Developing effective financial management and reporting processes

To fund its strategic activities, the NSWTF had developed processes for effective financial management and reporting. The NSWTF operates a Finance Committee with rank-and-file representation that meets at least monthly with the General Secretary to consult on finances, ensuring member input into key financial decisions of the union (Dixon- Current General Secretary; Baueris- Former General Secretary; Hennessey- Former General Secretary).

48 _{Despite the importance of a union’s financial operations, Willman et al. (1993) observed that studies}

carried out on British trade unions often failed to consider financial matters when explaining union behaviour. Moreover, finance was generally formally defined as an administrative function, even though it was important for union survival and achieving policy goals (Willman et al. 1993).

120 Whilst employing an accountant for the union in the 1970s resulted in a “hot debate” (Former senior union official 2) at the time of this decision because of the NSWTF’s stance on only hiring personnel with a teaching background, such a step was necessary to ensure the effective financial operation of the union49 _{(Former senior union official 2). Various forums exist}

where the union’s General Secretary is required to report on the state of the organisation’s finances for scrutiny by the membership, such as publication of accounts at Annual Conference (Baueris- Former General Secretary; Irving- Former General Secretary; Johnson- Former General Secretary). The rank-and-file also have input into the allocation of union money which shapes the final decisions that are made by the General Secretary and senior officers and the resolutions set at Annual Conference (Hennessey- Former General Secretary; Johnson- Former General Secretary; Irving- Former General Secretary; Former senior union official 2).

The NSWTF has prided itself on having a thorough attitude towards the transparency and accountability of its finances, considering itself to be a leader for other unions in this area and seeing thorough financial processes as the “essential building blocks for a viable organisation” (Johnson- Oral History Interview 2012). Participants noted that, particularly over the last decade, the NSWTF had become “very strict about money” (Former union official 1) to avoid attracting potential criticism over its financial activities, particularly in light of growing government mistrust of unions in Australia and reports of corruption by other unions (Current City Organiser 3; Murphy- Former Deputy President). Having “checks and balances” over finances (O’Sheades- Former Country Organiser), whilst sometimes “terribly onerous” (Hennessey- Former General Secretary), was imperative to ensure transparency (Johnson- Oral History Interview 2012; Hennessey- Former General Secretary; Baueris- Former General Secretary; Former union official 1).

The NSWTF’s financial strength and security was also maintained through being financially conservative in spending (member) money. As a service-based organisation, the biggest area of financial expenditure was officer and staff salaries, accounting for over 50 percent of spending, with the remainder spent on campaign activities, travel, and legal, administrative and affiliation fees (NSWTF Journal 1995a May; Johnson- Former General Secretary; Irving- Former General Secretary). When allocating money to campaigns, the union understood that there wasn’t a “bottomless pit” (Irving- Former General Secretary) of finances and that campaigns had to be pre-funded in order to support the union’s activities (Hennessey- Former

49 _{Willman et al.’s (1993) study of British unions in the 1980s showed that only 18 percent of union}

officers responsible for the organisation’s financial operations were qualified accountants, with 68 percent being unqualified.

121 General Secretary; Irving- Former General Secretary; Simpson- Former Assistant General Secretary). Additionally, as will be explained below, whilst the NSWTF experienced financial hardship in the 1970s and 1980s, the more conservative attitudes of the union’s General Secretaries in the mid-1990s and 2000s has seen the union enjoy better financial security in more recent years (Irving- Former General Secretary; Johnson- Former General Secretary).

A notable example of where financial difficulties have been experienced by the NSWTF, affecting its organisational capacity, was the temporary halting of the automatic payroll deduction of member fees at source by the Department, resulting in lost income for the union. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, member fees were deducted from members’ salaries by the employer and paid to the union via cheque (Sharkey- Former General Secretary; Cavenagh- Former Deputy President). This, according to Crosby (2005), was a common financial practice for unions in Australia and was advantageous in being a relatively straightforward way of collecting member fees.

