TUC celebrates organising reps

Reps who ran organising and recruitment campaigns at Barnardo's and Rolls-Royce were the joint winners of this year's TUC reps of the year awards, announced last month.

Bob Woods, branch secretary of public services union UNISON at the charity Barnardo's, was the key operator behind a successful organising campaign which resulted in a 35% increase in membership and a doubling of activists.

The campaign, which also led to union recognition after two decades of campaigning, encouraged self-organisation among members and developed a branch executive that is 70% female.

At Rolls-Royce in Derby, Jessica Fagan devised and ran a project to reorganise the structure of workplace representation, developing a new network of reps and ensuring that they received the necessary support and training.

As well as arranging "walkabouts" for reps, Fagan supported them in developing their own recruitment and organising strategies; the result was a rise in union membership.

Both campaigns are described in detail in a new Labour Research Department (LRD) booklet on workplace organising and recruitment. It covers negotiating for time off and facilities for organising, good practice in organising and recruitment, and how to use existing workplace organisation to help recruit more widely.

Bargaining to organise is available from LRD, price £4.00 - for more information, go to the front page of this website and click on "Publications", then "LRD Booklets".