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Martin Smith OFaC

@organising4achange.bsky.social
124 followers 99 following 69 posts

All things trade union building and struggling together to change our world. Solidarity forever.

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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
open.spotify.com/episode/2iRN... A look back on our recent podcast on Dynamic Pay in the week the legal challenge against Uber's algorithm has been lodged in European Courts. Dynamic Pay means never knowing what your wages are and won't be confined to Uber if we don't fight it.
open.spotify.com
25 Surge pricing and dynamic wages - a warning
Organising For A Change - the podcast for union builders · Episode
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Great event if you're in Durham for the 140th Big Meeting
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
www.linkedin.com/posts/martin...
linkedin.com
Organising for a Change estimates that the roll out of remote controlled cars in London is set to deliver a £3.3 billion per year hit to the local economy in lost earnings as Uber drivers are… | Marti...
Organising for a Change estimates that the roll out of remote controlled cars in London is set to deliver a £3.3 billion per year hit to the local economy in lost earnings as Uber drivers are replaced...
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
t.co/T3zGOqjWeb Episode 25 of the Organising for a Change podcast discusses what will probably be the next big industrial battle for union builders in many areas: making sure those forced onto zero hours platform jobs see how their pay is worked out and can negotiate
t.co
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2iRNKxiUVaOmKVluGiQzG1?si=PHu0CMPfQuOwsMhZ7XyE0g
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Always tell your Uber driver what the fare is you're paying. The driver doesn't set the fare and often get less than half of it
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com/organisingfo...
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com
The Best Politicians Money Can Buy
Our democracy appears to have been bought and soldFrom multiple media reports in recent days weeks and years, it’s clear our democratic system is facing a crisis of corruption greater even than the To...
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 06/05/2026
Poverty pay for staff. A £10,000 pay rise for the principal. That is why Windsor Forest Colleges Group staff were on the picket lines today. Refused even the smallest pay rise for college teachers and rewarded with a senior role at the Department for Education.
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AFL-CIO @aflcio.org · 04/05/2026
CEO pay rose 20x faster than workers’ pay in 2025. Top CEOs already make 285x what workers do—and they’re fed up. Working people don’t have to accept this. A union contract is how we take back our power and get our fair share of the profits WE create.
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The Labor Radio Podcast Network @laborradionet.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
May 4 - The Day that Changed the World On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. That evening a worker’s rally in Chicago Illinois became known as the Haymarket Tragedy. On May 1, workers from across the city and country had held massive rallies for the eight-hour day. Two days later,the po
laborhistoryin2.podbean.com
May 4 - The Day that Changed the World
On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. That evening a worker’s rally in Chicago Illinois became known as the Haymarket Tragedy. On May 1, workers from across the city and country had held massive rallies for the eight-hour day. Two days later,the police had fired into a crowd of workers on strike outside of the McCormick Reaper plant in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen.
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
open.spotify.com/episode/6wVh... Latest Organising for a Change podcast on union culture and strategy for growth
open.spotify.com
24 Union cultures and union building feat. Becky Wright
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/business/202... Uk unions call for an end to dynamic pay and pricing and a halt to the rolling Uberisation of all our jobs
theguardian.com
Dynamic pay on platforms such as Uber should be banned, says TUC
Exclusive: Union body finds workers describing themselves as ‘gambling’ because wages felt like the outcome of chance rather than work
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
open.spotify.com/episode/5X89... Latest OfaC podcast with Jane Holgate and John Page authors of Changemakers. Radical strstegies fof social movement organisers
open.spotify.com
23 Building social change feat. Jane Holgate, John Page
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
www.facebook.com/share/p/18do...
facebook.com
Facebook
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War on Want @waronwant.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
500,000 of us marched this Saturday against the far-right – against division, and for hope. While corporations and the super-rich profit from destruction, they want us blaming each other. But this weekend, we stood together.❤️ #together
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 30/03/2026
Big shout to UCU members who showed up. This is what our union stands for. Education builds cohesion and educators stand for unity, not division.
People at rally People at rally People at rally People at rally
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War on Want @waronwant.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
TOMORROW: we march together in London to reject the far-right's politics of division. 📅 Saturday 28 March 📍 Meet the climate justice bloc at Start Zone F, Position 14 on Park Lane at 12pm 🚶 March from Park Lane to Whitehall ✊ Together against the far-right
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
www.togetheralliance.org.uk/march Reclaiming our London streets from racist thugs. Solidarity to the "No Kings" demos across the USA also tomorrow
togetheralliance.org.uk
28 March — Together Alliance
Together is an alliance of hundreds of civil society organisations united against the far right.
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com/organisingfo... A trade union perspective on HR 40 years into this social and economic experiment
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com
Handling HR
Human Resources (HR) has become an industry all of itself and one of the fastest growing in the UK in recent years in terms of the numbers it employs within public and private sector organisations But...
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
One good 'straw in the wind' to identify a failing organisation is when they start to fix the blame for their decline on their potential supporters, service users, customers or members. According to the Labour Party 69% of those who voted in Gorton and Denton this week are "extremists"
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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Why was this concealed from the British public?
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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
If you can’t police in a free society without hiding your face, the problem is with the policing — not the public. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-s-mask...
doomsdayscenario.co
ICE's Masks Are All a Lie
Working for ICE is actually less dangerous than being an elementary school student in America.
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Good Law Project @goodlawproject.org · 10/02/2026
These companies built machines designed to addict the brains of children, and they did it on purpose www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3wlpqp…
bbc.co.uk
Instagram and YouTube owners built 'addiction machines', trial told
The tech giants are under scrutiny over social media addiction in a landmark jury trial in Los Angeles
