Black Minority Ethnic Groups Views of Trade Unions ...

Black Minority Ethnic Groups Views of Trade Unions Transport House,

Ian Fitzgerald and John Stirling

John Dobson Street,

Northumbria University

Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8TW

Tel: 0191 232 3175 Fax: 0191 232 3190

U N I V E R S I T Y Work and Employment Research Centre

Sustainable Cities

Research Institute

Beverley Prevatt-Goldstein (Chief Executive - BECON)

Executive Summary

BECON (Black and Ethnic Minority

Introduction

Community Organisations’ Network)

As a part of the process of building links with the black minority ethnic (BME) community this report was commissioned by the Northern TUC to establish a base line for building effective relationships of mutual benefit.

8 Jesmond Road West Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4PQ Telephone: (0191) 245 3850

Habib Rehman (Representative – Teesside Awaaz Federation) Teesside Awaaz Federation PO Box 16 St. Mary’s Centre 82-90 Corporation Road Middlesbrough

It is based on an interview programme with key individuals who, through their BME group association, had access and knowledge of the regional BME communities. The overall aim was to provide a series of gateways into the regional network of BME groups to facilitate mutual engagement.

Harry Shukla (ex Director - Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council) Telephone: (0191) 243 3620

Barry Yu

By far the largest finding of the survey was that lack of knowledge of trade unions and their functions was the key to future development. There is a clear lack of knowledge, and therefore engagement, on the part of BME communities and some representatives regarding the importance of trade unions in the workplace. There is also an equally important lack of knowledge, and therefore engagement, on the part of lay and full-time officials with regard to BME communities and the diverse and rich cultures and traditions that they bring.

The Regional BME Community

Over a third of BME Group interviewees specifically argued that language and cultural issues were an important barrier to engagement.

What is clear from national and Regional data is the continuing extent of discrimination both within and outside the workplace. A recent Northern TUC report highlighted many of the problems faced by BME Groups (TUC 2002: Tackling the Barriers to Skills and Learning). As previously described in Tackling the Barriers to Skills and Learning, unemployment rates, training participation and earnings for ethnic minority groups are lower than their white counterparts in the UK in general and in the North East in particular.

(Chairman - North East Chinese Association:) North East Chinese Association

Obstacles to Engagement

Telephone: (0191) 232 0868

The Northern region has a strong base of trade unionism with a history of industrial struggle in heavy industries and unions are dominated by white memberships. This whiteness, not unsurprisingly, does not go unnoticed by BME communities, as one group participant noted ‘I think that trade unions give the impression of being very white organisations’.

22

Lack of knowledge

There were two main areas of discussion with BME representatives, firstly the extent of BME group and community engagement with trade unions. Secondly a discussion of how this area could be developed in the future. The findings are discussed under the two main headings of Obstacles to Engagement and Developing the Relationship.

TS1 2RW Telephone: (07773) 089 892

Obstacles to engagement were identified under three main areas; Lack of knowledge, Language and culture, and Racism.

Language and culture

Overall there was a feeling that unions and their representatives do not do enough to engage with BME communities and membership or in fact understand the different culture and language of people. Racism The issue of racism was not identified as a major barrier to developing unionisation although given the findings on lack of knowledge and engagement in trade unions this is perhaps not surprising. Only three people made a significant reference to it. All trade union interviewees, though, identified this as a major obstacle to growth. The NTUC Regional Secretary discussed inherent and institutional racism, which is perceived by those external to the movement. He also noted the lack of race awareness amongst activists and much of the discussion of racism goes back to the issue of lack of knowledge of other people’s religions, cultures and beliefs.

i

Developing Relationships The study identified a positive approach to engagement with BME groups, 12 of the 16 BME group interviewees said they would welcome trade union contact (Appendix one). There was an indication that in the 1970s a considerable amount of work had been undertaken with regard to establishing links and membership gains and this had declined. There are clear lessons here for the future. Four main areas of activity were identified as key to developing relationships; Regional strategies, Local strategies, Education, and Mainstreaming. Regional strategies With the renewed impetus of fascist political activity, trade unions are increasingly involved in regional engagement strategies. The NTUC Regional Secretary argued that there is a vision of anti-fascism based on a broad partnership (including churches, local politicians, Racism Red Card, community activists, wide range of trade unions, officers and activists). The most significant current development is the TUC anti-racist regional coalition, with its district structure. This is a regional coalition of locally based groups responding to local level fascist political activity.

interviewee stated ‘workshops, briefings, seminars and forms of communication need to be developed to involve people, as at the moment these are non existent’. Education BME group interviewees were noticeably critical of trade union representatives’ awareness of religious and cultural issues, or more importantly their awareness that these groups were significantly different to their more traditional white membership. Training for members and stewards in these issues is being developed, with the NTUC Regional Secretary noting on-line and day school based training being used to tackle racism. But it is piecemeal and needs to be extended.

Executive Summary

i

Local strategies

11

Introduction

i

Local political campaigns

11


i

Tea and biscuits introductions

11


i

Innovative activities

12

Developing Relationships

ii

Education

13

Recommendations

ii

Mainstreaming

14

Introduction

2

Recommendations

16


3

Introduction

16


4

Taking Action

17

Mainstreaming Trade union interviewees were positive about trying to mainstream anti-racism and equalities, with some already trying to develop this. ‘We’re about mainstreaming as equalities isn’t just an add-on, we need to view every piece of work from an equalities perspective and analyse if we are addressing this’ (Chair - UNISON Branch). Race awareness and equalities should be further integrated into shop steward training.

Recommendations Local strategies

Action is required in four key areas:

Three main paths were identified for developing engagement with BME communities:

1. The continued development of awareness of the challenges faced by BME communities within trade unions at all levels.

Lack of knowledge

5

Innovative Action

18

2. A sustained exercise in listening to the needs and problems of BME communities.

Language and culture

6

Concluding Comments

19

Racism

7

References

20

Developing Relationships

8

Appendix One

21

Regional strategies

9

Key BME group contacts

21

Local political campaigns; One of the key messages here is that whilst creating sustainability in predominantly white areas is crucial it was also vital to develop activity in the BME local communities, through developing links with BME groups. Tea and biscuit introductions; The overwhelming response to questions of union engagement in BME communities was that trade union representatives needed to ‘venture’ into communities and speak to groups of people and individuals. Innovative activities; There was discussion of trade unions undertaking forms of communication that have not been widely used in the past. As a BME group

ii

Contents

3. A programme of effective communication that raises awareness of the ways in which trade unions and BME groups can work together. 4. The permeation of NTUC and union regional structures and activities with information and action related to the development of strategic alliances with BME groups around specific issues.

