How to decide what to do, and when

If you’ve mapped your workplace and talked to your colleagues, you should have a good idea about what issues matter to them. 

Unions are all about winning change. That means you will need to campaign. 

Thinking about running a workplace campaign? Get in touch with your Bectu organiser.

What can we campaign on? 

For a campaign to succeed, the issue needs to be:

  • Widely held;
  • Deeply felt;
  • Winnable. 

At the start, you only need to fit 2 of the criteria and build the campaign to achieve the 3rd.  

Any successful campaign will 

  1. Increase your membership; 
  1. Increase the connection between the workers and their union; 
  1. Improve your bargaining power in the workplace. 

Whatever the campaign, you will periodically test the strength of the campaign using ‘structure tests’.

What are structure tests? 

Structure tests are actions that test the strength of your union.  

A successful structure test will:

  • Have been devised through previous member engagement; 
  • Ask members to commit to an action; 
  • Have high member participation. 

Examples of structure tests:

  • Responding to a survey; 
  • Signing a petition; 
  • Writing a letter; 
  • Wearing a badge/sticker; 
  • Taking a photo; 
  • Attending a rally; 
  • Taking industrial action (strike or action short of strike). 

Some campaign ideas

Improving facilities and amenities at work

Unions can campaign to change any aspect of working life. Often, a great way to build confidence is to start small. Staff spend a lot of time at work, and good facilities can make a big difference. 

Getting better heating/ventilation/air-conditioning 

Health & Safety issues affect everyone, and Health & Safety reps have additional protections in law [link]. This is an easy way to find a campaign that fits all three criteria we discussed earlier. 

See this news article to learn more about how Prospect members won better conditions at the Postal Museum. 

Winning union recognition 

Union recognition is where your employer has a formal relationship with your union for the purposes of negotiating your pay, terms, and conditions. This means they’ll negotiate with you. Your workplace might have union recognition already. The steps above will help you to make the most of your recognition agreement and make work better. 

Or your workplace might have partial recognition or no union recognition at all – use the steps in this guide to build a strong campaign to win union recognition. 

Getting a pay increase 

Start early – by building your union, and promoting engagement and action, as well as solidarity, you’ll have more chance of winning the pay award you want. 

Read about Prospect’s recent success in securing a pay increase for workers at VMO2 and O2 Daisy.