I went to my first trade union meeting yesterday.
In all the time I was a member of TSSA I never went to any meetings – I was in a London branch and living in Sussex so there was no appeal. I was a sort of rep for local consultations but that didn’t involve going to branch meetings.
I’m not quite sure what to make of it all, but it was all very friendly and it broadened my horizons a bit meeting with people politically engaged enough to get involved but who are not in the local Labour party. I’ll certainly continue going.
Heh heh! That’s a nice compliment for Unite – Much as I reckon they’re important, I can’t think of any of my branch meetings that made me actively keen for the next one. Hope they stay that way for you! 😉
I don’t think we have quite reached the point where we are calling it Unite in meetings. There is still a bit of confusion between Unison, Unite, Unity Bank and all the other variations – which I only made worse by plugging a Unite Agaist Fascism meeting next week. Half the members haven’t really got used to calling it Amicus instead of T&G 🙂
I get the feeling I picked a quiet month, with no pressing union business or resolutions, but I also suspect that even when its lively it is still positive.
Best of all I got confirmation today that it really is my branch and I don’t belong to the other branch in town – the ex-MSF one.