1


Introduction The fact that racism is divisive and weakens working people’s collective strength, with groups that should be fighting together fighting against each other, is axiomatic. But it can also be an abstraction unless it is translated from a slogan into reality. These links between black workers and organised labour, and the benefits that would arise from them, do not simply emerge by osmosis. They have to be deliberately and conscientiously forged and facilitated. (TUC: Rooting out Racism 2000a) This quote from the TUC’s Stephen Lawrence Task Group Report provides a starting point for our analysis here. The links between trade unions and black minority ethnic (BME) groups in the Northern Region offer benefits to both but the relationships must be built – we cannot just expect them to be there. As a part of the process of building those links this report was commissioned by the Northern TUC to establish a base line for building effective relationships of mutual benefit. The report is based on an interview programme with key individuals who, through their black minority ethnic group association, had access and knowledge of the regional BME communities. The overall aim was to provide a series of gateways into the regional network of BME groups to facilitate mutual engagement. The method of approach for achieving this aim was to identify representative organisations and individuals and carry out a series of semi-structured interviews using telephone and face-to-face contact. BME group representatives and appropriate union officials were identified through the NTUC and through the latest edition of Ethnicity North East (GONE 2003). In all 16 individuals provided the BME group representative data, of these: six were direct BME group representatives; six community workers who worked with large numbers of BME groups of a particular ethnic or ethnic gender type; and four key people who had extensive knowledge of Northern BME groupings. Access to these people was difficult but their overwhelming response was positive once contacted and interviewed. Five key trade union officials were contacted who were involved in trying

to engage BME groups and communities. There were two main areas of discussion with BME representatives, firstly the extent of BME group and community engagement with trade unions. Secondly a discussion of how this area could be developed in the future. The trade union representatives were asked about their perception of union engagement with BME groups and populations and how they thought this was being, or could be, improved. Although the remit of this project is to assist in opening up engagement with BME groups, a BME group representative sounded a note of caution. Whilst she believed that involvement with BME groups would help obtain greater involvement of BME people this, she believed, was not one of the main problems:

I don’t think the issue is necessarily about the links being poor; it’s about the practise being poor and the perception of the practise being even poorer. The links come in to try to improve the perception but that is no good if the practice is still poor. (Chief Executive - BECON) Another BME group representative also restated the need for unions to introduce wholesale change ‘the unions in the North East are firefighters. If they do not change this they will be a thing of the past’ (elected community leader – Tees Valley). Many important issues are contained within these comments and the remainder of this report discusses these issues (Obstacles to engagement) and identifies a number of positive responses (Developing the relationship), all of which are being undertaken by unions but in a disjointed way and to varying degrees. We begin with a very brief review of the continuing problems facing BME communities in the Region and the UK as a whole.

The Northern Region is often portrayed as one where there are small BME communities with few problems. As the latest census figures indicate there are, in reality, strong and significant BME communities in the Region. Nearly 34,000 people from BME communities live in Tyne and Wear and over half that number again lives in the Tees Valley. The biggest single group is of Pakistani ethnic origin (14,074) with the Chinese (10,263) and Indian (10,156) communities coming close behind (table 1). Alongside this is the growing refugee and asylum seeker population in the Region and populations have grown and will grow as people settle. At present there are well over 40 different refugee or asylum groups. An interviewee noted that since April 2000 the number of Asylum seekers in the region has grown from around 150 to approximately 5,000 with an overall refugee population of around 20,000. All these communities bring a powerful and exciting ethnic diversity to the Region and questions of their size overshadows the more important issue of building strong working relationships even if the population size were only ten people.

What is clear from national and Regional data is the continuing extent of discrimination both within and outside the workplace. A recent Northern TUC report highlighted many of the problems faced by BME Groups (TUC 2002). For example, unemployment rates for ethnic minority groups (Labour Force Survey data 2000 in TUC 2002) are 18.2 in the North East (14.8 in the UK) compared to 8.7 for the white community. As is clear from the figures, BME people in the Region suffer from significantly higher levels of unemployment. In terms of qualifications 16 per cent of the white population in the UK have no qualifications and one in five of the ethnic minority communities. In the North East 22 per cent of the white population have no qualification and one in four of ethnic minority communities. Such problems lead on to further discrimination at work. A recent TUC analysis of Labour Force Survey data showed discrimination in higher-level jobs:

Table 1: BME population in the North East Area

Afo/Carribean Bangladeshi

Chinese

Indian

Pakistani

Other

Other Asian

Total Pop 493,471

County Durham 971 (0.19%)

163 (0.03%)

1,440 (0.29%)

916 (0.18%)

229 (0.05%)

377 (0.08%)

993 (0.2%)

Tees Valley

2,514 (0.39%)

595 (0.09%)

1,893 (0.29%)

2,410 (0.37%)

7,401 (1.16%)

803 (0.12%)

2,376 (0.37%) 638,844

Darlington

517 (0.52%)

284 (0.29%)

370 (0.38%)

427 (0.44%)

86 (0.09%)

125 (0.13%)

288 (0.29%)

97,838

Hartlepool

189 (0.21%)

73 (0.08%)

169 (0.19%)

187 (0.21%)

204 (0.23%)

98 (0.11%)

122 (0.14%)

88,611

Middlesbrough

1,002 (0.74%)

77 (0.06%)

558 (0.41%)

846 (0.63%)

4,839 (3.59%) 269 (0.2)

865 (0.64%)

134,855

Redcar & C’land 245 (0.18%)

111 (0.08%)

218 (0.16%)

167 (0.12%)

285 (0.2%)

93 (0.07)

354 (0.25%)

139,132

Stockton-on-Tees 561 (0.31%)

50 (0.02%)

578 (0.32%)

783 (0.43%)

1,987 (1.11%)

218 (0.12%)

747 (0.42%)

178,408

Tyne and Wear

4,466 (0.41%)

5,186 (0.49%)

6,256 (0.58%)

6,134 (0.57%)

6,217 (0.58%)

1,597 (0.15%) 4,120 (0.38%)

1,075,938

Gateshead

612 (0.32%)

120 (0.06%)

677 (0.35%)

490 (0.26%)

491 (0.26%)

191 (0.1%)

472 (0.25%)

191,151

Newcastle

1,760 (0.68%)

2,607 (1%)

3,231 (1.24%)

3,098 (1.19%)

4,842 (1.86%)

577 (0.22%)

1,737 (0.67%)

259,536

North Tyneside

739 (0.38%)

493 (0.26%)

954 (0.5%)

647 (0.34%)

178 (0.09%)

219 (0.11%)

458 (0.24%)

191,659

South Tyneside

598 (0.39%)

812 (0.53%)

420 (0.27%)

970 (0.63%)

306 (0.2%)

354 (0.23%)

687 (0.45%)

152,785

Sunderland

757 (0.27%)

1,154 (0.41%)

974 (0.35%)

929 (0.33%)

400 (0.14%)

256 (0.09%)

766 (0.27%)

280,807

223 (0.07%)

674 (0.22%)

696 (0.23%)

227 (0.07%)

194 (0.06%)

429 (0.14%)

307,196

Northumberland 526 (0.17%)

Data from 2001 Census

2

3

The "management/supervisory gap" between black and white employees has widened over recent years, increasing from 4.6 percentage points in 1992 to 5.7 percentage points in 1999. At the beginning of the decade 30 per cent of white employees were managers or supervisors compared to 25.4 per cent of black employees. By 1999 the proportion of black employees in such positions fell to 24.7 per cent while the equivalent for white employees had increased to 30.4 per cent. (TUC 2000c) Such discrimination inevitably impacts on pay too. The Northern Region TUC report showed that ‘the average hourly rate for a white male was £8.34 compared to £6.87 for a Pakistani/Bangladeshi man and £7.73 compared to £6.43 for the same categories of women’ (TUC 2002). Data from the London School of Economics (reported in Labour Research 2000) demonstrates how important trade unions are in changing those statistics.

