Thursday, 5 November 2015

Organising & Membership

This morning's meeting of the Organising and Membership Committee discussed three main areas:

  • The Union's response to recruitment challenges brought about by the growth of Schools Direct and 'free' schools. These have the potential to affect the traditional recruitment routes via student recruitment at universities and school-based recruitment in schools with existing union groups and a history of union activity. This emphasises the importance of our organising work and of building a union presence and recruiting workplace reps in every school, including new schools.
  • The use of equalities data to support the engagement of members in all equalities strands. Attention was drawn to the fact that emails can be sent to members on a particular equalities register (Black teachers, LGBT teachers and disabled teachers) via Regional Offices. However, it is important to remember that not all members of the group you are trying to reach may be registered so notices should also be sent out to the entire membership. Most importantly, we need to ensure equalities issues are prioritised at association amd school level by local officers and Reps.
  • A report on our ongoing organising strategy, highlighting the case of a local authority where the Union had lost facilities time and activity was at an all-time low with few Reps and even fewer trained Reps. After 18 months of intensive support from the organising team, the association has been rejuvenated, with a dramatic growth in trained Reps and regular well-attended meetings and events, and facilities time has not just been restored but increased.
All of this goes to show the importance of our Organising work and how it makes a vital contribution to the renewal of the Union which is necessary to protect teachers and students alike.

No comments:

Post a Comment