Unite History

As trade unionists, we stand on the shoulders of those who struggled before.

In 2013, Unite published a magazine to commemorate the 1913 Lockout.  Click here to download a copy of Arise!

In 2015, to coincide with the third Irish Policy Conference, we published an oral history of WW1, looking at the war through the memories of Unite members North and South.  Click here to download a copy of Uniting Workers’ Memories.

To mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme and the Easter Rising, Unite is organising a series of events and outputs on the theme of 1916: A Workers’ Year.

The first of these events took place on Monday, April 25th, in Belfast’s MAC Centre.

Speakers included Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey, Regional Secretary Jimmy Kelly, historian and demographer Peter Connell, labour historian Theresa Moriarty, author and historian Philip Orr, historian Fergus O’Ferrall, community activist Patricia McCarthy and Unite Deputy Regional Secretary Jackie Pollock.

The evening concluded with a dramatised piece on trade unionist, feminist and activist Winifred Carney.

Click here to download a programme, and here to read a Unite Live report on the event.

A second event took place in Dublin on the evening of Monday July 25th, and was attended by Unite Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner.  This event saw the launch of our 16 Lives set of postcards; click here to read more.