Fighting for a fair Social Security System

A Campaigner’s guide

Introduction

In October 2015 a conference of Unite community and PCS activists was held in Birmingham to launch a campaign to challenge the myths around ‘welfare’ and build a coalition to fight for our safety net. The conference held a series of workshops where a wealth of campaigning experience was shared. This guide aims to build on this successful conference and to promote practical campaigning advice to activists who want to campaign in their locality and make a difference.

Contents:

1) Why campaign?2) Getting the real story out there3) Building a coalition4) Planning a local action5) Political lobbying6) Using social media 7) Using traditional media8) Promoting the Welfare Charter

Why campaign?

Since the 2010 election our social security safety net has been under an unprecedented attack which has seen the unemployed and disabled lose £billions from their benefits. The government have implemented a cruel regime that has seen millions sanctioned leading to hardship and even death of

claimants affected. But when enough pressure is put on governments they will change or soften their policies. We have seen this during the Bedroom tax where in Scotland the government mitigated the effects of the Bedroom Tax after widespread grassroots campaigning. We also saw this when the Conservatives came under pressure were forced to do a U-turn to the proposed cuts to Working Tax Credits.

We want a properly funded and fair social security system: The United Kingdom is one of the richest nations on earth, yet over one million people use foodbanks, more than a quarter of children live in poverty and 5.5 million adults go without one or more basic clothing necessities, like a warm, waterproof coat. We can end poverty in this country.

There is no place for a system that sees pushing people into poverty, the threat of hunger and eviction as a legitimate punishment for not being in work. We need a social security system that enables everyone to have a safe, warm home, good food, proper clothing and being able to participate in society.

2) Getting the real story out there

How to break down the myths that those determined to attack and cut our social security have built up? There was a recognised need to humanise stories to make the broader points about the cruel and punishing nature of the cuts and negative changes to our benefit system, and making the impact real to people.

Social media using twitter, facebook and other social media platforms can help campaigners and individuals directly affected to get their story out to wider audience. It can also enable participation in a campaign by groups or individuals who may not be able to take part in other activities because of cost, ill health, caring responsibilities or other reasons. Many politicians also have social media accounts and so you can reach and interact with them directly, in a public arena.

Short video film testimonies can be an effective way of people telling their story, easy to do if people have smart phones, and can make social media accounts more interesting.

Challenging the traditional media – as well as getting our own, truthful stories out there the need to challenge the misrepresentation, and in some cases outright untruths, presented in sections of the traditional media was discussed. All broadcasters have a complaints procedure that can be used. Local newspapers have letters pages that are well read. Radio phone-ins can be useful for telling your own

story or to correct factual errors if people feel confident to do so. Many news and current affairs programmes now also have an ‘interactive’ element with social media, asking viewers to text or tweet in their views.

Sharing stories and common experience – positive stories of resistance. As well as ‘getting the real story out there’ social media in different forms allows people to share their stories with each other, their common experience, and to share their victories however small. It can play an important role in stopping people or groups of people from feeling isolated and alone, and provide the motivation and inspiration to continue campaigning or dealing with a difficult individual situation.

3) Building coalitions

Building alliances with other groups and organisation to campaign jointly on issues will make us stronger and better placed to achieve our goals. Coalition partners can bring expertise, ideas, people and leverage to campaigns. It is an important part of community campaigning and can have a significant influence on the outcome of the issues. Coalitions can have a greater reach within the community rather than one single campaign group.

Even if people don’t agree on everything, there may well be a couple of basic, areas of common ground that can be used to bring as many people as possible together. Even if you can’t get your whole Council to support something, can you get an opposition group or a couple of individual Councillors to support you? And more and more MPs of every political colour are becoming more concerned about the impact of benefit cuts.

Local social security summit – regions could host their own regional events bringing together Unite Community activists, local PCS members and those working in the advice sector to work out local strategic campaign plans. Activities should focus on government or company policies – not individual staff. Jobcentre workers have faced increased pressure, stress and violence at work because of government policies and do not want to be implementing such a cruel system. In addition, privatisation and job losses have wreaked havoc on the system and those that remain in position face ever growing workloads.

