16/08/2023 ● Antwerp, Belgium ● BTB

Make your history - Working on a future for young trade unionists

Présentée par

Nick Loridan

Introduction

In this story, we sketch the journey taken by the young Antwerp dockworkers active within the union who were looking for their own place in the organisation's yet-to-be-written history.

When it turned out that in the archived history of the trade union movement in the Belgian ports, too little action was taken by young workers, the union's staff decided to offer support to a new generation of dockworkers to work on their own operation within the trade union movement.

What follows is a brief presentation of how this story has taken shape since 2017 and how it is continuing and achieving successes to this day.

"The union's staff decided to offer support to a new generation of dockworkers to work on their own operation within the trade union movement."

Introduction à la narration

In this way, we hope to motivate committed young trade union militants and activists to establish their own place in the history of any organisation for which they are engaged.

Transcription

Back in 2017, young unionists from the port of Antwerp decided to delve into the history of BTB, the Belgian dockworkers' union, to find inspiring examples.

With the support of the union leadership and some BTB union workers, the young dockworkers set out to find a past to base themselves on, only to discover that all the great recent achievements within the union were steered by older and experienced comrades.

No matter how hard they looked, every book and document revealed a history in which very few young unionists feature.

The young dockers searched through congress reports for photos and attendance lists to prove that young dockers have always played an important role in the union history of the port of Antwerp, but they did not get very far during this search.

With mild frustration, it was decided that there was an urgent need to think about a modern and attractive way in which the union could engage young dockworkers in work that communicated socialist trade union values.

The young dockers decided to work together and brainstorm about a possible strategy for more young people to join the union. Input and advice on how best to deal with potential young militants who need to be convinced to get involved in union work came from different angles.

At one point, the young dockers received a tip from some experienced union workers who told them a congress coming up. The ideal opportunity for young people to claim a place in the union was to participate in the BTB executive board elections.

From then on, the young workers knew what to do. They focused on the 2017 congress, so that they could get representatives elected to the executive board in order to grow and build a youth workforce for young dockworkers.

Réflexions

It is important to invest in youth and future generations. No matter what you do, without successors or continuation, an organisation is doomed to fail. Generations can work alongside or with each other, which is why it is important to involve young people in decision-making.

Quelle est la suite pour moi ?

Since the creation of the youth work within our organisation, five new young employees have started working for the union. Of these five new employees, three come directly from the work floor and from the youth work. This shows that work pays off, and that the commitment shown by the young dockworkers pays off. So, I hope to continue working in the same way to spread the values and share the norms of our organisation, while helping people and getting young people involved in shaping their own future.

In what ways do you want to write your own history?