A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S FOLIA SOCI OLO G ICA 22, 1991
Harri Melin
FINNISH TRADE UNI ON' A C T I V I S T S BETWEEN INSTITU TIONS AND EVERYDAY LIFE
1. Int roduction
The theme of our seminar - ’bet ween ins titutions and everyday life* - is an ext reme ly c ha llen ging and broad issue; after all, it covers the entire field that c o n stit utes the object proper of soc iological research. In this paper my con cern is with one specific pro blem that falls within this complex field: trade union act ivis m in a small cap ital ist country. Institutions and everyday life bot h form important context of trade union a c t i v i -ty, whether we are talking about trade union activists or rank- andfile mem bers who are less directl y involve d in union a c -tivities.
Earlier research on trade uni on mem be r s h i p s has largely f o c u s -sed on the most active union тетЬегз, such as "ombudsmen" or shop stewards. This of course is u n d e r s t a n d a b l e in the sense that these act ivis ts play a very important role in the uni on . As a result we have a fairly clear picture of who these act ivis ts are [see e.g. B o r g , P e h k o n e n , 1982; V ä h ä t a 1 o, L i-1 j a, 1977 ].
On the other hand, the large m aj orit y of the uni on m e m b e r -ship: r a n k-an d-fil e members, marginal par t i c i p a n t s and i n d i f f e r -ent mem bers have rec eive d very little att -enti on in res earc h work. Therefore, in the dis c u s s i o n that follows, my aim is to des crib e not only the Fin nish trade union activis t but also the ran k-an
d--file member. My comparisons of these two groups are based on the results of S A K ’s Organizational Study Project [ K e h à l i n -n a , M e l i n , 1987]*. The workers co n cern ed represent the three largest SAK (Central O rg aniz ation of Finnish Trade Unions) unions: the Finnish Municipal Worker's and Salaried E m p l o y e e s ’ Union, the Union of Com mercial Workers, and the Metal W o r k e r s ’
2
Union .
2. Trade union activists: Who are they?
On the basis of the results of S A K ’s Organi z a tio n al Study Project [ K e h a l i n n a , M e l i n , 1985], we can present a rough descri p tio n of the typical Finnish trade union activist. He is:
a) male;
b) 35-55 years of age;
c) a skilled worker with profess i ona l training;
d) he has less exp eriences of une mplo yment than the average member;
e) his income is substantially higher than the average wage level of SAK members, and als o-higher than the average income of •«ale SAK members;
f) he sym pathizes with the political left.
S A K ’s project and other org aniz ation al studies have d e m o n s t r a t -ed that the field of -trade union act ivis m in Finland is clearly dominated by men; women have so far remained in the passive
ma-1 S A K ’s Organizational Study Project was carried out in 1984- -1987. Its purpose was to compare the various affiliated u n i o n s ’ organizational structures and explore dev elopment needs; to study the implementation of ran k-an d-fil e democracy; to outline the rank-and-file members' conception of the trade union movement and to assess how the altered situation in society has affected the work of the trade union movement. See K e h a l i n n a . M e - 1 i n, 1986.
2
SAK, The Central Org aniz ation of Finnish Trade Unions, is the largest central trade org aniz ation of Finland with 28 a f filiated unions and a total mem bers hip of 1.05 million. The l a r g -est individual SAK -aff iliat ed unions are the Mun icip al W o r k e r s ’ and Salaried E m p l o y e e s ’ Union (180 000 members), the Uni on of Commercial Workers (120 000 members) and the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union
jority. In the Metal W o r k e r s ’ and the Municipal E m p l o y e e s ’ Union, for example, male workers are ele cted to union offices roughly twice as often as women. This does not mean that wom en are less interested in union affairs than their male colleagues, but merely that the trade union movement elects men to union offices more often than women.
Loo king at the age str uctu re of elected off icia ls (see Tab. 6), we see that the majority of the act ivis ts are over 30; only about 10 per cent are under 3 0 J . The m e m bers hip of the, M u n i -cipal Employees' Union and also the act ivis ts of this uni on are much older than the mem bers hip and act ivis ts of the two other unions: more than half of its act ivis ts are over 45, compare d with less than one third in the Union of Com mercial Workers and less than one fourth in the Metal Workers' Union. In the two latter unions, union office hol ders are for the most part 30-45 years old.
