snape et al state
that:
The ‘rational actor’ may use a similar
cost/benefit calculation to decide upon
their level of participation within the
union once they become a member. As
Olson (1965) famously argued, this
poses a considerable problem for
‘collective action’ in organisations like
trade unions, where a great deal of
time and effort is expended for gains
that every member ultimately enjoys.
Why would an ordinary member
participate in a campaign, or a pay
dispute, for example, when they could
let someone else do it and still benefit
from the outcome? Olson’s answer, in
short, is that they would not. It is
‘rational’ to refrain from participation.
Instead of getting active, the rational
member would ‘free ride’ on the back
of the participation of others.
This considered, members have to be
coaxed into participation through
special ‘incentives’ enjoyed only by
those involved: ‘freebies’, service
rewards, and special insurance
schemes are amongst the most
widespread. Getting more members
involved becomes a question of how to
reduce the costs and raise the benefits
of participation for the individual.
Manzer (1970) and Roy (1968), for
example, talk about changing the times
and places of meetings, organising
social
events
and
providing
refreshments as ways of increasing
attendance at NUT meetings. Similar
Sverke and Sjoberg (1995) find that
instrumental union commitment is
related to the intention to remain a
member but not to the intention to
participate actively in the union, while
13
Feminist researchers argue that the issue of childcare
and domestic responsibility runs deeper than its practical
manifestations, however. They point to the relationship
between gender and private and public spheres of activity,
and the ways in which they contain ideological, cultural
and social barriers to the participation of women in public
life. See Siltanen and Stanworth (1984) for a
comprehensive discussion of women’s relationship to
trade union activism.
11
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
first…paradoxically few unions have
adopted the kind of flexible work
arrangements they advocate at the
bargaining table…Theirs is not an
eight-hour job; the fight for justice is
full-time (Needleman 1993, 410,
quoted in Franzway 2000, 264).
affective commitment is related to
both (Snape et al 2000, 217).
It is not necessarily the case, however,
that members who do participate in the
union are committed to some kind of
political or trade union principle,
whilst those who do not participate are
without ‘affective commitments’.
There may be other reasons, for
example, why members distance
themselves from union activism and
these may concern the nature of the
task involved, or indeed, factors
relating to the union itself. Here, it is
useful to refer to Hirschman’s study,
‘Shifting Involvements’ (Hirschman
1982) and work on women’s union
activism (Lawrence 1994, Kirton 1999,
Franzway 2000, Parker 2002).
The amount of time involved in taking
on an official position within the
union, and the risks of ‘overcommitment’ associated with it, mean
that such work is ripe with
disappointments. These do not just
surround the vast amounts of time and
workload seemingly involved in
getting anything done, but also the
realisation that public life is littered
with all the deceptions, manipulations
and
annoyances
of
private
relationships. Activists who have had
to negotiate factional conflicts within
the union will no doubt be able to
identify
with
the
type
of
disappointment Hirschman refers to in
the following statement:
3) The ‘disaffected’ member
Hirschman
(1982)
argues
that
participation in private or public life
goes
in
waves.
Driven
by
disappointments in private pursuits
(such as consumerism), people enter
into public action (such as participation
in their trade union). However, in turn,
the disappointments they experience
with public life motivate people to turn
back to the concerns of their private
lives.
Action in the public interest is thought
of as being infused with idealism, with
dedication to a cause, if not with
sacrifice for the common good. How
surprising it is then to discover, soon
enough, that political activity often
involves one in a very different set of
activities: the making of strange
alliances, the concealment of one’s
real objectives, and the betrayal of
yesterday’s friends – all of this of
course for the sake of the ‘goal’
(Hirschman 1982, 100).
There are a number of reasons why
participation in trade unions is
particularly likely to produce the kinds
of disappointments with public action
that Hirschman refers to. Many studies
stress the demanding nature of union
activism. Franzway, for instance, terms
the trade union a ‘greedy institution’ in
terms of the levels of commitment,
workload and emotional labour it
demands of its participants (Franzway
2000). She quotes Needleman’s
characterisation of the ‘committed
union official’:
Indeed, factional in-fighting was the
‘one thing’ that put the majority of
interviewees off being actively
involved in the NUT. For example,
when asked what put them off being
active, one interviewee remarked:
The in-fighting. If you want to talk to
anybody, or they want to talk to you,
there’s always a political aim…. It
always seems to be one party’s
fighting another party, yet in theory
we’re all supposed to be aiming for
the same thing and that to me doesn’t
…a workaholic, eighteen-hour-a-day
activist who always puts the union
12
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
help sell the union or make the job
easier (NUT Division Secretary,
March 2004).
