The latest Organising For A Change episode features a story of union building against the odds – disparate workers, often isolated from each other, a “sweetheart” union and employer hostility.  For Paul Day and his colleagues in the Pharmacists Defence Association Union (PDAU), the challenge in organising the pharmacists in Boots plc was significant. 

Listen now at bit.ly/o4ac

We discuss with Paul the process of removing the in-house union and then engaging with potential members, the experience of having to use the statutory recognition/derecognition measures and what happened next.

In this instance, what happened next was further union building success for the PDAU in the former Lloyds chemists’ group and more recently Superdrug.

Paul is an engaging and captivating guest and leaves us with two key fundamentals of the PDAU’s success:

“Whilst our procedures are under development, our principles are not: The members are the priority.“

“We’re puritan in the sense it’s just one profession and it’s any of them so long as they don’t employ any others”

You can hear more about the PDAU in this UnionDues podcast episode.

We’re grateful to have the support of Thompsons, the leading trade union and social justice law firm, The General Federation of Trade Unions – delivering trade union education, building solidarity and the home of StrikeMap, Pellacraft, award winning and trusted supplier of promotional goods, and Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council. Thank you all.

Listen now at bit.ly/o4ac

Episode run time 32m22s. Organising For A Change is presented by Martin Smith and Simon Sapper. Music is by Scott Holmes. It is a Makes-You-Think production. Contact the show at organising@makes-you-think.com.  This episode was first published on 11 April 2025.  Organising For A Change will return in the autumn.