GMB members heard from the union’s new race ambassadors on Tuesday evening as they presented the achievements of the GMB Race Achievement Scholarship Programme (Grasp).

The union’s first national race organiser Tyhimba Nosakhere explained that while the first 10 ambassadors, had been the 10 best applicants, the next five would be chosen to ensure every region participates. 

Activists from racially marginalised and under-represented backgrounds are trained for the roles through a six-month full-time release programme.

Race ambassador Alison Simon, of Southern Region, said the Grasp programme had allowed her to “understand the union from all extremities. I’ve seen the good, I’ve seen the bad and I’ve seen the ugly.

“Grasp showed us what the union was in its entirety. It allowed us to look back at where the union came from, from both the global majority outlook but also how it evolved — and it also showed us where we want the union to go in the future.”

The positions of national race organiser and race ambassador follow a rediscovery by the union leadership of the Dr Elizabeth Henry report on race in the GMB. The report was ignored for almost 20 years, a theme mentioned in the union’s new book on race and class in its history — Uprising, edited by Mr Nosakhere and John Callow.

Mr Nosakhere said the race ambassadors would “continue to speak for the equity, the justice that we will achieve in every workplace” and that they would work “member by member, branch by branch, workplace by workplace and region by region, until we can all stand together.”

The group also unveiled the new GMB National Race Network banner at the session.