A bit of a round-up

I’m trying to get out and about as much as possible to speak to members and had a great meeting with over 50 shop stewards in Leeds last week. The team in Yorkshire are also back on the gates at ASOS after the TUC found that Community had broken the rules by swooping in to sign an agreement with the employer after GMB had been campaigning there for years – anyone on social media will see that we’re definitely back on the case there.

I also had a really great meeting with Southern Region Branch Secretaries, where I spent a couple of hours answering some really tough but good questions about the union and having a real discussion about GMB and where we go next. I really enjoyed it and hope they’ll invite me back again soon.

Thank you as well to the RMA who invited me to speak at their Conference. It was a pleasure as always to see you all – there wasn’t half some years of experience and hard graft in that room.

The next stop is Glasgow where thousands of women are set to take strike action on equal pay, they will bring the city to a standstill and show that they are not willing to sit back and take the hollow words of politicians when they see year after year that there is no change. I have huge respect for everyone involved – every member, rep, activist and all of our absolutely brilliant officers and organising team that are putting in the hours to support our members. Across Scotland and the UK, people are really starting to take notice and I am hugely looking forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with these fantastic women as they take a stand.

"There’s an enormous amount going on across the union and I know I say it all the time, but it really does just make me so proud."

At Amazon we exposed the PR spin of the company as they made a big song and dance about a supposed pay rise for workers, given with one hand, while the other nicks bonuses and other rewards that mean some workers will actually be worse off – that campaign has a huge profile and combined with some real graft on the ground, especially in Roughley in the West Mids, we’re recruiting members every week.

Uber continue their attempt to get out of giving their workers the most basic of employment rights in the court of appeals and our Equality Team launched what - we believe to the first ever from a union – a toolkit on neurodiversity and the world of work.

Asda continues to be a national priority as the planned merger with Sainsbury’s progresses and is subject to an investigation by the competition regulator.

In Wales and South West, the region is working tirelessly – across our movement - to save Appledore Shipyard. Our new Convenor, Chris, stepped up to the plate and before he knew, he was already on the telly talking about the campaign! You can see the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/save-appledore-shipyard

Ahead of Labour Party Conference our North West and Irish Region once again held a top notch Justice Conference, it’s fantastic to see it build year on year.

And we can’t forget the coup de gras in London Region when the Canning Town Library - a building so significant to our union’s founding - was at risk of being turned into a Nandos, we swung into action to put a stop to it. There may have been some chicken related puns along the way….

Alongside this, we welcome a new Regional Secretary in Martin Allen in Midland and East Coast and pay huge respect and give massive thanks to Andy Worth, who retired last month after more than 40 years with our union.