On the 20th May 2023, we attended the “We Make Tomorrow” Conference in Manchester.
The conference, organised by the Climate Justice Coalition, aimed to build workers’ power on the climate crisis.
We spoke at the conference, participated in a breakout on organising within Unite the Union, and helped to run an afternoon workshop on “Democracy at Work and Transformation from Below”. During this session we introduced the concept of Workers’ Assemblies. We’re advocating for these within aviation, and for other high-carbon sectors in need of rapid transformation.
This was followed an intense and incredibly useful discussion about the opportunities and challenges of such an approach.
We also got a great solidarity shot with various attendees holding posters in support of the Heathrow Airport Security Workers currently on strike over pay.
There were also great talks from Amazon workers looking to unionise for the first time, and GKN automotive workers who are occupying their factory in Florence and seeking a transition to socially-useful production.
Events like these remind us how powerful we can be when we organise collectively at a grassroots level, forge solidarity, and develop new ways of thinking geared towards system change. This was a brilliant opportunity to meet lots of passionate people with big hearts and big ideas – we’re feeling nourished and ready to continue the struggle ✊