Union Representatives and their Members: Learning and Communication

Abstract

The article reports on research conducted in 7 Scottish workplaces on the way shop stewards learn to carry out their representative duties, in particular how they communicate with the members they represent. Formal training is seen as only one element in the learning process, to be analysed in the context of the steward's overall environment: the national union, the branch and the workplace. The pattern of communication between stewards and their members, management and other union office-holders is traced out by the use of diaries and the key role (positive and negative) of the convenor or senior steward described. Finally, a provisional framework is put forward for the evaluation of formal training, and results reported from its application.