Black and Asian workers employed in companies where trade unions are recognised, and are covered by collective bargaining, are a massive 32 per cent better off in their pay packets. Black and Asian employees covered by collective bargaining receive an average hourly rate of £8.95 while those not covered receive £6.77 an hour - a union premium of £2.18 an hour. For white employees the collective bargaining premium is 10 per cent, or 78p an hour in cash terms. The TUC report Black, Unionised and Better Paid [TUC 2000b] also discloses how unions protect black and Asian employees from pay discrimination. It shows that the average hourly rate for black and Asian employees not covered by collective bargaining is some 14 per cent lower than their non-union white counterparts. While black and Asian employees covered by collective bargaining are actually paid 3 per cent higher than the hourly pay of white employees. It is clear from this that while there remains much still to be done, close working relationships between trade unions and BMEs can bring real and significant gains.

4

Obstacles to Engagement The Northern region has a strong base of trade unionism with a history of industrial struggle in heavy industries. Given that it has also not had the same levels of immigration as in other parts of England (GONE 2003) and levels of BME population, whilst growing, still remain comparatively low (see table 1), it is perhaps not surprising to find unions dominated by white memberships. However, as immigrant populations have moved into their second, third and forth generations the predominance of white membership has remained. The whiteness of trade unionism, not unsurprisingly, does not go unnoticed by BME communities, as one group participant noted ‘I think that trade unions give the impression of being very white organisations’ (Chief Executive - BECON). Others supported this view:

‘The presumption is that trade unions are the majority white and are not representative of any community group from a different ethnic background.’ (Representative - Racial Equality Development Initiative) ‘There is scepticism that unions can solve BME peoples’ problems. The trade union culture is a ‘white man’s’ dominant culture; I mean there is not enough promotion of BME engagement with the union. In the North East you can’t see any real involvement whilst in the South East you find people involved but up here you find it slow to include BME people.’ (Elected community leader – Tees Valley) However, the response of BME group representatives was very positive with regard to engaging the non-white community ‘they can be a very good target for unions, because these people need somebody to represent them’ (community worker - Iranian and Black groups). Whilst another ex-employer representative believed that ‘trade unions are more acceptable now. The union movement should be for everybody’ (Chairman - North East Chinese Association). For some the key to engagement in this area was that ‘community group workers are mainly not involved in unions, therefore BME people are also not’ (representative - Teesside Awaaz Federation).

It is important to note that the BME group engagement strategy is recognised by trade unions, as a lay UNISON official revealed when discussing the anti-racist work being undertaken ‘trying to do more sustainable longterm work in communities has as its key developing greater links with BME groups’ (Chair - UNISON Branch). A rider to this, though, was made by some BME representatives who argued that there were firstly significant barriers to BME employment, as identified earlier, therefore trade union membership was not an issue ‘many of the Bengalis are unemployed so trade unions are low on their agenda. In one way you have missed a step out here’ (community worker Bengali and African groups). Others also noted the tradition of working in family businesses. The remainder of this section discusses the obstacles to membership under three main headings; Lack of knowledge, Language and culture, and Racism.

Lack of knowledge

A Chinese community spokesman also noted that:

Although people know of unions they do not fully understand what they represent and how they can help. That needs to be addressed clearly to people. People need to be made aware of the unions and have it explained. Otherwise people will become alienated from them or not want to get involved because they don’t understand them. (Chairman - North East Chinese Association) This was clearly demonstrated by comments from other BME group representatives:

Trade unions are not spoken about. (Chief Executive - BECON) To be honest I don’t really know much about trade unions and the issue of trade unions has never come up before with the local women. Maybe it needs to as people are employed, they are working, and there are problems that they are facing so it should be an issue. (Community worker - Asian and Black women’s groups)

By far the largest finding of this part of the survey was that lack of knowledge of trade unions and their functions was the key to future development. Of the 16 BME Group interviewees 14 identified a lack of knowledge and therefore future engagement in trade unions. This lack of knowledge can be understood as two sides of the same coin and moves through non-membership to membership and non-employment to employment. There is a clear lack of knowledge, and therefore engagement, on the part of BME communities and some representatives regarding the importance of trade unions in the workplace. But critically there is also an equally important lack of knowledge, and therefore engagement, on the part of lay and full-time officials with regard to BME communities and the diverse and rich cultures and traditions that they bring.

There is not enough information; I think the problem is that people have just not had the involvement so they don’t know what unions are or what they can do for them. (Community worker - Millin Centre)

On the membership side, many noted the barriers caused by being outnumbered in meetings and being constrained by language and culture, discussed later. Because of this people argued that trade unions are not really an important issue and that there is therefore very limited experience of trade union engagement ‘working BME people do not have very much to do with the trade union unless it effects them personally i.e. through racial discrimination or redundancy’ (representative - Racial Equality Development Initiative).

An interviewee from an anti-racist group recognised the overall problem of communication with BME people ‘there is an issue in trying to engage other communities and making sure they understand the agenda that we’re pursuing is relevant to them as well’ (TWAFA).

People are not aware of unions or their rights. There is a lack in representation when people from the BME community get a job; unions are not something they would get involved in, people believe it might go against them. (WEA Community Liaison Officer) Unfortunately, at a practical level trade unions are doing very little at all, I deal with a whole range of people from the low paid, unskilled, to professional people and trade unionism is non existent. (Representative - Teesside Awaaz Federation)

The project team also spoke to community workers who were dealing with the latest BME communities to arrive in the region. Asylum/refugee integration has provoked the type of open, vile racism associated

5

with the initial settling of early immigrant groups. One respondent stated that ‘employment is now the number one factor for community groups because advancing and promoting employment is the only thing that will secure people living long term in the North East’. Even though she identified that there is already an established illegal labour market in sectors such as food processing, which is low paid, flexible, cash in hand, with no language or UK qualification barriers. She believed, as did other interviewees, that people are interested in taking part in trade unions but are not sure how to:

Even though some people have a bad feeling about trade unions because of their experiences in their own countries. The main problem is that they don’t know how the British trade union movement is structured and what its political weight is and the services it can offer. (North East Refugee Forum worker) There was ample evidence that BME people are open to engagement but the message is clear that this is not being adequately addressed. A major reason for this is to be found in the traditional development of unions in the region. The regional ‘whiteness’ of trade unions has clearly dictated the whiteness of regional trade union structures with only two BME full-time officers and very low levels of lay officials. As a black full-time official noted ‘given the heavy industry of the past you can see why we accumulated a lot of middle-aged white males. However we’re beyond that now because over a period of time heavy industry has declined, its not as much as it was, industry is more diverse now and so are the people that work in it’ (GMB full-time official). The NTUC Regional Secretary recognised this believing that unions have a lack of knowledge in this area and importantly a lack of confidence. This comes through in not only the attitudes but also basic awareness of officials:

I’m fed up with people saying why don’t we get a better understanding of religions, because the amount of people who say to me oh you understand because its your religion and I say its not the religion it’s the culture. You have to differentiate between the two. (GMB full-time official)

6

She went on to ask:

Why are we still having this conversation coming into the 21st century? By marginalising equal opportunities issues, treating them as an add on to what we do we got it wrong. We have to get our officers into this as the mainstream, I used to invite them to Eid parties [a major Muslim religious festival] and they would come back and say that was great. We need a situation where people are seen as trade unionists and not women, BME, [or] disabled but that’s a long way off. We have a lot of barriers to get through until then, perhaps it’s their own way of dealing with things or they don’t see equal opps as relevant.. There’s some fantastic things going on and people should open their minds or they will be just stuck. (GMB full-time official) Given the general opinion expressed here by BME group representatives that people do not engage with trade unions due to a lack of knowledge, it is not surprising to find much lower numbers of interviewees discussed issues such as language, culture and racism as significant barriers to sustained engagement. Although this is not to argue that all of these are not significant, they are, and in fact operate to the detriment of sustainable membership and growth.

Language and culture Over a third of BME Group interviewees specifically argued that language and cultural issues were an important barrier to engagement. Again this crossed the boundary between non-membership and membership. ‘Language is a problem but more importantly people aren’t aware of the cultural issues, religious issues and backgrounds of BME people’ (community worker - Millin Centre). Others agreed noting that:

Even when we are in unions I feel as if it does not matter what we say. Language and culture are really a barrier and people do not understand what trade unions can do for them. (Community worker Asian and Black women’s groups)

You always feel outnumbered at meetings with the barrier of language and culture that is why people have little experience of unions. (Representative - Racial Equality Development Initiative) Union meetings I go to never have anybody other then white people. Language and cultural problems are one our main barriers. (WEA Community Liaison Officer) The interviewees who discussed the large Chinese community also noted the other side of this, arguing that their community was very difficult to engage with:

The Chinese community as a whole it is quite a closed group. The majority of the community is engaged in catering and here the employer has a lot of power. There is a lot of subtle resistance. But there is also a lot of fear among employees; they really would not like to upset the employer. Although, the business community is becoming quite vibrant now and much larger than it used to be, so you have more choices of jobs. (Community worker - Chinese community) Another Chinese interviewee concurred with most of this view but disagreed over the issue of ‘fear’ he believed:

That people are not scared. The community is now expanding into other areas of work. This is because the first and second generations worked in family businesses but the third and forth can not all be sustained by this and in five years I believe around 30% will be in other occupations. Many though still feel that they are bound by the employee-employer relationship and sometimes that is not the fact. I think it is important to get people involved because they need advice and help with health and safety etc. (Chairman - North East Chinese Association) Overall there was a feeling that unions or more correctly officials do not do enough to engage with BME communities and membership or in fact understand the different culture and language of people. If we take the example of the Chinese community as a model for other BME communities, it is clear that organisers need to work differently to how they would with the more traditional white communities.

Racism The issue of racism was not identified as a major barrier to membership growth, although given the findings on lack of knowledge and engagement in trade unions this is perhaps not surprising. Only three people made a significant reference to it, with one arguing ‘in the 70s people were willing to challenge racism in the unions but I think that people have become as de-motivated as other people in challenging the status quo’ (Chief Executive - BECON). A very significant expression of the importance of racism was made by a BME group representative in Teesside, he argued that:

There is absolute hostility here; the local authority and established political leaders in the North East have a tight grip over who gets involved. In the current climate in Middlesbrough it’s not good. I myself have tried to be involved through the Labour Party but there was a lot of resentment and hostility towards me and they’re using the black representatives that there are as puppets. The movement needs to allow those who can speak English, who know the issues, to come to the forefront then we can begin to move forward. (Representative - Teesside Awaaz Federation) Interestingly, one trade union official believed that there was a major difference between the situation in Newcastle and Teesside:

Many community leaders in Newcastle have been community leaders for years and are linked in with a lot of the local authorities. Their perception is completely different. It’s an institutionalised structure in Newcastle unlike Teesside, which lacks leadership. On the positive side, though, due to the difficulties of fascist political parties last year we have developed broad based coalitions. If we can get more leaders from the BME community and they’re more visible perhaps then other BME people will begin to join. (GMB full-time official) The Teesside Awaaz Federation representative agreed noting that ‘we’ve had stop the war demonstrations and had to import ethnic minority speakers from Sheffield and Newcastle, there was nothing in the Middlesbrough and Stockton area’.

7

Importantly for future BME member growth all trade union interviewees identified racism as an important issue for the trade unions, and all spoke of ‘putting our house in order’, ‘we have to put under the microscope what happens within our own organisations. We have to put our own house in order’ (Chair - UNISON Northern Region Black Members Committee). The NTUC Regional Secretary discussed inherent and institutional racism, which is perceived by those external to the movement. He also noted the lack of race awareness amongst activists and much of the discussion of racism goes back to the issue of lack of knowledge of other people’s religions, cultures and beliefs. One of the trade union officials gave an insight into the problems of the selection process at a lay level ‘we desperately need shop stewards, we desperately need activists, so that desperation takes over and you pick anyone’ (GMB full-time official). She also discussed the issue of full-time officials and how they focused on this area:

We have increased our women officers and I was the first Asian officer in the regional movement, AMICUS have just taken on another one but …The problem is that the attitude is now we’ve got an Asian officer she’ll recruit in the Asian community and that’s rubbish. At the end of the day I’m a trade unionist. We did do a race audit, which came to the conclusion that there was institutionalised racism; there were elements of it and in a top down approach to advocating change people don’t look to themselves. It’s got to be General Secretary’s office to regional secretary and officers, because the way I see it we get that right, it will encourage those who look after the areas to take it on. (GMB full-time official) Another lay official argued that racism was prevalent in workplaces too, he argued that ‘yes we have severe problems with racism because of the institutional racism of local government. Due to legislation … people have adopted different techniques’ (Chair - UNISON Northern Region Black Members Committee). Although, the full-time official gave an instance of racist terms in use in the common discourse ‘recently a shop steward said to me we

8

always go to the local (racist remake abut the Chinese) and I said should we really be saying that. To be honest he didn’t get offended and you have to challenge people’ (GMB full-time official). But probably the most recent and overt expression of this has been with regard to the issue of asylum seekers:

We did some work on the asylum seeker issue in our union and we found people asking why we were doing this, wasting our time on this. Then some stewards said that they felt unable to raise the issue of asylum because they would be shouted down, it was politically incorrect. It was clear to us that a large number of people were influenced by the right wing perspective. (Chair - UNISON Branch) Given the findings in this section there is a clear need to develop strategies that are not only sustainable but are seen as part of the mainstream of union work. This has to occur before the more radical alternatives of expulsion begin to be commonly introduced (Searchlight – The great Unreported Debate), the next section offers a number of distinct but linked strategies for BME group and community engagement.

