CHALLENGE X - sign up to keep the union going from strength to strength

by John Keggie

Members are the life blood of any union, and UNISON is no different. We need to constantly recruit new members to keep our strength as an organisation.

At National Conference in June a new campaign was unveiled that uses our strengths in activists and members to recruit new members. Called Challenge X, the aim is for each participant to commit to sign up 10 new members in 12 months.

If we track back to 1988 the annual growth rate in new members has been around 2% but the growth in public sector jobs has been greater. We need to rejuvenate and invigorate our recruitment activities as we prepare to face new challenges.

Where we could once identify a sector or area, as our traditional base, this is increasingly not the case. While our average growth in new members in Scotland is good, there is a large variation in density from one branch to another.

This is an area that we must focus on over the next few months. I will be working closely with branches and activists in an ongoing campaign to recruit new members in every branch in Scotland, but we will also carry out specific activity in areas of low density.

UNISON's staff and branches will be working together to build our membership so we can strengthen our organisation for the future. There is a great opportunity for us all to work together in a pro-active way to make sure UNISON stay at the forefront as the biggest and best public sector union.

In my new role as the lead officer for recruitment and organising in Scotland I am looking forward to working with branches and developing new approaches on recruitment.

Our national campaign has been developed by the NEC to rally activists and members to build a stronger and more powerful union of 1.5 Million members by the end of 2007. So far over 2,300 new members have joined UNISON through Challenge X. In Scotland 220 new members have joined.

That means our activists have started the process of signing up new members. No doubt following the holiday period that figure will increase greatly. It would be great if every activist in Scotland joined the campaign to sign 10 new members over the next 12 months. Staff will also be able to join in the campaign from September.

The new campaign links clearly to the organising strategy, delivering direct contact between our recruiters and the new members. You can find out more information by calling 0845 355 0845 or logging on to http://www.unison.org.uk/challengeX/. There is a link from the Scottish website.

headlines . top

My name is Rebecca. Would you like to join UNISON?

by Rebecca Noon, SEPA Branch

How do you recruit new members? The advice is "ask people." It can't be that simple surely? (don't call me Shirley I hear you say)

Putting this to the test I duly signed up for Challenge X - UNISON's new campaign to encourage members to recruit their colleagues. Signing up is very simple - head off to the main UNISON website and follow the links.

Shortly after registering a Challenge X pack arrives at your door, it contains an A4 sticker sheet with your membership number and name, a lanyard and wrist band with the Challenge X logo and several membership forms.

Now that I'm armed with the tools and I feel safe, recruiting new members can still be daunting. I start looking around the office for likely candidates to target.

It took me a couple of hours to practise my opening gambit - nothing particularly complicated other than, 'Hello, my name is Rebecca, would you like to join UNISON?' It worked!!

Three new members in the first day. If it's not that complicated or difficult why haven't I done this before……………..?

headlines . top