Sam Tarry for Young Labour Chair

As an elected lay officer in my Trade Union branch for nearly three years I have first hand experience of fighting on the side of working people. I play a very active and key role in my local branch helping them organise local political and campaigning activity.

I have helped rebuild the youth structures in my Trade Union both regionally and nationally and have been the Vice Chair of GMB Young London for the past two years. I have helped rebuild our regional GMB Youth Structures and I was one of the key organisers of GMB Young Members first Congress in four years in 2008. I was also one of the founding members of the SERTUC Young Activists Network bringing together young Trade Unionists from across the region helping develop a campaign on work place rights.

I've represented the interests of Young Members at the TUC Young Members Congress where I wrote an campaigned for successful motions on young apprentice's rights and pay - these were adopted and the TUC has now moved to campaign to make these changes so that young workers are paid a fair and decent wage throughout their training.

I have also spoken as a GMB representative at various CLP's across Essex and East London about the importance of building stronger links with Trade Unions and at various fringe meetings at the 2008 TUC Congress.

Most recently I have been running training seminars across the country as a GMB Trades Union Friends of Searchlight organiser - including one for West Midlands TUC, numerous seminars in London region including here in Dagenham with both local GMB Branches and also one in Cambridge for SERTUC and Cambridge Labour Party with Richard Howitt MEP. This campaign - endorsed by Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Gordon Brown and all Trade Union General Secretaries helps train Trade Union shop stewards and officers in the most innovative, up-to-date community organisation techniques based on those used by Barack Obama and the United Steel Workers Union and AFL-CIO in the United States. These member to member campaign techniques are an essential weapon in the fight against the BNP and a method of organising that will deliver results for the Trade Union movement.

The trade union section from my manifesto is below:

Trade Unions

As an elected lay officer in my Trade Union branch I have first hand experience of fighting on the side of working people; I have helped rebuild the youth structures in my Trade Union both regionally and nationally, I've represented the interests of Young Members at the TUC Young Members Congress where I wrote successful motions on young apprentice's rights and pay - these were adopted an the TUC has now moved to campaign to make these changes so that young workers are paid a fair and decent wage throughout their training.
I will seek an enhanced relationship between Young Labour and TUC Young Members - In a time of economic crisis Trade Unions will play a central role in fighting for workers and protecting peoples jobs. We need more Young Labour Members active in Trade Union Young Members sections and we need to encourage more young Trade Unionists to join the Labour Party.
I will set up a Young Labour National Committee Union Taskforce to set in place a strategy and a campaign to coordinate more closely with TUC Young members but more importantly to ensure that all Young Labour members are in Trade Unions and more young Trade Unionists join the Labour Party.

Trades Union Young Members and Young Labour partnership agreement

To work with affiliated Trades Union Young Members Sections and TUC YM's forum on developing joint campaigns focussed on young people but also create an ongoing drive to ensure that every Young Labour member is a Trades Union member and that we recruit far more Trades Union YM's into the Labour Party.
Develop a joint Young Union Political Activist Toolkit to help get Young Labour members active in Trades Union.
Run a joint TUC/YL rights at work awareness campaign focussed on young people. Have this on the national YL website.
Campaign with TU's to ensure that apprenticeships are all paid at the NMW and apprentices are not exploited through this loophole as many currently are. One key example being hairdressing apprentices being paid as little as £80 per week for a full 35 hour week