- Conference
- 2024 National Young Members' Conference
- Date
- 1 August 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that the trade union movement faces huge challenges in
respect of membership and activism. The Trade Union Congress noted in
2020 that only 14.1% of young workers aged 20-29 are trade union
members.
Successive anti-union legislation has made it increasingly difficult to recruit
and campaign and therefore reduced the profile of trade unions amongst
young workers.
A key barrier in recruiting young workers into trade unions is a lack of
awareness, education and previous exposure to trade unions prior to
entering the workforce.
Conference notes the work of the Unite in Schools programme which
“brings experienced activists into schools, colleges and universities to
inspire the next generation of the union movement.” This programme
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features educational sessions and a suite of online resources in order to
engage with young people about trade unions.
Conference believes that young people should be made aware of the trade
union movement from an earlier age. The lack of knowledge about the
benefits and history of trade unions hinders young people’s participation
and engagement in union activities and wider politics.
By educating young people about trade unions, we can empower them to
advocate for their rights and strengthen the union movement. Some
members of the East Midlands Young Members’ Forum have already
undertaken outreach initiatives by coordinating activities with local
Students’ Unions and schools. We believe this is the way forward in
educating young people about trade unions and that this should be
promoted to the whole of the UK.
Conference believes that young members in UNISON are well-placed to
promote trade union awareness in schools, universities and colleges as
they are closer in age to students in these institutions and therefore better
able to relate to them.
Conference calls upon the National Young Members’ Forum to:
1. Encourage regional young members’ forums to engage with local
schools, colleges, universities and students’ unions to offer outreach
activities to young people to educate and promote the trade union
movement.
2. Support the creation of a bank of resources to facilitate these outreach
activities.
3. Work with the National Labour Link Forum to advocate for the inclusion
of the history of the British trade union movement in the History curriculum
and practical information about trade unions and employment law as part
of the Citizenship curriculum for Key Stage 4.
4. Consider sending a motion to the Higher Education Service Group
conference highlighting the role that young members can play in promoting
trade union awareness in universities.