Developing Relationships The study identified a positive approach to engagement with BME groups, 12 of the 16 said they would welcome trade union contact and a further three were undecided, only one said that she did not feel she could help further (Appendix one). But a cautious note was sounded with regard to the type and content of contact ‘I’m against being involved in a talking shop with meeting after meeting’ (elected community leader – Tees Valley). One of the most significant contributions for future BME engagement strategy came from the ex-Director of Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council (REC). He identified that in the past a considerable amount of work had been undertaken with regard to establishing links and membership gains. He discussed the situation in the 1970s stating that the regional TUC and REC developed a partnership which by 1977 had

enabled strong BME links ‘with the unions beginning to put their house in order’ (ex-Director - Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council). He noted that:

People on both sides needed to understand the issues, they had a perception that the union did not care and there was no communication between groups but people did want to join the union. People came to me and said that they did not go to the shop steward because he did not understand. Following this we developed policies in conjunction with the regional TUC, which were then passed onto other unions. (Ex-Director - Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council) These early BME responses are similar to the findings in this study and significantly the approaches developed then to tackle the problem have clear lessons for the future. He believed that the way forward was through developing a commitment at the top with care taken over the development of separate groups, as ‘you are all trade union members. However, to meet peoples needs you have to meet them separately’ (ex-Director - Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council). Advances were gained through a number of strategies including: Making sure that trade unions clearly communicated their commitment ‘trade unions must stand up and say we believe in one community, we believe in an equal opportunities policy. If you don’t keep on saying that people will not take notice’. One tactic that was used then was to put the equal opportunities policy in the pay packet ‘to make sure everyone had seen it’. Changing the way officials communicated, as BME people ‘did not like certain aspects of how they were spoken to and how someone sat when they spoke to them, it was all about respect’. The union sending out posters at times of important religious celebrations such as Eid to branch secretaries at the place of work and mosques, and ‘people appreciated this’. Workplace canteens were also encouraged to change how they displayed there food ‘as they had ham and beef sandwiches all in the same tray and people will not openly say about this as they respect the employer. They don’t want to upset anybody; they would rather not go to the canteen. So two

trays were put in place for the vegetarians and nonvegetarians and people began to think that their company and union better respected them’. Provide facilities for prayer. He argued that also of significance here was a BME figurehead who wanted to be involved with trade unions. The process began to break down because of a lack of continuity with strategy/campaigns not being adequately developed. He finally argued that the way forward was through an organised body, which could keep the two groups together and lead campaigns to keep links alive. The ‘hard work has been done and what is missing is continuity. The regional TUC needs to identify a small group on each side and get them to meet on a regular basis’ (ex-Director - Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council). Another interviewee also spoke of engagement in the 70s but argued that its decline ‘mirrors the decline in the white population and a disillusionment with activities that get you nowhere’ (Chief Executive - BECON). The interviewees in this study identified a number of actions and strategies to improve the current situation. These are contained under the following four sections; regional strategies, local strategies, education, and mainstreaming.

Regional strategies With the renewed impetus of fascist political activity trade unions are increasingly involved in regional engagement strategies. The NTUC Regional Secretary argued that there was a vision of anti- ascism, which has created a strongly organised broad partnership (churches, local politicians, Racism Red Card, community activists, wide range of trade unions, officers and activists) at present focused on tackling fascist political parties. He also noted that he represents trade unions on the Equality and Diversity Forum, Working together although, he felt that Cultural diversity festival in Sunderland organised by the NTUC as part of its bodies such as the year of equality. Regional Race Advisory Around 1,000 people attended this and Group, were not entertainment, food, etc. was provided. functioning to their full Run in partnership with Sunderland potential and in need F.C. and the Newcastle Asylum Support of refocusing. Centre.

9

However, the most significant current development is the TUC anti-racist regional coalition, with its district structure. This is a regional coalition of locally based groups responding to local level fascist political activity. Other trade union interviewees were also positive about this structure with one stating that ‘you find trade unions working well together with people from the voluntary sector and local authorities. For example Middlesbrough council got in touch with us and have shown full support for the aims at the highest level’ (GMB full-time official). The same interviewee also noted that whilst the coalitions have been set-up to combat racism and fascist political parties they can be productive with regard to membership gains ‘they’re wider than just unions and I had someone get in touch last week who I met through our coalition and they had 12 people who wanted to join the GMB’. The TUC Regional Secretary also noted that the NTUC are starting to monitor participation in events, they have also started to advertise and promote antiracism through, for example, email and the NTUC web site. They have produced the TUC Black Voices report and Northern Black Voices in the Unions. This anti-racist work drew compliments from the other trade union interviewees:

Everything done through the coalitions is supported by the TUC; the Regional Secretary has been extremely supportive. This is active support with the Regional Secretary becoming engaged, coming to meetings. After all he’s on a par with other regional secretaries and that’s important to encourage them. (GMB full-time official) The TUC have been absolutely committed to a regional body against fascist political parties and they have been absolutely commendable. (Chair - UNISON Branch) Both, though, felt that this needed to go further: This needs commitment from a number of leading organisations, particularly in giving it a regional perspective’ (Chair - UNISON Branch). The TUC play a crucial role by providing the leadership actually getting involved on an institution basis. (GMB full-time official)

10

The key area for continued engagement was outlined by the UNISON Branch Chair who argued that anti-racist developments were being organised in two separate but equally important and interlinked ways. The first is focused through ‘the campaign strategies against fascist political parties, which are in local communities. At the moment much of the work has been in white working class areas because that is where fascist political parties are standing’. Second and equally important is to sustain development here and also develop it in other non-white local communities, particularly, by ‘developing links with the BME organisations’ (Chair - UNISON Branch). However, there was some scepticism from BME group representatives about the nature of some of the anti-racist work:

It’s no good marching when there is racism on the streets, unions can’t just fire fight. There is a trade union centre in Middlesbrough, which is used by refugees and white male politicians. So the North East unions are trying to score points and politics is being played by using the refugees. (Elected community leader – Tees Valley) A representative from an anti-racist group significantly noted that there was ‘not much BME involvement in anti-fascism as such, this is predominantly white based’ (TWAFA). The NTUC Regional Secretary was also cautious indicating that there were small patches of activity where anti-racist work was strongly focused on developing specific projects. He believed that this seems to be a more positive way forward ‘working with groups on particular issues not just attempting to build unfocussed ‘common ground’’ (NTUC Regional Secretary). BME group representatives also spoke of the need for trade unions to forge an inter-agency approach to anti-racism:

The unions need to cooperate with other agencies and be in the forefront of the fight against racism. (Elected community leader – Tees Valley) Unions have to take an inter-agency approach so they can go forward with other agencies to address the racist problem. (Community worker – Asylum and Refugee Groups)

Local strategies Given the major problem of lack of knowledge, identified in the previous section, in was not surprising to find that the vast majority of BME group representatives viewed engagement at the local level as the key strategy for future trade union-BME relations. ‘Development must be through the grass roots to show that the union is effective at that level and interesting to BME people. If the grassroots is not solid things will stay the same’ (elected community leader – Tees Valley). This was supported by trade union interviewees with three main paths identified for developing engagement with BME communities; local political campaigns, basic ‘tea and biscuits’ introductions, and innovative activities.