In terms of profess ional training, union act ivis ts also d i f -fer to a ce r t a i n extent from the r a n k - a n d - f i l e mem bers; as й rule act ivis ts are better tra ined than the rank-an d-fil e. In this respect the d i f f e r e n c e s be t w e e n the three u ni ons are not significant.
As regards exp e r i e n c e s of unemplo yment , a c t ivis ts differ very cle arly from the rank-an d-fil e. (Table 1).
(160 000 members). An e s t imat ed 434 of S A K ’s me m b e r s are women, in the three unions men tion ed, the share of wom en is 674, 8iV and 204, respectively. In i n t erna tiona l c o m p a r i s o n F in land has an e x t reme ly hig h level of u ni oniz ation , w it h more than 804 of the labour force or g a n i z e d in trade unions.
3 The fol lowi ng d e s c r i p t i o n s and c r i teri a are used in c l a s s -ifying the wor kers a c c ordi ng to activity: O f f i c e - h o l d e r s are uni on m em bers who are p r e sent ly in some el e c t e d p o s i t i o n of trust Regular p a r t i c i p a n t s attend b ra nch m e e t i n g s regularly. Informal act ivis ts take part in the various leisure a c t i v i t i e s arr anged by the b ra nch or the union. I n t eres ted r a n k - a n d - f i l e me m b e r s do not take part in any act ivit ies, but they hold that the trade uni on m o v emen t is a useful veh icle in p r o m o t i n g the int erests of the wor k i n g people. Rel ucta nt m em bers do not take part in uni on a c t ivit ies and take a sce ptic al view on the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of the m o v emen t to further their interests. Ind i f f e r e n t m em bers do not take part and have no opinion.
T a b l e 1 Exp erie nces of une mplo yment among uni on membere
(4)
Oetail Municipal Com merc ial Metal SAK
Union off icia ls 11 8 26 25
Regular p a r t i c i -pants 29 22 44 35 Informal activists 27 17 28 31 Rank-an d-fil e members 31 30 40 37 N 1 632 618 551 10 097
Among the members of the Mun icip al E x m p l o y e e s ’ Union, one in ten union act ivists have been u n e mplo yed over the last ten years; among r an k-an d-fil e mem bers more than one quarter have been une mplo yed during the same period. In the Union of Commercial Workers, the p r o port ion of r a n k-an d-fil e m em bers who have been temporarily u n e mplo yed is more than three times higher than among office-holders. The dif fere nces between the dif fere nt gro ups are smallest w i t hin the Mental W o r k e r s ’ Union, where 254 of the union activists and almost 404 of the rank-an d-fil e mem bers have exp erie nces of unemployment. These c o n sist ent dif f e r e n c e s clearly indicate that the pos itio n of the union act ivist in the labour market is far more stable than that of the average worker.
The SAK O rg aniz ation al Study Pro ject also d i s cove red d i f -ferences in the nature of the work of act ivis ts and r a n k-an d-fil e members, in that the former enjoy more i n d epen dence than the latter. In addition, o ff ice- holde rs are better aware of their rights, whi ch in itself giv es them a better chance to act i n -dependently.
Mun icip al emp loyees have greater inf luen ce on their own work arr ange ments than metal workers. Uni on act ivis ts in the Mun icip al E m p l o y e e s ’ Uni on enjoy far g re ater i n d epen dence than activists in the other unions, who actually have fairly limited influence upon their own work.
T a b l e 2 Opp o r t u n i t i e s to inf luen ce o n e ’s own work
(4 of wor kers with a lot of or fairly m uc h inf luen ce) O e t a i 1 Mun icip al C o m merc ial Metal
Union off icia ls 63 51 38
Reg ular p a r tici pants 53 48 30
Informal activists 54 52 30
R a n k - a n d - f i l e members 43 48 30
N 1 632 618 551
Uni on a c t ivis ts are better paid than the r a n k - a n d - f i l e members. We have d iv ided uni on m em bers into five income c a t e g o -ries: the h ig hest and lowest fifth r e p rese nt S A K ’s hig h - i n c o m e and low -inc ome groups; the three m i d dle gro ups are c o m bine d to form the cat egor y of m i d d l e - i n c o m e workers. Table 5 shows the per c e n t a g e s of w or kers r e p r e s e n t i n g the h i g h - i n c o m e group in each of the three unions.
