Communicating with and engaging young workers

Alex White's blog is one of my favourites.

Alex is a writer, campaigner, progressive, social activist and an all round good guy.

In July, he spoke at the Stand Up conference for the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions,

His presentation was on how unions can communicate with and engage young workers. 

Learn more about his goals and presentation.

The points he makes are applicable to all countries and their unions.

Visit and sign up to Alex's site. It is a gold mine (or should that be platinum mine?) of information.

Sign up. Learn. Act.

From their lips to our ears

“Greetings on this International Day of Youth

On this day that speaks to the importance of the youth in the world, we should not take it lightly, and we must realise how important we are in this race of life. 

The importance of the role of  youth has not been missed, and on more than one occasion our voices have been key factors in getting issues dealt with. At present a number of trade unions are trying to put things in place to encourage growth in youth membership to stem declines in membership. Let us be frank. The trade union movement is not like it was a few decades ago  when it was more energised. Youth today have a lot more things to distract them and some see the trade union movement as archaic and not at all attractive to deal with their needs. 

Seeing this development, I along with two Sisters are working diligently on a set of recommendations for Trade Union Renewal in the Caribbean. -  task that some would not have easily or readily left in the hands of three young trade union members. We however see this as a visionary step by those who realise and recognise that the input of the youth factor is key in any reforms that the trade union movement currently needs. We have done a lot of work. But more still needs to be done and upon completion we expect it to be available to every trade union across the Caribbean and even further afield.

I however ask that you too look inside yourselves and your organisations and think about and examine strategies that can aid in the reform of trade unions so that we can  be better equipped to deal with the changing times.”

Shamir Brown

Delegate - Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO)

“Youth are dynamic, and our  enthusiasm is contagious.  We are longing to be involved in the trade union movement, in our  way, using our methods of communication, speaking our language, at our pace....

And union leaders, must recognise that in order to hope for and envision a future trade union movement, they must embrace the involvement of young people now. And not just embrace it,  but utilise it, nurture it, so that young people can grow and impact on other young people.”

Janel Joseph

Central Executive committee member - St Lucia National Workers’ Union (SLNWU)

Using the PSI website

The growth in the Internet and social media tools provide ever-expanding opportunities and access to more and more information.  And it is information with a purpose.


We invite you to regularly visit PSI's website. It is designed to help you in your role as a union activist - in your workplace, in your community, in your country and indeed as you build solidarity throughout your region and the world.

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Hey Guys

Hope everyone is well. Been a while. Let's get the spirit going again and join together in the walk of ever representing the rights of workers.


Shamir Brown
JALGO

Presentation on trade union renewal research

PSI Congress Resolutions

Resolutions adopted at the 29th World Congress of Public Services International, held in Durban, South Africa, 27-30 November 2012.

The Resolutions have been published in three volumes: Volume 1 - Resolution No. 1 (Programme of Action); Volume 2 - Resolution No. 2 (Constitution), and Volume 3 - Resolutions No. 3 to 49.

Résolutions adoptées lors du 29eme Congrès Mondial de L'Internationale des Services Publics, Durban, Afrique du Sud, du 27 au 30 novembre 2012.

Les résolutions sont publiées en trois volumes:
Volume 1 - Résolution No. 1 (Programme d'action); Volume 2 - Résolution No. 2 (Statuts), and Volume 3 - Résolutions No. 3 à No. 49.

Les adjuntamos todas las resoluciones aprobadas en el Congreso, en tres volúmenes:

Volumen 1 - Resolución Nº 1 (Programa de acción 2013-2017): Volumen 2 - Resolución Nº 2 (Estatutos de la PSI) y Volumen 3 - Resoluciones Nº 3 a 49

And what about the boys?

Many are preparing for the UNCSW in March.

"

CTSP women at May Day May day rally

 And especially as this time, women's empowerment is a hot topic.

There are still many debates on how to make the changes in order to achieve what I like to call gender justice. This encompasses, gender equality as well as equity.

In this article, the writer states,

"The session made me realize that the empowerment of girls is vitally important. This way, fathers hear the message from daughters they love and it is felt at a much deeper level than hearing the same message from anyone else. Being part of this conversation will impact the work I do on these issues in the future."

What strategies do you use in your organisation and country?