There are many potential coalition partners that will help with getting your message out. Here are a few suggestions: CABs; Child Poverty Action Groups; Religious organisations such as churches/mosques; Credit unions; DPAC; Foodbanks; Football supporters groups; sympathetic political parties; local councils; Mental health charities; NUS; People’s Assembly; Refugee support groups; Tenants Associations; Trades Councils; TUC Unemployed workers centres; trade unions and branches; Women’s groups.

Barriers: Sometimes coalitions are difficult to set up and to maintain. There may be a number of reasons for this such as historical disagreements, past failures, conflicting goals, clash of personalities etc. If problems arise within the coalition members, they must be addressed immediately

Solutions: In order for coalitions to be a success, groups must cooperate and work together. There must be open lines of communication between the groups and remember the common goal. The

group must decide on what that goal is and then determine how long it will take for them to achieve it. A very clear structure of the make up of the group should be worked out among the stakeholders . The practicalities of how often, where and when the group meets should be decided very early on the in process, as well as how decisions are made and adhered to. Once those decisions are made, how they are communicated to the members of the coalition to act upon. It is incredibly important that success stories and victories are shared and that credit is given to those who were involved. All coalitions are made up of people and everyone should be respected. . Building successful coalitions is about developing trust. Work on what you agree on, and leave at the door what divides you.

4) Planning an action: It’s a good idea to pick an action which is most suited to your campaign. For example, some people may choose an action outside a job centre, your local town hall or outside your MPs office. You may need to create materials to accompany your protest. The purpose of these is share information with the general public who might not know about your issue. A petition signed by hundreds of local people is a powerful tool, as you can demonstrate to the local press or your political representatives that you have wide support for what you want and gathering signatures offers you an opportunity to talk to people and get them engaged.

Humour is a great tool when you are campaigning. If you make your actions fun people are more likely to want to come along.

5) Lobbying your political representatives:

What is lobbying? Lobbying is about raising issues with and seeking to influence your elected representatives. You don’t need to be an expert on the government’s our welfare system to tell your MP you are against the cuts and changes that have been made. Your MP will see you as a constituent and as such is meant to represent your interests even if he/she does not agree with them.

Meeting your MP face-to-face at one of their constituency surgeries is one of the best ways to get them to take notice of an issue. The more people that put pressure on their MPs to oppose the Welfare cuts the better chance we have of getting the government to listen.

Tips for successful lobbying:

Don’t be daunted – be confident in putting your case across Be brief and concise - you will know more about the issues then your MP Use personal stories – this is likely to have more influence on your MP Remember to include your name, address and postcode in any correspondence Follow up – if you are not satisfied with your MP’s answer, say so, and write to or visit them

again. Get your colleagues and friends to write too.

How to find your MP? You can find out who your MP is and their surgery and contact details at the Find Your MP website

AT http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ or alternatively by Googling your MP. If you don't know who your MP is, simply enter your postcode in the find your MP look up. You can also write to your MP at the House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA

How do I arrange a meeting/discussion?Simply phone, email or write to your MP’s constituency office to arrange a meeting.

How to lobby in your local area? You can lobby your MP in your local area by arranging to go along to one of their surgeries or contacting their office to make a separate appointment to see them (please note that MPs are usually only around for local meetings on Monday mornings, Fridays and Saturdays or during the parliamentary recess).

A good way for you to see your MP is to attend one of their advertised ‘surgeries’. It is always best to give your MP’s office a call beforehand to check whether you need to make an appointment, although some MPs’ surgeries are ‘drop-in’ sessions that operate on a first come, first served basis. Make sure you call well in advance to make an appointment or turn up early for a ‘drop-in’ session to have the best chance of seeing your MP.

What is a constituency ‘surgery’? Just about every MP holds constituency surgeries – many weekly, or fortnightly and some monthly. These surgeries are an opportunity for MPs’ constituents to raise personal concerns and seek their MP’s help with their problems.

