And finAllY...
recruit, organise, influence... only way to push our agenda Linda Tanham is leaving Mandate and moving to new role at the Labour Court
Championing the rights of workers LINDA Tanham – who has left Mandate to take up a role at the Labour Court – started her career in retail as a 16-year-old sales assistant at Roches Stores in Henry Street, Dublin. She soon became involved in the union IDATU [now Mandate], firstly as a shop committee member and later as senior shop steward. Linda’s union activity brought her to the attention of fellow shop assistants in Dublin who selected her to run for the union’s Executive Council. She was elected and later progressed to the position of National Treasurer. Linda’s interest in the issues facing shop workers and her growing reputation as a stalwart defender of workers’ rights led her to take a job as a union official based in the union’s Cork office, representing workers in Cork/Kerry. She was later to move to the union’s Western Division dealing with the interests of retailer workers from Galway to Donegal. It was during her time in the west that she successfully led thousands of Dunnes stores workers – under the Mandate banner – in two national strikes for fair play and decent contracts. Later she transferred back to her native Dublin where she had begun her journey with the union. After a number of years, she was promoted to the role of assistant general secretary with national responsibilty for the industrial relations agenda. She was also elected to the Executive Council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Her tireless work as assistant general secretary and as a member of the ICTU Executive Committee was also a time of great progress for retail and women workers. This resulted in her been selected as a board member of the Equality Authority and the National Employment Rights Authority. General secretary John Douglas said: “Linda has been a fearless advocate of workers’ rights with a keen intrest in issues facing women workers and the lower paid. “So it was no supprise when in 2011 she was choosen for the position of permanent worker representive on the Labour Court.” He added: “Mandate’s loss is the Labour Court’s gain. All workers now have a champion in the court – someone who knows the reality of working in shops and the problems facing them each day. “Linda never forgot she was a retail worker. She will continue her trade union work and we wish her every success.” March 2012
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“YOU need a fierce commitment to sustain [the fight for workers’ rights] but it’s the only way.” Brian Higgins was speaking to Shopfloor a few days before he retired as Mandate’s divisional organiser for the Mid West. The 64-year-old, who bowed out at Christmas after serving Mandate members for 29 years, was in upbeat form and looking forward to a trip to South Africa in January. But as the clock was ticking down, his mind was also focused on bigger issues – in particular the future of trade unionism. “I was opposed to the social partnership model. I didn’t think it was good for the trade union movement and, with the benefit even of hindsight, I think I’d be more convinced of that now.” Brian’s view is that social partnership made unions more “remote from the membership”. “There is less trust and there is also a problem with credibility in terms of workers in general and even the workers that we represent. I think social partnership put us in a position where we were seen to be too close to the corridors of power.” But would social partnership – had it still been in operation – have given unions an added leverage – at least with the Labour component of this coalition government? Brian is far from sure and he describes as “limited” unions’ ability to influence the current government. “Even if we had access now, I don’t think we could achieve very much, given the economy of the country is virtually governed by external forces – the so-called Troika. “They are the ones who are also responsible for these austerity measures that have been imposed upon us.” However, the fact that social partnership did not deliver on union recognition was, he suggested, a “damning indictment of the whole [social partnership] strategy”. He points out that had union recognition been enshrined in law, it would have been “very beneficial” to Irish workers. “The right to collectively bargain would have been real and lasting progress, something that was needed.” Brian also thinks that Fine Gael and Labour make a bad fit – “I don’t think that is a good combination anyway… and it is bound to create tensions.” As it stands, the government seems far from eager to listen to trade union calls for a changed approach based on social solidarity and growth. Brian puts this down to the “fierce pressure” being brought to bear by “employers, the media and other propagandists” in order to shape the agenda in favour of austerity. “That Ireland is not competitive, that we’ve priced ourselves out of the markets, that we have to cut wages – got to reduce people’s terms and conditions of employment to make ourselves more competitive. “In other words, having people working for the minimum wage. That seems to be the approach. That has gained a lot of traction in [this] government.” In the light of this, should unions become more active outside of the workplace – in communities, for example? “I think that is another area in which we’ve fallen down. We need to be making progress on all fronts – social, economic and political – in terms of educating people, generating poli-
Mandate stalwart Brian Higgins, now retired, with general secretary John Douglas Picture: John Chaney
cies and to have a real impact on people’s lives in terms of their workplace, in terms of their communities, in terms of the country as well. All our futures are linked in that respect… and we haven’t done that.” However, Brian does not think that this increased community involvement should move towards the formation of a separate political party. “There is no such thing as a quick fix in the political sense. You have to be involved at community level, at shop floor level, involved in your locality. That means opposing policies that are against working people and mobilising people against them.” However, he does emphasise the need to “politicise our membership” and to use “our influence in terms of numbers”. “Getting numbers on the streets [at demonstrations] is one thing but you ought to deliver at the ballot box as well. “That is where political parties sit up and take notice. If you deliver, they may deliver in return in terms of policies that make life better for working people.” Trade unions have shown how they can mobilise tens of thousands of people in oneoff anti-austerity demos, but where do they take it from there? “You need to have a direction, a strategy and a clear objective. I think it is very difficult to mobilise people if they don’t see progress. “It’s where we have been falling down. I remember the tax marches in the 70s. We got hundreds of thousands of people on the streets back then – but it didn’t deliver. “What happened subsequently was you had right-wing parties like the PDs and they were the ones who delivered on their neoliberal agenda. So in the end it’s down to credibility and being able to bring people with us.” Brian blames the media for “fashioning the political consensus” and “keeping people virtually in a state of fear” with so much uncertainty about their futures. “There is all sorts of fear out there. We are encountering it on the shop floor – that people are afraid to stand up or stick their head above the parapet. In some places we have had resistance to cuts being imposed – in pay, terms and conditions – but it is sporadic.”
He remains unconvinced that attempts by power elites, banks and the media to shore up the capitalist model will succeed. “I think their ability to do it is more limited now than it was in the past. It is a model based on consumerism – based on money that is borrowed rather than improving people’s conditions, their incomes and wealth. “Where all the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few, you’re bound to have problems with the system and that is exactly what has happened…” As roughly 200,000 people work the retail sector in the Republic, Brian thinks there is certainly an opportunity to boost Mandate’s membership. In the boom times of the early noughties, he claimed he detected a feeling – especially from some younger workers – that “If I’m not happy with my job, I can just go elsewhere”, because there were so many jobs available. That has now changed. “In truth, they didn’t see the need for a trade union, but now we have a lot of people coming into the office and saying, ‘My job is on the line’, ‘I’ve been dismissed’, ‘I’ve been made redundant’.” Pointing out that membership is the “life blood of any union”, he adds that the key to attracting new members lies in “the vibrancy of the organisation”. “It’s about your profile [among workers], your ability to organise and your ability to represent.” So what can unions do restore their influence in society? “The only thing we can do is restore our credibility, the trust that is required.” But having “worked at the coalface” for many years, Brian acknowledged that this is not an easy task. “You need a fierce commitment… but that is the only way. You’ve got to build from the ground up. You’ve got to organise people, but also recruit them first – and do that on an ongoing basis. “Organise and try and build it from there. Then use whatever influence you have – industrial, campaigning, whatever – in the best way possible. That is the only way to do it.” 23