Local political campaigns Significantly only trade union interviewees positively discussed the local political anti-racist campaigns. Supporting, earlier comments that engagement at the local level through these campaigns into BME communities was limited. As a trade union interviewee noted, due to the anti-fascist and asylum seeker focus of campaigns, work has been undertaken in predominantly white communities:

The political side is very positive as fascist political parties haven’t got one councillor in and in Chester-le-Street [99% white] and Walker [96% white] we successfully worked with the local community, voluntary groups, and community activists. We’re now trying to make this sustainable. (Chair - UNISON Branch) He further discussed the challenging work undertaken in these communities:

In Walker we had meetings and collective leaflet writing sessions with community reps actually writing the leaflets. What we found though was that in a few weeks you are not going to be able to deal with the depth of prejudice, particularly on the asylum issue. So we initially concentrated on exposing the BNP as a fascist organisation. But the anti-racist perspective takes sustainable work over a much longer period. (Chair - UNISON Branch)

The trade union interviewee from Teesside concurred with this arguing that the anti-racist work has been important in involving local people, she believed unions ‘should capitalise on this’ (GMB full-time official). Enlarging on this she stated that:

This is a community agenda, it’s quite simple we want to get rid of the racism and we want to eliminate fascist parties getting onto power. We know it will take a long time but we want to actively engage, to do what we have to, to get rid of it. You have to get back down to the grass root level to do this, there’s a lot that’s been lost. We have to get grass roots individuals to participate. (GMB full-time official) Although, the GMB full-time official noted that her union had developed their BME membership through the race committee, one of the key messages here is that whilst creating sustainability in predominantly white areas was crucial it was also vital to develop activity in the BME local communities, through, developing links with BME groups. As an interviewee noted ‘this has been missing in most of the work that has been done in the last 18 months’ (Chair - UNISON Branch).

Tea and biscuits introductions As indicated above the overwhelming response to questions of union engagement in BME communities was that trade union representatives needed to ‘venture’ into communities and speak to groups of people and individuals. As a BME group interviewee noted ‘although, around 20 years ago somebody tried to engage the community into trade unions, the response was very poor and it wasn’t followed through’ (community worker - Chinese community). Others concurred with this:

It would be a good idea to get someone involved in local projects and come and speak to people. (Community worker - Asian and Black women’s groups) I think local awareness needs to be developed on what the trade union function is, how they can support individuals and what their significance is. (Representative - Racial Equality Development Initiative)

11

A talk would be useful to my group rather than leaflets or posters. (Representative Asian women’s group) Unions are not a very good hope in Iran. So the best way forward is through sessions with my different groups where you could offer coffee and biscuits and then sell the union. I think unions can offer people a lot of positive examples. (Community worker - Iranian and Black groups) It is difficult to get a one-off meeting with the asylum and refugee community leaders due to ongoing community problems or emergencies. So the best way forward is through a two-stage approach. First you should personally talk to the leaders of each community for an hour or so. In this way you will create personal contacts on a one-to-one basis. Then decisions can be made over the best way to reach the different communities. (North East Refugee Forum worker) This is a good time to organise things and we need to discuss the best way to contact people. There is a good opportunity to work with the right people in the community to develop links. I believe this should happen through a partnership between employers and employees. (Chairman - North East Chinese Association) Two other BME group interviewees who have strong links with communities argued that this was the only way to begin engagement. A TWAFA interviewee stated that:

Grass roots activity is important so people can see that unions are interested in doing something for them. Gaining trust is very important, community groups are difficult to engage with and personal contact is the easiest way forward, although people should be careful of self-appointed community leaders. A WEA Community Liaison Officer in Teesside agreed arguing that unions should get in touch with religious groups and use the council developed network:

They should get involved with the BME network, contact focus groups, and do consultations. Just let people know they are out there’. Personal contact is best, for example we undertook research and knocked door to door and

12

found this very successful gaining many referrals. I think there would be more interest if union meetings could be held in the communities where people lived. One BME group interviewee believed that ‘an outreach worker could work specifically to raise peoples awareness of what the trade union function is and try to be the link between the communities and trade unions’ (Representative - Racial Equality Development Initiative). A number of BME group interviewees also suggested posters and leaflets be widely distributed in communities with information of where to go for union help.

Innovative activities There was also some discussion of trade unions undertaking forms of communication not widely used in the past. As a BME group interviewee stated ‘workshops, briefings, seminars and forms of communication need to be developed to involve people, as at the moment these are non existent’ (Representative - Racial Equality Development Initiative). What was being discussed was the type of active engagement that the local political anti-racist campaigns had bought to white communities. For example one BME group interviewee believed that unions:

Could propose locally that schools have independent monitoring systems to monitor all racist incidents in schools. So there are certain practical things unions could do to show they are part of the community and fighting for the community. (Elected community leader – Tees Valley) Another suggested that unions needed to be:

More creative, for example, have sessions for unemployed people and develop memberships there. They have to be active in different ways as there is work to be done for people, there are people out there and that is what is important. The problem is that working with the community is a very slow process but in the long term it can be good. (Community worker - Iranian and Black groups)

It was also argued that differing forms of learning could be explored with regard to BME communities. For example with asylum seekers and refugees job specific language classes on electrical work for former electricians could be organised to engage the community (community worker – Asylum and Refugee Groups). The GMB full-time official noted engagement and some membership gain using this type of strategy:

People asked for language training and we organised that with two people joining the union when they found out we were running these courses, even though they could have got them free. If people can see the benefit they will join a union but you have to be flexible in your approach. Making a play Short play about issues in the workplace and the support trade unions can give. Arranged by a trade union official at a local community centre in Benwell Newcastle upon Tyne. Organised for Asian and black women. The outcome was that six of the 12 women present joined the union. However, before sustained engagement on the local level can be undertaken in earnest there is the major barrier, identified in the problems section, of trade union representatives’ lack of knowledge. The next section discusses interviewee’s views on the need for trade union anti-racist and cultural engagement education.

