Strong together: trade unions then and now

Stand up for 14 is the name of the new campaign of the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV). The FNV's aim is to raise the minimum wage (from 21 years of age) from €9.44 to €14 an hour. Trade unions in other countries are also campaigning for a higher minimum wage. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the fight for $15/ £15. And our southern neighbours, the Belgians, are working on the fight for €14. In this article, I do not discuss this campaign of the FNV, but take a step back. What is a trade union? And what's in it for you?  

The classic definition of the trade union is that of the English economists and socialists Sidney and Beatrice Webb from 1894. According to them, a trade union is an association of workers whose aim is to maintain or improve their working conditions. A union thus defends the collective and individual interests of its members in the field of work. Think of wages, for example, but also working hours, holidays, training and safety in the workplace.

Webb & Webb came up with this definition during the Industrial Revolution of the 19e century. During this time, the first factories were created, like the German factory in the picture. Work in these factories was hard and dangerous, and the working day was long. Workers also received very little pay and employers could fire them very easily. Disgruntled workers therefore teamed up to improve their situation.  

And indeed, in the same year that Webb & Webb came up with this definition, the first modern trade union was founded in the Netherlands. Predominantly Jewish diamond workers set up the Algemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkersbond (ANDB) in Amsterdam. The ANDB was very successful. For example, it soon regulated a minimum wage for diamond workers. And thanks to the ANDB, diamond workers were the first in the Netherlands to have an eight-hour working day, a 40-hour working week and a week's (initially unpaid) holiday.

The ANDB eventually merged into the FNV. This is the largest Dutch trade union with over 1 million members. Various unions, such as those of teachers, nurses, hairdressers and military personnel, are affiliated to the FNV. In the 19e century, unions were clearly much needed. But what about today? Everything is already well regulated in the Netherlands, right? Everyone is entitled to holidays, for example. Aren't unions then heartily old-fashioned. 

Definitely not! Unions are still useful for 2 simple reasons. First, workers and employers have many conflicting interests. This is no different today than in the past. Workers always welcome higher wages, while employers want to keep wages low. And while employers find it convenient to be able to fire their staff easily, many employees actually want the security of a permanent job. Second, employers have a structurally stronger position than employees. Employers have more power. This was true in the past, but also today. Employers can therefore push their interests more easily, and this is often at the expense of employees.

A simple cause of this inequality is money. Employers have much more money than employees. With that money, they can hire professional lobbyists, for example. The job of such lobbyists is to influence politicians so that policies favour employers. Lobbyists can, for example, try to keep the minimum wage low. 

Employers are also more powerful because they are (generally) less dependent on employees than the other way around. As an employee, working is often the only way to get money, to buy food and pay rent. Of course, an employer also needs staff. But employers can sometimes replace staff with technology and robots. And nowadays, employers can very easily move their business abroad, to countries with lower (minimum) wages. Also, there are often several people who want one and the same job, so employers are not dependent on individual employees. If you don't want it, they will find someone else! 

Thus, both in the past and today, employers are more powerful than employees. However, the situation for employees is not hopeless. In fact, in one respect workers are indeed more powerful: their numbers. There are far more workers than employers. That is why Karl Marx, the founder of communism, said in 1848: ‘Proletarians of all countries unite!’ There is, of course, a lot to criticise about communism, especially its implementation, but Marx had this right.  

Trade unions, such as the ANDB then and the FNV now, use this power of numbers. They negotiate working conditions with employers, for example. Such agreements are laid down in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). If one worker asks for more breaks, it has little effect. But if the union makes this demand on behalf of very many workers, employers listen much more quickly. This is how trade unions ensure better, more pleasant and safer jobs.Trade unions also organise various progressive actions, such as Stand up for 14. This is a national action, but unions are also active internationally: the picture shows a protest by the FNV in Brussels. The more people are members of a trade union, and the more people take part in such actions, the more powerful the voice of trade unions. Will you join too? Strong together!

Political Amsterdam Commission Team, 

Carlijn Enzerink 

Sources 

https://www.fnv.nl/acties/sta-op-voor-14

https://fightfor15.org/

http://www.14euros.be/

https://jck.nl/nl/tentoonstelling/amsterdam-diamantstad

https://www.fnv.nl/over-de-fnv/wie-we-zijn/alle-fnv-bonden

Webb, Sidney, and Beatrice Webb. 1894. The history of trade unionism. London: Longmans.

Block, Fred. 1990. The market. In dez, Post Industrial Possibilities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 46-74.

Images

https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Hartmann_Maschinenhalle_1868_(01).jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ter-burg/13628683663

Additional information: Amsterdam Diamond City 

As part of the 125ste anniversary of the ANDB, a small exhibition entitled Amsterdam Diamond City to see. Various activities are organised and a 20-minute podcast is also online.

Traces of the diamond industry can also still be found in the city itself. The ANDB headquarters still exists (Henri Polaklaan 9). On Weesperplein (number 4), the former diamond exchange can be admired. And Crea, the cultural centre of the University of Amsterdam, is located in the city's oldest diamond-cutting factory!