{"id":15070,"date":"2018-04-26T14:25:27","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15070"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:47","slug":"unite-in-schools-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15070","title":{"rendered":"‘Life lesson’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

How do trade unionists first become members? Many will join when they have a problem at work, while others might get involved earlier, if say, their parents were members themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But many millions of people — \u00c2\u00a0especially younger people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come of age after trade union membership\u00c2\u00a0was higher than it is now\u00c2\u00a0— may never join, simply because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never learned what a trade union is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe Short, 17, is one such young person who tells UNITElive that just a few months ago, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what exactly trade unions did.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo be honest, in school you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re only taught the big historic events about unions forming and bits about strikes during the 1980s,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s classmates say they feel the same \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that beyond a historical footnote in their classes\u00c2\u00a0or hysterical headlines in the newspapers, the actual work of unions is in many ways a mystery.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite in Schools<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now changing thanks to Unite in Schools<\/a>, a national programme run by the union which aims to teach school students about the role of trade unions in the workplace. Unite connects with schools across the country to have group sessions with pupils, typically in years 10 and 11, who get practical information about unions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sessions are run by Unite Community volunteers and workplace reps \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in the last four years, Unite in Schools has reached out to thousands of young adults. In the London and Eastern region in the last eight months alone, nearly 7,000 students have attended Unite in Schools sessions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The talks have been praised by schools for their interactivity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c students often role play different scenarios \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as well as their relevance to young people. A film showing worker abuses at Sports Direct often hits close to home, as many of the pupils will have worked part-time at big retailers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After a Unite in Schools session, Joe says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much more informed about trade unions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was interesting to see how they actually work today,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou see a lot about protests in the news but you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what unions are doing on a day to day basis.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s classmate Grace Nightingale, also 17, agrees.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have that much knowledge of trade unions but I did think they were a good idea because they help protect people in the workplace,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI learned a lot more from that talk because I learned exactly what they are what they do.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trip to Parliament<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday (April 25) Grace, Joe and over a dozen of their classmates from Billercay Sixth Form travelled to Parliament with Unite to see another part of democracy in action. They were joined by Labour MPs Vicky Foxcroft, Jim McMahon and Cat Smith, to talk about the issues that matter to them as young people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

High on the agenda was granting the vote to 16s and 17s. McMahon tabled a private members bill last November<\/a> on the matter \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one that was cynically blocked by the Tories. Labour is still planning to push the issue again this year, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an idea that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quickly gaining traction across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no two ways about it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c politics happens to you, and we want you to be part of that process,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Smith, who is also shadow youth affairs secretary, told the pupils.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pointing to the financial crisis and austerity, Smith told them that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbeen forced to be mature.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve not had an easy ride,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McMahon agreed, arguing why having their voices heard in Parliament is so important.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYours is a generation that will have worse life chances than any other generation since the industrial revolution,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said, noting that it is young and working class people whose concerns are all too often ignored.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sixth form students told the MPs what worries them about their future most \u00e2\u20ac\u201c namely, insecure work like zero hours contracts, university fees and a blatantly discriminatory minimum wage differential for those under 25.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe train ticket to come here today cost me about six hours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 one student, who is paid only \u00c2\u01415 an hour, noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem fair that we pay the same for travel, the same for a pint of milk but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re expected to earn so much less than people only a few years older than us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The MPs, all three trade unionists, also explained to the students how union membership can help them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was enough to convince at least one student, who signed up to Unite on the day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c several others who work in low-paid jobs in shops, bars and restaurants, said they too would soon join.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Your voice does matter’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Whether the group of young people will become lifelong members or the next generations of reps is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it was a day that they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t soon forget.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was a unique opportunity to actually talk to MPs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Billercay Sixth Form head Fiona Smith. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really important to convey to them that you can get involved; that you can make a difference and that your voice does matter. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a life lesson for them.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Politics teacher Dan Bacon agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was really nice to see politicians talk to students in a way that was engaging to them,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey saw three MPs who weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t very old, who came from very normal backgrounds. It showed that politics is accessible to them.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

London & Eastern Community and Unite in Schools coordinator David Condliffe praised the students for their involvement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was great to see these young people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appetite for engaging in civil society,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe political engagement that these students are developing now will be exactly what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s needed in the future, when they become the next generation of leaders. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m proud that Unite could help in facilitating what will for many be their first close-up introduction to Parliamentary politics.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Vital work’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite Community national co-ordinator Liane Groves, who oversees Unite in Schools nationally, praised the volunteer speakers for the work that they do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLast year alone, we reached out to 12,000 students nationally,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she told UNITElive. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe students have been excellent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been really receptive to the idea of collectivism and seeing it in action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She explained that it is not an easy programme to run \u00e2\u20ac\u201c training enough volunteer speakers is challenging. Reaching out to more and more schools, too, has been a challenge, and Groves says Unite members with connections to schools can help by facilitating introductions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite the difficulties, she adds that the results are \u00e2\u20ac\u015breally heartening \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had such fantastic reaction from both the students and the schools.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe hope to grow every year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c no other union is doing this work and we see it as vital in countering the entrenched anti-union narratives in the media and elsewhere.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re interested in becoming a volunteer speaker for Unite in Schools, email Liane Groves at liane.groves@unitetheunion.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do trade unionists first become members? Many will join when they have a problem at work, while others might get involved earlier, if say, their parents were members themselves.   But many millions of people — \u00c2\u00a0especially younger people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come of age after trade union membership\u00c2\u00a0was higher than it is now\u00c2\u00a0— may never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[904,170,71,142],"wps_subtitle":"Unite takes schools programme to Parliament","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15070"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26243,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15070\/revisions\/26243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}