Structure
Decentralisation of a Member-driven Organisational Structure
The adoption and development of the strategies to transform the ANF(Vic) into an organising union led to the emergence of a more complex and decentralised organisational structure as pre-existing roles were changed and new roles were introduced (see Figure).
Growth in the union's bureaucracy
The ANF bureaucracy grew considerably from the early 1990s, reflecting the rise in membership and the growth in the diversity of roles and functions of officials. At the end of 2010, the union employed 97 full-time staff to deal with issues concerning 1990 job representatives and 3000 workplaces. In almost all instances, Fitzpatrick followed and developed Morieson's policies of office creation and decentralisation. The growing numbers in the union, began to pose administrative problems for the leadership and, in two instances, Fitzpatrick adopted an innovative approach. In 2009, a Marketing Manager was appointed. The office-holder was not a nurse and previously worked in the corporate world. In the same year, a Human Resource (HR) Manager was also employed. Following business practices, the brief was to implement and refine the Federal ANF's newly formulated 'benchmarks' which specified performance indicators for each role within the union's organisation. The HR Manager planned to use the benchmarks as a framework to develop and administer performance appraisals of union staff - initially on a voluntary basis. Other HR practices were also in development: a strategic plan and a mission statement.
Functions of the office holders
The functions of pre-existing roles in the 'transformed' organisation and the new roles that were created (1989-2010) are presented below. Pre-existing roles are Professional Officers, Industrial Officers, Organisers and Occupational Health and Safety Officers.
Professional Officers are qualified nurses. They support member concerns in relation to all matters of a professional nature, including the improvement of standards of nursing care and education. All Professional Officers have specialised portfolios, for example, aged care, drugs/poisons, and midwifery. They also advise on industrial matters. They assist Organisers with member issues. Their knowledge of the Nursing Board of Victoria (NBV - since replaced by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia: NMBA on 1 July 2010) scopes of practice is particularly important with regard to industrial issues. It allows them to advise members, help members in negotiations with management, and to convince management to develop more efficient and appropriate policies. They attend bargaining negotiations and members' meetings with Industrial Officers and Organisers, acting as an advisory resource on standards of care and legislation. They visit workplaces in a recruitment capacity.
Industrial Officers are responsible for negotiating enterprise bargaining agreements. Advocacy forms a major part of their role. Industrial Officers do not need to seek Secretarial or Branch Council approval before taking industrial action, but usually inform Branch Council. They supervise and co-ordinate a team of Organisers and advise Organisers on how to deal with member complaints, referring matters to Fair Work Australia, and meeting with senior hospital officials where necessary.
Organisers are responsible for specific hospitals and other care facilities, and therefore, for groupings of job representatives. The Organiser's main role is to implement Branch policies and enforce compliance with negotiated conditions within the workplace, contained in the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA). Organisers are also required to respond to and resolve complaints and concerns brought to them by their job representatives and members. If an individual member concern is likely to reflect a common concern (for example, where a term of the EBA is being breached), the Organiser will liaise with their Industrial officer and seek to formulate a collective response. Organisers can call and conduct members' meetings if industrial action is required. But, following the member-oriented character of union organising, Organisers may not implement industrial action themselves but only initiate members' meetings about such action. They are required to maintain an active presence in the workplace, engage in recruitment and retention of representatives and members, and be responsive to rank-and-file concerns and views.
Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Officers advocate and support members, representatives and other Branch officials in the specialist areas of OH&S, workers' compensation and return-to-work issues. They provide professional advice to other parties on the current practices relating to OH&S, nursing and midwifery. They provide approved OH&S training to ensure that Health and Safety representatives to guide them in their voluntary capacity. They develop and deliver seminars and conferences on contemporary issues faced by members in the workplace. They campaign for nurses and midwives to have improved workplace health and safety and compensation in external forums such as WorkSafe Victoria, Department of Health and other stakeholder organisations.
The new roles are: Recruitment Officer (1992), responsible for the development and co-ordination of recruitment policy and practice throughout the ANF and, by 2009, each officer specialising in recruitment, retention or graduate/financial support; Education and Training Manager and Officers (1992); Media/Public Relations Manager (1997); Research Officer (2005); Marketing Services and Events Manager (2009) -- to manage the recruitment team; Human Resource Manager (2009) and an additional Assistant Secretary (2009).
In summary
Strategic changes in the roles of ANF staff members, reflecting the member-oriented focus of union organising, brought about the emergence of a decentralised structure, characteristic of the organising model. The growing bureaucracy led to the adoption of some corporate roles and functions. There is an awareness, however that these roles should be carried out in the spirit of a trade union and not a business organisation.
The University of Melbourne