GMB@Work
YORKSHIRE MEMBERSHIP ON THE UP!
The introduction of GMB@WORK within the region has turned around the region’s membership levels and brought a fresh impetus to GMB activities across Yorkshire and North Derbyshire. In the year to July 2010 the region grew by an impressive 2.3% when other unions’ membership is falling and hundreds of new workplace organisers have received their credentials.
GMB@WORK (a Congress Report in 2006) sees organising and campaigning in the workplace on issues of real concern to workers as the best way to build union membership and therefore, strengthen the union at work.
In the Yorkshire & North Derbyshire region we have created a regional organising team which is focussing entirely on building the union, enrolling new members and securing new reps and contacts in our target areas of schools, ASDA and Southern Cross homes. As a consequence, GMB membership is growing and a trend of decline has been reversed.
GMB reps are now provided with training, support and encouragement like never before as our organisers, working with the regional education department, roll out GMB@WORK training to ensure all our reps are equipped to build the union in the workplace.
THE FIVE C’S
Effective workplace organisation has five main elements summed up as the five ‘C’s:
Campaigning
GMB must always have a ‘claim’ on the negotiating table and adopt a pro-active approach in every workplace and with every employer.
Communications
GMB must ensure that everyone at work knows we exist and what we are campaigning for.
Contact
GMB reps in each workplace should know who is joining and who is leaving, who is a member and who is not and use this information to talk to potential members regularly about the union’s work.
Credibility
In every workplace and sector there must be a clear and credible industrial strategy. Members must know where to go to and who to contact where they work if they need help, advice or representation. As much servicing of members as possible should be done by GMB reps at work and our training must remain focussed on providing them with the skills needed.
Commitment
Everyone at work should see the GMB as being part of the workplace and in it for the long term. It is not about selling the union to potential members, but to explain where GMB stands on the issues where they work, why they should join and what they can do to support us.
If you want more details on the GMB@Work agenda in your workplace, or have any recruitment leads, please contact us on 0845 337 7777 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)