Why union membership benefits IT chiefs
- Posted:
- 16:52 08 May 2003
- Topics:
- IT Profession | IT Workforce | IT Management
With the growth in outsourcing, more IT
employees are turning to unions for support, but IT directors may
find they are a useful asset rather than an intransigent
foe.
The technology sector has never been a hotbed of union activism,
but with strike action looming at the Bank of Ireland over its
decision to outsource its IT and offshore outsourcing set to
transform the UK's IT industry, unions have started to flex their
muscles.
In the past, the level of union membership within the IT industry
has been low, partly due to the high salaries and fluid job market
in the sector. However, unions must also shoulder some of the blame
for failing to sell the benefits of membership to such a critical
part of the UK workforce.
"There are about one million IT professionals in the UK, and
between 5% and 10% are union members," said Peter Skyte, national
secretary at trade union Amicus, which includes the IT Professional
Association, a body that represents employees working in IT
departments and for IT suppliers. "In IT departments the number of
union members can vary from a very low number to half the
workforce."
However, many IT managers can barely stifle a yawn when asked about
unions.
"It is an issue I have never encountered," said David Rippon,
chairman of the British Computer Society's Elite group of IT
directors and former IT director of Land Securities.
"It is a complete non-issue," said Peter Mansbridge, head of IT at
the Chloride Group. "I have never had any unionised people in any
organisation I have run."
Most IT union members work in banking and the public sector, where
70% of staff are union members.
Most IT directors in the public sector are familiar with dealing
with unionised IT departments, and quite a few are union members
themselves.
Kate Mountain, chief executive of local authority IT managers
association Socitm, was a member of Unison when she was head of IT
at Liverpool Council, but she did not go to union meetings because
she felt her presence would inhibit discussions.
Some private sector IT chiefs are also union members. "I was on a
professional IT committee when someone introduced themselves as 'IT
director of a plc and a union member'," said Skyte. "It surprised
me because some companies are pretty anti-union and it can be hard
to admit to belonging to a union."
Whatever their reasons for joining a union, senior people in IT can
find membership has practical benefits, said Skyte. "Someone
appointed to a senior position on £80,000 contacted me as a
union member to say he was worried about a clause on working hours
in his contract," he said. "It was a standard issue about
contractual advice."
Long-time Amicus member Philip Virgo, now strategic adviser to the
Institute for the Management of Information Systems, has seen
benefits both in respect to his own career and his ability to
manage IT professionals.
"I got more advice as a manager from my union than from my
personnel department," he said. "The union had very practical
advice on how to defuse situations as painlessly as possible. You
should use the union as one of your consulting mechanisms."
Virgo also pointed out that collective negotiation can be a lot
simpler for departmental managers, especially if the workforce is
too large to handle individually.
Socitm president Fahri Zihni, head of IT at Wolverhampton Council,
said, "It is useful to have a body with which we can negotiate and
it gives us people to talk to."
But can the unions survive the prolonged economic downturn?
"Significantly for IT professionals, our membership is growing by
20% to 25% every year - it is the fastest growing sector," said
Skyte. "About one third of new members join via our website.
"People join a trade union in 2003 for the same reason they joined
100 years ago - to improve their terms and conditions, to safeguard
their jobs and to protect themselves at work. That has not
changed."
As the UK IT sector struggles with the economic downturn, the
campaigning issues of IT unions - job security, pay, skills and
pensions - have become more relevant for staff and employers.
"Dealing with an angry union can have a cost factor," said
Virgo.
Skyte said unions can act as a bridge between the workforce and
management, and this is encouraged by the changing attitudes of
major suppliers such as EDS and CSC, where long-term relationships
with unions have been forged in the wake of outsourcing
contracts.
"The more deals they do, the more they realise that rather than
seeing us as a problem, they can work with us," said Skyte.
"You should view the union as a partner and be determined to be
open," said Richard Sykes, chairman of outsourcing consultancy
Morgan Chambers. "You should not be defensive."
However, opinions vary about how regularly IT management should
meet with union leaders. Some experts say once a month, while
others say the two sides should meet only when an important issue
arises.
But the real bogeyman for the IT industry is offshore outsourcing,
which is set to grow dramatically. The trend for outsourcing, both
in the UK and offshore, has politicised many deals and may
represent the future of IT.
"We are not going to stand by while skills and jobs move out of the
UK with nothing to replace them," said Skyte. "We want companies to
make a reality of their rhetoric that employees are their greatest
assets, instead of regarding them as expendable when the going gets
rough.
"We are keen to work with companies and IT directors where there
should be a win-win situation, because we are not in different
camps. Companies should stop behaving like dinosaurs and see unions
as an asset."
Like it or not, IT management can no longer afford to ignore the
unions.
What can unions do for IT bosses?
- Provide a convenient, single point of contact with the
workforce, funded by employees
- Act as a source of experienced advice and consultation, both
personally and for workforce issues
- Smooth the transfer of staff in outsourcing deals, using the
union's experience in foreseeing and solving problems
- Help lobby government to ensure the UK's national IT skills base remains current, so lower-value jobs can be outsourced offshore without undermining UK staff.
