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Committees help us build the collective and hold us accountable to each other. We need to know what everyone is doing and when, so that we can coordinate our work. Committees help spread the work around, develop leaders and increase commitment and ownership.
To foster equity, committees should actively include women, gender-diverse workers, and other underrepresented groups. This not only brings varied perspectives to strategic decisions but also strengthens the union's inclusiveness and solidarity.
Within the framework of the overall union decision-making structures, committees usually make daily or weekly decisions about strategy and work plans. Ensuring that these decisions reflect the voices and experiences of all workers is crucial.
Committees should be made up of the people who are doing the work and represent a diversity of identities and interests.
This committee material includes the following steps: see TOC
Forming a committee
Committee at work
Gathering ideas in your committee
Decision-making in a committee
Conflict in a committee
You might not want to form the committee too early before you have built support for your work. The Tool Kit sections on Participatory Action Research and Arbolitos can help you recruit potential committee members. If your first committee meetings are too weak and not representative, it could give the impression of a small clique rather than an active, representative and hard-working committee.
Recruit and involve women and underrepresented groups in the committee from the beginning. Once the committee is formed, you can recruit additional committee members from underrepresented groups of workers or areas of the workplace where union support is weak.
Make sure the committee is always seeking to involve more workers from a multitude of backgrounds. A common mistake is to spend too much of your time and resources with the most active supporters and not remember to reach out to workers who are less involved but who are willing to help.
Discuss how you will form your working committee(s):
1. Make a list of everyone who is working with you. Include rank-and-file workers who are talking to their coworkers, and union leaders who are supporting the work.
2. Discuss when, where and how often the committee will meet. The hardest-working people can meet more often, but they will want to report in regularly.
3. Discuss how the committee fits into your union decision-making structures.
4. Discuss reporting. Do committee members need to regularly report back to the workers in the workplace? To elected union representatives?
5. Discuss how you will create specific conditions to increase and maintain womens’ participation in your committee considering the persistent gaps and inequalities in responsibility for care, family, union and work balance.
In February 2015, the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union of Uganda established the first Informal Sector Committee. The committee was composed of the Chairs and Secretaries of all the affiliated informal workers’ associations.
The Informal Sector Committee holds monthly meetings hosted by all the affiliates on a rotating basis. This worked very well, enabling all the member organisations to get to know one another, engaging members, not just the leadership.
The ATGWU Informal Sector Committee unanimously believes that they have seen a “100% increase in power for everyone” as a result of affiliating to ATGWU.
Be open to expanding your committee to include new members who are willing to work.
What skills do you and others have that can help the committee?
How can we recruit additional committee members?
How can we increase participation of young workers in our committee?
You will want to define tasks for the committee that fit what workers are able and willing to do. Committees should ensure that all members, including women and gender-diverse workers, feel empowered to take on leadership roles and meaningful tasks.
The following is an example from a worker’s committee organising at a non-union company:
I want to be a member of the organising committee
I’ll take responsibility for:
☐ Attending committee meetings once a week ensuring safe and inclusive enviroment where everyone´s voice is heard ☐ Speaking to one or more non-union workers, with special attention to understanding the unique concerns of women and marginalized groups, about what they like and dislike about working for the company ☐ Helping in the union office once a month ☐ Attending soccer games with other workers ensuring these events are inclusive and family-friendly ☐ Attending social events with other workers ☐ Helping organise soccer games with other workers ☐ Helping organise social events with other workers ☐ Making calls to union members from the union office ☐ Keeping 5-7 union members updated about the organising
Discuss and list tasks that might be applicable to your committee work.
Keep the committee agendas brief, discuss previous assignments, plan the next tasks and distribute additional work tasks. Make sure that people do not commit to do more than is possible. Develop a culture of helping each other.
If someone does not complete the work they agreed to do, designate someone to contact them and find out why. You might want to set a policy for removal from the organising or campaign committee after a designated number of absences or if work tasks are not completed. Pay special attention if women did not accomplish their tasks and find out if there are any specific gender issues behind the absences or lack of commitment. Include a way to re-join the committee after attendance at two or more meetings or completion of work tasks.
Two important committee jobs are facilitation and record-keeping. These responsibilities can be shared or rotated, but it should be clear who is responsible for doing them.
You will want to spend time thinking about ground rules for your committee. Some common ground rules are: start on time and end on time; confidentiality; no public showing of weakness or division to the employer; and helping each other participate by speaking less if you usually speak a lot, and speaking more if you don’t speak much. Equal participation is not a natural process, we need agreements and internal policies that reinforce the inclusion of invisible and submerged voices.
Discuss a committee agenda and collective ground rules that would fit your situation.
Discuss who can perform the committee facilitation and record-keeping jobs and whether they will be rotated.
What method will the committee use to make collective decisions?
How will you collect and gather ideas together?
How are you going to distribute responsibilities?
Clear and democratic decision-making processes and participatory discussions will help involve committee members and generate ideas and discussion.
Below are two lists of different methods committees can use to 1) make decisions and 2) gather ideas.
There may be some committee members that you do not trust. This can be difficult to deal with. If there are fears of employer retaliation or violence it can be extremely difficult. Women and gender-diverse workers often face additional risks, including harassment or targeted retaliation, making it crucial to create a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.
Employers benefit most from an atmosphere of secrecy and mistrust; unions need trust to build the collective. Spend time getting to know workers you don’t yet trust. Share information openly in meetings unless it will directly harm your work. Keep suspicions to yourself until you know for sure and do not overreact. Give work assignments to untrusted workers that will not cause harm, such as gathering information about the industry or employer, or attending public events. Do not create an atmosphere of mistrust just because of one or two individuals.
Conflict will arise. Have clear decision-making processes and make sure they are inclusive and reflect the union’s heterogeneity. Think ahead about what conflicts could occur and discuss potential conflicts early. Create a culture where we can respect and learn from each other’s differences. Practice deep listening. Find out what is behind the differences. Continue to build strong personal relationships of trust – before, after and during conflict.
Above all, keep your committee meetings hardworking and fun. The culture that you develop as you organise will affect the culture of your work and the overall union.
