{"id":17245,"date":"2019-02-08T14:50:36","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T14:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17245"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:57:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:57:43","slug":"look-to-the-future-clive-jenkins-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17245","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Look to the future\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Trade union leaders and Tudor manor houses may have little in common but Sutton House in Hackney, London is not your usual period building, nor was Clive Jenkins your usual general secretary.<\/p>\n

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For 30 years from 1953, the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians (ASSET), which later became the Association of Scientific Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) \u00e2\u20ac\u201cpredecessors of Unite \u00e2\u20ac\u201c had its headquarters at Sutton House.<\/p>\n

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It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now a site open to the public, but over the last five centuries hundreds have called Sutton House home, including Oliver Cromwell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prot\u0102\u00a9g\u0102\u00a9 Ralph Sadler, as well as a succession sea captains, merchants, schools and even in the 1990s a group of squatters.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

For the first time, Sutton House will showcase its trade union link in a new exhibition chronicling the colourful life of Clive Jenkins, whose office was the beating heart of Sutton House \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the ostentatious \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Linenfold Parlour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, so called for its ornate oak panelling.<\/p>\n

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From February until June this year, Sutton House visitors can see Jenkins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 office recreated as it existed when he led what was considered the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first \u00e2\u20ac\u0098white collar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 union.<\/p>\n

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Curator Sean Curran said that the Clive Jenkins exhibition at Sutton House is particularly remarkable for the simple fact that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bworkplaces aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often documented\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

\"clive<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe recognised that there were gaps in our knowledge about Sutton House during the period when the union had its headquarters here,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd so we thought we would seize the opportunity while those who remember Clive Jenkins and the union are still alive.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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An integral part of the exhibition is a series of oral histories from people who knew Jenkins, including from Roger Lyons, former general secretary of Unite heritage union MSF.<\/p>\n

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Roger got his start in the trade union movement as a graduate trainee in 1966. He remembers on his first day at work reporting to Sutton House, a building that he describes as being \u00e2\u20ac\u015bextraordinary\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was in sharp contrast to your typical office \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with its heavy wooden beams you practically had to wear a crash helmet to go about your day,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told UniteLive.<\/p>\n

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Clive, Roger said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmade you work very hard\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and \u00e2\u20ac\u015balways kept you on your toes\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat really set Clive and ASTMS apart was that we were committed to doing things in a new way; we weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fixed in our attitudes. We were encouraged to take risks.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe always said for every 10 ideas Clive had, nine of them were crazy and one of them was brilliant \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it was our job to identify the one brilliant idea.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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At a time when public relations as whole was still in its infancy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c never mind trade union public relations, which was practically non-existent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ASTMS was placed firmly in the limelight under Clive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leadership.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bJust to give you an idea of how we did things differently \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we put in a four page advert in the Times, with the headline, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098The board and I have decided we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the colour of your eyes.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 We won an award for the advert \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that sort of thing was unheard of back then.<\/p>\n

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\"clive<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs for Clive, he was on TV, on the radio, in cartoons, in the papers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he was viewed in the same way that a senior politician would be; he was at that level.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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It would be easy to dismiss Clive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s media savviness as mere vanity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a thirst for attention. But, as Roger noted, it was much more than that.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat Clive did was lead a union that had real influence. It had influence with employers, it had influence in Parliament and it had influence in society as a whole. He created a union that people wanted to join.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\"clive<\/p>\n

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This influence, Roger explained, helped pave the way for crucial pieces of legislation such as the Contracts of Employment Act 1963, which introduced the right to give reasonable notice of dismissal and the right to a written contract \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s considered the first modern employment protection statute.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe union directly initiated this legislation, reviewed it and lobbied for it every step of the way until it became law,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Roger said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBefore, trade unionists would have the odd annual lunch with an MP \u00e2\u20ac\u201c under Clive, we really prioritised that parliamentary connection.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Roger told UniteLive that he was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bvery pleased\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 that the Clive Jenkins exhibition at Sutton House had been put on. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor those of us who participated, we hope the exhibition will be the trigger for more work on the history of the union,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

\"Clive<\/p>\n

Curator Sean Curran agreed, calling this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exhibition \u00e2\u20ac\u015bonly the beginning\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in their search for more oral histories, documents and other ASSET and ASTMS artefacts.<\/p>\n

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Sean encouraged Unite members to visit the exhibition because \u00e2\u20ac\u015bit situates a really important part of trade union history\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bStarting with Clive Jenkins and ASSET\/ASTMS, there was a shift in how unions were perceived \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one from the exclusive reserve of the working classes to one that included the middle classes as well,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd thanks to Clive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s natural expertise in public relations, he really transformed the way trade unions operated.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Roger agreed. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThrough the exhibition, active Unite members can learn from Clive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s legacy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one that was above all bold and forward-thinking,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bClive for example made the role of the computer central to our work from the very beginning, at a time when many people were afraid of computers.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn this sense, learning of our history isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a case of being stuck in the past \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about adopting that same attitude that Clive had, one that looks forward to the future.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Find out more and book tickets to the Clive Jenkins exhibition at Sutton House, which runs until June 2, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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