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We can use strikes as a time to connect with communities 
ROGER McKENZIE reflects on how to use the ever-growing number of picket lines even more effectively to offer support to those who need it and build solidarity
OPPORTUNITY: Unite members on a picket line at one of the entrances to the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk

THERE is a lot talked about the need to show solidarity. Social media timelines are rightly full of expressions of solidarity for workers taking strike action. Rarely, though, is there much discussion about other ways of demonstrating solidarity in the workplace or beyond.

In these soaring cost-of-living times where households throughout the country are struggling to put bread on the table and to keep a roof over their heads, I think we also need to think about how we can extend solidarity to our communities.

Some years ago there was a fashion for community organising. Even trade unions, such as the one I used to work for, employed staff who were tasked with building union links with the communities.

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