UNISON’s ‘Grovember’ campaign a success


Public services union UNISON last month notched up a monthly recruitment record with its “Grovember” campaign, when it signed up 18,000 new members in 30 days. 


With just over 12,380 members leaving the union in the same period, this meant membership rose by 5,700 in November, with every region and every service group seeing growth. UNISON said this “put the union firmly on track for gradual, consistent and sustainable growth topping 6,000 for the year.” 


The campaign included activities such as a recruit-a-friend competition, money off deals for existing and new members and a “walk round week”, where activist made sure they were particularly visible in workplaces, as well as open days, stalls and updated notice boards.


General secretary Dave Prentis said: “No change was too small or too insignificant. On the contrary, the aim was to accumulate ‘marginal gains’, which when combined can make a big difference.”


The month also saw the union’s launch of EasyJoiner, an online tool designed to be a quick and easy way for reps to get members to join.


The union reported that, of the 18,000 new members joining during the month, 75% did so online.


Prentis also noted that, “thanks to government cuts hacking away at the public sector in general, and local government in particular, UNISON has to recruit more than 100,000 new members every single year to remain strong”.

https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2018/12/record-recruitment-figures-announced-nec-meeting