(29 April 2020) “Trade unions in transformation” is a useful online course on trade union renewal run as part of the Global Trade Union Programme (GTUP) of the German-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).
EPSU organising and campaigns officer, Agnieszka Ghinararu, took part in the course earlier this month and found it useful both in terms of content and developing contacts with activists and experts.
The course introduces and explains what the GTUP call a power resources approach, a concept used by trade unionists and labour activists to transform their organizations and successfully represent workers' interests. It consists of three modules:
1: Introduction - explaining the trade unions in transformation project.
2: Explaining the varieties of power resources, covering associational, structural, institutional and societal forms of power.
3: Power resources in practice – discussing first capabilities which unions and workers need to develop to act collectively and then to devise a strategy that turns power resources into real power. It also covers the gender perspective and mapping, as a research tool union can use to mobilize available power.
During the course you can ask questions and make comments about each video lecture. An online tutor monitors your questions and comments daily and provides answers on behalf of the course team.
Participants are also encouraged to establish study groups with colleagues who are taking part to discuss the content and its usefulness for in different contexts.
The course should be useful for trade union leaders who can not only learn how to use the different power resources and develop different capabilities but can have exchanges with colleagues from all over the word and helps to build trade union activists networks.
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