September 21, 2020
In the latest episode of the UnionDues podcast, Simon chats with Equity National Industrial Organiser Jamie Briers about the relationship between catwalks and unions – epitomised by Equity’s agreement with London Fashion Week’s host – the British Fashion Council.
The fashion industry is worth £35bn a year to the UK economy and employs nearly 900,000 people. And London Fashion Week, taking place right now, is a globally important event..
We also talk about the existential crisis facing British Theatre – and why the £1.5bn aid package from government was nowhere near enough and how the union with others launched a comprehensive campaign to save the sector.
The companion blogpost is here, and you can reach nearly 70 trade union related podcasts through the Labor Radio Podcast Network portal . A Makes You Think production
September 2, 2020
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 in struggle and see how new unions are developing despite Covid and recession. Companion blog available here. Part of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. A Makes-You-Think production.
![Pharmacists: Organising to meet the Covid challenge]()
June 23, 2020
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 between Parliament’s Education select Committee and teacher unions’ leaders is dissected: If getting everyone back to school was as easy as some think, it would surely have been done by now! But what will it take to make this aspiration a reality?
- Worrying news on Employment Tribunal waiting times
- A senior Aviva analyst calls for high earners to contribute first and most if cash is short
UnionDues is on holiday until September, when we return for our second series. Thanks to all our guests and everyone who has listened, commented, emailed, tweeted and retweeted.
You can read the companion blog is here and access this and all episodes here. Please download, stream, listen, share, rate, but above all enjoy.
Join the conversation: uniondues@makes-you-think.com, @DuesUnion. A Makes-You-Think production
![Union strength in the financial and mutual sectors - w/Tim Rose]()
June 16, 2020
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 to maintain that? What are the strengths and advantages of working in this way as opposed to the challenges and constraints?
We also take our regular sweep around the industrial landscapes and there’s an update on the BABetrayal campaign, BECTU continuing to push for the gaps in coronavirus compensation schemes to be closed, the story of how a belligerent employer was brought to book as the Great Post Office Trial is brought to a huge new audience, and Labour Research’s Lionel Fulton joins us to introduce a new guide to state benefits under coronavirus.
Join the conversation at uniondues@makes-you-think.com. Tweet us @DuesUnion. You can access all episodes here – please do download, stream, share, rate, but above all enjoy.
Stay safe. A Makes-You-Think production
June 9, 2020
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 the retail sector as bad management practice makes an unwelcome return. The companion blogpost is here. A makes-you-think production
![Senior Civil Servants, Flexiworking, Lockdown and Covid w/Victoria Jones]()
June 2, 2020
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, and relations between their members and senior politicians. A fascinating insight into how a small but highly influential union has engaged with its members and responded to these unprecedented times.
Also in this episode,
- TUC National Organiser Carl Roper on what the latest union membership figures tell us (and you can sign up for the TUC’s Organising Festival here)
- The interim results of a new survey of union reps from Meesha Nehru of the Labour Research Department
- Why looming job cuts, at BA and elsewhere, demand a Better Recovery and
- How proposals from the Law Commission could transform employment tribunals.
A Makes-You-Think production.
May 22, 2020
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 Fire Brigades Union as they battle proposed cuts in East Sussex. The companion blog is here. A Makes-You-Think production.
May 14, 2020
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.
