CAMPIGN Unite for a Workers’ Economy
■ By Joe Rollin
Organising a new type of politics
Organiser Joe Rollin reports on the very campaign that has been busy helping fight inequality in towns like Crawley
Last year the profits of the UK’s largest companies increased by 89 per cent compared to the pre-pandemic years, just as the number of people facing food poverty almost doubled. That is the stark reality faced by workers and their families in towns and villages across the country – the reality utterly ignored by politicians.
On the industrial front, over the last 18 months our union has fought and won more industrial disputes than ever before. In doing so, members have rediscovered and inspired a new confidence in our collective industrial strength. That is why Unite for a Workers’ Economy is taking the next step by linking our workplace organising with community campaigning.
Unite for a Workers’ Economy is organising for a new type of politics which fights to put power back into the hands of local communities long left behind by a broken economy. From food poverty to energy and housing, these campaigns focus on winning practical change that people can be part of together.
Food poverty is endemic across the UK. In 2021 a report by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs cited research showing 8 per cent of UK adults struggled to put food on the table. Unite polling has exposed how this surged to 14 per cent in 2022 as the cost of living crisis began to bite.
In response our campaign has supported community foodbanks in some of the most deprived communities from Crawley to Glasgow, where as many 24 per cent of the population faces food poverty.
In May our Feed the Weans campaign went a step further, winning free school meals for all primary school children in Scotland by 2024. The campaign then moved Glasgow City Council to write off £300,000 of school meal debt.
Building on these early successes Unite for a Workers’ Economy has helped social housing tenants organise their estates, campaigned alongside striking workers, and defended debt advice services and campaigned alongside our retired members who
22 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2023
handed in a 37,000-strong petition to the government opposing any increase to the pension age.
Now our Take the Power Back campaign is taking on energy profiteering. Unite research has exposed how families face skyrocketing bills while profiteers pocket billions. Last year alone the UK energy sector made £45bn in profit. Unite research shows if the sector was taken in to public ownership that profit could have saved £1,800 per household in energy bills.
There are no short cuts. Campaigns like these can only be built and won if our union is prepared to grow deep roots in our communities. We cannot wait for politicians to save us. If we are going to answer the needs of the hour we have to do it ourselves.
find out more
Visit
www.unitetheunion.org/ campaigns/unite-for-a- workers-economy-campaign
Landworker looks forward to future working with Unite for a Workers’ Economy in rural areas, Ed
Getty Images
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