Write a letter: You may find it easier to write a letter or send an email. Remember to include your full postal address in all correspondence. Make your letter as personal as possible. Your MP will find it difficult to ignore real stories of how the government’s benefit cuts will hurt you and your family.

Keep the pressure on : If you don’t get a reply to your letter or email or don’t feel your MP has addressed your concerns, write, call and visit again. Encourage family, friends and colleagues to get involved as well. The more people your MP hears from the harder it is for them to ignore you. Don’t be daunted, they represent you and now more than ever they need to hear what we have to say.

How to prepare: Keep it simple. No one expects you to be an expert. You are a concerned constituent who is asking their MP to commit to action. Use Unite’s Welfare Mythbuster for a few key facts but just keep it personal. Your MP will want to know what the impact of the government’s cuts mean to their constituents.

Local government: Getting the support of your local council members for your campaign can be extremely useful. You can find out who your local councillors are and who sits on relevantcommittees by contacting your council’s Information Office via your local authority website. Alternatively, the Direct gov website www.directgov.org.uk provides links to all local authority websites by simply typing in your postcode. This information can also be found by looking at The Municipal Year Book at your local library.

6) Using Social media

Facebook is the most popular social network in the world. It is predominately used for social purposes by individuals to keep in touch with friends and family. However, the site is also used by organisations to inform people of their activities, organise activists and canvas support for particular issues. Facebook offers massive opportunities to campaigners, with a wide potential audience you can share news, pictures and set up events very quickly on Facebook.

For a campaign there are two main ways to use Facebook.

A page – This is where you set up a page on Facebook and invite friends and your campaign supporters to ‘like’ it. A page allows for you to share things, such as events, pictures or news articles with everyone interesting in your campaign.

Example of a page - https://www.facebook.com/unitetheunion1/?fref=ts

A group – A group can be private or public, members are added into a group and it allows for people to share with one another, build relationships and talk about the campaign. It’s worth remembering you won’t reach the public at large with a group. It’s perfectly normal to have a page for the public and a group for those involved to stay in touch.

Example of a group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/Unitetheunionofficial/?fref=ts

Twitter is a popular communication and organising resource for many people,from celebrities, MPs and organisations. This website allows the user to post short messages(140 characters) to inform people of their latest news.

Organisations use it to update followers of latest news and campaigning information and to circulate that far and wide through its vast network of users. Unite uses Twitter in its national and industrial campaigning. Twitter is very fast moving so remember each Tweet will only last for about 10 minutes before it’s overtaken by new information. Twitter can be very useful if there is new information to share live such as a protest, or event or even if you’re issue is being discussed by council or MPs.

There are now online tools that can be used to manage all your social media accounts. One of the most user friendly of these is Hootsuit https://hootsuite.com/ . This helps you to coordinate what you are saying on all the various social media sites you use.

Graphics A powerful way to communicate ideas quickly on social media is by using infographics. These are quick a clear graphics that illustrate a point – e.g. graphs, charts and pictures. There are now various online tools for making colourful and professional looking infographics without much fuss or know how. Probably the easiest of these to use is Infogr.am: http://infogr.am/

This allows users to create more than 30 chart types - from bubble charts and treemaps to simple pie charts, in various designs and formats.

All graphics receive much more interest on social media than just text, as well as infographics, simple graphics (called ‘memes’) can be effective for illustrating a point. If you want to try making graphics, a simple website to use is www.canva.com

Petitions In recent years there has been an explosion of campaigns using online petitions to get their message to decision makers. Petitions are very simple to set up and are a useful tool to gain supporters, build an email list, share your message and hopefully win your campaign! Remember when writing your petition to target it at the person/people with the ability to make the change you want to see, be clear and concise about the issue and why it needs changed and always be polite. To build a petition check out www.change.org or https://you.38degrees.org.uk/

Set up a website for your campaign: Websites can be very easy to make these days and in fact, can be made for free using Workpress (www.wordpress.org ) . It’s important to work out what you want your website for then build it from there. Decide what pages you want, maybe an Introduction to the campaign, a news page, an upcoming events page, a blog and a photo gallery. There are lots and lots of resources out there to help you build your site including many “how-to” videos for wordpress on youtube here: http://tinyurl.com/mcqdksv

