UniteLive's 12 days of Xmas - Supporting students

Each day throughout the holiday season, UniteLive will feature one of our twelve stories of the year. On the first day of Christmas, UniteLive looks back on how one branch in the East Midlands used a unique strategy to recruit young people.

Unite is always exploring new ways to organise workers, and in particular reach out to potential young members – and an initiative by members in the midlands is starting to reap rewards.

At the end of September, East Midlands Unite Hospitality branch organised a stall at University of Nottingham freshers fair, where young reps and activists spoke to over 200 students about local campaigns, workers rights and why unions are important to young and precarious workers. 

The Unite stall was constantly busy, and even students who were not employed mentioned that they found it helpful to learn more about their workers rights for future jobs, as many had never been engaged in conversation about employment or trade unions before, while some workers joined straight away on the spot. 

Unite members at the fair kept students interested by having interactive stall elements. These included quiz cards on employment rights and whiteboards where people can write their worst employment story, making it much more engaging for students who will likely have little knowledge of their rights at work, or the benefits of trade unions. 

Practical merchandise like pens, bar blades, stress balls, and stationary can also help engage younger workers. 

Unite Hospitality Project Worker Fraser McGuire said, “Unite stalls at freshers / careers fairs at universities and colleges are a great opportunity for speaking to young workers and students – many of whom may be starting their first job alongside their studies, likely in hospitality, retail, or the gig economy where they won’t have been exposed to union activists on collective action.” 

Over recent years, the number of students in part time – usually precarious and non-unionised – employment alongside their studies has increased significantly, making the need for union branches and trades councils having a freshers fair presence all the more urgent. 

Many young workers have a positive view of trade unions, but often don’t feel that unions are relevant to their own employment conditions or even realise that they are allowed to join a union if employed on a Zero Hours Contract. 

Freshers fairs typically take place in September at the start of the academic year, but many universities and colleges run ‘refreshers’ in January for the start of the second term and for Unite Hospitality this term was just the start. 

By Keith Hatch

Photos by East Midlands Unite Hospitality