Heart Unions Week – blog

14 January 2020

We know that unions can make a real difference and Heart Unions Week from 10 – 16 February is an opportunity for everyone in Prospect and Bectu to share that story.

We are encouraging as many branches as possible to get involved with Heart Unions Week this year and we will be producing new materials to support stalls and recruitment activities.

A growing union

The good news is that both Prospect and our Bectu sector are growing.

In 2019 we had another net growth in the number of our working members and today we are over 145,000 members strong.

We also have important achievements that show the benefits of joining to prospective members.

For example, in the last year, Prospect has:

  • helped nearly 21,000 members with issues at work
  • trained 1,000 reps to help provide a local voice at work for members
  • helped more than 20,000 members who got in touch with our contact centre.

Our network of advice and support is helping more members get on at work – whether they are working full-time, part-time or as freelancers.

What do non-members want to know?

Heart Unions Week is about reaching out to even more people.

We know that the more members we have at work, the stronger our message and the better placed we are to have our voice heard.

Our research shows that the four biggest reasons people give for not joining a union yet are:

  • they want to know more about us
  • they want to know why unions are for them
  • they want to know how they will do better as part of the union
  • they want to know the full range of benefits.

How you can support Heart Unions Week?

Prospect is working with the TUC to ensure a high-profile for Heart Unions Week online, in the media and at work.

Here are five things you can do:

  1. Organise a stall in your canteen, reception or somewhere visible so that you can speak to non-members about what being in a union is like, and encourage them to join.
  2. Encourage colleagues to join – anyone joining during Heart Unions Weeks on the Prospect website will get their first three months’ membership for free.
  3. If you are a rep, do an office walkabout and introduce yourself to members and colleagues.
  4. Organise a local activity based on Heart Union Week’s message around tackling sexual harassment. Prospect has a range of materials on tackling sexual harassment.
  5. Take a photo or share your story online using the hashtags #HeartUnions and #WeAreProspect. You can also share the messages we will be posting during the week on Twitter and Facebook

Heart Unions Week is a great way to build our movement and get more people involved in their union. Click here to download resources and keep looking out for new materials to use during the week as we add them.

If you have any questions, or would like to get in touch for help, please get in touch with the relevant member of our organising team.