The Politics of Voice: Voice and Volunteering in a Third Sector Organisation

The study of voice has rarely examined a large part of the workforce and one of rising importance—Third Sector organisations which deliver important services on a not-for-profit basis. In this chapter, we commence an examination of voice among volunteers, particularly in the context of mixed employee and volunteer workforces. We establish that while there are differences between the two groups, there are a range of commonalities that suggest that having a voice is an important element of volunteering. Against this background, we examine a complex and long-running collective bargaining dispute in a rural fire service in Australia, that is staffed primarily by volunteers. In this case, a perceived lack of voice among volunteers underscored a legacy of poor management which also impeded the resolution of the dispute.