Being part of the NEC
Hi, I’m Toby. I’m the branch organiser at the UK Atomic Energy Authority and at 24, I’m the youngest member of the National Executive Committee.
Not that I realised it at the time, but I think I cut my teeth organising while I was a student. I built a syndicate in Manchester to pool money and buy cashews direct from an industrial wholesaler. We knocked nearly 70% off the store price. This is nothing to do with the labour movement, and I wasn’t involved in student politics. But it’s the same skillset, and once I started work at UKAEA, I joined the union – and started talking to my colleagues about it.
I didn’t expect to be elected to the NEC. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I didn’t even vote. I applied, thinking I could offer something different. Our movement needs succession, it needs young voices. And then, the day before my mandatorily-postal ballot arrived, I left the country for a month. Look – I could use this to make a point about our country’s outdated and restrictive trade union legislation, but it would seem asinine given the far graver implications these restrictions have for workers nationally.
Toby speaking at National Conference 2022
This Union’s important to me – and it was an honour to find out I was elected. I’m so thankful to everyone who chose to lend me their support and I hope that over the next two years I’ll show that it was the right decision. I hope I already showed this at conference – a weekend I spent making rods for my own back voting for the NEC to act on motions, and speaking against the body I’m now part of.
I wasn’t looking to make a nuisance of myself – I supported the overwhelming majority of the previous NEC’s resolutions. But I care about this Union, and we need to recognise where we’re going wrong. I’m not saying I have the answers, but dissent is important, and we’re a democratic body. It’s important to speak up when you disagree – in your workplace and in your union. We’re living in a time where union membership is more important than ever. We can’t afford to be missing the mark, and we can’t afford to let down even a single member. This is vital.
We had our first in-person meeting on July 14th. I went into London the night before to meet my NEC colleagues over a drink. Some of them I already knew, most of them I didn’t, and honestly? I was surprised by how welcome I felt. Maybe it’s imposter syndrome, but I’m the youngest member by a decade, I’ve been a union member only 2 years, and I’ve been a rep only 1. I worried I might’ve found myself somewhere I don’t belong. But I’m not the only young worker on the NEC, and the committee and presidential team have shown so much willingness to talk me through the processes and ensure I’m up-to-speed with everything.
So, what does the NEC actually do? A lot. Fundamentally, our role is to ensure the machinery of the union is fit for purpose. We’re currently handling the motions carried and remitted at conference, and we’ve already made some huge decisions about the Union’s estates. We handle disciplinaries, and we authorise industrial action. NEC members also sit on, and chair, various subcommittees and working parties. Many of these subcommittees have seats open to members, and I’d encourage everyone – especially young workers – to apply to any that interest you. We need varied and fresh voices in every part of our Union, and we always will.
The NEC are directly accountable to members – and we’re not an austere higher power, we’re lay reps. I’m a computational physicist, I work in green energy research. I’m not a union full-timer.
I care so much for this movement, and the passion and talent our young members have is so evident every time we’re called upon. I want the union to be accessible and open to everyone, and I want every single worker to know they have a place as a member. And I want every member to know that your skills and experiences are so valuable. There’s space for you to get as involved as you want.
It’s a hell of a time to be involved in the labour movement in the UK. Times are hard, and trade unions offer hope to so many. The public are overwhelmingly behind our friends in other unions taking industrial action. We are the route to a better workplace and a better country. And you better believe it, now more than ever, I’m goddamn proud to be a union member.