Great Britain: the GMB continues its strategy of organizing ‘precarious’ workers

Faced with a changing labour force landscape and businesses’ increasing recourse to ‘precarious” employment contracts the GMB General union has correspondingly modified its long-term organisation strategy.  It is employing a set of tactics to woo new members and encourage membership confidence in its effectiveness.
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The GMB general union has recently won union recognition for a group of ‘insecure’ and ‘precariously’ employed workers in a distribution centre in Swindon. Following a campaign lasting approximately nine months, around 300 workers voted for the GMB to represent them in a statutory union recognition ballot organised by the state body, the Central Arbitration Committee. On a 76% turnout, 97% voted ‘yes’ in favour of GMB recognition. The first application earlier in 2014 for recognition was reject

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