SESSION I: Training and Union Growth in a Global Economy

This session will present the experience of three European countries that have grappled with changes in the workforce, challenges to unions and the use of training and skills development as a way to stabilize and even expand membership. Members of the panel will discuss the similarities and the differences of the experience in their respective countries.

Dr. John Lloyd from the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in the United Kingdom, will lead off with how workforce development has become a key element in what the AEEU describes as its "partnership" strategy. Dr. Lloyd has developed this set of ideas for the AAEU and the general approach has also been largely adopted by the Trades Union Congress.

The unions have arrived at the workforce/partnership approach after years of being battered and blamed for the U.K.'s economic problems—a factor in the election of Margaret Thatcher and subsequent conservative governments. And while the election of a Labor government has provided significant help to the unions, parts of the unfavorable legislation from previous governments remain in place. Further, the Labor government is deeply committed to make the U.K. a leader in the global economy—what the foreign minister portrays as "Global Britain."

Given the large role played by world commerce in the British economy and the ties many British jobs have to the investment of international corporations in the U.K., the options for trades unions are limited. In the new environment, mere "militancy" is no longer an option.

Dr. Lloyd will discuss not only the training and updating of the British workforce, but also show how a collaborative effort with management is important to the success of the program. Britain's problems were unfairly laid at the door of the unions, when in fact the question of management competence should have had a higher priority. Unions have to make sure that British industry is professionally managed so as to compete successfully in the international market, providing British workers with jobs and a higher standard of living.

None of this is easy and Dr. Lloyd will discuss the kinds of cultural change that is necessary for success.

Morton Bahr, President of the Communication Workers of America, will speak about the adaptation CWA has had to make in dealing with the restructuring of the telecommunications industry in the U.S., a change also fueled by rapid technological advances that undermined the traditional jobs that workers had come to expect. Workforce education has been a key element in the union response to these developments. Not all of this is smooth sailing. While a joint effort with management on training has offered a new opportunity for saving work and expanding opportunities for the members of the union, it has also required at times serious confrontation with the management to force them to recognize the needs of the workers and their union.

Dr. Dieter Eich, as General Director of the DGB Bildungswerk in Germany, oversees the union federation's work in the education and training area. As much or more than any other nation, German unions have been justly proud of their innovations in providing the kinds of training and apprenticeships that prepare young workers for a place in the economy. While that system is more or less in place, the DGB has been faced with a succession of problems: unemployment, in part due to the merger of East and West; outsourcing to suppliers so that they are in competition with others; new products and work methods requiring new kinds of skills; growth of services; and relative decline of manufacturing and a drop in union membership. While Germany's social benefits remain quite high, these may prove difficult to sustain in today's global economy.

Pasquale Inglisano of the Confederazion Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori (CISL) will report on the special problems of Italian labor, emphasizing the "gray market" which takes many workers out from under the protection of law and the unions and the increasing role of temporary workers, supplied by a new array of private agencies. While the unions have been relatively successful in retaining membership compared to many other countries, they see the temporary worker phenomenon and the gray market undermining their ability to maintain control over the labor market, either by the unions or through legislation. Therefore, there has been a fundamental decision by CISL to recruit systematically and provide training for this growing sector of the labor force. Brother Inglisano will also discuss how training ties in with the efforts of CISL to organize.