Education BME group interviewees were noticeably critical of trade union representatives’ awareness of religious and cultural issues, or more importantly their awareness that these groups were significantly different to their more traditional white membership:

Trade unions should be more aware of language, cultural, and ethnic based issues like Ramadan in union meetings. Often there are 20 or so whites and only one or two black faces who seem to be forgotten about. Unions do not come to blacks enough, this is a major barrier to access, you need to engage more with ethnic issues, to find

out what these are and not just concentrate on white issues. (Community worker - Bengali and African groups) Trade unions do not have an understanding of what goes on. There have been times when they have supported one black group against another without understanding what was happening. (Chief Executive - BECON) Several trade union interviewees agreed with these sentiments, with one stating ‘we don’t provide a relevant service all the time to our black members and I think that is something we need to look at increasingly, if we are going to be serious’ (Chair UNISON Branch). Whilst the GMB full-time official stated that:

People need to be educated; when I became the race officers I took people to the Hindu temple and the Mosque. I did things like that and it was so simple. We have to send white officers into communities because this will break down barriers on both sides, I know a lot of positive stuff is going on but I think there is a genuine worry that officers don’t know how to do it. She argued for a top down approach with training for full time officers, a better selection process for shop stewards and education for others in the union ‘we lack education and strong leadership and I would organise a meeting of key people who would make the officers feel comfortable in a very informal manner then you can build on that’ (GMB full-time official). The interviewee did though believe that:

The TUC have been broad-minded in their education and I was very pleased with the annual ‘work programme’ where equalities has moved up through the agenda. Because I’ve seen these work programmes where equalities is right down the bottom. (GMB full-time official) Training for members and stewards in these issues is also being developed, the NTUC Regional Secretary noted on-line and day school based training that is being used to tackle racism. This, for example, involved 80 people in Sunderland in September. A trade union interviewee appreciated the work of the NTUC in this area noting that with regard to workplace race awareness training the NTUC:

13

Have worked with us on our anti-racist educational programme; helping us develop people from the council, organise the training programme for shop stewards and have made available their resources and tutors. This type of programme can now be promoted and run-out into other areas. I think the NTUC could further help by raising the debate over how trade unions engage with their own members. (Chair - UNISON Branch) He went on to further emphasise the importance of race awareness education stating that:

We have a priority to do work with our own membership. We cannot ignore the fact that large numbers of our members and indeed some activist’s shop stewards have an unacceptable position on asylum…. There is a requirement for the trade unions to just revisit their own internal education campaigning stuff, so that members fully understand what the unions positions are and why they’ve taken these decision. Workplace training Workplace training on ‘destroying the myths on asylum’. Open to all stewards (60-70) over a 5-day period. The aims were (1) helping stewards to understand the asylum issue and (2) giving activists the confidence to intervene in discussions in the workplace. This has been recognised as a successful attempt to combat racism and is being developed for other workplaces in the region. Although, he added a note of caution with regard to anti-racist training giving the example of the council’s training which was actually ‘getting peoples backs-up and re-enforcing racist views’ (Chair - UNISON Branch). The question though needs to be asked about whether individual training programmes for trade union representatives and members is enough. The significant comment here is the position of equalities as an agenda item, should it stay near the bottom and only be moved up when the threat of fascist activity is very real, with other issues seen as more significant? Or is there a strong case to be made for mainstreaming it within union debate, education and activity.

14

Mainstreaming The trade union interviewees were positive about trying to mainstream anti-racism and equalities, with some already trying to develop this. ‘We’re about mainstreaming as equalities isn’t just an add-on, we need to view every piece of work from an equalities perspective and analyse if we are addressing this’ (Chair - UNISON Branch). Another trade union interviewee believed that race awareness and equalities should be integrated into shop steward training, as she saw:

A problem with having separate courses on women, gay rights, disabilities and race, our union is pro-active on this but it’s down to the people involved in it. Importantly if the person at a senior level is not advocating that we change our practice you have no chance. For example at the moment no account is taken at work for Muslims and it’s only because I’m aware of issues like this and bought it up with local employers that things have changed. (GMB full-time official) There are clear echoes here of the past and the earlier examples given by the ex-Director of the REC with regard to canteens etc. One interviewee was more outspoken on this arguing that he and his group are trying to get a motion through to support legislation to expel racist members. He argued that the race issue must become a mainstream trade union issue:

Every full time official should be trained to deal with these issues. As there are a lot of full time officials who haven’t got a clue how to deal with race issues, I believe this is not because they don’t want to do it, it’s because they’ve not been trained and equipped to deal with it. We have to also educate branch secretaries, stewards and elected officials; it will then cascade down to members (Chair - UNISON Northern Region Black Members Committee) Importantly one interviewee believed that the resources were to some extent already there; particularly with regard to committed activists ‘if it isn’t a priority in the trade unions it won’t happen in the way we’re talking about.

In the North East and North West the trade unions must be involved with their resources’ (Chair UNISON Branch). He went on to note that:

Through our union the general secretary has been fully committed as an absolute priority to combating the fascists and racist activity for the coming year. The resources are there, the rhetoric’s there, the policy priorities are there, it’s just a matter now of us as branch officials making it a policy priority. (Chair - UNISON Branch)

Education programmes TUC core education programme: Equality activity has been developed on two fronts. (1) Racism and inequality between workers. (2) Access to education and training. "We’ve moved away from that pushy spongy ‘you’ve got to treat everybody the same’ strategy". A more direct approach has been adopted with ‘issues that people are talking about on the streets. It’s no good having equality if people can’t read and write or ignoring the most pressing issue that’s around at the moment, the rise of the far right’. Result: ‘The core education programme has started to have an effect on what regional councils are doing with more anti fascist groups around getting involved with trades councils’.

The NTUC Regional Secretary also provided evidence of this noting that European funding had been obtained for equalities officers (NTUC Regional Secretary). However, a note of caution was added by the GMB full-time official who stated that ‘unions are too geared to recruiting and servicing’. If things are to change priorities must change and strategies must be adopted that allow long term development and recognise that membership gain will come but only after careful work.

15

Recommendations

Taking Action

Introduction

1. The continued development of awareness of the challenges faced by BME communities within trade unions at all levels.

The analysis presented in this report indicates a solid, but piecemeal, programme of activities and relationships and a clearly positive response from BME groups to building (or rebuilding) organisational links. As we indicated, 12 of our 16 representative respondents said they would welcome further contacts with the trade unions. However, it is the shape and form of these contacts and their development from the short to the long term that is the key issue. Equally, for contacts to have effective outcomes and developments to be sustainable they must be supported by human and financial resources and equality issues must be mainstreamed into all the work that trade unions do. It is the demonstrable activities of trade unions in fighting racism and developing equal opportunities that will provide the framework of trust that will underpin successful outcomes. As the report clearly demonstrates, whilst there is a positive willingness of BME groups to engage there remains a clear picture of trade unions being ‘white’ organisations with little to offer BME communities. Whilst the report also indicates areas where that has changed and is continuing to change there is still much to do at all levels. It is impossible to develop a dialogue if one side has little to say. On the other hand, there is much to say about trade union successes that is clearly not getting across to BME groups and the report indicates a lack of awareness from BME groups about the role of trade unions. There is much to be gained for both BME communities and trade unions themselves through dialogue and joint activity. As many of the BME respondents indicated in our section on ‘tea and biscuit introductions’ it is time to talk.

Action is required in four key areas:

2. A sustained exercise in listening to the needs and problems of BME communities. 3. A programme of effective communication that raises awareness of the ways in which trade unions and BME groups can work together. 4. The permeation of NTUC and union regional structures and activities with information and action related to the development of strategic alliances with BME groups around specific issues. It is important that initiatives are developed in a sustainable way directly with BME groups themselves so while the proposals listed below are developed from our analysis in the report they cannot be implemented without their involvement.

A sustained exercise in listening to the needs and problems of BME communities. Initial contacts have been made through the report with 12 groups, some of which are channels of communications to other groups. These positive responses should be followed up (names and contact addresses are listed in the appendix) and meetings arranged with trade unionists.

