ORGANISING ACADEMY

Well a month has gone by and it feels about the right time for a little update on my progress. I can picture you all waiting with baited breath.  You will remember  that I had arrived in Congress house, wide eyed and naive with scarcely any knowledge of the strange new world I found myself in, marvelling at the print room and wondering what to write on here that would justify the investment you have all made in my out of your dues money.

Before you all rush to rip up your union cards, I am happy to report that I am starting to get the hang of things!

The main thing to learn, after locating the toilets and learning how to use the photocopier has been the structure of the SERTUC region, the structure and processes of the affiliated unions and the important personalities within the region.

One of the first tasks I was given was to help build up the Race Relations Committee. This has been hugely useful in orienting me as it has required me to contact the officers of the different unions, learn how their nomination procedures and internal democracy work and then explain these procedures to interested members. This should hold me in good stead for future tasks.

It has also given me the opportunity to get to know my way around the various race relations, black members and equalities substructures in the region, which vary from union to union. I’ve been making contact with these organisations and have a number of invitations to visit meetings so I’m very much looking forward to meeting active members. I’ll be finding out what black and minority ethnic activists are up to across the region and also promoting SERTUC’s activities, in particular the snappily titled ARAFAP.

For the uninitiated this is SERTUC’s Anti Racist Anti Fascist Action Plan.

With the BNP’s steady growth and the startling rise, seemingly out of nowhere of EDL (aficionados of the contemporary cultural history of the football firm can pull me up on this statement: if they must); anyone with eyes in their head can see the urgency of anti fascist activity. Cross union coordination is obviously useful and this is a good example of the kind of situation where SERTUC really adds something to the trade union movement so I’m very pleased to be involved.

 This Saturday is the national conference of Unite Against Fascism which SERTUC supports and which will be held in Congress House. See here fro more info: http://www.uaf.org.uk/news.asp?choice=91217

I will be there on the SERTUC stall promoting ARAFAP and other SERTUC activities and hopefully also getting some new people interested in the Race Relations committee.

This will  be the test of how well I’ve understood all the different structures and procedures as any interested people will have to be signposted to the right person in their own union to talk to!

I’ve even had a go at designing my own leaflet for the event. I’d show you a copy but all attempts at pasting here have failed. Still, I picked up 500 of the little beauties this morning.One email to the copy desk and there they all were just five minutes later. Fantastic! The print room still holds the power to impress!

Filed under: Academy, blogging | No Comments »

I thought it might be worth passing on this heartening story about “M” a Haringay mother who was initailly refused council housing but won decent accomadation for her family afer occupying the council offices with just a small group of friends and supporters.  The full story is on the  Haringay Solidarity Group website: http://www.haringey.org.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117:housing-action-success&catid=38:housing&Itemid=57 .

This story illustrates the effect of London’s houisng crisis on ordinary people but also shows how much can be achieved through solidarity and direct action, even with relatively low amounts of people and resources.

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Andrew Robbins – NUT Organiser!

Somewhere around the summer of 2008, I took the difficult decision to leave behind my blossoming future as an Elvis Presley impersonator and take up the gauntlet of organising full-time in the labour movement!! A tough call you might think – after all it’s hard to beat Elvis when it comes to rock ‘n’ roll! The problem was, Elvis didn’t much bother with picket lines or the peace movement – and I certainly do! So I downed my white cape and shiny Las Vegas glasses, sung my last Suspicious Minds, and headed straight to the Graceland of the workers – the TUC Development Centre, Exeter…

It certainly was a tough weekend, but clearly someone in the sky (most probably Elvis) was shining down upon me that fateful Sunday afternoon, when (wearing my favourite Beatles T-Shirt – mainly for the benefit of Carl Roper) I was told I had been selected for a TUC interview! Two weeks later I had passed and it wasn’t long before I had been selected as the NUT organiser for Kent and East Sussex!!! Finally, I was going to do for trade unionism what Elvis had done for music… (Make it fashionable again, get the masses involved and inspire other people to great things)!

