THINK back to the agenda of events pre-pandemic with video calls that didn’t happen or gave up the ghost after 30 minutes of connection and reconnection headaches.

Now it’s hard to remember the fears of April 2020 and the challenges it presented to the movement of organising collectively when everyone is in isolation. 

For me, I was challenged to consider how we organise communities across Scotland from our kitchens against the backdrop of the pandemic. 

Despite the challenges and teething problems, I go into this post-pandemic time with pride in Unite Community Scotland members who rose to the occasion and learned many lessons. 

The aim now is to grow this work across Scotland as it has opened back up after some of the strictest lockdown rules across Britain.

Thanks to that lockdown, we are all now familiar with and use video-calling. It’s a great tool for collectivising and connecting activists, especially in Scotland where geography can lead to isolation.  

By using video-calling, Unite Community has ensured that members who live away from the urban centres never miss out on that exciting international speaker.

Along with technology, art and creativity played a massive role in engaging members in our Community West of Scotland Branch.  

At the beginning of the pandemic, the branch used their contacts in the creative industries to show solidarity to professional artists who due to the pandemic were cut off from their profession and unable to perform. 

The branch organised and paid their fee for a 15 to 30-minute performance and also highlighted the reality of the struggle for the performers during lockdown.

The branch then threw open part of the meeting to any union member, which led to great online engagement.   

Unable to celebrate May Day 2020 in the traditional way, the branch linked up with a poster collector in the US to share a daily poster online and the story of its creation.

Jump forward to May Day 2021, the branch linked in with the Unite Coatbridge construction branch to deliver a Scottish May Day traditional event, “The Great May Day Cabaret.”  

Being online meant the whole movement was invited to the celebration. This year, the Great May Day Cabaret was live once more with two days of live events across Glasgow and Edinburgh.

With the Upper Clyde Shipyard’s work-in marking its 50th anniversary, the branch commissioned UCS veteran and cartoonist Bob Starrett to design an enamel badge, which was unveiled at a provost dinner in the Glasgow City Chamber to celebrate the UCS workers, an especially proud event as Unite community is lucky to include UCS veterans among its numbers.

By seeking out the talents in the membership, Unite Community engaged conductor and composer Ben Lunn to run four events looking at how songs like L’Internationale have been recorded around the world.  

We looked at the solidarity generated by artist and activist Paul Robeson as he toured the world and how this manifested itself in global support when he was placed under house arrest during the McCarthy trials.

Online tech has also allowed Unite Community Scotland members to hear first-hand from campaigners and activists involved in fights against blacklisting, spycops and corporate killers, linking in with Neil Finlday to deliver these courses to members.

All this work helps support the work of the union nationally and industrially. 

Art can turn into activism using world-leading design software which Unite Community is now harnessing this to connect with our audiences.  

In Scotland we’re linking in with organisers who are campaigning for a national care service, working with our industrial and retired members to campaign for a universal, quality care service. We’re piloting “zines” for printing off and using in the community. 

Our creativity will soon be put to work with our “Make a Placard” initiative as we build for the cost of living demo on June 18, and we’re looking forward to getting members involved in the creation of zines to encourage activism for members by members.  

Look at the history of our movement and you see that workers’ and communities’ creativity has always been inspiring and powerful.  

Even simplest of events can bring people together. Like a taxi driver, you never know where that small fare will take you.  

In the end any trade union-run event is better than no trade union event and, yes, we fight for bread but we fight for roses too.

Jamie Caldwell, Unite Community co-ordinator, Scotland.