USDAW gets more black and Asian reps in Tesco workplaces
Usdaw has recently run a project to encourage more of its black and Asian members to participate in the Usdaw/Tesco joint consultative structures. The project focused on three of its south London stores that each had a large black and Asian workforce.
Get-togethers were organised near to the stores, which were led by a black training officer and black activists played a key role in motivating members to attend. The union says that using black role models helped get across that the union really is serious about tackling under-involvement. Asking black members to talk about their own journey into union activity also had a powerful ‘I can do that’ effect on the day.
Sixteen people were identified to take part in the get-togethers and of these two became reps, two felt that they wanted to stand for a rep position, two applied to the Organising Academy, three more became active in other ways such as becoming a ULR or attending the union summer school, and five members signed up for Usdaw home study courses.
As well as attending the get-togethers, the participants were also given access to a high level of ongoing support from their full-time officer and a lay member mentor. As a result they continue to develop their skills and understanding of the union.
In addition, the experienced activists who acted as mentors and participated in the get-togethers reported feeling more engaged with the union. One said it had “shown me that I have something to offer new members. It’s been really good to realise that I can help them learn and give them the confidence to do it. I wish someone had done that for me years ago as it took me ages to build up the confidence to get involved in the union.”
Tesco was also supportive of the project, giving members paid time off to attend the get-togethers and allowing the black activists who helped with the project time away from the shopfloor to talk to members who were interested in attending.
Case study from Equality Audit 2014: Improving representation and participation in trade unions
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