As a long standing socialist, anti-privatisation, community and peace activist, I have engaged in numerous campaigns. At the age of 17, you would have found me occupying the University of Luton. Following the decision to abolish the humanities department, I and a group of students elected an occupation committee and engaged in direct action lasting two days (I was the look out)! This provided a valuable first experience of organising. The action made the press and highlighted the market-driven disruption to higher education, which Luton students were experiencing.

I have organised a number of campaigning and community projects over the years. In 2005 I founded ‘Musicardo’ – a now well established community arts project in Luton. Together with Beds Senior Citizens’ Arts and Recreational Forum, University of Bedfordshire Student Union and Luton Sixth Form College (amongst others) Musicardo has supported International Older Persons’ Festival and continues to organise multicultural community projects such as ‘Community for Humanity’.

In 2009, I founded Luton Love Music Hate Racism – in response to the recession, rising social inequality and the potential for far-right growth in these circumstances. Luton Trades Council, SERTUC, Kelvin Hopkins MP, Esther Rantzen and a host of other trade union, community, political groups and performers – have all supported Luton LMHR. It represents successful organising on a profound scale! When English Defence League gangs invaded Luton in May 2009 – unleashing racist violence and hatred towards the local community – Luton LMHR was ready and prepared! I and the committee organised a huge 2000 strong, one-day music festival. We recruited massively and made the racists look pathetic. Shortly afterwards the Home Office granted an order banning the EDL from marching through Luton.

Luton LMHR – 1                       Racist Bigots – 0 !!!!!              

My ambitions from here onwards lie with the NUT. I view the union’s role within the school environment as invaluable. The union’s commitment to fairness for teachers and students alike; it’s principled stand against privatisation and its support for the environmental movement, is what makes it such an important trade union. With the NUT, I will be working hard to organise, expand and involve teachers in a progressive agenda – making sure the union remains the powerful force for good which we can all unite behind!

Filed under: Academy, Organising, blogging | No Comments »

We have all been shocked and appalled by the images emerging from Haiti. The TUC is collecting funds for life saving humanitarian aid to be distributed via the trade union movement in Haiti. If you haven’t given already then you can do so here: http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-17424-f0.cfm

The Batay Ouvriye Haiti Solidarity Network and Miami Autonomy and Solidarity (Miami has a large Haitian community),is also collecting funds for the Haitain union and social movement Batay Ouriye.  Batay Ouriye is a workers and peasants union most well known for their work in the Industrial sweatshops and Free Trade Zones.  Some of Batay Ouvriye’s members have died in the earthquake and many more have been displaced and made homeless. Still others are unemployed as their workplaces have simply been destroyed.

With the IMF reportedly demanding pay freezes and energy price hikes in exchange for help: organisations like Batay Ouriye will be crucial to the fate of the Haitian people in the coming years and must be given every assistance.

Donations can be made  here: https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/811/t/3678/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5875

For more information on Batay Ouvire your can check out their website here: http://www.batayouvriye.org/English/Welcome.html

For historical background this guardian article here is very good: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/14/haiti-history-earthquake-disaster

For the current situation, check out the facebook group: No Shock Doctrine for Haiti:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=292737727221&ref=mf

And for anyone who can make it into London on the 3^rd of February Cuba Solidarity are holding a benefit night at Congress House at which you can see Billy Bragg and the Cuban band, Son Mas for a very reasonable £10: http://www.concertforhaiti.co.uk/

Filed under: blogging | No Comments »

This is a post I’ve put slightly on the back burner. The environment is new to me so it’s taken some time to form an impression.

I’m working for the South East region TUC, based in the magnificent Congress House, just off of London’s Oxford Street (my first pay packet was spent in my mind at least within about 2 days of being here!)

The building is a marvel of modernist design with a pleasingly solid 50’s type feel, a slightly idiosyncratic layout (for example: 2 separate 3^rd floors that don’t connect and must be reached by different lifts!) and cool features such as this guy:

There’s a difference of scale compared to my last job. It’s the difference between having a set of keys to the building or a fancy swipe card thingy and a concierge. Or the difference between a little jar of coins for the office coffee fund and the canteen in the marble hall (It really is called the Marble Hall: How cool is that?)