T a b l e 3 P e r cent age of hig h - i n c o m e w or kers in d i f f e r e n t unions
Detail M u n icip al Com m e r c i a l Metal
Union off icia ls 26 17 32
Regular p a r t i c i p a n t s 14 15 21
Informal act ivis ts 11 15 30
Ran k - a n d - f i l e mem bers 7 9 29
N 1 632 618 551
In the Mun icip al E m p l o y e e s ’ U ni on and the U ni on of Com merc ial Workers, less than 10 per cent of the r a n k - a n d - f i l e me m b e r s are cla s s i f i e d in the h i g h - i n c o m e category; in the Met al W o r k e r s ’ U ni on the figure is almost 30 per cent. In the two for mer unions, the p r o p o r t i o n of act ivis ts with high inc omes is s u b s t a n t i a l l y h i g her than among ran k - a n d - f i l e mem bers, wh e r e a s amo ng metal wur kers there are no sig n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s in this respect.
Apart from these d i f fere nces wit hin unions, there are also m arked dif f e r e n c e s b et ween them: the pr o p o r t i o n of rank-an d-fil e Hietal wor kers who belong to the hig h - i n c o m e cat egory is higher than the r e s pect ive figures for union act ivis ts of the Municipal Employees* Uni on the Union of Commercial Workers.
In terms of dur ation of union membership, all metal 'workers have been m em bers of their present union for a longer time than the other workers. Among the r an k-an d-fil e m em bers of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union, almost every other worker has been a member for more than ten years; in the Mun icip al E m p l o y e e s ’ Union and the Union of Com merc ial Workers, less than one third have been members for more than the years. In all three unions more than half of the act ivis ts have been mem bers for more than a decade.
The trade union mov emen t is an integral part of the labour m ov emen t or the wor k i n g - c l a s s movement; trade union act ivists also take an active part in the work of the labour movement. With the changes that have taken place in society and in the social s t r u c -ture of trade union mem bers hips, there have also Ьвеп some clear changes in pol itic al identification, even though the clear m a -jority of w or kers still sympath ize wit h labour rather than c o n -ser vative parties.
T a b l e 4 I de ntif icati on with labour par ties*
and the w or king class (4)
Detail
Mun icip al Com merc ial Metal
Labour Party Working Class Labour Party W or king Class Labour Party W or king Class U ni on o f f icia ls 69 03 59 71 74 89 R eg ular p a r t i -cipants 50 77 49 69 49 86 Informal a c t i -vists 52 65 62 71 50 83 R a n k -an d-fil e mem bers 29 55 30 51 40 69
* C o m muni st Party, P e o p l e ’s D e m ocra tic League and Social D e -moc rati c Party.
There are clear d i f f er e n c e s be t w e e n the three u n i o n s in the support given to labour parties. Amo ng rank-and-file m et al workers, 404 identify the msel ves with the labour parties, w h e r e a s in the Union of Com merc ial Wor kers only 304 sym pathize. The same pa t t er n is rep eate d amongst uni on act ivists: around 754 of the act ivis ts in the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Uni on sup port leftist par ties, in the Union of C o m merc ial W or kers only 604.
SAK m em bers identify the msel ves wit h the w o r k i n g cla ss more often than wit h leftist parties. The d i f f e r e n c e s bet w e e n the whole mem b e r s h i p and union act ivis ts is sma ller in the case of class ide n t i f i c a t i o n than in pol itic al ide nti f i c a t i o n . In class ide ntif icati on we find the same kind of d i f f e r e n c e s be t w e e n the three unions as in the case of p o l itic al i de ntif icati on: nine in ten active metal w or kers identify t h e m s e l v e s w it h the w or king class, while in the Uni on of Com merc ial W o r k e r s only two thirds of the active m em bers c o n side r t h e msel ves w o r k i n g - c l a s s . Among the uni on act ivis ts and r a n kan dfil e me m b e r s to the M u n icip al E m -p l o y e e s ’ Union, the p a t tern s of cla ss i d e n t i f i c a t i o n are by and large the same as in party identification.
