TEU Recruitment Kit
TEU
Contents Why recruiting is essential Recruiting is easier than it sounds
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1. Map your workplace 2. Prepare beforehand 3. Start a conversation 4. Learn about the person you are talking to 5. Identify issues 6. Four reasons people might want to join TEU 7. Deal with people’s fears and worries 8. Follow up on your conversation 9. Record your results 10. Publicise your successes
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A note on new members
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Recruiting new members ‘Nobody asked me!’ - That’s the single biggest reason people give for not having joined a trade union. And the best people to recruit new members are TEU members working alongside them.
Why recruiting is essential. One of the most vital jobs for a union delegate, organiser or keen member, is to recruit new members. Organised workplaces with a high density of union membership means TEU will have much greater power to achieve our goals. Members will have a stronger sense of confidence and ability to change things, together with much higher chances of winning recognition. They will have more delegates, health and safety representatives and workplace contacts who run the union locally and ensure that the branch is truly representative and democratic. All of this means that the union will have greater influence both locally and nationally, which helps TEU campaign to improve public tertiary education, and for better pay, leave and working conditions. The union will have greater stability. The more members we have locally, the greater income the branch has to provide support for you in your job – and the less need we have to increase union fees! Remember that it is particularly important to recruit young members if TEU is to grow and be strong in the future.
How to recruit Recruiting is easier than it sounds Research shows that the main reason people in New Zealand do not join unions is simply that no one has asked them. Recruiting is most successful if done by colleagues and fellow workers which is why every member needs to be a recruiter. Successful recruiters can influence non-members to join when the union is seen to be active, has credibility, organises in a workplace and actively contacts potential members on a regular basis. An organising approach to recruitment is more likely to succeed than telling members the benefits of joining, and promising a servicing role in which members expect union staff to solve their problems for them. TEU offers lots of great services and has a team of highly experienced and respected staff, but its most valuable resource is the power of its members working collectively together for a shared goal. There are a number of specific techniques you can adopt to help you influence someone to take the step and join.
10 easy steps to recruit The best way to recruit is by talking one-to-one with non-members. That’s all there is to it. But just in case you want more help, below are some simple steps you can take to help you recruit systematically.
1.
Map your workplace
Identify the current non-members in your worksite and talk to those who seem easiest to recruit first. Identify the non members in your branch and the new staff members who have begun work recently. Write their names down on a check list. Divvy those names up among branch officials and union activists.
2.
Prepare beforehand
Consider how you present yourself to the potential member and the language you use. You need to be assertive and clear in your arguments but not pushy. A good technique is to use inclusive language such as “our union” or “your union”. Avoid union jargon as far as possible and illustrate your arguments with real-life examples of how the union has been effective in your workplace. Hopefully this kit contains all the material you should need to recruit new members but if not consider whether you need to produce your own to supplement the national materials. Let us know what works and doesn’t work.
Be familiar with the recruitment material. Have with you the membership form and the flyer ready and know what they say.
3.
Start a conversation
Approach each person on your list and offer them one of the join TEU leaflets. Introduce yourself and explain that you are a member of TEU. Use the information leaflet to highlight points about TEU (point to and discuss these things rather than just expecting them to read it). Who you are, why you are there. Possible opening sentence: •
“Hi, My name is […] and I’m a member of the Tertiary Education Union. This year we will be are negotiating our pay rise and campaigning on other important issues that affect us as tertiary education workers. It is important that you know about this because the changes we are seeking will affect you too. Have you got a minute to have a talk about it?”
4.
Learn about the person you are talking to
Ask questions that let you know more about the person you are talking to. Not just their name and their job, but what they think about important union issues. Give them an opportunity to ask questions, listen to their concerns and clarify where necessary. Give reasons to join and be involved. These can include focusing on the issues which are important to them and the need to have collective strength within the workplace to solve them.
5.
Identify issues
Anything that may be affecting your colleagues can be a basis for guiding the discussion towards the need for a union. Start by using general questions and then narrow the focus of the questions onto the details. • • • •
“How are things going here at work?” “What has changed here recently/over the last...?” “What is good about working here?” “What would you change if you could?”
If you are already aware of an issue, try one of these: • • • •
“Are you worried about...?” “What is happening about...?” “Who else could be affected...?” “How do you think you and your workmates could be affected by...?”
Or, if they are interested in what the union does, one of these: • • •
• •
“What do you think our institution will want out of this year’s negotiations?” “Are you finding your costs are going up? Is it important for us to win a pay increase that covers the increases to costs we are all experiencing?” “Do you think you will be more likely to achieve a good pay increase on your own or working collectively with over 10,000 other TEU members?” “How do you feel about your workload? What changes would you like to see made to it?” “How do you feel about staffing levels here? Would you like to see them increased?”
6.
Four reasons people might want to join TEU
1. You can earn more Each year TEU wins pay rises for our members. On average workers at unionised worksites in New Zealand earn significantly more than workers doing similar jobs at worksites without unions.
2. You’re more likely to get equal pay TEU is campaigning to bring women’s pay into line with men’s. Many TEU members are women. Equal pay for tertiary education staff means better pay for all these workers – men and women.