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 10/02/2026
“For Keir Starmer to say Peter Mandelson ‘lied to me’ leaves Starmer with zero credibility.” @drjogrady.bsky.social
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com/organisingfo... More discussion for union builders on how to help workers build power in "Bullshit Jobs."
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com
Building Unions in “Bullshit Jobs”
As long ago as 2018, social anthropologist and comrade David Graeber set out his “Bullshit Jobs” theory. (David Graeber: Bullshit Jobs – The rise of pointless work and what we can do about it. Penguin...
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RMT Union @rmtunion.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Labour promised the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. A Labour Mayor must now deliver. Insource TfL’s cleaners - Join the protest 📅 4 February
Silhouetted crowd holding protest signs at sunset above text calling to end corporate capture at TfL with protest details.
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 27/01/2026
“Children and students in Palestine deserve access to education and educators should be safe to teach and research, without fear and oppression.” @drjogrady.bsky.social
ucu.org.uk
Union condemns treatment of education leaders on Palestine visit
The University and College Union (UCU) has today condemned the blocking by Israel of a delegation of education leaders trying to visit Palestine as part of International Day of Education.
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Dear the Labour Party. Your problem is Rachels "fiscal rules" not who your leader is. Thankyou for your attention to this matter.
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
www.facebook.com/share/r/1NcL... Great stuff
facebook.com
Redirecting...
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Dave Pike @davepikesheff.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Thank you to @organising4achange.bsky.social for inviting me on their Podcast. As Trade Unionist we build hope among our members, we can and must be ambitious for what we can achieve – listen to our chat about our plans for the @tucneyh.bsky.social; open.spotify.com/episode/4wFB...
open.spotify.com
22 How to be "aggresively hopeful" feat. Dave Pike
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
share.google/ejN8HszueSo0... A good piece of journalism explaining the realities faced by Uber drivers as they increasingly become slaves to the algorithm.
share.google
App delivery drivers battle dynamic wages and uncertain finances
Algorithmic pay systems test gig workers’ personal finance survival skills
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
I never watch it. Its important we keep europap music out of politics
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Reform UK Plc are the party of and for the tax dodging millionaires and billionaires. They want you to look down on our most vulnerable neighbours and not look up at them as they pick our pockets through tax dodging. Id double my support to asylum seekers to £4 a year if we could tax them. Look Up!
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
open.spotify.com/episode/1vDH... Major exploitation exists in the supply chains of the clothes we wear. No Sweat as a campaign collective helps lead the way on union building. Top tip: If you are given work clothes to wear by your employer - ask who made them and where. And organise from there...
open.spotify.com
21 No Sweat and union building feat. Jay Kerr
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com/organisingfo...
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com
Book Review: A State of Struggle. John McInally.
Powerful corrupting forces swirl and surround unions. They act equally on both the “permanently organised faction” of full time officers set to manage the union and the elected lay representatives set...
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
open.spotify.com/episode/0NEM... More reports this week of Reform UK (Plc) intervening in union workplaces to sow division and hate. Big unions need to make sure were in conversation with members. Link to recent podcast discussing the "Five Tribes of Reform" analysis into who supports them and why
open.spotify.com
Episode 20: Countering divisive workplace narratives
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
open.spotify.com/episode/0NEM... New OfAC Podcast starts today with a discussion with Matthew Collins about why and how union builders should tackle divisive rhetoric from the far right where we work
open.spotify.com
Episode 20: Countering divisive workplace narratives
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com/organisingfo... Next blog for union builders. Big challenge to build unity and solidarity at work
msmithorganiser.wixsite.com
Tackling Division at Work
Union Builders know that employers will tend to latch on to anything that helps them divide their workforce and set them against each other as we try to build unity and solidarity. Many of the working...
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
t.co/ruPlOfotGZ With the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) blocked from giving evidence tomorrow at the Supreme Court, a look back to the OfaC podcast over the Summer telling the story of the union busting scandal so far with BSGs own Dave Smith
t.co
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6KzvZhDL7xXD7sqBkV1nh5?si=ojFMbaWrR8iZC2U8ldoyog
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Mark Thomas @markthomasinfo.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Bolsanaro, Sarkozy… come on Johnson I’ve got you in an accumulator.
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Liz Shuler @lizshuler.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Starbucks is a multi-billion dollar company. Their CEO made 6,666x what the average barista made last year. It’s time for them to get serious, finish negotiating a strong union contract and invest in @sbworkersunited.org baristas who power their profits.
huffpost.com
Starbucks, Union Approach 4-Year Mark Without A Contract
Progressive groups say they’ll stand with baristas on the picket line if CEO Brian Niccol doesn’t reach an agreement.
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Mark Thomas @markthomasinfo.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Peter Mandelson being sacked for a third time? Oh you are spoiling us ambassador.
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
open.spotify.com/episode/68ut... In the run up to TUC 2025 a quick look back to our recent podcast on how unions are changing to address new realities at work
open.spotify.com
Episode 8 - Leading change
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
www.facebook.com/share/p/1U44... Solidarity with asylum seekers
facebook.com
Redirecting...
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Couple of things for Starmers spinners to keep in mind. 1. The new party being formed, like the Corbyn movement in 2016, is a symptom of the splitting left vote, not its cause. 2. The voters are miles ahead of MPs and already voting as if we had PR. Labour better catch up and quick
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
London is safer than most other parts of the UK. If they were honest people claiming "London has fallen" would agree that they are just unhappy that the most popular elected Mayor we ever had in London is Muslim
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
open.spotify.com/episode/31Bh... With the Annual TUC gathering due in a couple of weeks and recent union membership growth faltering, time to look back to our recent OfaC podcast on a great union building story
open.spotify.com
Episode 19: Union building for pharmacists: The PDAU story
Organising For A Change - the podcast for union builders · Episode
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Martin Smith OFaC @organising4achange.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Solidarity with RMT
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