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maandag, 13 november 2006 14:17 |
THE conventional wisdom is that, for better or worse, trade unionism is
in irreversible long-term decline, at least in the world's leading
economies. In America, for example, only 12.5% of the workforce now
belongs to a union and a mere 7.8% of private-sector workers, down from
one-third in 1960. Most forecasts predict that this trend will
continue, perhaps until unionism is confined to museums and history
books. But Sara Horowitz is determined to prove them wrong Horowitz is trying to reinvent trade unionism for today's mobile workforce.
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woensdag, 04 oktober 2006 02:01 |
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If you think that your country needs some new ideas on work and the future of work, and if you think that the institutions need to be changed, you might consider establishing a labour union yourself. Becoming one and gaining influence will probably be different in each country, but the road towards doing it is well worth considering. If you need some advice, or just interested, e-mail us at info@alternatiefvoorvakbond.nl. We are more than happy to get into contact with you and tell you more. |
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woensdag, 04 oktober 2006 02:01 |
After we launched ourselves with an article in one of the leading Dutch newspapers, the media jumped on us. In the first months AVV was covered by every paper, magazine and national tv. The existing labour unions immediately started to emphasise what they do for young employees, two parliament members handed in a proposal to cabinet to facilitate pregnancy leave for independent workers and the issue of ageing, pensionburdens and the conditions for independent workers were all of a sudden hot issues in the press.
In november 2006 elections for parliament will be held. Four political parties included issues that AVV put on the agenda in their election-programmes. The three leftist parties adressed the situation of the self-employed and pensionburdens. The liberal party presented a radical tax-holiday for starting small entrepeneurs. Traditional labour unions pay attention to the interests of flexworkers in their collective negotiations and one labour union embraced our idea of letting all employees vote for a collective bargaining agreement.
In the first month 1400 new members joined AVV and the discussion forum on the website soon filled up contributions and discussions of very high quality. In october 2006, a year after we started, we have 2400 members.
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woensdag, 04 oktober 2006 02:01 |
After we decided to become a labour union, we went to the notary and had ourselves registered as a laour union. In our statutes it is explicitly said that our meetings mainly take place on the internet. Voting is done via internet and does not require live meetings. AVV has a webbased organisation, administration and communication is mainly done via the internet.
Contribution is as low as 10 euro ’s a year, rather than 20 euro’s a month for the existing labour unions. This is to make it easier and affordable for people who have never considered becoming a member of a labour union. AVV does not need as much money as the other labour unions because we don’t organise strikes. Striking is not an option anyway for people with temporary jobs of independent workers.
In the first months the founders work unpaid for the labour union. In the future, we will have some paid workers, but we will never want an office with employers, so as to prevent the organisation becoming more important than our goals. We hire experts on a temporary base to participate in the collective bargaining agreements. |
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woensdag, 04 oktober 2006 02:00 |
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AVV as a labour union claims a place in the decision making process. That’s the nice thing about being a labour union, rather than a network or movement: a union is recognised as an official organisation. |
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