National Union of Women Teachers in
192014.
In light of historical evidence, women
teachers can hardly be accused of trade
union apathy (Seifert 1987). This is not
to say, however, that gender biases in
union organisation and a general sexist
culture have not put women off
involvement in their union, either
within the NUT or elsewhere.
Lawrence (1994) for example, talks
about the barriers to women in her
study of NALGO, whilst Kirton (1999)
found evidence of sexist language,
behaviour and harassment of women in
MSF. Issues around sexism and union
culture have also been raised in
relation to the NUT by some
interviewees:
Even in cases, therefore, where the
member
has
an
ideological
commitment to union participation, the
disappointments associated with union
work may be a factor in ‘shifting
involvements’ elsewhere and driving
them to concentrate more on the
personal pursuits of their private lives.
Factors relating to union organisation
and culture are particularly prevalent in
theories accounting for the nonparticipation of women in unions.
Despite being traditionally viewed as
less inclined towards trade unionism
(Roy 1968, Manzer 1970, Crouch
1982), feminist research suggests that
it is union machinery rather than
women’s attitudes that provide a key
barrier to activism (Wertheimer and
Nelson 1975, Kirton 1999).
I don’t think I have ever been stopped
from doing anything I want because I
am a woman. So in that sense I don’t
think that discrimination exists, at that
particular point. But when you begin
to scratch beneath the surface, then
you start to get into things like culture.
And there’s a belief that it’s sort of a
bit of a male-dominated, macho
culture, you know, the trade union is a
male macho organisation etc, the
smoke-filled
rooms,
that
still
predominates in some people’s minds.
If you can’t cope with that then you
won’t survive. And it’s a very political
culture, small p political. For me it’s
interesting because we haven’t
actually sorted the women’s issue, but
it’s not the big issue. The big issue is
the race issue within the union…
that’s the level of debate. In a sense
the union thinks that it has dealt with
the women thing. But talking to one of
the training officers, it’s not
something that’s really tackled. I’ve
said it before now, what is it that’s
saying that women aren’t Division
Secretaries, why aren’t they, where
are we, what’s happening? (Female
NUT Division Secretary, January
2004).
Like any other institution in British
society, trade unions have shared in the
gender inequality and sexism of the
twentieth century. There is no better
example perhaps than the divisions in
teacher unionism, which began with
the demand for the vote and equal pay
by women teachers in 1904. Despite a
bitter battle rooted in the ideology of
the ‘family wage’, the principle of
equal pay was accepted as official
NUT policy in 1919. This recognition
sparked the formation of the National
Association of Schoolmasters (now
NAS/UWT), who opposed the victory
and broke away from the NUT to form
their own, male-only, teachers’ union.
Not content with their progress within
the NUT, however, a radical group of
women teachers also broke away to
campaign for equal pay and formed the
14
The NUWT disbanded in 1961 after equal pay had been
achieved, in law at least, for women teachers in 1955. See
Oram 1996 and Kean 1990 for detailed accounts of women
teachers and their union activism.
13
© Manchester University, Department of Sociology
Coote argues that there is no ‘mystery’
formula for increasing women’s union
activism; she suggests that unions must
‘try everything’ (Coote 1980). Much
research advocates special measures to
increase the visibility of women in
unions, such as reserved seats, womenonly meetings and conferences, and
there are strong suggestions that
increasing female role models in
unions may be an effective way to
encourage more female members to
participate themselves (see especially,
Kirton 1999).
Conclusion
This paper has
provided an
introduction to some of the issues
around trade union membership
participation in Britain, with specific
reference to the National Union of
Teachers. It is, however, far from
exhaustive. In particular, it draws upon
research to date which involves NUT
‘activists’, excluding the views of
members who do not participate, or
who may participate in less
conventional ways. Gathering and
analysing the views of this group of
union members will be the next task
for this research. Only then can the
figures and theories outlined here
really bring to life the issues around
membership non-participation.
4) The ‘disconnected’ member
This last point leads conveniently on to
the importance of ‘networks of
recruitment’
and
‘personal
relationships’ in raising membership
participation. For instance, some
studies suggest that women are more
likely to participate where they have
contact with existing networks of
women activists (Cobble 1990). The
same could perhaps be predicted for
young people. Similarly, networks
have been treated as ‘resources’ for
participation in themselves (Verba
1995, Putnam 2000). The idea here is
that quite often people participate
because somebody has asked them to.
This was found in interviews with
NUT ‘activists’, the majority of who
had taken on their role because they
had initially been asked to do so, or
because they had been immersed in an
existing network of political activity,
inside or outside of the union.
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