Bristol, Newcastle and a trip to Washington DC

Over the last week or so the Academy has been to Bristol, Newcastle and today I am trvelling over to Washington DC (more of which later)

BRISTOL - I went dowen to Bristol on November 28 for a meeting of the TUC South West Region's Organising Forum and to promote the 16-day Academy Course for union oifficers and staff that we are running there (see the Organising Academy website for details). Its always encouraging to see officers and organisers from different unions come together to discuss organising experiences, practices and strategies. Unions represented were: TGWU, Amicus, Usdaw, Unison and Prospect. Particulalrly interesting was a presentation by Nigel Costly our TUC Regional Secreatry in the South West on the issues faced by Migrant Workers coming into the Region and the challenges that union's face in organising them.

NEWCASTLE - We were in Newcastle on November 29 and 30 to deliver the first of this year's courses under our Advanced Organising Programme, Organising Beyond Recognition. The course looks at how unions can build sustainable union structures and develop strategies for memebr involvement in workplaces where recognition has been achieved. Unions represented on the course were PCS, ATL, TGWU, Amicus and the CWU.

WASHINGTON DC - I am travelling over to Washington DC today to attend a conference organised by the AFL-CIUO to look at the different organising strategies being implemented by union centres across the globe and how unions in the US can take maximum advantage of the victory by the Democrats in the recent US mid-term elections. I'll try and post something about the event each day and hopefully also include a few pictures.