There are m ar ked dif f e r e n c e s b et ween r a n k - a n d - f i l e m em bers and u ni on act ivis ts in pol itic al ide ntif icati on. U n l i k e uni on a c t i -vists, ran k - a n d - fi l e m em bers tend to be a t t a c h e d to the labour m ov emen t only through the trade uni on mov ement. As far as the l a -bour mov ement is con cern ed, the c en tral un i t i n g f ac tor is the trade union mov emen t rather than the labour p a r t i e s or other wor king- -class organiz ations. Urlion a c t ivis ts are an int egra l part of the labour m o v e m e n t ’s institutions, r a n k a n d f i l e m e m b e r s are i n -volved only formally.
El e c t e d uni on off ice h ol ders are e n t r u s t e d w it h mos t of the pra ctic al uni on a ff airs at the s h o pflo or level. T h e r e f o r e it wou ld seem r e a sona ble to ass ume that o f f i c e - h o l d e r s also have more inf luen ce than other w or kers in m a t t e r s c o n c e r n i n g the uni on branch. To put this ass um p t i o n to the test, we ask ed uni on m em bers to e s t imat e the deg ree of their own i n f l u e n c e on b r a nch a f f a i r s .
The res ults are rather surprising. Only one in two a c t ivis ts feel they have a high or fairly high d eg ree of in f l u e n c e on bra nch affairs; the uni on act ivists of the M u n i c i p a l E m p l o y e e s ’ U n i o n
gave the hig hest ratings. The d i f fere nces b et ween the activists and the r a n k-an d-fil e were con sid e r a b l e in all three unions: in the Municipal E m p l o y e e s ’ Union and the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union, only one in ten rank-an d-fil e mem bers said they could influence their own union branch. In the Union of Commercial Workers, the figure is slightly higher (164). All in all, however, it is clear that in this respect there is a wid e s p r e a d feeling of p o w erle ssnes s among r a n k-an d-fil e members.
T a b l e 5 P e r c ent age of union mem bers with a high or fairly high d eg ree of me m b e r s h i p influence in bra nch affairs
Detail Municipal Commercial Metal
Union off icials 56 46 49
Regular par ti c i p a n t s 26 37 19
Informal act ivists 7 22 14
R a n k - a n d - f i l e members 7 16 7
N 1 632 618 551
3. R a n k-an d-fil e menbers: Who are they?
In the fo r egoi ng we have bri efly d e s crib ed the typical Fin nish trade union activist. We shall now move on to d is cuss the maj ority of the trade uni on membership: the r a n k-an d-fil e members. The fol lowing ten tative g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s are also bas ed upo n the r e -sults of S A K ’s Study Project [ K e h a l i n n a , M e l i n , 1985].
1. Active p a r t i c i p â t Jon is far less common among union members under 35 than among m em bers over 35.
2. Wom en take part in union a c t ivit ies less oft en than men; this is due to the fact that wom en are e le cted as uni on off icials less oft en than men.
3. As c o m p a r e d with s u p port ers of the pol itical left, parti- pa t ion is less c o m mon among me m b e r s who ide ntify the msel ves with b o u r g eo i s pa r t i e s or who are pol i t i c a l l y independent.
4. Wor kers who have been u n e m p l o y e d on sev eral o c c a s i o n s 01?
who have c ha nged their job a number of times tend to be less a c -tive than w or kers who have a sta ble job with one employer.
5. Wor kers emp loye d in the p rivate service s e c tor are less active than m em bers of industrial unions or even me m b e r s of public sector unions.
6. Lo w - in c o m e gro ups tend to be less i n t eres ted in uni on a f -fairs than h i g h - i n c o m e groups.
Fr o m these general findings we shall pr o c ee d to a som ewhat more d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n of the r a n k - a n d - f i l e members.
2.1. R a n k - an d - f i l e m em bers in SAK
R a n k -a n d - f i l e me m b e r s acc ount for aome 604 of S A K ’s total membership. However, it must at once be po i n t e d out that the def i n i t i o n of ran k - a n d -f i l e is by no mea ns very accurate, since w it hin this cat egor y we can ide ntify d i f fere nt deg r e e s or levels of partici patio n. One fifth (214) of SAK's m e m b e r s h i p are c o m -p le tely ind iffe rent to the trade uni on m o v emen t and its activities. Informal activists, i.e. mem bers who only take part d ur ing their leisure time, account for 6% of the mem bers hip. A r o u n d one third of the me m b e r s use their vote when union o f f ic i a l s and r e p r e s e n t a -tives to the Con g r e s s are bei ng elected.
