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Arena Magazine 2007 Issue 4 Winter Arena |
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Record breaking year
Membership booms as reps excel to take Usdaw beyond 356,000 level.
This year will go down as one of Usdaw's most successful not only in terms of campaign success and Legal Plus victories but in the unprecedented membership growth, which has seen an increase from 339,000 just 12 months ago to in excess of 356,500 members, a figure last reached in 1990.
"It is not difficult to see why this has happened," said general secretary John Hannett. "Our small army of reps, who number around 10,500, and officials are pulling out all the stops to inform staff of the benefits of joining.
"But you don't have to be a rep to sign up your work colleagues. Any member of Usdaw can recruit their work mates without taking on any extra responsibilities. It's always good to have everyone in the union as it gives us that feeling of security at work.
"I also want to remind non-active members that there are plenty of opportunities to become more involved in Usdaw and what's more the union will provide first-class training courses to provide the knowledge, skills and support our reps need and deserve.
"Reps in retail, food manufacturing, transport, distribution, home shopping, and the many other sectors where we have membership have worked really hard to deliver these excellent figures.
"But we're not sitting back, there is still a lot of work to do. The retail sector in particular still has massive potential for growth. Our on-going campaigns will help us raise the profile of Usdaw and connect with people who may otherwise not have thought of joining. We are the campaigning union and our Supporting Parents and Carers, Freedom From Fear, Check Out Learning
and other campaigns will continue to drive us forward into the New Year.
"I want to say a big thank you to all of our reps who have made 2007 such a great year for Usdaw and I want to encourage others to join them in our fight to improve the working lives of all of our members."
www.usdaw.org.uk/campaigns
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