Unison director of organising KEVIN LUCAS explains the Organising to Win strategy, its successes to date and key tests on the union’s horizon
Latest editorial
Why young people are standing up to militarism – with a white poppy
Faced with injustice and insecurity, wearing a white poppy challenges the prioritisation, normalisation and justification of militarism, argues NADJA LOVADINOV
COMMITMENT: Rhun Dafydd, chair of Cymdeithas y Cymod (the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Wales), holds up white poppies in both Welsh and English in Cardiff (below) students at Sheffield University take non-violent direct action against militarism on campus in October this year
Young workers do want to get involved in Unison, and where that is enabled we see growth in workplace power, argue Unison North West Young Members co-chairs ZAIHERA CHAUDHRY and IAN CAULFIELD
British military spending is among the highest in the world, diverts scarce resources from far better causes and fuels international conflict. It’s time we made different choices, argues LIZ PAYNE
Trade unions, trades councils and community organisations must work together to build lasting solidarity and resistance to the far right, argues DREW GILCHRIST
Animal metaphors are testament to delight in the non-human world and what we hope and wish for human freedom, argue ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT"
Economists estimate extreme poverty could be drastically reduced for a fraction of global defence spending, yet military budgets continue to expand year on year, says JON TRICKETT MP, ahead of the Stop the War International Conference on Saturday
IN THE last month alone there have been anti-militarist protests in at least four British universities. Students at Warwick, Sheffield, Lancaster and Nottingham have challenged their universities’ links with the arms trade.
With British military spending passing £50 billion in 2021, and likely to increase even further, young people are reacting in anger. The post-Covid world has rejected the presumption that young people are apathetic and don’t care about politics.
Rather, we are globally conscious citizens. This year, in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday, we should wear white poppies as a symbol of remembrance and rebellion and support for issues we care about.
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