The continued development of awareness within trade unions at all levels of the challenges faced by BME communities.

All NTUC Committees and Forums should receive a copy of this report and recommendations and make arrangements to invite and involve BME group representatives in their work. The first step to invite those groups to talk about their needs. It should be remembered that this is just as important for a group engaged in discussions of the Regional economy as it is for a group with a specific BME remit.

Trade union education programmes must continue to develop their work of mainstreaming equalities issues at all levels.

The NTUC equalities officer, on appointment, shall establish a contact list of BME groups and organise a programme of visits for themselves.

Individual unions should be encouraged to set target dates for all full time officials to have participated in one of the TUC national training programmes in this area.

The NTUC should work with BME groups to arrange visits for local trade unionists to BME places of worship, community activities and other events.

NTUC should consider the possibility of a Regional training seminar aimed specifically at full time officials and trade union employees. It should involve BME groups in the design, presentation and evaluation of the day. NTUC should continue to seek to increase the number of black and ethnic minority group tutors in the Region both employed at the colleges and as lay tutors. It should work with BME groups in the identification of potential candidates for tutor training programmes. Active consideration by the TUC and individual unions should be given to inviting BME group representatives to contribute to the existing shop steward training programmes in the Region.

16

NTUC should work with individual unions in the development of membership education programmes such as the one discussed in this report. The report of the good practice developed in that programme should be widely circulated for example, by asking the organisers to contribute a report to the Regional TUC web site.

A programme of effective communication that raises awareness of the ways in which trade unions and BME groups can work together. NTUC to work with the Regional unions to access resources and produce a leaflet for BME groups indicating how trade unions and BME people can work together for mutual advantage and how unions can effectively represent people at work. The leaflet should be produced in appropriate community languages. NTUC and individual unions to review their web sites and work with appropriate BME groups to make available information about unions and BMEs in English local community languages. NTUC to consider the appropriateness of a Regional Forum of trade unions and BME

17

representatives. This needs careful consideration of aims and objectives and whether it is an appropriate use of resources but it would certainly provide an open space for the development of dialogue. The development of further cultural events (such as that in Sunderland or on a smaller scale) that encourage the understanding and celebration of diversity. The Musicians Union, Equity and BECTU might be appropriate unions to undertake initiatives and/or support this area of development. Contact and work with student’s unions at the five major Regional universities to identify and work with young people from BME communities. Contact and work with asylum seeker and refugee groups to identify specific needs of this group particularly in relation to countering misinformation and right wing political activity. The permeation of NTUC and union regional structures and activities with information and action related to the development of strategic alliances with BME groups around specific issues. Support and encouragement for the Regional Trades Councils in developing their role in relation to community unionism through the involvement of BME groups in the development of that strategy. NTUC Regional Committees and Forums to develop specific campaign strategies that relate directly to the needs of BME groups. For example campaigns on low pay, rights to training and action on unemployment will have direct relevance to these groups. Specific campaigning approaches are much more likely to have positive outcomes and will also mainstream this issue throughout the NTUCs work. NTUC and individual unions to continue to support and encourage their members to become involved in anti fascist action that campaigns against the BNP and other political organisations attacking the lives and livelihoods of BME communities, refugees and asylum seekers. NTUC and individual unions to work with and encourage Union Learning Representatives to actively engage with BME groups and encourage bids to the ULF that specifically demonstrate how they will benefit the BME communities in the Region.

18

Innovative Action

Concluding Comments

A final proposal that would help to draw these threads together would be the adoption in the Region of the national TUC ‘hotlines’ campaigns. Discussion should take place between the NTUC, the Northern Region trade unions and BME community group representatives on the feasibility of a week –long ‘Hotline’ campaign. In essence this would be the opening of a phone line and an E Mail contact point for a week to receive calls about problems faced by BME community members at their place of work or in seeking training and employment. The NTUC would work with community groups to offer on line advice or referral and to log calls to develop a picture of the work and employment problems faced by BME groups in the Region.

Much of what we have said in the Report and have drawn on for our recommendations can be simply summed up. Firstly, the needs of BME must be mainstreamed into the daily work of the Region’s trade unions. In that way the commitment of the trade unions to BME communities will be real and demonstrable. Secondly, the trade unions must take the first steps in opening up a dialogue with BME groups. The positive response in our interviews indicates that they are willing to talk and want to know about the trade unions and how they can work together. Thirdly, building relationships is not simply ‘another task’ to add on to mounting lists of jobs, rather it is an opportunity to celebrate the cultural diversity of the Region, explore different cultures, facilitate membership growth and share in the successes that this report has shown can be won.

Such an activity would require careful organising and resourcing. For example individual regional unions could ‘loan’ the NTUC one or more members of their staff team for one or more days in the week. Solicitors supportive of the trade unions might sponsor the event and/or offer a free legal advice service. Local Authorities might also sponsor the programme and provide resources. BME groups could also offer support staff so, for example, e-mails or calls in languages other than English could be dealt with. A shorter one or two day hotline would be less resource intensive and have less impact but could also be considered. Such an event would have a number of positive outcomes. It would: Be very high profile and likely to gain significant media attention both before, during and after. Identify key problems facing BME groups and therefor future campaign areas. Offer positive results and clear indications of what unions can do for BME groups. Develop working relationships with a range of participating BME group leaders around a practical and positive action.

19

References

Appendix One

GONE (2003) Ethnicity in the North East: an overview (updated version), Government Office North East.

Key BME group contacts

Labour Research (2000) Bargaining Report, No.205 May 2000.

Sapna Hussain (Community worker Roshni Black Women’s Association) Roshni Black Women’s Association 10 Dilston Road

Maurice De Zou

Fenham

(Elected Community Leader – Tees Valley)

Newcastle upon Tyne

TUC (2000a) Rooting Out Racism: Stephen Lawrence Task Group report, TUC publications.

Telephone: (07798) 804 604

NE4 5NP

TUC (2000b) Black, Unionised and Better Paid, TUC publications.

Georgina Fletcher

Telephone: (0191) 273 0972

(North East Refugee Forum) TUC (2002) Tackling the Barriers to Skills and Learning, TUC publications. TUC (2000c) Qualifying for racism, TUC publications.

Roya Kafi (Community worker -

North East Refugee Forum

Iranian and Black groups)

2 Jesmond Road West

Telephone: (0191) 233 0658

Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4PQ Telephone: (0191) 222 0390

Yasmin Khan (Representative - Racial Equality Development Initiative)

Nina Abu Hamdeh

Racial Equality Development Initiative

(WEA Community Liaison Officer – Tees Valley)

New Exchange Buildings

Telephone: (01642) 211 165

Queen’s Square Middlesbrough

Shewley Haque (Community worker - Millin Centre)

TS2 1AA Telephone: (01642) 211 165

Millin Centre 160-162 Ellesmere Road

Najma Parven

North Benwell

(Main Contact – Asian Women’s Group)

NE8 2XD

Asian Women’s Group

Telephone: (0191) 272 5115

Bensham Grove Community Centre Bensham Road Gateshead NE8 2XD Telephone: (0191) 477 2263

20

21