National Delegate Conference 16-19 June 2008

Young members: Get them in - get them active

Lily McNaughton

Graham Smith

Veteran UNISON member Scottish Retired Members' Delegate and Honorary Young Member, Lily McNaughton, gave a rousing speech in support of the work of young members, as Conference supported a range of measures to encourage greater involvement of young people, not just in UNISON but in politics more widely.

Lily told Conference that Jack Jones, one of Britain's most powerful and influential trade unionists, who died earlier this year at the age of 96, was politically minded from a very young age - a Labour Ward secretary at 15 and the youngest member of Liverpool City Council at only 23.

"Today our young people are the future of this union" said Lily. "This motion is all about giving them the opportunity to become active in UNISON and to have a wider voice in society."

"Our young people are as much victims of age discrimination as the older generation”, warned Lily, slamming accusations that they were apathetic.

"Anyone who has seen the great work that our young members have done this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the National Minimum Wage will know that this is rubbish."

She called for young members to get a round of applause and conference obliged. Graham Smith, our Scottish Young Members Delegate spoke of the work of the young members committee in Scotland.

They are working with branches to organise Young Workers' Days, both as a recruitment event to make 100% sure that existing members can see that UNISON is active and relevant to them.

He called for support for the Votes @ 16 campaign, "When a 16 year old can leave school to work but doesn't have a say over how their contributions are spent I can see a clear double D - Democratic Deficit" said Graham, calling for all branches to both recruit and politicise their young workers - 'Get them in and get them active' was his cry.

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