Strength in numbers

Apologies for being away from the newsletter for a while. A combination of election campaigning and pop music has kept me from my computer.

I think I've written before about workers at the Amazon distribution centre in Coventry campaigning for respect and fair treatment from their employer. More than half of the employees are now GMB members and the union has started the process for formal recognition at the site. There is a similar campaign underway at Starbucks.

Too few charity workers are members of unions and I really wish more people would join. I was pleased to see this recent story about a successful pay negotiation led by a union in support of its members at a charity. If you work for a charity, you can join Unison here or Community here. Community also support the self-employed and freelancers.

We really are stronger together.

Interesting and useful links 🖇️

I thought this was a useful and considered piece about Diane Abbott's recent letter in the Guardian and the furore around it.

There's very useful content in here about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Apparently 2023 is shaping up to be the year of women over 50. Yes.

Day of the Week 📆

I was interviewed for Pink News for Lesbian Visibility Week. You can read the interview here.

What am I reading? 📚

This report, Ethnic Equalities in a Time of Crisis, lays bare how and why experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Britain varied so much according to ethnicity. A must-read for policy makers.

What am I watching? 👀

Black Ops on Iplayer is fun.

What am I listening to?👂

I'm not sure if this film of an elderly former prima ballerina with Alzheimer's listening to Swan Lake counts in the listening section. It's very moving. The power of music, eh?

Joy-giving things 😍

Someone's done a mashup of Quincy Jones' Soul Bossa Nova and a dance scene from Sweet Charity and it made me smile. Here it is.

I wish you all a brilliant weekend.

Lucy

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing progressive ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world.

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Thank you!

ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

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