Why You Should be a Trade Unionist

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Len McCluskey. Why You Should be a Trade Unionist

Why You Should. Be a Trade Unionist

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LEN McCLUSKEY

1. Hope in My Heart

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Consider what a world without unions would be like, whether in the past, the present or the uncertain future. This is perhaps the most powerful argument there is for being a trade unionist. In writing this short book, I’ve set out to demonstrate why people today should be trade union members. It is told through my personal experiences, as well as through a study of the history of trade unions and of the work they have done, and are doing, to make our workplaces and society fairer. This is work that is rarely portrayed positively by the press, if at all. The history of trade unions – of when and why they emerged in the UK as democratic organisations giving a voice to working people, and of why opposition to them developed – is fundamental to making the case for trade unionism today.

But trade unionism is not just about pay and conditions. It’s about diversity, putting equality at work and in society front and centre stage; it’s about community, politics, internationalism and much more. I believe strongly in rebuilding the traditional, if at present weakened, links between trade unions and communities. Being a trade unionist is as much a political as it is an industrial role. This is why the historic links between the labour movement and the Labour Party matter.

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