What is a Growth Organiser?
NUW External Organisers are responsible for running campaigns in non-union workplaces. This includes speaking to workers about joining the union, building union representative structures and developing a union culture.
Position Description
In approaching non-union employees in workplaces there is no magic formula, and often it is a result of hard work, preparation and commitment.
External organisers are primarily responsible for setting up meetings of non-union workers to speak to them about joining the union.
External organisers are required to:
- Set up meetings in non-union workplaces-often during lunch and shift breaks;
- Set up meetings away from workplaces-before and after hours;
- Coordinate home visits-before and after hours;
- Negotiate with employers so as to arrange meetings of non-union employees;
- Ask non-union members to facilitate meetings of all non-union workers and;
- Attend meetings across the CBD, regional areas and sometimes interstate.
The purpose of all of these meetings is to talk to workers about the union, with the objective of getting them to join.
Sometimes it takes a few approaches before we get success, and often it depends on the issues in the workplace, employer attitudes, and workers supporting a change for the better.
Some workers know about unions because of their past experience, however, often we are speaking to workers who have no idea about what a union is or what we do.
Our role is to teach them about the union, with a view of getting workers to join, and ultimately, to build a strong and effective union in their workplace.
One of the main attributes that external organisers require to do this role is excellent communication skills, in particular dealing with questions about the union.
The role of the external organiser involves being prepared for these questions in all meetings and conversations.
This means that there is a lot of preparation before meetings, including research around worker entitlements, planning the meeting, and practicing answers to common questions.
Also, external organisers need to identify and develop the leaders in workplaces so as to help build active union structures for the long term.
Ultimately, despite the best planning and intentions, it all depends on workers being ready to take that next step.
Our jobs are about helping workers to take that next step and to join the union.
So what sites do external organizers visit?
- Some generated by leads that we receive from workers wanting to meet the union or to direct us to a workplace that needs a union
- Companies that we historically have coverage of or who are seen as strategically important
- New businesses or new sites that we have coverage of
As well as meeting with workers and getting them to join the union, External Organisers keep a site as their own until an agreement is in place (it is then handed over to an Internal Organiser to look after.) Once workers have joined the union an External Organiser will:
- Generate Logs of Claim on behalf of members
- Negotiate with employers about union access, Enterprise Bargaining Agreements, delegate training and other matters
- Adapt model Enterprise Bargaining Agreements, with the help of our Industrial Officers, for individual workplaces
