What Do Trade Unions Offer Young Scots & What Do Strikes Actually Achieve?
Omar Malik
29/04/24
(Image Credit: chrisdorney/Shutterstock)
Whether you’re an avid watcher of BBC News at Ten or you have minimal interest in topical news stories, it’s very likely that you’ve heard discussions about trade unions and industrial action.
But why is Scotland seeing so many annual strikes from teachers, nurses and an array of other essential workers - and more importantly, what kind of benefits come from membership of a trade union?
Blether spoke to Brian Smith, UNISON’s Glasgow City branch secretary, to exclusively answer those very questions!
Why Join A Trade Union?
UNISON, one of Britain’s biggest unions, defines a trade union as “a group of employees who join together to maintain and improve their conditions of employment.”
In other words, trade unions are an avenue for workers of various industries to utilise their voice and reach within their organisation, endeavouring to ensure fair and equal working environments for themselves and their colleagues.
According to Smith, young people in particular should strongly consider joining a trade union: “It’s crucial that all workers are in trade unions in order to organise their voices collectively. It’s particularly important for young people because of the way the economy works at the minute in terms of the cost of housing, security and employment-based issues. They’re a vehicle for social change.”
There has been a noticeable shift from the dominance of public sector jobs, which Smith commends: “Today’s young people are often working for private charities or corporate charities that deliver a lot of care and support services - and it’s great that these roles are often well-paid and include young women working in these areas.”
(Image Credit: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock)
But even in these more amicable and secure roles, Smith stresses the importance of union membership: “Young people tend to get discriminated against by managers more as they see them as being easier to pick on. Because they’re not in a union, perhaps managers think they can get away with certain things - from bullying and harassment to changing their shifts at short notice while not doing so to the service’s older workers.”
“Young people therefore must organise together and defend themselves as well - after all, being in a trade union is similar to defending yourself in the workplace. But it’s also about joining the organised working class to try and make society better - trying to improve the laws that govern workplaces and expressing the benefits of better health services,” Smith continued.
The fairness of the voting process within unions is another element that should attract youngsters, says Smith: “Trade unions are still the biggest democratic organisations in society. People vote if they want to go on strike, they vote each year for the leaders who end up being elected - so if they don’t like what I’m doing, they can then kick me out.”
Strikes: An Important Disruption
As a university student, strike action has often overtaken some of the essential elements of my studies.
But it’s not just students that are affected - from those who required medical assistance during ambulance strikes, or if you simply can’t travel anywhere at all because of the constant stream of train strikes - industrial action certainly impacts most sections of society at some point.
Yet misinformation is often presented throughout the media as a means of belittling the intentions of strikes, according to Smith: “One bit of advice would be to not believe everything you hear in the mainstream media, that’s often pointed out by the Tories, because that’s how some of those attitudes take over society.”
(Image Credit: Richie Chan/Shutterstock)
“Clearly train strikes are very disruptive, but that’s the nature of a strike. By witnessing one group of workers fighting for something that could lead to fairer employment, then strikes can encourage other workers to recognise their importance,” Smith went on.
By associating industrial action with overwhelmingly negative descriptions, right-wing groups can essentially maintain a stronghold over workers’ rights, Smith warns: “They’re afraid of everybody joining in on the fight for change, so they try to pit one worker against another worker instead. They use everything to divide and rule people - whether it’s race, gender or sexual orientation.”
“If they can get away with trying to paint supposedly militant trade unionists as somehow being different from the so-called ordinary worker, they will do so. By having trade unions and workers mobilised together, they could pose as potentially the most powerful force in society,” Smith continued.
Change can still be achieved if workers collectively seek improvements, Smith explains: “Even though people may view trade unions as not being as relevant as they used to be, that’s now changing again - especially in the last few years. The Tories trying to legislate against trade unions taking action shows you that they know who the ‘enemy’ is.”
“So we need to be as organised as the ‘boss class’ is, by trying to cut across some of the narrative that seeks to divide people who have got the same common interests, albeit seeking to go on individual strikes. That way, we can disrupt the status quo,” Smith told Blether.
If you’re interested in joining a trade union, check out the UNISON Scotland website.