New Members and New Activists Join as UNISON Inverclyde Goes Digital

UNISON Inverclyde has seen a huge leap in new joiners to branch during the Covid 19 period with 153 new members in the branch during the lockdown. Joe Pearce, Local Organiser said “If we break down these figures we have seen spikes in membership in Schools, Early Years, Home Care and Quarriers members. Most new joiners are staff who have continued to work at the front line throughout the crisis, many who have been concerned about the virus and measure taken by employers to prevent its spread.”

UNISON Inverclyde Branch has been organising in all of these areas before and during this crisis. In normal times these staff are notoriously difficult to engage with as work in very secure settings and a great deal of logistical challenges would have to be overcome to meet members and activists face to face. However members are joining via direct debit and using our joinunison.org website.

Covid 19 has taught us new digital methods and this has greatly improved attendance and participation in other networks. Joe explains “We have had greatly improved attendance in all of our forums and meetings through using web tools such as Zoom, WhatsApp, Teams and Go to Meetings.

Home Carers and School workers have found it much easier to attend our meetings. National forums such as our Education Issues Group which is a national forum for education workers has seen a 10 fold increase in participants to its meetings due to people embracing these new digital tools and being able to attend meetings without leaving there homes or workplaces.”

We have had new stewards in Quarriers, and Inverclyde Council. They are now able to be trained online at a pace that suits themselves. Anyone interested in becoming activists and attending this digital course should contact the Branch by calling 01475 715900 or emailing unison@inverclyde.gov.uk