Editing Organizing model (section)

==History in the UK and Ireland==
According to Bob Carter and Rae Cooper, the U.K. went through several decades of uncertainty for unions.<ref name="Cooper" /> Specifically, conditions of the 1970s through the 1990s in the U.K. were particularly prone to hostile conditions for unions.<ref name="Cooper" /> Carter and Cooper state that British unions, like the "Trades Union Congress (TUC)"<ref name="Cooper" /> had to face "government hostility"<ref name="Cooper" /> and "job losses".<ref name="Cooper" /> In response to unfavorable conditions for unions, according to Carter and Cooper, the TUC tried implementing the "servicing"<ref name="Cooper" /> model, but it failed to provide measurable improvements in the labor movement or in "membership".<ref name="Cooper" /> According to Bob Carter, the "first major British union"<ref name="Carter">{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/09500170022118293|title=Adoption of the Organising Model in British Trade Unions: Some Evidence from Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF)|journal=Work, Employment and Society|volume=14|pages=117–136|year=2000|last1=Carter|first1=Bob|issue=1 |s2cid=154837692 }}</ref> to employ the organizing model was "[[Manufacturing, Science and Finance]] (MSF)",<ref name="Carter" /> not necessarily the TUC.<ref name="Carter" /> Bob Carter and Rae Cooper state that MSF was a combined union, which was formed from both the "Association of Scientific, Technical, Managerial, and Supervisory Staffs (ASTMS)"<ref name="Cooper" /> and the "Technical Advisory Staffs (TASS)."<ref name="Cooper" /> Bob Carter says that when ASTMS and TASS came together to form MSF, the merged organization more closely resembled ASTMS than TASS.<ref name="Carter" /> According to Carter and Cooper, the history of the ASTMS showed that it was "...a much looser form of organization",<ref name="Cooper" /> while TASS was more "Communist."<ref name="Cooper" /> Carter states that MSF began implementing the "MSF policy ''Organising Works''"<ref name="Carter" /> in 1996.<ref name="Carter" /> Carter makes the case that the MSF's implementation of the organizing model came after they tried "Reinforcement of a servicing culture...",<ref name="Carter" /> which was, overall, not very successful.<ref name="Carter" /> This is why they switched their strategy toward using the organizing model, rather than the servicing model.<ref name="Carter" /> However, according to Carter, MSF had many problems arise in the wake of the model's adoption, such as the fact that "It was conceived and implemented from the top downwards... without wide discussion in the union."<ref name="Carter" /> Carter sees this as a fundamental problem posed by the organizing model, and he thinks it must be overcome in order for it to be effective.<ref name="Carter" />

Carter states that the same time period also saw the "launch of the TUC's New Unionism project in 1996."<ref name="Carter" /> Both unions, MSF and the TUC, were implementing new policies of employing the organizing model in an attempt to revitalize the conditions of their unions.<ref name="Carter" /> The 1990s in the U.K. were especially geared toward experimentation and reorientation of the labor market toward being influential again.<ref name="Carter" /> Carter and Cooper question how successful the New Unionism Project was in facilitating growth and organizing for unions.<ref name="Cooper" /> Carter and Cooper suggest that one of the main problems with the New Unionism was that it was too focused on negotiating with the "employer",<ref name="Cooper" /> rather than just focusing on the goals of the workers.<ref name="Cooper" /> Carter and Cooper state that the TUC had no real power over its "affiliates",<ref name="Cooper" /> except setting a good example and hoping that the affiliated unions follow their lead by implementing the organizing model.<ref name="Cooper" />

The British [[Trades Union Congress]] (TUC) inaugurated an Organising Academy in 1998, to fulfill a similar role to that of the AFL-CIO's Organizing Institute in the US (or [[Australian Council of Trade Unions|ACTU's]] Organising Works programme in Australia). Carter and Cooper question how successful the Academy was in spreading the organizing model because of the lack of "trainees"<ref name="Cooper" /> from some unions.<ref name="Cooper" /> Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon state that, while the spread of the organizing model was the primary goal of the Academy, the Academy was actually dedicated to helping people traditionally underrepresented in the labor unions, such as "women"<ref name="Heery et al" /> and the "young"<ref name="Heery et al" /> or those with "non-standard"<ref name="Heery et al" /> employment.<ref name="Heery et al" />  While the graduates of the Academy have produced positive results,<ref>Heery, E., Delbridge, R., & Simms, M. (2003, January).''The Organising Academy'' Retrieved from the Web site for the TUC: http://www.tuc.org.uk/newunionism/5yearson.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051113021013/http://www.tuc.org.uk/newunionism/5yearson.pdf |date=2005-11-13 }}</ref> in general the model has not been implemented in the UK with the same comprehensive commitment as it has been by some unions in the US. Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon state that U.K. unions are more likely to adopt the organizing model if they are or have been affiliated with "the Academy",<ref name="Heery et al" /> so the Academy has had a measurable impact on the implementation of the organizing model within the U.K.<ref name="Heery et al" />