And Congress House is big! Inside you can find such disparate things as an entire solicitors office, a printing press, an industrial kitchen (for the canteen of course!), and an extremely flashy conference hall.

But what Congress House mainly has is lots and lots of offices containing people at work on extremely interesting things such as mapping the progress of the recession or planning ways to maintain interest in trade unions among the unemployed, or negotiating in major disputes.

If you need to know something: the incidence of employment abuses among home workers say or the effect of the super rich on the wider economy, you can wander down to the publications department and find yourself a report printed right next door in the print room, read it at your desk and, if you’re lucky, chat to the person who wrote or researched it over lunch!

SERTUC is just one tiny piece of what goes on here but there’s still a fair bit to it. The South east region covers London, Kent and East Anglia in the east and stretches as far west as Basingstoke and as far north as Peterborough. 21 million people live here, including 2 million members of affiliated unions.

These are represented by a Regional Council meeting once every three months and an executive committee, elected at the AGM, meeting monthly. So far I have been to both of these meetings, wearing my best gear, smiling and attempting to make myself useful. The most pressing current issues are the threatened closure of the Twinings factory in Hampshire and, of course the ongoing dispute at British Airways but issues such as proposed change to the border of Norfolk and Suffolk were also discussed!

There are also various subgroups and a small staff based in Congress House and made up of: Regional Secretary Megan Dobney, Campaigns and Policy Officer Laurie Heselden, policy officer John Ball, Administrative Secretary Darren Lewis and for 18 months me! Very soon we should also have a manager for the vulnerable workers project who will be my immediate boss.

SERTUC also has a Union Learn department of some 20 people and three branches covering Trade Union Education, Regional Union Learning Centres and Development work.  Some of this stuff, and in particular the work of the Recession and Recovery Unit is pretty interesting so expect to read more about them later.

My previous experience of trade unions has taken me no further than branch level and often not further than my own section. In other words my experience has consisted mostly of sitting about in my own staff room, with my own workmates, running through meetings with the slight self consciousness of people who do that kind of thing only occasionally.

As you can imagine, all of the above is very, very new to me and will take some getting used to. To those readers (do we have readers?) who have been at serious work in the movement for many years, I can only apologise if my tone here is flippant, or blasé or if my observations are just very, very obvious and trite. I am walking around Congress house with the bewildered wide eyed look and irritating keenness of a work experience kid in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I expect we all have some time to wait before this effect wears off.

Filed under: Academy, Organising | 1 Comment »

Well it’s almost upon us, the first Academy Organiser session at the Ruskin College in Oxford. Really cant wait to meet up with everyone again and share some of the experiences i have had the past 3 weeks. 3 weeks!! Blimey that has gone so quick.

My sponsoring Union have been brilliant, have been out on a few visits to see members, have been organising training programmes and meetings to meet my Branches, have had a good deal of input into alot of areas.

Have almost finished the first workplace activity, it’s looking good, even if i do say so myself!! Have coped well with the transition of having to live on my own, have learned to iron and also do a Chicken Casserole.

Have to say thanks to the TUC and my sponsoring Union for giving me this oppurtunity, it’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time and i have to pinch myself sometimes in the morning to make sure im not dreaming, it’s brilliant.

Lookign forward to seeing you all soon.

Live the Dream

Christian

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

10^th January 2010 –

This will be my first post on the TUC blog and as someone new to blogging I’m not quite sure what to write.

After finding out I had been successful in getting into the candidate pool this year and then later with the NUT I was ecstatic! Although I don’t have much experience within the teaching sector I knew that the NUT is a proper union with a good record on campaigning. As such I was proud to be offered a place as one of their Academy Organisers this year. 

I moved into my new house the Saturday before my first day as an organiser. After a gruelling search at breakneck speed, I settled on a house only 10 minutes walk from the office.  This was little comfort however, as the first 2 days are in London for induction with the TUC.  Having spent all of Saturday packing and all of Sunday unpacking I didn’t relish the 6am start to be at Congress House for 10.45!

