Young working Britain: collective action for the Brexit generation - presentation by Ali Torabi (TUC) from ECF 2017

1. Young workers programme
Ali Torabi, Digital Campaigner

2. The big picture
Aim
All young workers have a better experience of work, by growing the number of young
people who are union members, part of collective bargaining agreements or on a path
towards membership.
How change will happen
We need to:
1. Raise the profile and appeal of trade unionism amongst young people
2. Make sure trade unionism works for young people

3. Make sure trade unionism works for young
workers
1. Innovation – more in a moment…
2. Building organising capacity to find the next generation of reps & activists
3. Improve the TUC’s young worker engagement
4. Showcase unions’ young workers campaigning and organising
5. Combat the digital crisis in trade unionism

4. Our target audience: Young Core Workers (YCWs)
1. 21 – 30 yrs old
2. Works in the private sector, typically a service-based job in one of three
groups/industries:
 Retail (warehousing through to customer service; this group includes vehicle
maintenance and delivery companies)
 Hospitality
 Child or social care (in the private sector)
3. Full or part-time (not in full-time education)
4. Low or average wages

5. The Good Innovation model
understand the
challenge, the context,
and information that is
already known
gather deep insight
into young core
workers
generate and develop
new ideas based on
our insight
improve the ideas
through real-world
testing

6. Specific activities
LEARN
Stakeholder & expert
interviews
Hunch workshops
Immersion day
Desk research
INVESTIGATE
Face-to-face friendship pair
interviews
Insight development
Insight validation
(YCW online panel)
Insight platform
development
WhatsApp diaries
FIND
Co-creation sessions
with YCWs
Idea filtering
Idea validation and build
(YCW online panel)
Stretch and build workshop
Develop and write idea
shortlist
Ideas workshops
EXPERIMENT
Step-by-step build
Test, learn, change
Test, learn, change
Test, learn, change
Test language and
comms
Nov - Dec Dec - Feb Feb - Apr Apr - Jun

7. What we heard: headlines
• Young core workers don’t feel an overall sense of injustice – they feel fortunate
• Comparative unfairness is a key exception
• Issues are felt with people rather than employers
• Managers
• Colleagues
• Customers
• There are plenty of people who would speak out (for themselves, and not if change
didn’t happen last time)
• A sense of futility is a massive barrier

9. Desperate Dan
“Losing my job makes me anxious about speaking out, I’m lucky
to have a job there’s plenty of people who don’t and are ready to
take your place”
“who would listen to someone like me if I did raise something?”
“My life is completely out of my control, I have no stability in life,
no security - I’m only 26 is this it? Is it going to get worse?”

10. Progress Paula
“I’m really passionate about my work, I love helping
people”
“I can see how things could be run better at work but
they just don’t listen to me”
“I do just as much work as my boss but get paid way less”

11. Too Comfortable Tamara
“I feel lucky I can swap shifts so it seems ungrateful to
complain about pay or holiday pay”
“Unless it gets really bad it’s easy to stay and put up with
things, it’s just convenient”
“I don’t really think or speak about work when I’m not
there”

12. Stop gap Steve
“This is just a short-term job, it’s not my career”
“There’s no point in trying to change things, I won’t be
here much longer”
“I want to work on things that will benefit me in my
future career”

13. Some needs we heard
Understanding and awareness of the situation
• I want to know what is right and wrong and whether I’m being treated normally
or not
• I want to feel like I’m being treated fairly in comparison with others

14. Some needs we heard
Doing something to make change happen
• I need to feel more confident in myself and my issue if I’m going to do
something about it
• I want to feel safe and not worried if I speak out
• I want to feel that things could change before I try to address an issue

15. Some needs we heard
Getting together with colleagues
• I need to trust my colleagues before I share my thoughts with them
• I wish it were easier to get together with others
• I want to feel like I’m not doing something wrong and wont be treated
differently if I share my thoughts and opinions with colleagues
• I need to feel there’s a benefit to getting together and sharing thoughts and
opinions with colleagues

16. Some needs we heard
Issues in their work and lives
• I want to feel more in control of my life
• I want ways of dealing with the stresses and pressures of work
• I want to be treated with respect by my employer

17. How can you be involved?
• Watch out for the results
• Keep an open mind
• Tell others that this work is happening
• Get in touch if you’d like to know more and be kept in the loop
• atorabi@tuc.org.uk