After a busy few months, GMB Active's coming home

We took a little break from GMB Active for Congress, but now we’re back up and running. There’s a lot going on across the whole union, it’s hard to keep up!

In the NHS we have a ballot running on pay, after being the only union to reject the government’s pay offer. In water we are hitting the headlines constantly, as hose pipe bans highlight the amount of water lost through wastage while company bosses rake in ridiculous pay packets.

At Amazon, we are taking the fight to the company with hundreds of new members recruited this year and a campaign plan coming together for the second half of the year. And just last week I met with Nestlé workers about their colleagues who were murdered in Colombia and talked about what we can do as trade unionists here in the UK to help. Colombian trade unionists can be murdered for doing what you and I do every day as trade union members, it’s a scary thought.

In mid-July, we decamped to Durham for the Miners’ Gala. GMB members from across the country took the streets of London to protest against Donald Trump and his divisive policies. Never in my life would I have believed I’d see a US President sanctioning the removal of toddlers from their parents, or keeping children in cages. Of course, in typical GMB fashion we had to make some noise - so our now ubiquitous Maybot was joined on a tour of London by a Trumpbot!

I like to get out to branches as much as possible, I'm only sorry I can't accept every invite I get. A couple of weeks ago I went to Kings Lynn Branch, where it was great to see old friends and hard working members. We discussed GMB's attendance at the first ever Kings Lynn Pride, union and branch organisation and GMB Congress and Burston Strike School which London Region have built a presence at (if you've not heard of Burston, click here to read what it's all about: https://burstonstrikeschool.co.uk/)

I can't write a blog covering July without mentioning the World Cup. As many activists will know, I'm a big football fan - at all levels. I coached my son's junior team and try to make it to the Emirates when I can. What a showing from England! (Sorry GMB Scotland, NI and Wales...) The only downside, besides England not being in the final, is that I had Croatia in my local pub's sweep.

Brexit has also been in the headlines in the last couple of months and it’s something we are really focusing on as a union. As soon as the referendum result was confirmed, we said we would accept it and campaign for the best Brexit possible. We have a working group of CEC members and officers that had been working on Brexit since the vote - we call it the Workers’ Brexit Group - but what this government seem to be negotiating is anything but.

Our approach to Brexit is entirely about our members and industrial priorities - we have members in ports who don’t know how our systems will cope if there is no customs union or plan in place (and there isn’t a plan in place), members in chemicals who don’t know what regulations will apply, in manufacturing it is not clear how large projects will work when parts have to constantly move across borders and there is potential for chaos in the food sector.

As a general union, the impact on members’ jobs, employers and communities has the potential to be vast, which is why we will continue to push Minsters to be transparent, to engage with us and to stop squabbling amongst themselves.

This is the moment I was ‘serenaded’ on the balcony of Durham County hotel by our incredible ⁦GMB Young Members⁩ at the Durham Miners' gala. You’re bonkers but I bloody love ya xx

#GenSec