Sick of your boss? Join a union! Fight for socialism

Collective workers' action can improve conditions, photo Paul Mattsson

Collective workers’ action can improve conditions, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Jeremy Davidson, Unite union and Hull Socialist Party member

My current employer has not given its workforce a pay rise in over three years. The health and safety regulations are breached on a daily basis.

And employees often get bullied by the incompetent management which chooses to blame the workers instead of taking responsibility for its countless mistakes.

But when we come together, workers can change those things. Collective protest, and strikes if necessary, can force employers to improve our conditions. This is the potential power of a union.

As a young worker in a small, non-unionised workplace, it is easy to become isolated and feel detached from the trade union movement. Yet so many workers today face similar circumstances.

We are employed in precarious working environments with no union recognition: in the hospitality sector, small businesses, and other workplaces of every type across the country. It can be easy to forget that people of all ages face the same struggles on a daily basis.

NSSN

This is why the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) conference (see box) is so important for me. It allows me to meet other activists who have similar situations. It lets me interact and share experiences, ideas and strategies regarding workplace organisation with others from across the country.

The NSSN aims to bring together the very people on the front lines of industrial struggle, across different sectors and unions, and be able to cooperate and coordinate with one another.

If you are a young worker like myself, whether in a union or not, and looking for ideas on how to take on the bosses, there is no better place to find out more than the NSSN.

And by building a coordinated fightback among organised workers, we can go further. We can use the power of joint strikes and mobilisations to push out the Tory government, fight for socialist policies, and begin a movement to put working-class people in control of society instead of the capitalists.

  • Get all the latest union news with the NSSN bulletin – sign up at shopstewards.net

NSSN conference 2019

  • All welcome: Saturday 6 July, 11am – 4.30pm
  • Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
  • £6 registration – pay on the day, or make a cheque out to National Shop Stewards Network and post to NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE
  • Register in advance by emailing [email protected]
  • shopstewards.net