Young Workers Challenge For Trade Union Movement

Last year the YCW highlighted several times the “Year of the Young Worker” initiative being led by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) during 2019.

Whilst a recent study concluded that Trade Union membership rose for the third year running, including a significant increase in women joining - the highest level since 1995 - the report was less positive about the number of young people in a trade union.

The report said: “Still too high a proportion of union members are in the public sector when most people are employed in private sector jobs and too many union members are near the end than the beginning of their working lives. Whilst less than one quarter of current union members are aged under 34, more than 40 per cent are aged 50 and over.”

This comes at a time when nearly 90% of under 30s on low to median incomes work in the private sector — but just 6.3% of them are in trade unions.

The YCW Movement in England and Wales used the focus on young workers last year to improve our own collaboration with the TUC and has been working with local trade union branches of the GMB to draw up a Young Workers Charter. Not only this, but we sent a delegate to the Centenary of the International Labour Organisation to represent the voice of young workers in the dscussions.

With clearly a lot more work needed and with the concerns about the impact of Covid on the younger workforce in the economy, we will be prioritising our representation on this issue and engaging with young leaders across the Movement about it.

National Training and Development Worker, Marc Besford, said: “It is important for the YCW to be a strong voice for improving the world of work for young workers. As early as 1891, the Catholic Church recognised that Unions were one of the ways in which the dignity of work could be upheld, today that need is still there.”

Review Of Life On Racism Launched

The issue of racism has been dominating much of the national and international debate and news coverage in recent times, following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in America. Much of the response has been led by the Black Lives Matter movement, including organising protests and marches.

One particular incident was the pulling down of a statue of Edward Colston. Colston was a merchant who used his wealth to provide financial support to local charitable causes and services. However, much of this wealth was the result of his role in the slave trade, which saw 84,000 slaves transported to America with approximately 18,000 of them dying en route.

Understandably, both the current concerns and historic legacy of racism have come under intense scrutiny. Therefore, in order to help any Group that may want to review this important topic, the YCW has produced a new SEE-JUDGE-ACT resource. This is now available for free to download and can be accessed here.

The Church says that all human life is special and that the dignity of each person is the basis for a just society. This belief is at the heart of all the Church’s teaching about how to live.

The YCW believes that every person is precious, that people are more important than material things, and that all our rules, laws, organisations and practices in society, should exist only to improve the life and dignity of people, and should never threaten it.

Therefore, when racism and discrimination rears it's ugly head, we believe it must be condemned and we commit ourselves to ridding our world of it. At this time of great difficulty and hurt for many of our black brothers and sisters, we renew our commitment to this worthy cause and express our solidarity with those who peacefully protest against injustice.

Black Lives Matter.

YCW Virtual Meeting - St Edward's, Lees

This past week our National President Marc Besford joined St Edward’s YCW Group for their first virtual meeting since lockdown began.

A crucial element of the YCW Movement is the chance to come together - away from the stresses and strains of work, studies and everyday life - and be able to reflect. Ordinarily, this would be something done in person but due to the restrictions following the coronvirus lockdown many groups have had to embrace new technology to do so.

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways in which this can be done online and with a bit of training. In fact, our National Team are well used to this type of work because they use it for a lot of European and International YCW events and discussions. This means we are able to help organise and train any young leaders or adult companions in how to sort it out. We also have put in place some essential safeguarding procedures to ensure everyone who participates can do so safely.

The Group from St Edward’s in Lees decided they would continue to explore the topic of the environment and how the lockdown had presented opportunities to think differently about how we go about daily life in a more ecologically sound way. For example, many people have been working from home and not had to drive to work, others have had to find alternatives to plane travel and consider virtual ways of organising conferences.

All of this has meant our environment and air quality has improved.

Therefore, one keep topic for discussion was could more be done, and how might the Group help kickstart that in their local parish and wider community? This will form part of the SEE, JUDGE and ACT process as they continue to meet virtually for the time being.

National President Marc Besford said: “This was a great show of how our Movement can embrace the new technology available and continue to operate effectively. St Edward’s is only one of a number of Groups who are continuing to meet and I hope to be able to keep visiting as many of them as I can, without having to get caught in the rush hour traffic!

We have had a number of groups getting in touch asking for us to host group meetings. So if you or your group are interested in connecting virtually please get in touch and we can arrange this for you.”

Valuing All Life Resource - Black Lives Matter

The Church says that all human life is special and that the dignity of each person is the basis for a just society. This belief is at the heart of all the Church’s teaching about how to live. 

The YCW believes that every person is precious, that people are more important than material things, and that all our rules, laws, organisations and practices in society, should exist only to improve the life and dignity of people, and should never threaten it.

Therefore, when racism and discrimination rears it's ugly head, we must condemn it and commit ourselves to ridding our world of it. At this time of great difficulty and hurt for many of our black brothers and sisters, we renew our commitment to this worthy cause and express our solidarity with those who peacefully protest against injustice.

Black Lives Matter.

Take a look at our resource on Valuing All Life here.

YCW Funding Appeal

The YCW relies almost entirely on our regular donors and charitable grants for our income, we receive no established core funding and so having a solid financial base of support from members, supporters and former members is essential.

Throughout the lockdown we have been unable to apply for grants or organise any fundraising activity, meaning we have lost 2 months worth of vital work to keep us going.

Lockdown and the impact of Coronavirus has also hit many people hard, but the long term effects may be even more difficult for some. Young people and young workers are one such group. Education at all levels has been severely disrupted, sectors of the economy that rely on a younger workforce were the first to shut down and still haven’t reopened. Wages for young workers are already lower than the average and the use of zero-hour contracts is prevalent amongst workers who are newly entering the workforce.

We want to be there for them, to develop their leadership skills and ensure they - and their employers - realise their inherent dignity.

To do this, we need your support.

Please use the link below to make a donation to the YCW, or better yet, set up a regular donation (with Gift Aid if eligible) and give us the resources to go out and keep making a difference.

Thank you.

Visit our fundraising page here to set up a donation: www.localgiving.org/charity/ycwimpact

Feast Day Of Pope St Paul VI

At the end of last month (May 29th) the Church celebrated the feast day of Pope St Paul VI, whose anniversary of his election to the Papacy is later this month on the 21st June. This feast day is an opportunity to remember a key document in Catholic Social Teaching around the world of work that he wrote - Populorum Progressio.

Populorum Progressio outlines the Church’s support for: the right to a just wage; the right to security of employment; the right to fair and reasonable working conditions; the right to join a union; and the universal destination of resources and goods.

The universal destination of resources and goods means that the goods of creation are destined for humankind as a whole, but also recognises the individual right to private property. In addition, political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.

This document builds on previous commitments from the Church around protection for workers and upholding the dignity of people in our economic systems, and has itself been a foundation for later works that reinforce these themes.

Joseph Cardijn, the founder of the YCW, rooted the mission of our Movement on these principles many decades earlier but the influence of his work has meant that the Church remains focused on upholding the dignity of work and protection for those who are the poorest and most vulnerable.

National Chaplain of the YCW, Fr John Marsland, said: “The Church has taught for over a century now that the world of work needs to be fair and just, one that protects the dignity of workers and encourages human flourishing. The YCW aims to put these expectations into reality and our mission remains as relevant today as it was when we were founded.”