This year’s TUC Young Members Conference came together to send a clear message to the ConDem government – that we will not accept your ideological cuts to our services!
Condemning the government for scrapping vital support for young people like the EMA and Future Jobs Fund, young trade unionists from across the UK called on the TUC to campaign for a living wage for all, regardless of age. In the same motion to TUC Congress, we also noted our belief that unpaid internships are fundamentally exploitative and exclusive in terms of access.
During the conference, delegates took part in workshops on organising vulnerable workers, online organising with a contribution of Blue State Digital through Skype (the organisation behind Obama’s online campaigning in his presidential election), community organising, and new ways of communicating with our members.
UNISON’s motion – unanimously passed, called on future TUC young member conferences to include a practical campaigning element like this year’s UNISON Young Members Weekend will have. I’m immensely proud that our union are taking the lead in innovative ways of supporting our activists to engage with the public.
We’ll be working with the unions of the TUC to oppose these horrendous cuts to our services, joining together to organise and build the mass movement we need to defeat the ConDem ultra-right-wing agenda.
Graham Smith
