Promoting unions in Northern Ireland

The first Trade Union Week to be held on the island of Ireland will run from 29 April to 6 May 2024, the Northern Ireland office of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has announced.

The week will mark the culmination of ICTU’s Better in a Trade Union campaign, promoting the benefits of union membership and of collective action, which involves all 31 affiliated unions in Northern Ireland.

The ICTU said the Trade Union Week, which will see a programme of coordinated events in workplaces and local communities across Ireland, “will be the largest mobilisation of trade union members on the island in decades".

It also pointed to a recent poll showing that 44% of employed 18-34-year-olds were interested in joining a union – mostly for employment protection and negotiating better pay and conditions.

• This month will see union organisers and reps from across England’s Midlands region meet to discuss strategy for building union membership and density.

See www.tuc.org.uk/organise24 for details of how to register.