Though tired and battered, I made it. The first day at Congress House was a meet and greet of the other Organisers and the course co-ordinators. There was also, as you may expect a small forest’s worth of forms to complete and more names and information to take in than I think is possible.  This said it was a really enjoyable day. There was the quintessential trade union activity near the beginning of the day – The Introduction. There was a slight twist to this well known and loved union ice breaker… pictures! Apparently all our mugs are to be posted on the TUC site shortly… oh joy!

Day 2 at the TUC was interesting as we all met our coaches over lunch and went through the plan of work over the next 12 months. This was great from my point of view, as I’m someone who is obsessed with planning and generally thinking 17 moves ahead.

Back in the region later in the week, after getting my new NUT work bag and badge I began a ring around of Division (branch) Secretaries to introduce myself and chat about the year to come. I was apprehensive of this as I knew I’d be working closely with these activists and it was important for us to get on. My fears were allayed as they were all really friendly, one of the Secretaries even asked me to come out for a drink after one of our meetings. Kindly recognising that I was new and friendless!

Towards the end of the week my first trip out of the office was a teacher recruitment fair in Plymouth at a place called Marjons (an amalgamation of the words Mark and John I later discovered) which is a teacher training college. I was excited at the prospect of this event as it was my first real hands on task and chance to prove my organising metal. After setting up what was easily the best stall in the fair, we were set to face the throngs of students massing at the doors. Wanting to have the first bite of the student cherry I began handing out NUT recruitment leaflets to the queuing students. Chatting to some as I went along I was pleased to hear that many were already NUT members.

As the students made their way to the NUT table I had the chance to test my sales patter and was relived to discover I’d not lost my touch! As the morning wore on one I’d signed quite a few new members up and even managed to get a few of the existing student members to upgrade to full NUT membership. Aside from the importance of being a union member in today’s teaching environment, the servicing benefits and the chance to become active and make a difference in the workplace, the NUT are offering Full member ship to students for free this year, only £1 next year and 50% the year after! You don’t have to be a maths teacher to be able to work out the value in that. Fortunately both the math and non maths teachers alike spotted it too and I was the first of the FTO’s there that day to sign a new member up on that basis.

That concluded my first week as an academy organiser and I feel it went rather well. However, like so often with the trade union movement there are a number of extra curricular activities to participate in. I had an offer early in the week to attend the TUC’s South West Regional Council on Saturday as the NUT’s youth delegate. I decided that this was such a great opportunity to meet other Officers from around the region and get myself known too. The aim is to get an NUT young member to take up the mantle however, in the absence of someone willing I’m more than happy to fill in.

There was the chance to catch up with some PCS comrades I knew from my former life as a PCS activist. It was great to catch up and hear the latest on the campaigning front, it really highlighted to me how fortunate I was being on the academy this year and how much I will broaden my industrial experience by the end of the year.     

As expected the meeting was both useful and interesting. I’m excited by the up and coming Tolpuddle festival – one of the highlights of my year and delighted to hear the planning is well under way. I was engrossed by one delegate’s report back from his recent visit to Palestine- an issue I have long been interested in and I’m a passionate supporter of the Palestinian campaign for justice.

What was disappointing about the meeting, although not surprising, was that the South West has no shortage of trade union disputes fuelled by hostile management on the clueless ramblings of over paid consultants.

Following Regional Council there was another meeting on Justice for Columbia. Not a campaign I know a great deal about,  however,  I am won over by the issues – a genuinely worthwhile and right on campaign. I hope blog readers will join the Facebook group and show support!

 It’s Sunday now and I’m writing this post on the train to London. I have meetings all week at NUT HQ. Rather than enjoy my time on the train reading the rest of Tony Benn’s diaries from 2001 – 2007, I thought I’d be constructive – you can tell I’m in a new job!

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Name: Chris Musgrave

Age: 23

Background

Originally from Pontypridd, but spent his working time in the City of Cardiff, where he worked for the HMRC for 7 years.

