Understanding war and conflict in new ways
Katherine has been a Prospect member since 2015 and feels inspired by the work Prospect has done within her workplace at London’s Imperial War Museum.
“I was inspired to join a trade union, first because I thought it might be useful to me in case there were issues in future in terms of possible redundancies or issues like that,” says Katherine.
Katherine is responsible for making the museum as fun and engaging as it possibly can be: “I put on events and activities, sometimes that includes beatboxers, that might include dance workshops, or it will include people talking about subjects that they know an awful lot about.”
She is particularly proud of the D-Day experience that she created for families: “There’s a real sense of the importance of the D-Day landings and how scary that must’ve been for people who didn’t know what was coming next,” she says.
Working in the museum sector, as a senior producer in public engagement and learning, can be fast-paced and varied, so it’s paramount to Katherine to have a safety net behind her throughout her career: “It’s that collective voice, it’s that collective bargaining, it’s being part of something that’s bigger than you.”
Strength in numbers
While being a member of Prospect has benefitted her personally, it has also brought Katherine closer to others within her sector as a collective voice.
She talks about how comforting it is knowing Prospect is always there for her and others in her organisation: “It really helps me feel connected to my sector and connected to my colleagues.”
Trade union membership is all about having strength in numbers and standing together means your voice is stronger, “instead of just fighting on your own for your own rights and benefits, being able to be part of something that makes sure that everyone is going to have a better working environment,” as Katherine puts it.
Katherine feels young workers in particular can get involved in Prospect and feel the benefit of being part of a union. “I think young people should join Prospect,” Kathrerine says, “because in many ways, they can be the most vulnerable workers in an organisation. By being part of Prospect, they know that there’s always someone there for them and there’s also lots of really great opportunities to be a part of, like committees.”
Unions come with some really great opportunities, so Katherine urges people of all ages to get involved: “There’s loads of training courses and it can be really great to network and connect with other people.”
Katherine’s work as an environmental and sustainability rep has had a huge impact on her colleagues in her workplace and she looks forward to being able to do more on fighting the climate crisis within her organisation.