Recruitment and organising in health and social services - Czech Republic

Recruitment & organising seminar, Czech Republic, 19-20 September 2019

(2 October 2019) On 19-20 September EPSU and its healthcare affiliate in the Czech Republic (OSZSP) held a training seminar on recruitment and organising for local activists in health and social services.

The training seminar was run by experienced organizer and trainer Adam Rogalewski and is part of a broader EPSU strategy to support organising and efforts to increase trade union membership in Central and Eastern Europe. There were 15 participants from the health and social care sector across the country and the seminar focused on running various campaigns in the workplace and on various techniques and strategies to increase union membership. Participants also reported several positive examples from local branches.

Jan Šusta presented the work of his trade union in the hospital in Česke Budejovice, where they have managed a significant increase in union membership at the workplace from 204 to 536 (over 160%) over the past five years. Their plan is to continue growing further. There was another success story from Vacha Miroslav and his branch in the ambulance sector. They have managed to increase membership by more than 50%, achieving a union density of 37.5%. Other branches have managed to keep membership stable and they are planning to embark on developing strategies for future recruitment and organising.

The seminar was attended by Richard Pond and new EPSU staff Agnieszka Ghinararu.

Czech Republic