Get a friend to join, O’Grady says, as celebration of trade unions begins

Trade unions around Britain join forces today to kick off a week of events to mark the enormous contribution made to Britain by organised labour.

Heart Unions week, which opened this morning, will celebrate trade unions and encourage people to join the movement.

There are currently approximately 6.5m trade union members in Britain, according to government statistics from 2015, and a key part of the Heart Unions week is to recruit new members. The TUC has produced various pamphlets and other resources on the website to help activists.

There are fourteen trade unions affiliate to the Labour party.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, says in a video: “This is the week when we celebrate unions and pay tribute to our brilliant reps and all the work that they do in helping workers stand up for themselves and make working lives better.

“The first thing that we need to do this week, each and everyone of us, is to ask our friends, our neighbours and especially our workmates to join a trade union.”

“That’s the best way of making sure we get a fair deal for working people.”