I used to work for a civil society-based organisation which did, and still does, amazing things for the people it serves – its service users and its audience.
Its social justice remit was – and is – impeccable. You felt proud to work there, like you had given something back and were making a difference. I was a journalist working there, and journalism can be, well, grubby. Full disclosure, I’ve been involved in the horrible door and death knocking, turn the poor bastards over, side of the industry myself. I’d go as far to say that I was quite good at it, and if I’m being really honest, mostly enjoyed it.
But this felt like the opposite – clean and campaigning. Using your talents, whatever they are, to make things that bit better.
On paper, it also had all the correct attributes of a decent, progressive workplace. Good conditions. Decent benefits. Work-life balance. Pay wasn’t all that, but there were other compensations, as stated.
On paper. In reality, there was a… culture (I’m being careful what I write now – it was a long time ago and things are very different now) that was difficult, the pay levels did become an issue and there were redundancies.
When I started there was no chapel of my union, the National Union of Journalists. So we formed one. We should really have had one anyway, but events propelled us in this direction anyhow.
And it was the response of management that was the most instructive – the first time I’d come across this before. They weren’t hostile (that is what I’d come to expect as a trade union activist), they were… a bit hurt.
They were the good guys, we were all on this social mission. Why do you need a trade union?
I wonder how much this attitude persists in the voluntary sector – not just among management, but among staff.
Aren’t voluntary sector workers a different case? Isn’t work in the sector different from work elsewhere?
The answer is, frankly, no. While third sector work might be special in terms of funding, outcomes and those it serves, when it comes to the relationship of the employed and the employer, it is not a special case. The third sector worker sells his or her labour at an hourly rate, the same way a worker in a factory or a call centre does.
The collective product of this labour may be social capital rather than shareholder profit, but that is completely academic when the cost of everything is soaring and, relatively, your wages are nosediving.
This is the reality of profit-making under capitalism – there is no escape from it other than moving beyond that system. And we are certainly not there yet.
This isn’t to say that conditions in our sector are the same as, say, the worst bits of the private sector. At bigger organisations, we are unionised, have collective bargaining etc. We meet management eye-to-eye, not as equals – that’s impossible when economic interests differ – but with respect and understanding on either side.
But we are not sealed off from the stresses and strains of society – in fact, we deal mostly with its primary victims. So when workers in other sectors feel they have no choice but to fight for better pay in the teeth of this generational crisis, so will workers in the voluntary sector.
Where we may be better placed is in our ability to find solutions. Workers understand the funding situation. They understand that cash coming from all directions is squeezed. They maybe understand less the need to keep huge reserves for the darkest of days. If this isn’t such a leaden pall, how bad will it get?
I believe that we mostly have more understanding managements than other sectors. I know we have an understanding and committed workforce. I know also that we have the ability to be fleet of foot and come up with more innovative solutions – look at how we responded to Covid – than other areas of society. Leading by example is what we do best.
We are maybe special in one sense: ultimately, workers and bosses’ interests are never the same. But in our sector, we all believe in our mission. We have that in common. This can be used two ways: to discourage workers from taking action, as I experienced before, or to use this as the basis of finding new ways out of what seems like an intractable situation.
This is not a call for industrial peace – but it is a call for boards and managements to use the best of their talents to come up with solutions to the demands that are about to be placed on them which mean we all win.
Graham Martin is editor of TFN.
