In this episode, we sit down with Kelly Andrews to talk about union building in the social care sector. Kelly takes us on her journey from being a lay rep in the now discredited and bust Southern Cross care providers, to leading the GMB union’s work in the sector as a whole. It’s a helluva ride.

In what is a vital master class for union builders , Kellydescribes

· how fragile recognition agreements can me whenconfronted by aggressive and unprincipled employers,

· the absolutely essential maxim of going to wheremembers are (even if that is in the proverbial middle of nowhere at 11 o’clock on a wet and windy autumn night) rather than where you want them to be

· and why in this sector if no other, politics is never very far away.

If you think you know union building and believe that you’veseen it all, this episode could well make you think again. And if you are prevaricating about building a consensus to fix social care, listen to this and resolve to do better.

As ever, our discussion is calm, measured and derived from acombined 80 years of union activism. Where we disagree, we do so amicably. But there’s no getting away from the importance or relevance of this debate.

We’re grateful to have the support of Thompsons, the leading trade union and social justice law firm, The GeneralFederation of Trade Unions - delivering trade union education,building solidarity and the home of StrikeMap, Pellacraft, award winning and trusted supplier of promotional goods, and Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council. Thank you all.

Episode run time 29m16s. Organising For A Change ispresented by Martin Smith and Simon Sapper. Music is by Scott Holmes. It is a Makes-You-Think production. Contact the show at organising@makes-you-think.com. This episode was first published on 28 February 2025. Next episode drops 14 March.

Martin and Simon are joined by Mick Rix to get behind the headlines of successful organising campaigns in, for example,Deliveroo to look at what tactics are needed to make such work successful - and what success itself looks like. Plus a quick guide to the Labor Radio Podcast Network, of which 04AC is a proud member.

We’re grateful to have the support of Thompsons, the leading trade union and social justice law firm, The GeneralFederation of Trade Unions - delivering trade union education, building solidarity and the home of StrikeMap, Pellacraft, award winning and trusted supplier of promotional goods, and Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council. Thank you all.

Episode run time 30m24s. Organising For A Change is presented by Martin Smith and Simon Sapper. Music is by Scott Holmes. It is a Makes-You-Think production. Contact the show at organising@makes-you-think.com. This episode was first published on 14 February 2025. Next episode drops 28 February.

In this episode we look at the idea of so-called “big bargaining,” and the way that fits into an overall organizing strategy.

We’ve talked in previous episodes about building unity and the five core principles that union builders, we believe, should adopt to build that unity in workplaces.

This goes into more detail about how you do that, by exploiting the bargaining agenda. Our starting point is that union building and union bargaining are two sides of the same coin, and as well as being a really important principle behind what we discuss in this episode, it also fits into a wider portfolio of skills or strands that form what we would regard as a complete and comprehensive organising strategy.

As ever, our discussion is calm, measured and derived from a combined 80 years of union activism. Where we disagree, we do so amicably. But there’s no getting away from the importance or relevance of this debate.

We’re grateful to have the support of Thompsons, the leading trade union and social justice law firm, The General Federation of Trade Unions - delivering trade union education, building solidarity and the home of StrikeMap, Pellacraft, award winning and trusted supplier of promotional goods, and Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council. Thank you all.

Episode run time 24m02s. Organising For A Change is presented by Martin Smith and Simon Sapper. Music is by Scott Holmes. It is a Makes-You-Think production. Contact the show at orgainsing@makes-you-think.com. This episode was first published on 31 January 2025. Next episode drops 14 February.

Big Bargaining is waiting for you!