CWU headquarters recently received a very interesting e-mail from Jonathon Lowe of the Martlesham Branch of the Union.
His letter reads;
I would like to make a suggestion about how to make the CWU work 'smarter not just not harder'. In these days of technology would it not make sense for all our branches to have PCs and have access to e-mail and the Internet.
The CWU could then get electronic messages to the branches faster and avoid delays in the post and use far less paper in the process. For example all the LTBs could be sent in this way. Also if all the branches had PCs the CWU home page would be accessed much more and it would become the fastest way of getting vital information to our members, and provide more feed back for yourselves.
It would be good for recruitment as many of the younger generation have access to the Internet. A recruitment page could be started to include obviously the benefits of joining the union and an application form. We need new blood.
I am sure most of our members have the necessary skills to operate a PC and for members who are not conversant with PCs, this would give them the opportunity to learn.
I know there is the argument that this costs money, but if we do not move with the times we will be left behind. The companies we work for have to spend money in order to keep up. Our Managers have all got access to PCs and e-mail so they instantly have an advantage over us !!
We must upgrade this union to survive. After all we are called the Communication Workers Union. Communication is what we do and it strikes me that we are not doing it to the best of our ability and advantage.
Yours sincerely,
JD Lowe
Well, can we meet that challenge?
The telecommunications industry currently has several radical features;
* Convergence with computing, broadcasting and entertainment - 'Multimedia'
* Development of a 'ubiquitous global virtual network'
* Phenomenally fast rate of technological and innovative development and application
* A global market driven industry
* Moves towards free market and deregulation
* The network becoming less important as the Telcos' prime source of revenue
* The 'network as a platform' for imaginative new services
* Large numbers of 'new entrants' who provide telecommunications based services - but who do not own any network or switching
* A growing skill gap between the industry's technocrats and the 'hewers of wood and the drawers of water'
* The growth of a mobile, self-employed, or part time, or casual labour force outside of the traditional 'core' workforce
If we had no personal involvement in this industry, then objectively, these would be very exciting times. But for workers in the traditional Telco networks such as BT and Mercury, these features pose huge threats and challenges. How then does the CWU protect employment levels and conditions?
JD Lowe's view is correct - "we need new blood" and the CWU must recruit widely throughout the industry. Workers organised collectively in trade unions have far better opportunities of improving their conditions than they ever could by standing alone. One of the means of reaching technological workers must be through the technology itself.
But the union must also be relevant to the needs of the growing 'casualised' workers in the new companies. Last year, we joined the Society of Telecom Executives in running Opus ll, a job placement agency for STE and CWU members leaving BT on redundancy. This is not only a service for union members, but also allows the union to 'gently' access the unorganised firms by having CWU and STE members placed there.
This type of initiative is still in its early stages, but with a bit of imagination and boldness, perhaps it is not too fanciful to imagine it developing into a means of recruitment as well as a means of membership retention.
The Internet would be the ideal way to reach those workers - for example, I am aware of 36 different telecommunications newsgroups on the Internet, and it is clear that many of the discussion contributors work within the industry. We need to reach out those people, perhaps advertising our CWU World Wide Web homepage on which we expect soon to be recruiting online. Perhaps Opus ll could be advertised and promoted in a similar way.
Already a number of Branches have Internet addresses and, sooner rather than later, the union will have to move away from being 'paper driven' to being 'issue driven' where electronic media, e-mail, becomes the standard means of communication between branches and union headquarters. Costs are a problem, but not insurmountable, as, after all, most branches already use computers. Good modems can be purchased for one or two hundred pounds and Internet subscriptions usually work out at between UKP5 and UKP15 per month.
As to JD Lowe's suggestion about getting rid of excess paperwork union - the sooner the better, though, like the man said about the paperless office, there's probably more chance of achieving the paperless toilet first.
So what do people think? Can we meet the challenges of technology and globalisation? And how do we do it?
We must hear from all shades of opinion on these crucial issues.
Donald MacDonald
17th February, 1996
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