All in all, more than one third of S A K ’s m e m b e r s h i p may be de f i n e d as ran k - a n d - f i l e me m b e r s who take an int erest in union affairs. Totally p as sive m em bers or r e l ucta nt m e m b e r s rep rese nt about one sixth of the m e m bers hip, and i n d iffe rent me m b e r s acc ount for sli ghtl y more than 104. The p r o p o r t i o n of r a n k - a n d - f i l e m em bers is higher among women than among men. Among female SAK members, 404 are i n t eres ted r a n k - a n d - f i l e members, 164 are r e -luctant m em bers and 134 are ind iffe rent; among men over one third are i n t eres ted r a n k - a n d - f i l e mem bers, also over one third are relucta nt members, and sli g h t l y more than 104 are i n d i f f e r -ent.
The p r o p o r t i o n of r a n k - a n d - f i l e me m b e r s is h i g h e s t in the you ngest age group, i.e. und er 25: alm ost eve ry oth er you ng uni on m e m b e r is i n t eres ted in uni on affairs. In this same age group, one fifth may -toe c l a s s i f i e d as rel ucta nt members, and one in ten as indifferent. The num ber of r a n k -a n d - f i l e mem b e r s d e c r e a s e s with
increasing age, while at the same time p a r tici patio n in trade union act ivit ies increases. Young union mem bers tend to be more often interested and indifferent than older members. This can be e xp lained by the traditional policy of the trade union movement to elect its off icials from amongst veteran members.
T a b l e 6 Trade union act ivism by age group
Detail under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 over 55 Activists 20 29 38 40 35 Int erested rank-an d-fil e 47 50 38 35 38 Reluctant 22 18 13 10 14 Indifferent 10 13 11 15 12 Total 100 100 100 100 100 N 1 039 1 460 4 574 3 350 10 603
Over the past 15 years or so there have been some profound changes in F in nish society which among other things have led to
■i general dec line of social activity: people (and young people in par ticu lar) are less and less interested in politics, and as s ocia tions have lost much of their si g nifi cance in c h a nnel ling p e o p l e ’s demands. On the other side of these dev elopments, we have seen the rise of new social m o v emen ts and va r i o u s forms of gra ssro ots activity. This sit uation pre sent s a number of major cha llen ges to the trade union movement. Most importantly, will it be able to recruit young m em bers in the future to the same extent as it has so far? The general opi nion is that unl ess the trade union takes d e t ermi ned action to change its course, it will begin to lose its m em bers or at least have great d i f ficu lty in rec ruit ing new ones.
3.1. The r an k-an d-fil e m em bers of the three unions
Whe n we look at the p r o file s of the r a n k - a n d - f i l e m em bers (Tab. 7), we find that there are d i f f e r e n c e s be t w e e n but above all wit hin the three unions inc luded in our analysis.
T a b l e 7 Pro file of r a n k-an d-fil e m em bers in the three u ni ons
<*)
Detail
Mun icipal Com merc ial Metal
R L I R L I R L I*
Has p r o fess ional
training 33 28 39 45 55 47 25 34 40
Has e x p erie nces
of u n e mplo yment 31 30 33 31 27 27 38 46 38
High or fair deg ree ot influence on
work AB 50 30 49 45 50 31 25 35
Belongs to high-
-income group 9 6 5 9 3 12 30 13 43
Mem ber of pre sent union for more
than 10 years 31 26 31 37 28 33 47 33 47
* R - int eres ted r a n k - a n d - f i l e members; L - rel ucta nt; I - in-dif fere nt .
The ran k - a n d - f i l e m em bers of the Uni on of Com m e r c i al Wo r k e r s have the highest scores for pro fes s i o n a l training, f o l lowe d by the mem bers of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Uni on and the M u n i c ip a l Employees' Union. Here it is not p o s s i bl e to draw any d ir e c t conc l u s i o n s reg ardi ng the c o n n e c t i o n s b et ween tra inin g and a t t itud es to the trade union movement.
The figures for u n e m p l o y m e n t e x p e r i e n c e s are h i g he s t among the ran k - a n d - f i l e me m b e r s of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union; in r e l a -tive terms the rel ucta nt mem bers of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Uni on have been u n e mp l o y e d more oft en than the oth er groups. The r e l ucta nt and ind ifferent me m b e r s of the U ni on of Com m e r c i a l W o r k e r s have the lowest scores for u n e m pl o ym e n t exp erie nces. As a whole,
however, the d i f f ere nces on this d i m e nsi on are not s i g n i f i -cant .
