IT IS getting closer to five whole years of Strike Map. An anniversary we never planned to see, as we began putting struggle on the map in 2020. They say timing is everything; we were fortunate that the birth of our map just predated the largest strike wave for many years, supporting the public to build their local picket lines. 

Over 230,000 submissions later, project Strike Map continues to grow from a digital tool to a mobilising tool for the streets. Supporting the Birmingham bin strike, Hull Aslef drivers’ strike and other pickets and demos have been a new angle for our humble map. We have always been clear that Strike Map cannot stand still. It must continue to develop with the needs of our movement, and listen to those that use it. 

Part of this development is providing information and data useful to trade union activists across the movement. Linking information with our strikes data, providing the best data source for real-world campaigns that win. 

Today, we are promoting our latest collaboration with UnionMaps. Developed by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (Wiserd), a collaboration of five universities in Wales and has been designated by the Welsh government as a national research centre, UnionMaps analyses vital data from the government’s Labour Force Survey to present how high trade union membership is for every local authority. 

We are committed to improving our map and its use for activists to win their campaigns and disputes, and to rebalance power in our country. UnionMaps provides key data on the collective strength of our movement for detailed geographical areas, including union membership and the coverage of collective agreements. 

This new data, now linked at the bottom of every strike card on our map, includes: 

• Union presence — the percentage of employees who are a trade union member or who are employed at a workplace where others are members.
• Union membership — the percentage of employees who are a trade union member.
• Union coverage — the percentage of employees who report that pay and conditions are agreed in negotiations between their employer and a trade union.
• Collective agreement — the percentage of employees whose pay is set with reference to an agreement affecting more than one employee.

There are many reasons why this data is useful to supporters of Strike Map, as Rhys Davies, Wiserd co-director and senior research fellow at Cardiff University, summarises: “Data from UnionMaps reveals the complex patterns and trends in union membership that exist across Great Britain.

“We are very pleased that this data has been integrated into Strike Map to support the work of volunteers and trade union activists who will now have access to detailed statistics about the strength of the union movement in areas where industrial action is taking place to inform their work.”

It is not just the presentation of the excellent data by Wiserd, but more a clear rallying cry for the movement that a strategic plan for renewal is no longer just needed, it’s urgent. In a period in which 12 trade unions are campaigning for an Employment Rights Bill (ERB) 2, focusing on delivering the much-needed collective rights left out of ERB 1, UnionMaps clearly shows us the impact of the decline of collective rights and the deteriorating health of the union movement.

We believe working with organisations that analyse, produce and develop data — adding it to our map — can empower workers further to assert militant trade unionism in the workplace, rebuilding the powerful movement we need. 

Alongside this upgrade to our map, we are looking to partner with a trade union to begin development on a pay and conditions map. This would provide information around pay agreements, union wins by geography and sector, thus enabling negotiators to use the old “leapfrog” tactics to improve workers’ conditions everywhere, a tactic so successful from our past. 

We all know that “clicktivism” and “digital organising” are no replacement for activity in the real world. We only hope that reps, branch officers and activists from our movement will find these upgrades useful in their campaigns and disputes.

For trades councils, we also think this data being available on our map provides snapshots that are useful in the co-ordination of activity and the promotion of joint union campaigns to strengthen the movement throughout a local area. 

We thank our partners at UnionMaps and Wiserd for sharing the data with us to help build a more powerful labour movement.

We are interested to hear what you think. Let us know by emailing strikemap@gftu.org.uk. Go to strikemap.org to find your local strike and the UnionMaps integration.