Organising advice

Reps support the union by organising in the workplace

They achieve this by talking to colleagues, explaining the benefits of membership, running recruitment campaigns, and building support for union initiatives.  

Organising involves empowering members to solve problems collectively, and recruiting ensures a larger, more influential membership that can more effectively campaign and negotiate.  

Organising

When we use the term ‘organising’ we mean:

• Working together – this means supporting members and involving them in the actions needed to resolve their problems – so it’s more about: ‘What can we do about it?’ rather than: ‘Leave it to me and I’ll sort it for you’.
• Listening to members’ views – campaigning on issues that members care about and actively involving them in activities of the union.
• Knowing where our members and reps are, and where we could recruit more – this is known as mapping.
• Promoting democracy and membership participation – we want all our members, wherever they work and whatever their background, to be able to participate fully in the union.

The organising approach builds our strength as a union both through recruiting new members and by encouraging all members to play their part by becoming active and getting involved.

UNISON is a democratic organisation which tries to put its members at the heart of everything it does. This means members should be encouraged to:

• get involved and active – as little or as much as they can;
• be a part of negotiations and decisions in their workplace;
• work together as a group – there is always strength in numbers;
• help us keep in touch with all our members and potential members;
• speak up in their workplace.

Workplace mapping

An effective way of finding out what you do and don’t know about your workplace – and what you need to find out – is by mapping.

Try sketching out the department, workplaces or group of workers you represent. Mark on your map each of the following, broken down according to where the individuals are based:

• Number of UNISON members.
• Number of members by shift and/or employer.
• Number of members of other unions.
• Number of potential members who can be approached to join UNISON.
• Which members might be able to help with regular or occasional tasks – like keeping a noticeboard up to date for example.
• Where there are current (or potential) workplace problems.