The rank-an d-fil e members of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union have less o p p ortu nitie s to influence their own work than others: when compared with the members of the two other unions, there are dif ferences of up to 25%. The lowest scores on this d i m e nsi on are found for the reluctant mem bers of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union, and the highest for reluctant members in the Mun icipal E m p l o y e e s ’ Union and the indifferent mem bers of the Union of Commercial W o r k e r s .
Rel uctant members belong to the category of hig h i n c o m e w o r k -ers less often than interested and indifferent memb-ers. The i n -different m em bers of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union have the highest incomes: almost half of them belong to the top fifth of S A K ’s wage earners. The reluctant mem bers of the Union of C o m m erc ial W o r k -ers have the lowest salaries: only 3% of this group belong to S A K ’s hig h - i n c o m e category (see Tab. 3).
R an k-an d-fil e mem bers have been members of their present union for a shorter period of time than trade union activists. In the group of reluctant members, less than one third have been mem bers for more than ten years. Among int erested ran k - a n d - f i l e mem bers over one third have been members for less than five years. Over 40% of the reluctant mem bers and more than one third of the i n -dif ferent w or kers have been mem bers of their pre sent union for
less than five years. The d i f fere nces bet ween the r an k-an d-fil e groups are not sig nificant in terms of mem b e r s h i p duration: the chief finding is that reluctant mem bers have been m em bers of their present union for a shorter time than int erested and indifferent members. Indeed, it seems that the kind of reluctant attitude which is typical of passive mem bers tends to recede with i n c r e a s -ing mem b e r s h i p years and to become rep lace d by either an i n t e r -ested or ind ifferent attitude.
Therefore, as far as trade union act ivism is con cerned, the m e m b e r ’s actual age is clearly a sec ondary factor; what mat ters most is the number of years he has been a member. This discovery is of c o n sequ ence esp ecially when c o n side ring the att itude of female mem bers to trade union activity. In F in land female union activists ate old er than their male colleagues. In addition,
women must have much more field e x p e r i e n c e than men bef ore they will be elected t o 1 union offices [ M i k k о n e n, 1987].
The social attitudes of r a n kan dfil e mem bers are less c r y sta lliz ed than those of the union act ivis ts and they are in g e -neral less interested in political issues. In the SAK membership, 694 of ran k-an d-fil e members and 844 of o f f i c e - h o l d e r s identify themselves with the working class. In the group of reluctant members, every other worker identifies him self with the wor king class. In the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union there are more r a n k -an d-fil e members who identify the msel ves with the wor k i n g cla ss than in the two other unions concerned.
There is a direct link between leftist sym p a t h i e s and trade union act ivis m in that the more active part the wor kers take in the trade union movement, the more support there is to labour parties. As regards support of labour parties, there are greater d i f fere nces between interested and other r a n k - a n d - f i l e members than between interested ran k-an d-fil e mem bers and uni on activists. In the SAK membership, two thirds of the o f f i c e - h o l d e r s support labour parties. Of the int eres ted r a n k-an d-fil e mem b e r s of the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union, every other member s y m p a t h i z e s wit h wor king -class parties; among reluctant mem bers the figure is roughly 254 and among indifferent members over 404. The res p e c t i v e figures for the Union of Commercial Workers are 394, 204 and 304, which are roughly the same as for r a n k an dfil e mem b e r s of the M u n i -cipal E m p l o y e e s ’ Union.
4. Trade union act ivis ts and ra n k - a n d - f i l e mem bers bet ween institutions and e ve ryda y life
Above I have dis cuss ed some of ways in which trade union a ct ivis ts and r a n k-an d-fil e mem b e r s differ from each other in terms of their social composition. Trade uni on a ct ivit y is an extremely complex phe nome non which arises from the int erpl ay of numerou s dif fere nt b a c kgro und factors (see Fig. 1). In this final section, we shall briefly compare the social t hi nkin g of the two groups of union members.