Wordpress has a user forum that can help you get started and speak to other people using the same software. http://wordpress.org/support/

There are also sites that give guidance on good web design. These sites can help you to understand how to make your website easier to find and come up high on web searching software (e.g.www.google.com )

Set up a blog for your campaign: The simplest way to make your Wordpress website effective is to set up a Blog. Many of these are free to use and relatively simple to make look nice. Keep designs simple and clear. Make sure you include contact details for people interested in knowing more/getting involved.

Examples of Blogs: LabourList; Left foot forward; False Economy; Unite for Our society; Diary of a Benefit Scrounger; NHS vault; 38 Degrees; Touchstone; The hardest hit

There are many services that help you to monitor the blogs you follow and help you to browse all the information that is put out on your favourite blogs. Probably the most popular now is Feedly: www.feedly.com/

Using web resources that already exist: There are already various national resources for campaigners and activists to advertise events out there such False Economy http://falseeconomy.org.uk/ These allow people to sign up and be put in touch with local people interested in campaigning against local service cuts or privatisation in their areas. They are free to use and you will be able to post events and meetings up on their maps. This will alert others about your meetings/events and actions.

Email groups and lists: Many groups have email announcement lists and or email discussion groups. Email lists allow you to collect a large number of email contacts for your campaign supports and contact them all quickly and cheaply in order to keep them informed. This sort of list is best managed and moderated so that you are not over-whelming people with information, once a week is normally enough but this will obviously depend on the urgency of your message.

The other option is to create an e-group that allows you to have email discussions with a group of people. In general this is only recommended for small groups of people, e.g. committees or specific working groups. Such groups allow you to have email conversations on issues arising. Again these groups can overwhelm people if over used. Most e-group providers do allow members to manage the frequency they receive emails including allowing them to receive daily or weekly digests of conversations.

Some providers of these services include: Yahoo groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/ - Google groups: http://groups.google.com/ Riseup.net: https://help.riseup.net/en/lists

Survey Monkey: The internet can help you to quickly and easily survey people by email. This can save you an enormous amount of time chasing people for views or comments. Survey Monkey is the most well know of these resources. It provides a free surveying service, including collating responses, drawing graphs and an excel spreadsheet of results:www.surveymonkey.com/

Doodle: Doodle is a piece of software that allows people to organise and schedule meetings efficiency and quickly. It asks all those invited to a meeting to indicate their availability. This then makes it very easy to organise meetings that everyone can attend: http://doodle.com/

Online Video sharing: In today’s fast moving media age it can often be quicker and more effective to communicate an issue using video. Such videos can be as basic or slick as you like but the basic tools are the same. Most mobile phones or digital cameras have a video function on them and windows on your computer often comes with basic video editing software for those of you who want to add text or effects to the video.

The main video tool is YouTube: www.youtube.com . This is free and simple to use. Another increasingly popular tool is Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/ Videos can be embedded onto your blog or website which can improve your content. There are websites that provide “how to” guides to making basic videos for example: VisiononTV: http://visionon.tv/

Hyperlocal online resources: In recent years there has been a growth of websites and blogs that are known as Hyperlocal websites. These are websites set up as forums and campaigns for local issues, often either at council, borough or even neighbourhood level. Most of them are interactive including elements of blogs, forums and other networking tools.

Most of these sites can be found on the Openlylocal website http://openlylocal.com/ which sets them out in a map so you can track down the most relevant site to you. To find out more there is an interesting workshop on Hyperlocal websites here on the Netroots website: www.netrootsuk.org/about-netroots-uk/workshops/engaging-on-a-hyper-local-level-

Don’t forget: these are just tools and are no substitute for an effectively planned and organised campaign. The internet is full of friendly techies who will be happy to lend a hand. Remember too that when you do need help, google is your best friend! Just type in your query and the chances are someone else will have already asked it and they can help you find a solution.

