Stuart GouldenOne of Britain’s leading trade unions has launched 50p a week “community membership”, opening up its financial and legal advice to new segments of the population in York for the first time.
Unite is making its services more inclusive, recognising that groups such as students, the unemployed, volunteers, the retired, and the disadvantaged are currently under represented. By uniting these lone voices, unions aim to yield collective power on behalf of their members, helping them find their political voice and ultimately shape their community and workplace. The “community membership” scheme has specially designed support points for the life and career moments people from all walks of life might encounter, such as hardship, injury, and job searching.
Unite’s general secretary, Len McCluskey, told The Independent: “This scheme could transform trade unionism in the UK. It comes at a time when horrific cuts and ideological social changes are pushing more and more people to the margins.
“Last week we had the mass action by public servants fighting for pensions justice. Only 24 hours before that, the Chancellor told the country that, under his Government, the attacks on the incomes and services of the ordinary people of this country will continue until 2017. This is a Government of the few.
“It is time now for those on the margins to organise, to come together to challenge the decisions made by the elite in the interests of the few. This is the real Big Society – ordinary people organising for themselves – in action.”
Unite is currently Britain’s second largest union with 1.5 million members.
