Odds On Organising
Two months goes very quickly when you are organising, I have warn through one set of shoes, one coat and now know London by betting shop locations. When I started at Community no one said it would be easy, but I don’t know any organising campaign that is! It is not hard to get motivated for a day of shop visits, pouring rain and bitter cold because Betting Shop workers are still some of the most exploited, hard working and vulnerable workers in the UK. I have visited countless betting shops and spoken to hundreds of workers and the only solution is trade union organising. I have witnessed first hand the abuse and violence that our members face day in day out, whether it be spitting, verbal abuse, racial abuse or physical violence and this is what keeps me motivated. Knowing that a trade union campaign can campaign and win for its members on the issues that affect them in the work place.
In October Community launched a campaign for better safety standards in betting shops. It was great to work with members and colleagues in the Organising Department to organise our Parliamentary launch of the campaign. The event was attended by Government Ministers, MPs, journalists and betting shop workers. Our members are demanding that all betting shop workers are covered by a set of minimum standards to improve the personal security and the working environment of all shop staff throughout the UK. It is great to experience a different kind of organising campaign a campaign that our members own and the industry needs. Check out our campaign video that launched the campaign.
The last couple of months have been a rollercoaster, I have learnt so much about the movement, campaigning and organising. However its not been all plain sailing but I hope to learn from these experiences because that’s the only way I can be a better organiser and help our members win their campaigns. Right must go, have potential members to organise!
Ryan Slaughter
rslaughter@community-tu.org
Filed under: Organising
