UnionDues

The latest UnionDues episode goes behind the scenes at the General Federation of Trade Unions – the GFTU is 120 years old, has nearly 50 affiliates and a great track record of building and supporting unions and activists. (Our podcast with Rebecca Winson last series is also relevant here). The report by Karon Monaghan QC into sexual discrimination and sexism concerns in the GMB is a distressing an...

UnionDues is back. This first episode of the new series sees Simon chatting with Simon Parry ,  presenting an exclusive look at this year’s league table of union websites,  looking back over unions’ use of IT and spotting the hits and misses, and debating why data security is the most pressing, must-deal issue for us.  We survey the industrial landscape and shout out to IWGB, CWU and NUJ members i...

In the latest UnionDues podcast, Simon chats with Paul Day, Director of the Pharmacists’ union PDAU .  Following an epic campaign, Paul talks about his hopes now for the union-employer relationship, the challenge for pharmacists during coronavirus,  and why the crisis was exactly the right time to introduce dedicated equality, diversity and inclusivity networks within the union.  Also The spat bet...

In the latest UnionDues podcast ,  Simon chats with Nationwide Group Staff Union General Secretary Tim Rose.   NGSU are a single employer union but well established and with high density levels, working inside a big player in the world of finance and the world of mutuality . So how, then,  do you retain true independence from the employer?  What structures, organisation and governance do you need...

In this episode  Sarah Woolley, of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union chats about why it was her duty to stand for the top job, organising in McDonalds and Wetherspoons ,  and how she can’t get used to people calling her General Secretary .  Also, why the British Vogue splash on key workers is a significant “win” for the unions.  And how industrial storm clouds are gathering at BA, BT and in...

In the latest UnionDues podcast, Simon chats with the FDA ’s  Victoria Jones about how the union was able to use local pressure from (particularly women) members to build a platform for a Civil Service-wide agreement on flexible working, how implementation was frustrated by a “change-resistant” culture, and what the union did to overcome that.  Along the way we touch on the FDA’s response to Covid...

The new UnionDues podcast unpicks the TUC’s Better Recovery programme and asks if General Secretary Frances O’Grady was right to declare “Unions Are Back.”  New Economic Foundation’s Rebecca Winson tells Simon about the most fun she has had on a picket line, the empowerment that comes with taking strike action and why Birmingham’s Druids Heath will be forever in her heart. Plus a shout out for the...

In the new UnionDues podcast, Simon dissects a tumultuous week, from calls to return to work to an extension of the furlough scheme.  He talks with the TUC’s Clare Coatman , author of the Missing Half Million report , on the vital task of driving up youth membership in unions, and reviews the calls for an ambitious new jobs guarantee . Thank you to all our Key Workers. A Makes-You-Think production...

In the latest UnionDues podcast, Simon chats with Andrew Pakes about Prospect ’s root-and-branch rebranding project, and what happened when he issued a call-to-arms to meet the challenge of Covid.  Unions21 ’s Becky Wright tells us about communicating in a crisis, and we champion the work unions are doing for their members and the public during the pandemic, including CSP , NEU , STUC and CWU . A...

In the latest episode of the UnionDues podcast Simon and guest Vic Barlow get to grips with Vic’s concept of a membership journey -  from “first contact” to signing up to renewing subscriptions each year. And with 54.3 million Britons being part of over 8000 membership organisations,  Vic’s ideas have a resonance far outside the labour movement.  Also up for debate are the lessons for member engag...

In the first episode of the UnionDues podcast,  Simon chats with the TUC’s Digital guru, John Wood .  Is the Covid crisis the ultimate stress test for the work he and others have been carrying out in their Digital Laboratory? We gather in news stories from unions that you may have missed, wonder how unions will change and be changed by the crisis, and review The Lost Decade , the new book that tri...

There's a new podcast in town and it's called UnionDues. Hear all about what it is and why it matters. With Simon Sapper.   A  Makes You Think production