{"id":19635,"date":"2019-12-06T11:05:51","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T11:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=19635"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:54:50","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:54:50","slug":"unite-christmas-card-membership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=19635","title":{"rendered":"A union for Christmas – and for life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At a time when environmentally sustainability is at the top of the public agenda, people across the UK are aiming to have a more thoughtful, less wasteful Christmas.<\/p>\n

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The figures now are dire — the UK produces 30 per cent more waste during the festive period, with an estimated\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u0141700m spent on unwanted Christmas gifts<\/a><\/u>. In 2017 alone, it was estimated that 114,000 tonnes of plastic waste would be thrown away unrecycled at Christmas. The average child receives 16 Christmas gifts, many of which are no doubt destined for the landfill.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So this year, why not give a gift that keeps on giving, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just for Christmas but for life?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely what branch secretary Mick Rice and his Unite Glasgow Retired Members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 branch have aimed to do this year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c by gifting a Unite membership.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, anyone with a loved who believes they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d benefit from union membership can\u00c2\u00a0order one online<\/a><\/u>. The recipient will receive a Christmas card (pictured below) explaining their gift and how they can activate their free, one-year membership.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"santaunion\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe recipient will not have to pay anything as you have already paid when you bought the Christmas card,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Mick explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bCards cost \u00c2\u014130 each. As the membership fee is \u00c2\u014128.50, the real cost of the card is only \u00c2\u01411.50.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The offer is only applicable to people who are 16 or over and are unemployed, students or retired, since those in work pay different membership dues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For Mick, the idea behind the Unite Christmas card was to encourage more young people in particular to join a union.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI have two children in university right now and over the summer for example they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take occasional temporary jobs in bars and restaurants,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI thought, they really could do with the support of the union, just as the union could do with young people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enthusiasm.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks to the support of both the Unite Glasgow Retired Members and the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Glasgow and Lanarkshire Community, Youth Work and Not for Profit branches, Mick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Christmas gift idea for his own children can be yours too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The hope too is that local Unite branches will purchase the Christmas cards and distribute them through their young members committees.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Unite Christmas card<\/a><\/u>\u00c2\u00a0is only the latest project for Mick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s branch, which he says is particularly active.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got more than 4,000 members in our Retired Members Branch with scores attending meetings each and every month,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re particularly proud of our electronic communications \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we send out electronic newsletters and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a\u00c2\u00a0website<\/a><\/u>\u00c2\u00a0and a\u00c2\u00a0Facebook page<\/a><\/u>\u00c2\u00a0too.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mick also told UniteLive of the branch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Union Song Club, which meets every month in local venues such as pubs in Glasgow. Members practice union songs that span decades and will often go out to perform on picket lines and demos to lend their support industrially.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Union Song Club website<\/a><\/u>\u00c2\u00a0developed by branch members themselves serves as a repository for dozens of YouTube videos of the songs they sing so that other local Union Song Clubs can benefit. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve even created karaoke videos from the lyrics, too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For Mick, this sort of creativity is the key to recruiting more members, and is what motivates and drives his branch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also particularly enthusiastic about supporting young people,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added as he highlighted a number of campaigns in hospitality that the branch has supported.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs retired members we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a lot of empathy for the younger generation, who face insecure work such as zero-hours contracts in a way that we never had to at their age. These young people are really struggling in the world of work today and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why they need the union more than ever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd of course, the union needs young people just as much too. They are our future; without them the union will die.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the run-up to the festive season, Mick has one message for Unite members.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we want to attract more people into the union movement, we have to make it about enjoyment, about creativity and simple fun,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo I urge Unite members this Christmas, more than anything, have some fun!\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can order your\u00c2\u00a0Unite Christmas card and union gift membership here<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time when environmentally sustainability is at the top of the public agenda, people across the UK are aiming to have a more thoughtful, less wasteful Christmas.   The figures now are dire — the UK produces 30 per cent more waste during the festive period, with an estimated\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u0141700m spent on unwanted Christmas gifts. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[648,1109,71],"wps_subtitle":"Unite Glasgow Retired Members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 branch encourages young people into the union with Christmas gift membership","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19635"}],"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=19635"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24820,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19635\/revisions\/24820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}