Economic anö political conjunc tures social conditions: gender age working conditions and general s i t u a tion at the w o r k -place: salary, size of workplace organizational culture: size of union b r a n c h -es structure of union branches family status social background place of residence working hours (shift work) opp ortu nitie s to influence work arrangements nature of work organizational traditions political a t m o s p h e -re in the union moving objectives at work position of union on the labour market relationship to labour markets unemplo yment pro fessional training class i d e n t i f i c a -tion political ide ntif icati on motive of m e m b e r -ship social r e l a t i o n ships at w o r k -place scope of shop steward o r g a n i z a -tion trade union traditions at workplace
group action com muni catio n pos sibi litie s to influence union/ branch
length of m e m b e r -ship
Trade union activism elected off ice- holde r pa r t ici patio n in meetings pa r tici patio n in elections par tic i p a t i o n in training
par tici patio n in leisure activities attitudes towards the union
Trade union activists are far more often mem bers of various ass ociations than ran k-an d-fil e members; as we have already seen, those who take an active part in the work of the trade union movemen t tend be active in other fields of social life as well. There are, however, certain slight d i f fere nces b e t ween the three unions in attachment to associations. On average, the members of the Mun icipal Employees' Union are mem bers of a s s o c ia tions more often than the members of both the Metal W o r k e r s ’ Union of Com mercial Workers.
Union activists identify themselves with labour parties more often than the rank-and-file, whose political att itud es do not seem to be fully crystallized. The ran k-an d - f i l e mem bers who do have a definite political stand usually s y m path ize with labour parties, but a large part of them either do not know who they would support, or say they are p o l itic ally independent. I d e n t i
-fication with rightist and centrist parties is rare both among union act ivists and among the rank-and-file.
As regards the ordering of the most important goals of the trade union movement, there are cer tain d i f f e r e n c e s of emphasis between union activists and ran k-an d-fil e members. U n i on act ivists tends to attach more importance to reducing income di f f e r e n t i a l s and to the доэ1 of full emp loyment; r a n k - a n d - f i l e m e m b e r s give priority to raising wage levels, the p r e v e n t i o n of e n v i r o n m e n t a l pollution, and other "softer" values.
The maj orit y of union act ivis ts hold that there are several issues on which the views of e m p l oye rs and e m p l o y e e s do not meet. In the group of ran k - a n d - f i l e members, r e l u cta nt and i n -dif fere nt me m b e r s b el ieve less often than o th ers that such c o n -flicts exist.
Union act ivis ts are a t t ache d bot h to the goals p u r s u e d by the trade union m o v e m e n t s and to the stand and a t t i t u d e s it represents. The r e l a t i o n s h i p of ran k - a n d - f i l e me m b e r s to the m o v e m e n t is, once again, u n c r y s t a l l i z e d a l t houg h her e there are some s i g n i -ficant d i f f e r e n c e s b et ween the unions. A c t i v i s t s b e l i e v e their cha nces of inf luen cing the act i v i t i e s of their u n i o n b r a n c h are much b et ter than do r a n k - a n d - f i l e members; to s i m p l i f y the point, the u n i o n a c t i vis ts of the M u n i c i p a l E m p l oye es' Union, for
ex-ample, have ten times better chances to influence branch affairs than the rank-and-file. Activists also discuss union affairs with their wor kmat es much more often than ran k-an d-fil e members Here, too, the dif fere nce between the two groups is extremaly big.
Union activists see the trade union movement as a wehicle of social interests: through the movement, they can make themselves heard in the democratic dec isio n-mak ing process. For rank-and-file members, mem bers hip in the trade union is more of a civic duty, although a large part of them would in fact be prepared to take an active part if the movement was able to offer more i n s p i r -ing and constru ctive activities. At the moment its activities have become i n s titu tiona lized to such an extent that only very it;w members find what they want in the union.
The que stio n of the internal d i f f ere ntiat ion of the trade union mov emen t into activists and rankandfile members is c l o -sely int ertwined with other structural factors of working life, such as the seg ment ation of the labour markets, the gender d i vision of labour, etc. As a con sequence of increasing labour m a r k -et segmentation, there will also be an increase in the number of union mem bers who are not in per mane nt employment. This in turn will leau to increasing ind ifference and passiveness, especially i the trade uni on movement is unable more e ff ecti vely to cater for the interests and needs of workers whose pos itio n on the labour market is highly insecure. In this sit uati on the movement must ser ious ly consider new strategies to develop and increase profess ional training, to raise w o m e n ’s wage levels etc.
