NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN ACTION GROUP
(NSCAG)

The following national trade unions are currently affiliated:

BFAWU, BECTU, CWU, FBU, NUT, PCS, RMT, UNISON, UNITE (AMICUS), UNITE (T & G), USDAW

At the end of the seminar, after the young member participants were introduced to the work of NSCAG and took part in workshops on fundraising, campaigning, media and twinning links, they shared ideas on actions and activities to build solidarity links with young workers in Nicaragua and elsewhere:

Raising awareness and using media to build solidarity links:

 Use your union publications – union magazine, young members magazine, website - to raise awareness of issues for workers in Nicaragua and other countries. For example, write a story on the Nicaraguan abortion issue for your unions Women’s magazine or write an article on the sacking of workers in the Nicaraguan Free Trade Zones for your union website and make an appeal to members to take action (contact NSCAG for info).

 Get young members in your union to come up with questions or an interview, asking NSCAG’s young member contacts in Nicaragua about their daily life as young workers and trade unionists. Send your questions to NSCAG so we can translate them and get the information direct from Nicaraguan young members and then publish this information, along with photos of the workers, within your union. This will help build more personal connections and will make it easier to get support from other members of your union

 Engage local media by linking to local issues, for example, through products sold in local shops; if a local shop sells Fairtrade coffee from Nicaragua then promote links with Fairtrade coffee workers in Nicaragua or if a local shop sells clothes that are made in Nicaraguan factories then encourage links with these workers.

 Join the ‘Linking Young Trade Unionists in the UK and Nicaragua’ Facebook group and ask your union contacts and friends to join too.

 Request an NSCAG speaker for your union meeting or event

 Use international issues as an organising tool, to engage young members

Building direct and sustainable links with Nicaraguan unions and their members:

 Set up a Young Members Forum twinning link between your union and a Young Members Forum from a Nicaraguan trade union- this could be sector based, for example UNISON and UNE (public sector workers union) in Nicaragua.

 Set up a Women’s Committee twinning link between your union and a Women’s Committee of a Nicaraguan trade union

 Set up a twinning link between your union branch and a Nicaraguan trade union branch

 Use the global structures of international companies to build links with young workers. For example, if you work in a multinational company that has branches in other countries make links with these workers to enable you to work together on workplace issues.

Fundraising to build direct links with Nicaraguan unions

 Request that your union sponsors a young member speaker from Nicaragua to speak and participate in a union event, e.g., the annual youth conference or education weekend. You could use the NSCAG Youth Action Network to get in touch with other young members from your union or other unions to work together on fundraising for the visit, as it may tie in with other union events as well.

 Create a NSCAG Server Group for the Workers Beer Company and volunteer at festivals in 2009 to raise money to support trade unions in Nicaragua. Nadine Houghton from BWTUC who spoke at the seminar can help set this up nadine@bwtuc.org.uk

 Organise a fundraising event or activity to raise money to support young member organising work in Nicaragua, or to buy some hard hats for Nicaraguan construction workers or some sports equipment for young members! This could be anything from organising a music night with local bands, shaving your head or swimming in the North Sea in fancy dress!? Contact NSCAG and other young members on our network for advice and support.

 Request that your union affiliates to NSCAG at a branch, regional or national level

Campaigns

 Contact organisations such as the Clean Clothes Campaign and Labour Behind the Label to find out which clothes sold in the UK are produced in Nicaraguan Free Trade Zones. Contact NSCAG to build links with these workers and receive information on labour right abuses in the supply chain and how to take action.

 Join the NSCAG urgent Action Network to find out about labour rights violations in Nicaragua and take action by either signing an online petition, sending a message to the company denouncing their actions or even organise a campaign stunt to get the attention of local or national press. Distribute the requests for action you receive from NSCAG to your union and young member contacts and request that they take action as well.


MAKE USE OF THE NSCAG YOUTH ACTION NETWORK!! Everyone has different skills and talents so share these with other young members on the network to increase the joint impact of actions:

- If you find out about supply chain links between the UK and Nicaragua then let others know and propose a joint campaign or action around this

- If you have written a story to publish in your union magazine, website or a newspaper then send this to NSCAG and the young members network so that they can adapt it for use within their union or local media

- If you are organising a fundraising event let NSCAG and our young member contacts know so that they can help you organise it and get more people along.

- Share ideas and experiences of any of the above actions and let people know what worked and what didn’t and if you have good contacts that can help set up any of the actions or activities above them share them with others on the network.

CONTACT NSCAG FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO GET SUPPORT TO FOLLOW UP ANY OF THE ABOVE ACTIONS: nscag@nicaraguasc.org.uk or 020 7561 4836