TUC and Unions 21 Research Young people, unions and the cuts March 2011 Rachel Lopata

Workplace issues ContentRecession can’t be helped Uncertainty, no clarity‘Wait & See’ Low expectations‘‘I have no rights’ PASSIVE ACCEPTANCE Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

Previous Findings

??????????????? I don’t know ??????????????? I don’t understand Word Association – “Trade Unions” Neutral associations

Word Association – “Trade Unions” The Positives

The Negatives Word Association – “Trade Unions”

Four key themes Lack of awareness visibility and understanding Lack of ‘push factors’ Lack of ‘pull factors’ Repellent factors

Recruitment Materials

The Cuts Acceptance that cuts are needed Lack of trust in anyone No personal pain, yet Keep quiet, I will get this wrong I am powerless Confusion over why? Even if you watch all the news and read all the papers, you get a different opinion from everything… so what’s really going on? No- one ever knows because its so distorted……what are you supposed to think?

Conclusions  Many of the barriers and perceptions highlighted in previous research, remain strong  Recruitment strategies need to start with the basics – what is a union? why might I need one?  Passive acceptance of workplace issues  Concepts of fairness chime well with TUC values  Confusion over the deficit is coupled with cynicism and lack of trust in anyone to tell them the truth