Muster Titel

1
GPA Interest GroupsA successful and innovative
union organising model
Dina Affenzeller-Greif dina.affenzeller_at_aon.at
UNI Professional and Managerial Staff Nyon,
November 2004
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Traditional politics and service structures
offered by GPA

• Regional structure (9 Austrian regions)

• Economic clusters structure (24 clusters
  combining branches)

The third dimension

• Interest groups focused on professions

• New elements in trade union work

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Main aims of creating the structure of Interest
Groups Making GPA more attractive

• Combining the well working branch and regional
  orientations with the new professional focus
• Building new direct relational networks between
  members and traditional works council structures
• Enforcing new communication media as email and
  internet services
• Establishing direct elections of the leading
  bodies with personel responsibilities without any
  political focus
• Opening the communication network and (partly)
  the services also for non-members

4
NEW IG are self-starting self-definition of IG
membership methods and work organisation in the
IGfields of service and politics elements of
trade union democracy media for the
communication within the IG

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Seven groups established

• work_at_social for professions of social services
  (in health care, aged persons service, education,
  etc.)

• work_at_IT for information communication
  technology professions

• work_at_flex for atypical and flexible forms of
  employment or self-employment

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• work_at_education for education, further
  qualification and advisory professions

• work_at_external for field service out-of-office
  working staff
• work_at_migration for migrants and integration
  professions

• and
• work_at_professional for professional and managerial
  staff in the private sector

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MusterTitel!
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WHO

• Approx. 150.000 PMS in the private sector in
  Austria (following ILO and ISCO-1/2 definitions)

• Approx. 30.000 GPA members including all types of
  lower to higher management and experts
  (professionals)

• Self-definition by active registration will give
  the focus

WHY

• PMS have both in their companies and in society
• high responsibility for staff and material
• wide competences
• big influence

• PMS hold key positions in companies and in the
  society

• PMS could play an important role in trade union
  development

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BASE

• PMS are traditionally well organized in several
  branches

• A high amount of PMS are covered by collective
  agreements

• PMS benefit more than others from collective
  income bargaining by the unions

• PMS are seldom aware of all these benefits

NEW

• PMS need specific trade union tasks, politics
  and services referring to their specific interests

• establishing their group identity within the
  trade union

• opening the door to their wide competences

10
European Access

• Supranational orientation of PMS, especially in
  supranational companies

• High flexibility and mobility of PMS for company
  or personal reasons

• Existing European and worldwide trade union
  network
• EUROCADRES as social partner for European
  collective bargaining and lobbying
• EUROCADRES mobil-net as qualified mobility
  councelling network
• EUROCADRES femanet as a network for female
  managers
• Union Network International as worldwide network
  (UNI passport card)

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Working programme

• Age Mainstreaming
• Social Responsible Management
• Task Management
• Femanet
• EU Enlargement work_at_professional/expatriate
• IG-Evaluation
• Decentralisation of IG approach

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HOW

• Teamwork and networking of the Executive
  Committee of the Interest Group

• Exchange of experiences of IG members on the
  internet platform
• Information of IG members via electronic
  newsletters

• Networking with PMS representatives at the
  different levels and suborganisations of GPA

• Networking with partner organisations for
  specific tasks

• Media work (GPA magazine and other newspapers,
  internet platform)

• Promoting European themes and information
  (EUROCADRES)

• Evaluation and development of politics and
  services

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Time for a first analysis after three years of
development proving

• how interest groups are accepted
• how interest groups are integrated
• how interest groups have influenced trade union
  cultures
• what we could learn for further development of
  the trade union and especially of the interest
  groups
• Online survey withgt 4.400 IG members 11
  participationgt 2.700 members of works councils
  with email (participation 30)

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Different participation of the interest groups
reflects their history and internet access
Members of interest groups, in percent
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The following services are estimated by IG
members as enriching and requested even more
All members of interest groups, in
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IG members suggestions for improvement of the
services

• More and more actual information on the website
• Workshops and seminars, including the
  international dimension
• Local meetings and activities in all regions
• Improvement of networks
• Making newsletters more comprehensive
• More surveys and inquiries
• More campaigns in the public area

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IG members would be more motivated to play an
active part in trade union life if

• the influence of political parties would be
  stopped
• professional groups are better represented in the
  leading bodies
• there are more time and flexibility in the job
• I am backed by motivated collegues
• there are more local offers of participation
• trade unions would more intensively listen to
  members
• interest groups achieve more influence within the
  trade union
• networking with other trade unions would be
  improved
• contributions could be paid
• specific scientific projects are started

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Résumé and suggestions Why we should shift
energy and budgets to develop interest groups

• Interest groups are well accepted by members and
  works councils as a new chance for participation,
  open networking, use of the new electronic media
  and competent information and consultation.
• There is a strong request for more public
  lobbying activities, participation and service
  offers at local/regional level.
• There is a clear pleading to reduce the influence
  of political parties and to strenghten direct
  democracy and personel responsibility in leading
  bodies of the trade union.
• There are excellent possibilities to develop
  interest groups as networks of professional
  comptence and make trade unions more attractive
  for actual and new members.

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• Thank you for your attention!
• Contactsdina.affenzeller_at_aon.at,
  president/présidentegerald.musger_at_gpa.at,
  sectretary/secrétaire