Organising to win: ‘A strong union is built from the base up’

On Tuesday 17 June, UNISON’s annual national delegate conference opened in Liverpool and strategic organising was top of the agenda.

In a conference session chaired by ex-UNISON president Maureen Le Marinel, the first motion to pass was on the union’s ‘organising to win’ strategy.

Former UNISON president Andrea Egan (pictured) introduced the motion, saying “the organising challenges we face continue to evolve, with outsourcing and redundancy back on the agenda in many branches, alongside the threat from Reform UK.”

Ms Egan celebrated the union’s successes with organising, particularly in the NHS and with the re-instatement of the SSSNB, but acknowledged that there is much more to be done across the board, particularly to ‘end the scourge of migrant worker exploitation.’

“A strong union is built from the base up, with member power and strong branches,” she said.

The motion called for the NEC to continue to resource and prioritise the union’s organising to win strategy with new training, guidance and support for UNISON branches to escalate and win local campaigns and disputes.

A delegate who spoke in support of the motion said that winning campaigns helps the union recruit more members and undermines the far right.

2024 was a historic year for UNISON’s recruitment, with over 215,000 new joiners resulting in net growth of 39,500.

The union’s activist base also grew in 2024 with 4,500 new workplace activists appointed and a six percent increase in Employment Relations Act (ERA) accredited stewards.

“When we win, we not only put money in our pockets, but we undermine the far right,” she said.

Another delegate who supported the motion said: “We have one million members in this union. That’s one million potential activists. So let’s activate them.”

The article Organising to win: ‘A strong union is built from the base up’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.