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Sue Ferns

Sue Ferns

I am Head of Research and Specialist Services at Prospect – the union representing 122,000 professionals, managers and specialists across the public and private sectors. I’m also Chair of Unions 21 and proud to be a unionlearn board member. I have always worked for the trade union movement, including 10 years at the TUC under the challenging times of the Thatcher government.

http://www.prospect.org.uk

  • Sue Ferns Sue Ferns

    Congress 2012: Organising in the private sector

    Congress 2012I would consider myself to be both an optimist and a realist. So whilst I am proud to be part of what is still the largest (and best) voluntary movement in the UK, I’m also concerned about our future.

    When I started work, the TUC represented just over 11 million trade union members – 5 million more than it does currently. Whilst it can be unhelpful and uninformative to focus on numbers in isolation from the economic context, it is frightening to contemplate just how close we may now be to dipping below critical mass.

    Indeed, the reality in some parts of the private sector is that this has already happened.

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    Posted on September 17th, 2012 by Sue Ferns filed under: Union organising

  • Sue Ferns Sue Ferns

    Widening the debate on Trade Union membership

    Thanks to Becky for her analysis of the 2011 trade union membership figures released by BIS last week.

    Given the huge labour market turmoil we’ve experienced in 2011, I’m immediately struck by the remarkable stability in the key indicators relating to total union membership and density compared with 2010. Of course, there’s no denying the current Government policies have created a more challenging environment. But they have also created opportunities for us to make our case for fair treatment and, perhaps for some, the first realisation of why they need a union.

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    Posted on April 30th, 2012 by Sue Ferns filed under: Union news