I recently had the honour of attending a migrant workers seminar put on by some of our branches in Suffolk.
It was at once heartbreaking and inspirational. You can’t help but feel a sense of sadness and outrage when you hear how unscrupulous employers are treating migrant workers.
Bad bosses think they can get away with super-exploiting migrant staff, because their workers will be too scared of losing their immigration status to speak out.
But it’s fantastic to see how many migrant workers are coming together in UNISON, learning about their rights and realising the power they have collectively to stand up for themselves.
I heard the personal stories from people who had uprooted themselves to answer the call for more social care staff here in Britain, only to now be told they’re not welcome.
As we move in to October and Black History Month, it’s not hard to make the parallels with the generations that came before today’s migrant workers. The members of my own extended family who came in the Windrush generation — plucked from their homes to rebuild post-war Britain and its new public services, to be greeted by far-right politicians whipping up racist violence against them.
They organised themselves in their communities and in the workplace, overcoming hostility from employers, neighbours and, often, their trade union colleagues. During Black History Month we can celebrate that history and how far we’ve come.
But more than that, we have an obligation to learn the lessons from that history and defend our migrant colleagues today.
It’s why I’m proud to see events like this in Suffolk and happy to see them spread across the region – branches in Hertfordshire and Essex have already put on events with a Know Your Rights session planned for Cambridgeshire next month and one in Norfolk later in the year.
Whatever you do for Black History Month, remember that in UNISON, the fight for racial equality isn’t just for October, it’s the whole year round.