Today is Thursday
15 February 2018The problem
Today is Thursday, the day we are going to bring unions into the 21st century. For far too long, unions have had the image of a group of old men sitting in a musty meeting room drinking lukewarm coffee. It is time for unions to get back to looking to the future, as they have always done, and to address the issues that come with this future. Because the problem is that unions are not currently committed enough to their young members. After all, they are only a small part of the average union's membership. As a result, unions are currently no longer looking at the long term.
Unions are in need of young blood and new energy. With young members, unions can refocus on the future. They need to start taking climate change seriously and commit to closing coal-fired power plants. They must also work for improvements in the labour market for young people. The phenomenon of "work experience placements," where young people do hard work and are paid only in the form of a book voucher, must be cracked down on.
What are we going to do about it?
More young people need to join unions. Only then can our voices be heard loud and clear. That is why we call on everyone to join the youth branches of FNV or CNV, the largest trade unions with a youth organisation.
Next, we must use our voices to ensure that unions start taking our problems, climate change and lack of job security, seriously. We do this by becoming active in these organisations, influencing and endorsing the three points below. Also, be sure to let the unions know that you joined for these reasons.
Our 3 points
- Unions must start tackling the growing insecurity in the labour market for young people. They must do this by actively working against endless flex contracts and so-called "work experience places." This exploits young people and has no place in the fair economy we want to create.
- Unions must focus on the biggest issue affecting our generation: climate change. Therefore, unions must give up trying to protect jobs that lose relevance and are bad for the climate. Instead, unions should fight for a green economy with enough job opportunities.
- Trade unions must have the voice of young people heard every day. That is why there should be a place in the unions' executive board for someone younger than 30 years old. That way, unions will never lose sight of the problems of young people, the problems of the future.