However, in a hostile environment, this financial arrangement could come under threat and incur consequences for the union (Crosby 2005), evident where in 1974 and 1994, the respective state governments of the day halted this arrangement with the NSWTF during industrial disputes resulting in a “financial crisis” (Former senior union official 2) that “nearly crippled” (Dixon- Former General Secretary) the union both times (Dixon- Former General Secretary; Irving- Former General Secretary). The shift away from deductions at source has been a slow but necessary process to ensure financial security and not “leave the employer in control of the process” (NSWTF Journal 2006 April). It was not until 2006 that the NSWTF took proactive steps to initiate an ongoing campaign of encouraging members to use the direct debit method (NSWTF Journal 2011a October; Dixon- Current General Secretary). This campaign was considered highly successful with currently 80 percent of members having switched, thus ensuring better financial security and independence and also attracting the attention of teacher unions in the US that are experiencing similar financial challenges50

(NSWTF Annual Report 2014: 9-10; Dixon- Current General Secretary). Changing the method of payment has also allowed the NSWTF to have a better “direct relationship with every member” (Dixon- Current General Secretary) than if the financial relationship was between

50 _{In the US matter of Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council}

31, the Supreme Court in 2018 ended the practice of allowing public sector unions in Illinois to collect

‘fair-share’ or ‘agency’ fees from employees who declined to join the union. Previously, non-members were still required to pay fees for the non-political activities that benefitted all employees covered by the union contract. Based on similar circumstances in other states, analysts have speculated that the ruling will result in decreased power for teacher unions and less ability to exert influence during elections and at the bargaining table (Marianno and Strunk 2018). This ruling, however, will also likely motivate union leaders to find new ways to engage members to ensure union survival (Marianno and Strunk 2018).

122 the union and employer, or employer and member (Crosby 2005). This initiative has also been supported by other financial measures such as the establishment of a special fund in the union where a small percentage of membership fees are allocated for “rainy day” (Irving- Former General Secretary) emergencies in the event that the State Government again decided to stop deductions or the union encountered other financial difficulties (NSWTF Journal 2010 June; Hennessey- Former General Secretary).

This examination of the strategies deployed by the NSWTF to build organisational capacity through enhancing financial sustainability and security emphasises the importance of proactively developing member-driven financial structures and processes that respond to changes in external conditions and secure the ongoing viability and sustainability of teacher unions as organisations.

5.7. Conclusion

Chapter 5 examined how the NSWTF has built organisational capacity during an era of neoliberal reform to develop a foundation from which to activate strategic leverage. Through drawing upon Weil’s (2005) concept of organisational capacity and applying the four strategies for building organisational capacity presented in my model at Figure 5, this chapter has made several findings with respect to understanding the conditions that facilitate teacher union effectiveness in terms of building organisational capacity.

This chapter highlighted grassroots organising that combines sustainable recruitment with ongoing member engagement and driving activism and ‘grassroots intellectualism’ was crucial to building organisational capacity. This chapter showed the NSWTF effectively responding to a shifting profile of teachers in the NSW teaching profession and revitalising their services in response to a new demographic of teachers. However, it also illuminated the contemporary challenges facing trade unions more broadly regarding building member activism in a sustainable manner and establishing effective means of communicating with and educating members to build grassroots intellectualism.

This chapter also emphasised the value of building governance structures and organisational structures that are representative and reflective of the union’s membership. It highlighted the opportunity for the NSWTF to engage in further renewal of these structures to facilitate genuine and robust member participation within the union, and ensuring that the union retains legitimacy in the eyes of its members, particularly with respect to engaging women and a new generation of teachers. Through examination of the NSWTF organisational structure and

123 particularly its officer structure, this chapter emphasised the importance of having democratically-elected, skilled and trained officers who are consistently engaged in grassroots issues and who act responsively to member needs. Whilst the NSWTF has developed a generally strong foundation through its governance and organisational structures over time as part of capacity-building, there was evidence of some long-term historical and cultural legacies within the union that could constrain revitalisation efforts necessary to build further organisational capacity in neoliberal times, such as establishing improved career structures for women officers, forging pathways to better engage officers in grassroots issues, and revitalising the style and tone of union debate.

Finally, this chapter examined the NSWTF effectively managing financial difficulties and building processes and structures to support financial security and sustainability that will secure the NSWTF as a viable, sustainable and independent organisation that can support implementation of strategy through various activities. These refined strategies for building organisational capacity will be revisited and further evaluated in the discussion chapter of this thesis. The next three chapters continue to apply my model to analyse the NSWTF’s efforts at activating strategic leverage in neoliberal times through resistance, rapprochement and renewal.

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