WHAT DO Postman Pat and Father Christmas have in common (apart from being cartoons and old white guys)?
Over the last six months both have turned up at pickets across the country to support their union colleagues.
But there is certain uneasiness as we moved from a summer of discontent to the winter and spring of discontent. Where are the Black workers?
As a member of the public (and trade unionist to the core), if I see a picket line of union members taking action against an employer I can’t help but beep my horn or pull up and go and say hello, often with a cake or two in my hands (“Teachers bring the cake” is my personal mantra).
It’s almost automatic, I see people taking action: #Solidarity.
I understand how hard it is for employees to take action against their employer, even harder to get the necessary 50% of eligible membership to return their postal vote (only way that unions are allowed to do legally), but it is even harder to ask members to get up at silly o’clock to go and stand outside, in the dark and cold on a day they have sacrificed their pay for.
For the record, over the years I’ve been in snowy, hail conditions and warm sunshine picket lines – and I’ve got the pictures to prove I was there.
Being with members on the picket line builds confidence and unity.
You may be standing next to a work colleague you’ve never talked to before, especially with different shifts working for a large employer.
Picket lines mean standing holding a banner, wearing a logoed woolly hat or a sticker, but most importantly you will feel the physical strength of your union.
Pickets are also good spaces to get information about the strategy or to ask that question you’ve been meaning to ask the rep about.
These are the same people who will have your back in a crisis individually or as a collective. This is your union.
Black members are the lifeblood of the union movement. If you are first generation (like I am) both my parents told me to make sure I have a pension and join a union, any union, just join.
As a first gen, I had no choice but to follow the advice of my parents.
Despite making up a significant part of the public sector, sometimes it is hard to be heard through formal structures (which are always a mystery unless you have to navigate it).
Not enough of us are reps or branch secretaries and there are definitely not enough of us who are able to climb to the top of the trade union snakes and ladders.
As Black people are always visible (even when we’re not) which means it almost feels like it doesn’t matter how many promotions you get, you will still be the ‘Black.. [Insert job title here]’.
So why draw even more attention to yourself? Why be the troublemaker when you are already in a carefully balanced dance of work and guaranteed pay? Why get out of your warm bed on a non-work day?
The fact that there are so few of us (visibly) on the picket lines means we almost become invisible.
We need to be there on the picket line, talking to colleagues, enduring the elements, becoming a fellow member of the union.
Dig out that thermos, those thermal socks and that woolly hat because we need to be part of the fight to protect pay, terms and conditions for the youngers coming up behind us.
Oh yeah –and don’t forget the cake 
you never know if you’ll bump into Fireman Sam or Thomas the Tank Engine!
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