There are questions raised by writers on [[Industrial Relations]] about whether the transfer of the SEIU's organizing model has been faithful, or whether a watered down, less radical version has been instantiated.  Sarah Oxenbridge, for example, writes "community organising and organising model methods provided the means by which Californian Unionists put their 'social movement unionism' philosophies and strategies into practice, on a daily basis (see Heery 1998).  However, it may be that most British Trade Unionists will instead see the organising model as – more simply – a range of ''recruitment tactics'', and will pick and choose from amongst these tactics."<ref>Oxenbridge, S. (2000, March). ''Trade Union Organising Among Low-Wage Service Workers: Lessons From American and New Zealand'' Retrieved from the Web site for the University of Cambridge Center for Business Research: http://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/pdf/wp160.pdf</ref> Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon have isolated several aspects of the organizing model that are likely to appear in the U.K., namely "one-to-one recruitment",<ref name="Heery et al" /> and "petitions, surveys and demonstrations".<ref name="Heery et al" /> Heery Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon emphasize that these are only some of the core aspects of the organizing model, not all of them.<ref name="Heery et al" /> Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon state that British unions are more likely to employ the organizing model, rather than the serving model, if they are bigger and more open to influence from "other countries".<ref name="Heery et al" />

According to Heery, Simms, Simpson, Delbridge, and Salmon, British unions are more likely to focus on the ideological basis for the organizing model, rather than the practical applications of it.<ref name="Heery et al" /> Jack Fiorito states that the U.K.'s adaptation of the organizing model has some very specific characteristics that may or may not be seen in other countries.<ref name="Fiorito">{{cite journal|doi=10.1353/lab.2004.0017|title=Union Renewal and the Organizing Model in the United Kingdom|journal=Labor Studies Journal|volume=29|issue=2|pages=21–53|year=2004|last1=Fiorito|first1=Jack|s2cid=201774979|url=https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0f411329121e33528b8f5abd354e31cba6835352}}</ref> Fiorito lists "...less reliance on paid staff and much lower dues levels in U.K. unions..."<ref name="Fiorito" /> as important features of the organizing model in the U.K.<ref name="Fiorito" /> Fiorito did extensive research about the condition of British unions in the 2000s,<ref name="Fiorito" /> which demonstrated that the organizing model was influential in British unions in the 2000s.<ref name="Fiorito" /> When Fiorito interviewed U.K. union members during this timeframe, "Almost half of respondents (45%) volunteer that their union is adopting the OM,"<ref name="Fiorito" /> which is Fiorito's abbreviation for the organizing model.<ref name="Fiorito" /> The organizing model was present in many British unions in the 2000s, and the workers were aware of its presence.<ref name="Fiorito" /> The British union members largely felt that the organizing model was a good model to have implemented in their unions, and they were satisfied with its results.<ref name="Fiorito" /> Fiorito states that "Although the OM varies somewhat in meaning, a strong majority of unionists feel that their union is truly committed to recruiting and organizing new members...".<ref name="Fiorito" />

The Irish general union [[SIPTU]] established an Organizing Unit in 2004 and its president, [[Jack O'Connor (trade unionist)|Jack O'Connor]], set as his objective the transformation of SIPTU – hitherto firmly committed to a servicing agenda – into an organizing union. SIPTU is also seeking to learn from the experience of the SEIU. It remains to be seen how (and whether) a commitment to the organizing model of trade unionism can be reconciled with the union's traditional support for national '[[Social Partnership]]'.

The [[Transport and General Workers Union]] (T&G) has begun to make some of the more serious moves of any of the larger British unions to learn from the SEIU's strategies – though some smaller unions (such as [[Community (trade union)|Community]]) have been applying the organizing model for some years.  In 2005, the T&G launched a Justice for Cleaners campaign, which has been organizing workers in Canary Wharf, the Houses of Parliament, and, towards the end of the year, on the London Underground.  In the former of these two, improvements in wages have been won by workers.  The tactics of [[Social Movement Unionism]] have been utilized, insofar as the campaign organizers have worked closely with, for example, The East London Citizens Organisation (TELCO), which has brought in members of faith groups and other trade union branches.  However, there remain concerns about the T&G's commitment to rank and file workers' action, considering how the union acted during the Gate Gourmet strike.