About Organising For A Change - the podcast for union builders
We’re fed-up, frustrated and impatient. And you should be too.
Unleashed from obligations to employers. Unfiltered by gobbledegook. Uncompromised in what we say. We ask the vital questions that go to the heart of the union movement. We have 80 years of combined union building experience and the gloves are off: No holds barred, nothing left unsaid.
Thanks to our supporters: Thompsons, The General Federation of Trade Unions, Pellacraft, and Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council.
Contact us at organising@makes-you-think.com.
Organising For A Change? Why on earth not!
In this episode, Simon and Martin chat with James Farrer –an expert in the impact of dynamic (or surge) pricing on wages. In a must-hear conversation, reference is made to a number of live or recent-past court cases and recent research papers. Listeners may want to check out some or all of the following:
The TUC report on dynamic pay, based on testimonyfrom a number of Uber drivers, is here (https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-04/dynamicpay.pdf). The so-called Article 22 legal case is set in context by this press release (https://www.workerinfoexchange.org/post/drivers-in-uk-and-europe-set-to-sue-uber-for-unfair-pay-set-by-algorithm) and is co-ordinated by the Worker Info Exchange – read more here (http://www.dynamicpay.org/).
Information on the 2016 Employment Tribunal, and thesubsequent Supreme Court ruling, against Uber is here (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/19/uber-drivers-workers-uk-supreme-court-rules-rights).
The Harvard Business School paper on “Dynamic Pricing Algorithms, Consumer Harm, and Regulatory Response” is here (•https:/www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/22-050_ec28aaca-2b94-477f-84e6-e8b58428ba43.pdf), and the Columbia Law Review, “On Algorithmic Wage Discrimination” by Veena Dubal is here (•%09https:/columbialawreview.org/content/on-algorithmic-wage-discrimination).
The Worker Info Exchange paper on “Dying for Data, How the gig economy public data deficit conceals £1.9 billion in wage theft, runaway carbon emissions, and a health & safety catastrophe?” is here (https://5b88ae42-7f11-4060-85ff-4724bbfed648.usrfiles.com/ugd/5b88ae_42373af19d2b4d8995f24005ba01153e.pdf).
The RUSI (https://www.rusi.org/) paper on “How Ride-Share Apps Collect and Store Data: A National Security Risk?” is here (https://static.rusi.org/307_RideShareData-EI.pdf) and Chris Schmidt’s paper “From the CIA to Uber via the Oxford MBA” is here (https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/oxford-experience/blogs/chris-schildt/cia-uber-oxford-mba).
AI is advancing exponentially, and the principles ofdynamic/surge pricing will surely leach into wage setting. The time to understand organise, and write a different future for the labour movement is now.
3 May 2026
24 Union cultures and union building feat. Becky Wright
In this episode Simon and Martin chat with Unions 21 (https://unions21.org/) Executive Director Becky Wright about some ground breaking work on union culture, and how this ties in with union building. Spoiler alert – sometimes it helps, at others in obstructs. But the inter-relationship between culture, strategy, and resources is still little-understood, little-studied and little-exposed. Hear what is being done to change all this by listening today! You may also be interested in the Unions 21 report (https://unions21.org/ideas/all-ideas/culture-and-unions-building-organisations-fit-for-the-future)on union culture, and Martin’s blog (https://unions21.org/ideas/all-ideas/view-from-the-movement-creating-a-culture-open-to-change) on the same theme.
20 Apr 2026
23 Building social change feat. Jane Holgate, John Page
In this episode, Simon and Martin chat with the authors ofChangemakers – Radical Strategies for Social Movement Organising, Jane Holgate and John Page, who both have long and distinguished involvement in the theory and practice of organising.
At the heart of the debate is how to operate in acomplex and conflicting environment of union cultures, legislative frameworks and employer obfuscation – and (spoiler alert!) there is no checklist for success. Quoting Marshall Ganz (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshall-ganz-129a5617/) John sums it up thus: “If you want to build power, you have to cede control.”
You can hear Jane talking about other areas of her work in this (https://on.soundcloud.com/fyGiDjV7NyamMaWryU)Unions21 podcast, and John and Jane discuss the more research-orientated content of their book in this (https://shows.acast.com/64f9ab491e6de800115f344b/67da87adf48da980924f5da6)Transforming Society episode.
Jane Holgate (https://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-ceric/staff/521/jane-holgate) is Professor of Work and EmploymentRelations at the University of Leeds and a Trustee of the Ella Baker School of Organising. John Page (https://www.ellabakerorganising.org.uk/about) serves on the committee of the Ella Baker School of Organising.
Changemakers (https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/changemakers) by Jane Holgate and John Page is available on Policy Press (https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/changemakers) for £14.99 here (https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/changemakers).
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