In this episode Simon and Martin chat with Unions 21 Executive Director Becky Wright about some ground breaking work on union culture, and how this ties in with union building. Spoiler alert – sometimes it helps, at others in obstructs. But the inter-relationship between culture, strategy, and resources is still little-understood, little-studied and little-exposed. Hear what is being done to change all this by listening today! You may also be interested in the Unions 21 reporton union culture, and Martin’s blog on the same theme.

In this episode, Simon and Martin chat with the authors ofChangemakers – Radical Strategies for Social Movement Organising, Jane Holgate and John Page, who both have long and distinguished involvement in the theory and practice of organising.

At the heart of the debate is how to operate in acomplex and conflicting environment of union cultures, legislative frameworks and employer obfuscation – and (spoiler alert!) there is no checklist for success. Quoting Marshall Ganz John sums it up thus: “If you want to build power, you have to cede control.”

You can hear Jane talking about other areas of her work in thisUnions21 podcast, and John and Jane discuss the more research-orientated content of their book in thisTransforming Society episode.

Jane Holgate is Professor of Work and EmploymentRelations at the University of Leeds and a Trustee of the Ella Baker School of Organising. John Page serves on the committee of the Ella Baker School of Organising.

Changemakers by Jane Holgate and John Page is available on Policy Press for £14.99 here.

In this episode we chat with Dave Pike, the TUC’s RegionalSecretary for the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside. Dave walks us through an ambitious plan to boost the profile and effectiveness of union engagement in a politically diverse landscape, and how his own experiences organising workers in hospitality, catering and education make him “aggressively hopeful” for the future. We wish all our listeners a peaceful festive season and a healthy, happy new year.