Unite History Project

Your union needs you! Your history is our history and to this end, Unite Education together with the Marx Memorial Library are putting together thoughts, feelings, recollections, triumphs and losses, through the eyes of those who were there – you, our members. This ambitious project is called the Unite History Project and we’re asking you to join us in this quest to record forever the deeds of the past and present.

Unite education director, Jim Mowatt says. “All too often ‘history’ has been about the winners – kings and queens – with little or even no focus on the participants.

“Unite’s History Project (UHP) is about the women and men who often unwillingly live through history. We want to capture these experiences, understanding impacts and contributions to the making of Unite’s past and present.

We’ve created a belting three minute video of the UHP, available on our website.

“In it you will see what we are attempting to capture and we are employing ‘easy to contribute’ ways of involving our members and their families. These include:

•Informal interviews with individuals and groups as part of our ‘Oral History’, has already proved fruitful in capturing stories from the everyday lives of our members and retired members from all over the Unite family – England, Gibraltar, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

•Your stories – we’d like to hear things like: what was it like to be made redundant? How did you feel about getting a decent occupational pension? How did you feel about benefiting from maternity leave when it was not the norm to get paid when you had a baby?

“We have developed for you a dedicated website hosting national and regional written, oral and visual material: theunitehistoryproject.org

“Several key themes underpin the project – equalities, bargaining, representation, internationalism, occupational changes and living standards. Most of all we need your views, experiences and contributions. It’s your voice we want to hear,” concludes Jim.

To get involved visit the Unite History Project at the above web address – and be a part of this great work.

By Amanda Campbell