The Tribune

FOR more than a century, the word union conjured up images of valuable, even life-saving protection. Unions were the working man’s guardian, the powerful big brother who had the downtrodden worker’s back. Early union leaders symbolized strength; the principles for which they stood aroused emotions even in the most cold-hearted. They wrapped their arm around a worker’s shoulder as they fought for workers’ rights. They stood for what was just, to make sure that labour got fair pay, decent hours and were not subjected to unfair or unsafe working conditions. Union leaders rose from the ranks, they carried placards, they went to great lengths to demand rights, to jail if need be. And they earned the respect and admiration of not only those they protected, but of those who resisted the swelling labour movement.

But then something happened.

What unions were demanding on behalf of their members was becoming reality.

Conditions improved. Pay increased. Workers got contracts. No longer were women who sliced off a finger afraid to leave their sewing machine in a clothing factory for fear that the next immigrant would take their job. Laws prohibiting child labour were passed and enforced. Unions had performed miracles. They demanded and got respect for labour. Much of their raison d’être faded but union leaders who discovered that their position entitled them to enticing benefits had little interest in packing their bags and going away. Long after the initial reason for their rise, they dug in their heels and became entrenched in the business world.

Did they ignore the reduction in membership? Were they blindsided by changing opinion or turning a blind eye? In the most frequently quoted study, 16 of 20 countries reported a serious decline in union membership between 1970 and 2003. By 2010, union membership in the US had fallen from nearly 35 per cent to under 15 per cent. For the first time, the majority of people polled reported an overall negative view of unions than those who felt positively with many respondents stating they felt too many public workers were overpaid.

The US was not alone. In Australia, union membership fell from a high of 50.2 per cent in 1970 to 22.9 per cent in 2003; in France comparable numbers were a high of 21.7 per cent to a mere 8.3 per cent. Of 196 countries in the world, it is believed that only four (Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium) have experienced an increase in union membership in recent decades.

If unions are no longer the protector of the worker who would surely be abused if it were not for their all-seeing eyes, what they have become is a business. They make deals, attempt to sway politicians and elections. And like any business, they need customers to succeed. For them, customers paying union dues are the equivalent of the jingle in a cash drawer of a store or the income derived from fees by a service provider. In exchange, they perform a service, often making it easier for management or ownership to agree terms and conditions by having one source to negotiate with rather than depending upon its own HR department to tackle upcoming contracts, though that is changing as performance-based incentives and pay increase are going in popularity, and will eventually likely replace seniority as a reason for salary increases.

As businesses, unions cannot continue to be analog in a digital age. They must make themselves relevant and attractive to appeal to customers and those customers have every right to purchase what the union has to offer or to say “No, thanks.” The customer must not be shamed into being a union shop or being ostracized and thought of as somehow less than honourable. We have seen a text book case with Sandals Royal Bahamian, one of more than a dozen resorts operated by an award-winning company that has brought life, jobs, opportunities, financial benefits and distinctive branding to the Caribbean. Staff on some of the company’s properties in other islands are unionized. So long as Sandals Royal Bahamian does not break any labour laws of The Bahamas it has every right to decide whether it wants to be a union shop or not. It is neither right nor wrong and should not be judged based on whether it has a union but on what it brings to The Bahamas visitor experience and how satisfied its staff, guests, vendors and suppliers are.

There is a straightforward lesson in this for the labour movement. Unions can choose to live in the past or make themselves relevant for a new era, offering training and upgraded skills certification for members. They have an opportunity to build pride in the act of labour, to coordinate scholarships, offer counselling services, family assistance following birth, death, divorce, moving house. They can negotiate better insurance rates for members, or better lending terms with local banks. They can organise retirement and other financial planning.

Unions are businesses and as such can succeed not by pointing fingers but by paving a new pathway to the future of the services they offer that others will want to buy.