Received from: TUC Young Workers' Conference
Conference recognises:
i. Young workers face significant challenges, including insecure work, low pay, and lack of workplace protections.
ii. The new Employment Rights Bill in the UK, itself the culmination of the CWU’s years of campaigning for a new deal for workers, will bring with it an era of increased workplace access and legislation which needs to be enforced and arbitrated.
iii. Trade union membership among young workers remains low, often due to a lack of awareness about unions and their benefits.
iv. The Summer Patrol is a Norwegian organising project involving visiting workplaces to engage young workers regarding their conditions at work. This project has been running for over 40 years and has become a core component of their organising approach ensuring young workers are aware of trade unions and their rights. It helps reduce opportunities for employers to take advantage of young workers who may be unaware of their rights. It also builds union activism, profile and cohesion.
Conference believes that recruiting and retaining young members is essential for the future of the trade union movement. Young workers bring energy, innovation, and diversity, and their active involvement will strengthen unions’ ability to tackle the issues they face.
We call on the TUC to:
a. encourage all unions to develop youth-focused recruitment strategies, targeting industries with high numbers of young workers, such as retail, hospitality, and the gig economy.
b. promote digital campaigns using social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to engage young workers with relevant and relatable content, as we have seen in Unite
c. support leadership development and representation for young members, ensuring their voices are heard at all levels of union structures.
d. launch a national campaign strategy for recruiting young workers highlighting the role of unions in improving conditions for young workers, and to monitor membership trends to ensure progress.
e. put together a strategy for implementing Summer Patrol in the UK as an annual and ongoing feature of TUC activities to organise young workers. Introducing Summer Patrol to the UK at this moment is timely and offers a proven model for how we can organise to enforce legislation on the ground.
f. call for increased placements at universities for students, ensuring they are meaningful and provide relevant valuable experience. Additionally, urge unions to advocate for better career development opportunities within workplaces, making roles more attractive to young workers and enhancing retention rates.
By investing in young workers futures, we can better engage young members within the trade union movement.
g. By committing to these actions, the trade union movement can empower the next generation and secure its future strength.
TUC Young Workers Conference