7) Creating media interest: How do you make your campaign a story for the media?

• Think about your audience. If your local authority cuts funding to a service, highlight the effect this will have on the local community – how will service users suffer? Think about who else will be interested and share your concerns.

• Facts are key, but getting the human side of the harm the loss of the service will cause to service-users is just as important.

Using research: Journalists love new research and you can use this to get them interested in your issue. You could try surveying tenants, service users or staff about the way they view a service. You may also have access to information about money being wasted.

Media outlets: Direct your message to the appropriate media outlet. The importance of local papers should not be underestimated. Most national stories are handled by the union’s communications department. But there is no reason why you shouldn’t try to gain some local/regional coverage.

Unite communications department can offer you advice. And remember, you have the advantage of knowing better than anyone else just which media makes an impact in your area.

• Newspapers – national, regional and local

• TV and radio – visuals and available spokespeople

• Specialist/ trade press e.g. Third Sector, Local Government Chronicle, Health Service Journal

• Consumer press

• On-line media

• News agencies

Letters to your local paper: A great way to get your issue covered is to use the letters page in your local paper. You can email or write a letter to your local paper (you can find out the email/address by looking at the front pages of your local paper). By highlighting your experiences and the effect a government or local authority policy is having, you are likely to get your letter published.

News releases: Journalists, particularly on regional papers, rely on news releases to get information for stories. By writing a news release it will allow you to sharpen your message and to set out the facts in the order of importance which you and the union believe is appropriate. In turn, this should guide the journalist in how the story will be told. What to include in a news release:

• Get to the point straight away – in the first paragraph say WHAT is happening, WHEN it is happening, WHO it involves and WHERE it is happening. Ideally, you tell WHY it is happening in that first paragraph. But you may need to move on to paragraph two for an explanation of the‘why’.

• Remember the basics – the date, a headline, say it is from Unite, a quote from a relevant spokesperson. Don’t fuss too much over the headline - people at the local newspaper will make up their own headlines anyway: that’s what they’re paid to do.

• It is essential that you include a contact name and telephone number – for someone who will actually handle media phone calls, rather than ignore them. Make sure details in the press release are accurate and you can substantiate any points you make. If they are opinion, put them in a quote and attribute it to someone.

• Look at the Unite website – ‘latest news’ section to see examples of press releases. There’s nothing wrong with plagiarism: it’s often called research.

When to send out your release

• Timing is crucial to the effectiveness of your campaign.

• Check the deadlines for your targeted media. Earlier in the day is generally best, as regional papers often have early deadlines and regional broadcasters will want to get a recording set up in good time for their programme.

• If you are planning an event and want the media to report it, consider sending out a ‘calling notice’. A calling notice should go out in advance of the event (ideally four to seven days in advance

for regional media), and highlight the date of your event, where and what is happening, and the fact that the media can have access: e.g. "reporters, photographers and camera crews welcome"

• If you don't want the media to report the story before a certain time or day, highlight IN CAPITAL LETTERS at the start of the release an embargo date and time, e.g. "EMBARGOED until 00.01 FRIDAY 15 MARCH 2015". But use embargos sparingly: you’ll normally only need them if you are issuing some detailed information which requires careful study by journalists.

In particular, if you’re responding to something which is already ‘out there’ – like a management statement, for instance – it would be foolish to seek to embargo your reaction.

• Make sure you (or whoever is contact and spokesperson) is going to be available to speak to the media when the news release is issued.

Follow-up: Once you've issued your news release, follow it up with a phone call to the news desk of each of the key publications/ broadcasters.

• Keep interested journalists updated on developments - building good contacts could help with your campaign or for future campaigns.

Photos and stunts: Use graphics and/or photographs to enhance your case. People usually look at photos before they look at text in a newspaper, and often remember a strong visual image better than what they read.

• For television, the more visual the better. Producers will be keen to mix images with ‘talking heads’ (spokespeople being interviewed).

• You will need to give your regional newspapers advance notice of any photo calls or picture opportunities, so they can book a photographer.

