Banches’ fantastic
effort to bring in new members
By Fiona Montgomery
Article in upcoming Scotland in UNISON
Streetliner bus ads Lanarkshire
SES Cumbernauld stewards run a stall
...as do North Lanarkshire
Aberdeen railway station
Adtrailer
South Ayrshire payslip leaflet
Grampian 'spot the ad' competition
|
Branches around the
country are putting in a fantastic effort to bring in new
members.
The ‘austerity’ agenda of massive cuts,
with attacks on services, jobs, pensions, pay and terms and
conditions means
it’s more important than ever to be part of a strong
union. And members are busy taking that message to potential recruits
in workplaces around Scotland.
Pictures of lots of events have been put up on the UNISON
Scotland blog, Facebook and Twitter, with branches encouraged
to do
the same with their websites, blogs and social media.
The
autumn recruitment drive is backed up by the ‘Stronger
Together in UNISON’ targeted advertising campaign,
which is providing a backdrop for local activities in selected
areas.
It also gave a boost to UNISON members on Oct 20 in
Glasgow, as the march route leaving George Square passed
a giant billboard
featuring our advert.
A UNISON Adtrailer has been driving
around key sites in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Edinburgh and Lothian
so far, including hospitals,
council offices, universities and colleges and Scottish Water.
In
November it will also be used in Dumbarton/Clydebank, Aberdeenshire,
Falkirk and Fife.
Taxis emblazoned with the ‘Stronger
Together’ adverts
have been booked in Glasgow, Edinburgh, East Kilbride and
Clydebank, with the Lanarkshire branches clubbing together
to pay for
another in Motherwell.
'Streetliner’ bus ads are on selected
buses in most of the priority areas. We also have ads on
a small number
of billboards,
bus shelters and telephone boxes in the chosen areas, in
shopping centres, and a couple of cinemas. Some radio ads
are on Northsound,
on West Sound and its sister stations in Ayshire/ Dumfries
and in Shetland.
Rail station billboards or smaller posters
in stations have appeared or will appear in Aberdeen, Glasgow,
Falkirk, Dunfermline,
Inverkeithing, Stirling, Ayr, Kilmarnock, Dumbarton, Hamilton
and East Kilbride.
Imaginative ideas included a ‘Spot
the Ad’ competition
in Grampian and the ‘Stronger Together’ message
printed on payslips in South Ayrshire, paid for by the branch.
John
Gallacher, Scottish Organiser for the West, said: “The
Stronger Together campaign has galvanised organising among
branches in the West and generated interest among the wider
public.
“UNISON Scotland must ensure the enthusiasm translates into
ongoing grassroots activity to build the strength of the
union. Ten Fighting Fund posts will be filled soon to boost our efforts
still further.
“In these austere times strengthening the union across
all workplaces should be our principal focus.”
It is
the work done by branches that is important, with the ads
a useful backdrop that aims to raise awareness and the
profile of the union to support the face to face contact
with potential new members.
John Keggie, Scottish Organiser
for the East and North, said: “The
recruitment activity is going really well with events and
workplace visits planned across Edinburgh, Fife and Central
Scotland,
Tayside, Grampian, Aberdeen, Inverness and Orkney and Shetland.
“This is just the beginning of a concerted effort to build our
membership and influence across all of Scotland. The efforts
of branch activists and organisers has been fantastic and
we need to keep this momentum going.” |