3. You get more holidays and leave Unions like TEU have campaigned for and won four weeks annual leave for all workers. Most TEU members now have more than four weeks leave. New Zealand unions have also successfully won better parental leave laws and flexible working hours for workers with dependent children.
4. You can help keep our tertiary education system public TEU campaigns for public ownership and control of our tertiary education system so it benefits all New Zealand staff and students, not just those who want to make a privatised profit of tax payer funded services. Union members work together to ensure we all get a fair deal. We do this by negotiating pay and conditions as a group. We have won a lot of good changes over the years, things many of us take for granted now. For example paid parental leave, fair redundancy provisions and rules about workplace health and safety. Non-union sites can have things imposed on them, but unionised workers negotiate. On your own it is hard to change things, but as a group we have more strength.
7.
Deal with people’s fears and worries
Sometimes our colleagues will have concerns about joining a union. It is important when talking to our colleagues that we aim to overcome these concerns by discussing them further. If done respectfully, it is OK to continue the discussion after someone raises a concern.
Some possible concerns you may encounter: Fear/concern: •
“Why should I join the union when I’ll get exactly the same salary and benefits without joining?”
Possible answers: • • • •
•
What makes you say that? In the past the employer has passed on what union members have negotiated so I can see why you’re saying that. Why do you think the our employer does that? There will be nothing to pass on if we are not strong. Winning on these issues will require as many people as possible to join the union and be part of winning them. Do you believe our institute will agree to fix our issues if lots of people don’t join the union and send the message that they don’t care?
Individu al Employ ment Agreem ent
Fear/concern: •
“I can’t afford to join. The fees are too high.”
Possible answers: •
• •
•
Do you know what the fees are? If not refer to the table on the subscriptions form or the website. The fee to join TEU is 0.8 percent of a member’s salary up to a maximum of $550 per year. That is only about $10.50 a week or the price of magazine and coffee. I can appreciate any money coming out of our pay can hurt; especially in the current economic environment. We need to grow our union in order to address issues that affect you too, like government under-funding, pay equity, job security and achieving a fair pay increase. And we could lose things too, like our hours of work or redundancy protection that we really need at the moment. Our fees go to running campaigns to help us get better pay. TEU members have negotiated pay increases that have more than offset the cost of the fees, however without us all belonging we won’t get our salaries up to a fair level. TEU fees are more than offset by a single pay increase negotiated collectively in a single year by TEU members
Fear/concern: •
“I don’t need a union. My employer will take care of me without a union. I get along fine with my boss”.
Possible answers: • • • •
Yes our institution is a good place to work and our union has played an important part in making it that way over many years Why do you think your employer will take care of you? Yes, other workers have had similar thoughts to you about not needing to work together to change things here. However we also know that in a lot of areas our institution has not listened to us. Pay and employment equity is a major concern, as is workload, with many staff in our institute working long hours and suffering undue stress and pressure. So in order to overcome these problems we need to work together with our institute and our union. Becoming a TEU member doesn’t mean you are anti our institution – it means you like your job and your workplace and want to make it an even better place to work.
8.
Follow up on your conversation
If the person you are talking to is keen to join give them the membership form and encourage them to fill it in then so that you can give the completed form directly to your organiser. Alternatively sit down with them at a computer and complete the online TEU application form. Only let them take away a membership form as a second, less desirable, option. Invite them to join •
“In order to win this time we need your help. We need to be stronger than we have been before, because the issues are bigger.”
The only thing left for you to do is to fill in a membership form and join up.
If the person you are talking about is not sure, or wants time to think about it, organise a time to meet them again in a couple of days. Return with a membership form and ask them if there are any questions they would like answered or concerns they would like addressed. If the person is not keen to join it is best to thank them for their time and leave them. In each instance report back to your organiser with the checklist of results (yes, maybe or no) so that she or he can follow up on the good work you have done.
9.
Record your results
Return to the map you and your team drew up of your worksite and record your progress. Note who joined, who considered joining or expressed support for TEU but has not yet joined, and who did not want to join. Record what issues you talked about and what issues others talked about. Use this information next time to focus your efforts on those people most likely to join.
10.
Publicise your successes
Publicise recruitment successes in your branch publicity and newsletters. If you turn out to be a fabulously successful recruiter, let the rest of TEU know by getting in touch with your organiser or branch president.
A note on new employees The easiest and best time to recruit a person to join TEU is when they first start their new job. Many of the same principles apply as those listed above but there are some important differences to note: 1. While you may want to map and systematically contact other non-members as a block at specific times of the year, it is important not to wait to contact new members. Talk to them as soon as you get an opportunity, welcome them to the job and let them know that there is a union they can join. 2. While conversations with other potential new members are likely to revolve around issues at your place of work, new members may not be aware or have set opinions on many of those issues. But they will be interested in how TEU works constructively and collectively to improve things at their new job. 3. New members who are keen to join may well also be keen to take up a more active role in the union. It is important to offer keen members an opportunity to get involved. Let them know about networks they can join, like the MÄ ori members’ network the women’s network the general staff network and so on.
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