Ran kan dfil e members are lacking in both kno wled ge and p o s -sib ilit ies to take action. As far as I can see the trade union movement is itself largely to bla me for the existing gap between union act ivis ts and ran k-an d-fil e members; part of its members have the opportu nity to par ticipate and take advantage of it, part of the mem bers lack these opportunities. This dif fere nce cannot be reduced to the dif ferential interest of these groups in trade uni on activity. The most important und erly ing factor is the o r g aniz ation al str uctu re of the trade union movement: it i n
BIBLIOG RAPHY
B o r g 0., P e h k o n e n J., 19B2, S a i r a a n h o i t a jat ja t y ö m a r k k i n a p o l i t i i k k a , Tampere.
K e h ä l i n n a H., M e l i n H., 19B5, Tar peis ta toimin- taan, Helsinki.
K e h ä l i n n a H., M e l i n H., 1986, Summary of the Central Results of S A K ’s O r g aniz ation al Study Project, H e l -sinki .
K e h ä l i n n a H., M e l i n H., 1987, Raportti ammat- t i y h d i s t y s a k t i i v i s u u d e s t a , H e l s i n k i .
M i k k o n e n E., 1987, Minäko SAKissa? Tut kimu s S A K :n nai- sjäsenistä, Helsinki.
V ä h ä t a l o K., L i l j a K., 1977, A m m a t t i o s a s t o ja luottam usmie het työpaikalla, Helsinki.
Harri Melin
FIŃSCY DZIAŁACZE ZWIĄZKOWI
MIEDZY INS TYTUCJAMI I ŻYCIEM COD Z I E N N Y M
Artykuł p r z edst awia wyniki badań p r z e p r o w a d z o n y c h wśr ód c z ł o n -ków i akt ywis tów trzech central zwi ązkowych. Typowy akt ywis ta jest męż czyz ną w wieku 35-55 lat, w y k w a l i f i k o w a n y m p r a c o w n i k i e m z w y -k s z tałc eniem zawodowym, rzadziej niż p rz ecię tnie sty -k a j ą c y m się z bezrobociem, o wyższyc h niż prz e c i ę t n e zarobkach, s y m p a t y k i e m l e -wicy politycznej.
Badania poz wala ją także na c h a r a k t e r y s t y k ę "szeregowych" c zł onkó w związków. Są to raczej mężczyźni niż kobiety, powyżej 35 lat, nie i d e ntyf ikują cy się z p o l ityc zną lewicą, c z ę ście j p r a -c ują-cy w prz emyś le i/lub w sek torz e publi-cznym, raczej wyż szyc h zarobkach. Około 1/3 czł o n k ó w jest z a i n t e r e s o w a n y c h d z i a ł a l n o -ścią związków. Młodsi c z ł onko wie są bardzie j zai n t e r e s o w a n i (przy niskim (cz łonkostwie).
Pod wieloma względami dzi ałac ze trzech bad a n y c h z w i ązkó w r ó ż -nią się między sobą, tzn. że w y m ieni one wyżej cechy spotyka się wśród nich z różną int ensywnością. Aktywiści i "sz eregowi" c z ł o n -kowie różnią się także co do cech świadomości. Ci, którzy są a k tywni w związku zaw odow ym są też czę ście j aktywni w róż n y c h s t o -w a r zysz eniac h i ruchach społecznych. Dotyczy to zwł aszc za p r a c o w -nik ów kom unalnych. Aktywiści są b a r dzie j zdecydo wani pol ity c z n i e
i czę ściej lewicowi. Aktywiści i zwi ązkowcy są nastawieni e g a l i -tarnie wobec płac i dążą do pełnego zatrudnienia, podczas gdy czł onkowie pragną podwyżki płac i ochrony środowiska. Aktywiści przywią zują wagę do działalności zwi ązkowej i wierzą w jej s k u
-teczność. W szczególności uważają, iż ruch związkowy służy i n t e -resom spo łe cz nym i demokratyzacji procesów decyzyjnych. Z r ó ż n i c o -wanie opinii między aktywistami i czł onkami ma podłoże s t r u k t u -ralne i wiąże się z seg mentacją rynku pracy i pod zi ał em pracy według płci. Związki zawodowe winny stawić czoła nowym w y z w a -niom e k o n o m i c zno- s poł e czny m wbrew swojej obecnej org anizacji i sposobie działania.
