Luke Pollard MP Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
8th – 14th February was HeartsUnion Week, a chance to thank trade unions for their work and encourage others to join a union. With industries currently facing so much change and uncertainty – due to Brexit and the pandemic to name but two challenges – there has never been a more important time to join a trade union. Unions allow employees to work together in a collective effort to achieve better pay, conditions and respect. They protect jobs, stop people being treated unfairly, and make workplaces safer. As a result, trade unions lead to healthier, happier companies and organisations.
Luke works with unions every week to protect the interests of workers and argue for improvements. He regularly campaigns alongside them against more and more Government cuts, privatisations, and out-sourcing.
Commenting on HeartsUnion week, Luke said:
“To help celebrate HeartUnions Week, I encourage you to do two things. First, join a union! There are many to choose from, with some tailored specifically to certain professions and jobs. You won’t look back from joining a union. They offer you fantastic opportunities and advice and are there for you if you ever have a problem in the workplace. There are so many ways you can get involved with a union and plenty of opportunities to take on responsibility and learn new skills.
“Second, encourage those around you to join a union. The more people who are part of a union, the stronger that union is and the stronger its voice is when campaigning for employees’ rights. Every day I see trade unions in Plymouth working hard for their members: whether that’s the dockyard unions working together to support those who support our military, USDAW doing such superb work to protect shopworkers, teaching unions backing those looking after our children, UNISON providing support for those in public services, the RMT backing those working in transport and at sea, or the health unions supporting those working on the frontline in the NHS and care services. There is a union for every profession and support for every member within a union.”