• Props (such as Paws the Lion)

Case studies and union spokespeople

• One of the most effective ways to engage an audience and create sympathy for your campaign is to use case studies. People find it easier to empathise with an individual's story.

• Before you send out any news release, pick a couple of members who would be willing to act as case studies and speak to the media. They do not have to be polished performers, but they do have to be open and honest and willing to tell their story.

• Decide who is going to be your spokesperson for the campaign and limit ‘spokesperson’ quotes and interviews to one or two people.

• Check with your officer about whether talking to the media will jeopardise your job. It may be better to have a Unite officer as the official spokesperson for the union.

Media interviews: A media interview can be the best opportunity you will get to put your case across to the public and win sympathy for your campaign.

Preparation

• When the journalist calls you, find out everything you need to know about the interview request. When is the interview? Where will you need to be? If you can't do the interview yourself could someone else do it? What do they want to ask you? How long will it last? Will it be pre-recorded or will it go out live? Will there be any other participants, or will you be interviewed alone. Remember to take the journalist’s contact details.

• Make sure they get your name and organisation spelled and pronounced correctly.

• Before the interview, gather your thoughts and identify the key messages you want to convey. Stick to one, and certainly no more than three, points you want to make. It may help to write down some snappy phrases - or 'sound bites' - to use in the interview. But once you’ve written them down, leave them in your pocket. Don’t try to read comments, even for radio.

• Think of what an opponent might say to you, and how you would deal with your response, and strengthen any weak points. If you have time, you could practice with a colleague.

• Consider whether it will be beneficial for the campaign for you to do this interview. If it is something you are promoting then often it can be; however if you don't want the publicity (e.g. a sensitive stage in an industrial campaign), feel comfortable about politely turning it down.

The interview

• Check your appearance in the mirror before you go on camera - not just your face.

• Be clear, concise and to the point. A five minute interview may be cut down to 30 seconds, so don't waffle and avoid making flippant comments. Generally, humour and sarcasm just don’t work for anyone other than a real professional broadcaster. So stick to saying what you need to say in a straightforward way.

• If the interviewer makes any inaccurate statements in the question, put them right. But do it politely: ‘I don’t think most people would see the issue that way …’ or ‘I think most viewers will recognise that this dispute is really about ….’. But if the reporter persists in getting it wrong, it may be necessary to be more firm: ‘I’m not sure you’ve fully understood what this is about ….’

• Try to keep your voice tone as positive as possible, and your body language open and honest - you want to appear reasonable and confident.

• Ask someone to tape the interview for you so you can review it and learn for the next time.

8) Preparing the case for the Welfare Charter

The Welfare Charter has been written by activists as a basic set of demands that members can campaign towards. We are calling on MPs to commit to support.

1. A political commitment to full employment achieved with decent jobs

People are entitled to decent, stable and secure jobs that provide regular, guaranteed hours that allows them to also meet any caring responsibilities; not zero hours contracts in precarious jobs.

2. A wage you can live on for all and a social security system that works to end poverty

We need a National Living Wage that people can live on, not just survive on, that applies to all.

3. No work conscription – keep volunteering voluntary

Forcing people to work for free on pain of losing benefits is simply providing free labour to organisations that should be paying workers proper wages.

4. Representation for unemployed workers

Everyone should have access to an advocate to help them navigate the social security system and appeal adverse decisions.

5. Appoint an Ombudsman for claimants

A Claimants Ombudsman should be appointed to arbitrate on unresolved complaints, to ensure claimants are treated with respect and dignity.

6. Equality in the labour market and workplace; equality in access to benefits.

We need a labour market where structural inequalities are overturned and a benefit system that is accessible to people.

7. An end to the sanctions regime and current Work Capability Assessment - full maintenance for the unemployed and underemployed.

We need a non-means tested, non-discriminatory benefit payable to all, with housing costs met. This must be allied with the wide provision of low cost housing.

8. State provision of high quality information, advice and guidance on employment, training and careers

There must be a supportive and independent careers and job-broking service, not linked to conditionality or benefits, offering face to face advice.