2022 National Young Member Conference

Colombian trade unionist addresses young members

On Saturday afternoon at young members’ conference in Bournemouth, Daniella Vega Sotelo, a member of the peasant farmer’s union FENSUAGRO, spoke to delegates via video link from Colombia.

She spoke of the dangers, the progress and the hopes of being a trade unionist in that country.

“This is a very important time nationally in the history of Colombia. We have recently elected a new government which received the backing of the trade union movement.

“On issues such as agrarian reform, we feel for the first time that we have a government that supports our issues as trade unionists and peasant farmers.”

She added that they think that, under this government, they might finally make some progress in addressing human rights issues in the country.

Ms Sotelo went on to speak of the experiences of trade unionists in the country over the past decades. “For the trade union movement in Colombia, we’ve gone through a very long period where trade unionists were stigmatised, persecuted and subjected to violence.

“There have been human rights violations against trade unionists for many years and we continue to face a very high level of human rights abuses today. From 2016 until today, FENSUAGRO has documented 96 cases of human rights abuses against our members.

“Violence has been a constant reality for people in Colombia since 1930, which has led to a mass migration of young people from the country to the cities which is one of the main issues we face today.”

She was speaking via an online call from a national peasant farmer convention in Colombia where she said FENSUAGRO was “collaborating with the government on its national plan of development, which will provide a blueprint for the next four years in its development of rural areas.

“One of the most important demands for our movement is implementation of the 2016 peace agreement Another demand is to reach new agreements with the many active armed groups still within Colombia to help with the violence in Colombia.”

Moving on, she spoke of the importance of international support for FENSUAGRO and other unions in Colombia, saying: “International support and lobbying of all sides in those agreements is critical. We have worked closely with and receive support from lots of international political organisation.

“It is really important to have these strategic allies such as UNISON, who we give thanks to, and Justice for Colombia who are very important for us.

“On behalf of FENSUAGRO and particularly our young members, I would like to express our solidarity and thank you for your support and ask that it continues and that you give your support with joy and enthusiasm.

“Your support and solidarity is of course vital to us, and I just want to say to you as trade unionists, you can count on our solidarity, we see you as a strategic ally. And as we know it’s so important that, internationally, we support each other.”

She then answered questions from delegates.

Solidarity with Cuba

On the theme of international solidarity, delegates also debated a motion calling on the national young members’ forum to encourage branches to affiliate to Cuba Solidarity and to lobby regional international committees to send delegates on the Young Trade Unionists May Day Brigade to Cuba.

Micaela Tracey-Ramos, from the North West region, spoke about her personal experiences of attending the march, calling it a “life changing experience for me”.

The motion highlighted that the US has imposed an economic blockade on Cuba since 1962, six decades, and has had many negative and inhumane effects on the country, particularly during the COVID pandemic, when the country struggled to access the right equipment to treat its patients.

She continued: “While I was there, I was lucky enough to attend May Day in Havana. We saw one million people march in Havana at the first May Day since the pandemic, with over five million people marching across Cuba – a huge proportion of the country when compared against UK rallies and marches”.

Before the motion carried, she emphasised that the march wasn’t a protest, but a celebration of workers and encouraged regions to send delegates from across the country rather than a select few regions who currently send delegates.

The article Colombian trade unionist addresses young members first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Young members’ conference turns to recruitment and organising

Young members’ conference continued to debate motions on Saturday in Bournemouth.

One key theme running through the day was the union’s recruitment and organising work around young members.

This started with a debate on a constitutional issue – raising the age limit for young members. The motion, which carried, argued that with only 63,000 members under 27 in the union, and an ageing member and activist base, it is important that UNISON reflects young workers’ views properly.

It was noted that this is challenging with such a small pool of potential young activists.

It called on the national young members’ forum to consult other relevant parts of the union about changing the age limit, with a recommendation that it be set at 30 or under.

Moving the motion, Sam from the East Midlands noted: “When you look at the union’s demographics, people don’t age into workplaces until 25, get involved at 26 and age out [of the young members self-organised group] at 27”.

He added: “The current age limit is a three-decade old limit, it has been there since the start of union,” going on to emphasise how different the world of work is compared to then and how different the demographics of the union are.

In conclusion, he said: “It’s about having a broad spectrum of young members, I want to create an exciting UNISON, a union which young workers want to be a part of.”

Sarah Walsh, vice chair of the forum followed, saying: “Like many of us in this room UNISON is a ’90s kid. I don’t think our comrades 30 years ago thought we’d live through such unprecedented times.”

Emphasising the political turmoil, both internationally and in the UK, as well as the cost of living crisis, she said: “It’s like living through a modern rewrite of We didn’t start the fire, the world of work is starkly different to what it was in 1993.”

Next came three motionson recruiting, engaging and organising young members, with the first linked to the motion on changing the age-limit.

It noted the increased proportion of young people going to university and the knock-on impact on the demographics of workplaces, and identified the aging demographics of UNISON.

Ms Walsh argued that UNISON, “needs to go back to its bread-and-butter roots of trade unionism – educating, agitating and organising”, adding: “Young members are the present, but we’re trying to make sure we have a future”.

