- Conference
- 2016 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 23 September 2015
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Recruiting and organising is a key priority for the union nationally, and conference welcomes the recruitment initiatives that the union has organised. It is vital that we continue to grow our union and it is important that all our activities take into account the very diverse workforce that provides public services. In addition, the union needs to acknowledge some of the barriers that exist and prevent Black staff from joining a union and also address some of the reasons why Black members do not become activists.
In some areas of the public sector the numbers of Black workers being employed is growing yet many of those workers do not join UNISON. It is often the case that these areas see precarious employment with poor terms and conditions and poor treatment of staff, and therefore the need to be in a union is crucial. However, some of the traditional recruitment activities do not engage with Black workers and the union should try and address the reasons for these at National, Regional and Branch level. This may require promoting the relevance of being in a trade union to workers, and having more targeted recruitment activity, which includes and highlights the benefits that UNISON self-organisation brings. Black members who are activists should play a key role in supporting this recruitment activity as this will use their own experience and knowledge.
In addition where we have recruited Black members, resources should be provided to ensure that the organising model is adopted, so that recruitment activity is not seen in isolation and that the members see the link to their branches and region. In addition this enables members to understand how they can get more involved and influence to ensure that Black member’s voices are represented in the union.
In Newcastle City Branch the Black members group has built on the good work that existed and membership of the group has grown. The group participates at a regional level and will work closely with the branch regarding future recruitment initiates.
Conference calls upon the NBMC to:
1)Encourage branches to work with their Black Members’ Officer and Black members group to support recruitment activity amongst Black members of staff;
2)Seek to work with Regional Black members’ committees to deliver training targeting Black members officers covering subjects such as becoming active, establish a self-organised group and Challenging Racism in the Workplace.
3)Encourage Regions and Branches to work with Black activists to ensure that the makeup of committees is representative of the membership, and
4)To assess our current recruitment material to see if this needs to be updated to reflect the workforce.