Chris was propelled into activation by a growing dissatisfaction with his management and deteriorating working conditions. During his time at HMRC he was a PCS Union Representative for four years, and a full time rep for just under 2 years. His role in the PCS was initially as a Branch Equality Officer, although he quickly took on other roles including a heavy personal case load, with cases for unfair dismal and discrimination reaching Employment Tribunal and as a passionate advocate of sustainability Chris was also the one of the first Green reps in PCS. Chris finished his PCS career as National Young Member Convenor for Wales Branch Health & Safety Chair, Branch Equality Chair and a leading case worker

Outside of the union movement Chris is a supporter of old Labour politics and a member of the Pontypridd constituency executive committee as both the Youth and Technology Officer.

Chris is proud to call himself a socialist and has supported many left wing campaigns including Youth fight for Jobs, Campaign Against Climate change and a range of anti fascist campaigns.

Experience

Found the recruitment process initially traumatising, as the logistics for relocating to the South West from Wales were difficult, as lots of elements had to be combined in such a short period of time.

Having completed the activist academy and not the development centre Chris says he found this to be more structured than the development centre process from what other colleagues have said.

Chris also says that despite the initial difficulties he is pleased and proud to have been offered a place on this year’s Organising Academy as it is such a prestigious placement.

Aspirations

Chris would like to double the TUC membership in 12 months ideally and restore the movement to density levels of the pre-Thatcher era. More realistically for the first 12 months Chris wants to firstly become established in the South West region, He then wants to create strong links with local activists, pass on his skills and experience with a view to empowering them to further increase activity and membership across the movement.

Why is Organising Important?

With the future prospects of a Tory led government, Chris’ feels that there is a difficult battle for the trade union movement, and for the movement to be able to combat that on-coming war then unions need to organise!

Chris feels that the role of the organiser is paramount to winning the war and is proud to be a part taking the trade union movement into the next decade.

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Well, that was an interesting first week, negotiating blizzard conditions and a 130 mile trip to start my first day. Then being sent home at 12pm as the snow was so heavy.

The end of the week saw me moving into my accomadation and arranging, re-arranging then arranging some more, till i finaly settled in. Gorgeous place, some of you guys better come and visit.

Well down to business, the first week was lost to the snow, so yesterday i classed that as my official first day. I sat with my coach for a few hours and we went through the processes of the Union and what they wanted from me in the first few weeks.

Meetings were placed in my diary, strategy and future progress to name but a few, then it was visits to meet un-happy members and a chance to organise around some real life issues, at the end of the week (cant wait for that)

Contacting NEM’s late yesterday (National Executive Members) on their feelings and view points on Organising and how they see their Unions place in it all, some excellent feed back so far.

Half way through the first exercise ready for Oxford on the 25th!! Train tickets booked and i have just paid my TV license!! see you all soon.

Christian

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Sponsoring Union: NASUWT
Age:29

Stewart first got involved with unions when he joined USDAW as a 16 year old Tesco worker. He distributed his first union leaflet at 17 and was almost sacked for it.

He has been a campaigning activist for many years, most recently when he worked for Stop the War Coalition setting up and supporting local campaigning groups across the country.

Stewart heard about the organising model through friends who worked for Unite the Union. He was intrigued by a model for organising but as no one could explain exactly what it was he decided to try his hand at it. Unite took him out for a day to the Del Monte factory at Wisbech where he experienced organising agency workers for the first time. ‘It’s hard and management don’t like it.’

He enjoyed learning about mapping and the organising model and was encouraged to go for the TUC Organising Academy. He think anyone who is interested in building up the strength of the Trade Union movement should apply as even if they don’t get through they will get a fantastic introduction to the organising model and how it is reinvigorating trade union recruitment and activism.

‘Trade unions will play a vital role in resisting attacks on workers during the recession and I look forward to my time at the chalk-face of union organising’ said Stewart of his new role.

Filed under: Academy, Organising, blogging | No Comments »