Micaela Tracey-Ramos (pictured above) from the North West region highlighted that the current average age of a trade union rep is 56 and spoke of the necessity of a specific approach around young members, especially in light of the disproportionate effect of the cost of living crisis on young people.

The motion called on the national forum to work with their regional counterparts to develop a national young members organising strategy, create a toolkit and support and empower the development of regional young members’ forums.

A motion on recruiting and organising young members called on the forum to develop a long-term recruitment strategy and, among other things, carry out research and mapping of young workers in public services, and review UNISON Living benefits to ensure they are better tailored to young members.

Mover Toby, from Greater London, cited the worrying statistic that “Under 24-year-olds make up 14% of the workforce, and only 4% of union membership.”

He argued that, “voting for this motion is building the strength of UNISON’s young members,” adding: “I’m looking at the next leaders of the trade union movement in this room, but their voices are not being heard.”

Motion 14, on engagement and retention of young members, emphasised that young members are often viewed as the future of the union and can be overlooked at times, especially in regards to taking on other roles, citing this as a reason young members may be facing difficulties getting active within their branches, regionally or nationally.

Robbie from Scotland region moved, saying: “We have got 63,000 young members across the country, why every year, is it the same faces that I see at gatherings, or at conferences, or at meet-ups. That’s why point three is important.”

Point three of the motion called on the NYMF to create a national young members’ network so young members can collaborate and discuss issues with other young members across the country, the motion carried.

The article Young members’ conference turns to recruitment and organising first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Young members’ conference opens with debates about cost of living

UNISON’s second annual young members’ conference opened this morning in Bournemouth with a speech from assistant general secretary, Jon Richards.

Welcoming delegates, he began by talking about the political state of the country, highlighting the importance of young people getting involved in democracy early on in their lives and noting that: “Since the Second World War, 13 out of 17 prime ministers of the UK went to Oxford.”

To that he added: “Five out of the last five Tory prime ministers went there.

“These people do not understand what it’s like to be poor, what it’s like to scrape by. None of them know what it’s like to go to a foodbank – apart from on a visit to show how good they are before Christmas.

“Many of our members do know.”

Moving onto the cost of living crisis, Mr Richards said: “Young members face particular challenges” with issues such as rent increases and the precarious nature of work disproportionately affecting them.

Speaking of UNISON’s work in that area, he highlighted the union’s cost of living Together we Rise campaign, adding: “UNISON has written to every non-Labour MP on mileage and petrol costs”. Mr Richards noted that the union had also been involved in a number of parliamentary debates, notably with Dan Jarvis MP, in which many contributors spoke from UNISON briefings.

He continued: “We launched a report earlier in the year, which identified where £30bn could be found by taxing wealth”, before going on to highlight the further steps which the campaign has taken, such as launching a microsite which hosts a cost of living calculator and dispute map and which tied into a massive advertising campaign UNISON ran just before Liz Truss’ ‘mini-budget’.

“Trussonomics cost us £60bn – that budget cost us £60bn,” he said.

Moving on to link the cost of living to the various strikes which are taking place across the unions different sectors, Mr Richards noted: “We’re currently taking action in universities. We’re about to start industrial action in the environment agency, who were offered a 2% pay rise, which equatesa 10% pay cut in this year alone.

“And also in the NHS, where 80,000 workers recently voted to take strike action,” emphasising: “we are not taking strike action because we want to, but because we must.”

He continued on the NHS ballot, speaking of the success the union has had in rolling out new technologies in phone-banking and peer-to-peer texting and its impact on turnout rates.

He closed out his speech on a positive note praising the work of young members in recruitment, where the number of joiners who are young members has increased from 10% to 20% over the course of the year, something he called a “testament to the work young members’ reps are doing.”

Motions begin

After the speech, conference began an enthusiastic and varied morning of debate with a motion asserting that affordable housing is a human right.

The motion called on the young members’ forum to work with the UNISON national Labour Link forum to make sure that the issue is raised within the Labour Party and to regularly highlight the union’s campaign to ensure there is increased availability of affordable housing.

Jasper from the Eastern region moved a motion that stated: “Many delegates within this hall will be experiencing the effects of the housing crisis first hand,” adding that, with skyrocketing prices and the cost of living crisis, “is it any wonder one in four people our age are still living with their parents?”

He continued: “The housing crisis is not a disaster we’ve caused. In 2014, the Tories announced they would build 200k starter homes. By 2019 they had built none. Instead, they lean on private landlords and resurrect Thatcherite schemes like the right to buy scheme,” and he argued that a privatised system of housing leads to houses being built by the lowest bidder and causes the poorest among us to live in the most poorly built houses.

Eleesha, who was also from Eastern region, continued the debate, asking: “What happens if you don’t have a guarantor for a house – if you don’t have this, trying to move house in the private sector is a nightmare.”

Before the motion was carried, delegates went on to highlight:

• the issues that young people face in renting if they don’t have a guarantor;

• that the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on disabled people is partly due to the disproportionate number of disabled people living in overcrowded housing; and

• the importance of linking up with other organisations outside of trade unionism who deal with this issue.

The article Young members’ conference opens with debates about cost of living first appeared on the UNISON National site.