Services for members

• Workplace representation: Local reps, casework, representation at disciplinary/grievance hearings and collective bargaining support.

• Legal help: Employment law advice and representation, personal injury and related legal services (subject to member eligibility).

• Welfare support: “There for You” hardship and wellbeing support for members and dependants.

• Training and development: Courses and accreditation for reps and members, workplace skills and equality training.

• Campaigning and policy: National and local campaigns on pay, conditions and defending public services.

• Member benefits: Discounts, insurance and financial products negotiated for members.

• Rule‑book benefits: Internal benefits such as accident and death payments where qualifying conditions are met.

- Main reason: To unite transport workers across rail and maritime sectors into a single specialist union able to defend pay, safety and conditions and to negotiate with many employers across the transport industry

• Workplace representation: Casework, local reps, representation at disciplinary and grievance hearings and collective bargaining support.

• Legal cover: Free legal services for workplace and many non-work matters (subject to rule eligibility) including personal injury, employment tribunals and criminal-law advice for members and qualifying family.

• Financial & welfare benefits: Accident, death and orphan grants, retirement and permanent-downgrading payments, credit-union access and partner commercial services; member communications through RMT News and specialist briefings

  
  

• Scale and recent level: RMT membership rose strongly in the 2000s and 2010s under active organising; reported figures moved from roughly 57,000 in the early 2000s to about 80,000+ by the late 2010s and remained around c.80,000 in the early 2020s.

  
  

• Main reason: To create a single, stronger education union able to represent teachers, lecturers and support staff across schools and colleges with greater national bargaining power, combined resources for campaigning and a unified professional voice for education policy and member protection.

• Core services for members

  • Workplace representation: local reps, branch support and casework for disciplinaries, grievances and redeployment.

  • Advice and legal support: telephone/online AdviceLine, caseworker representation and legal cover for employment and some non‑work matters

  • Professional support and training: CPD, courses for reps and members, early‑career support and materials for classroom practice.

  • Welfare and benefits: member discounts, insurance/financial products and welfare schemes; special membership rates for trainees and early career teachers.

  • Campaigning and policy work: national campaigns on pay, workload, school funding, health & safety and industrial action where necessary

    
    

  • Recent scale: NEU reports around half a million members; official published totals were close to 445,601 in 2022 and about 497,400 in 2022/23 in published datasets, showing the NEU as the largest education union in the UK and Europe.

  • Trend summary (2004–2024 perspective): combined teacher/education union membership was relatively stable with growth into the late 2010s

• Core services for members

  • Collective and individual representation: National and local negotiation/collective bargaining recognition; workplace and contract advice; local officers and reps to support disputes and pay negotiations.

  • Legal, employment and professional support: Employment law advice, casework, contract checking and representation in tribunals (subject to rule eligibility).

  • Welfare, wellbeing and career support: Counselling, pension and occupational advice, professional development resources and access to BMA publications and library services.

  • Health & safety and policy work: Safety guidance, ethical advice, and national campaigning on workforce, pay and service issues

  • Scale and trend: BMA membership rose markedly since 1999; official/industry sources report membership increasing from ~110,000 in 1999/00 to around 170,000–190,000 in the early 2020s, with record highs reported in 2023 driven by junior doctor recruitment during industrial disputes.

    
    

• More and more young people who are not in education or training but want to work cannot do so largely due to disability and long-term illnesses, increasing work discrimination is clearly noted here.

• At the same time, a record amount of older people are coming back to work, as economic uncertainty is prominent.

• There has been a monetary policy lag and businesses have decreased investment and innovation due to tighter budges.

• 🧠 Policy Watch

  • A major concern is the rise in NEET youth (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), now nearing 1 million. A think tank warns that scrapping lower minimum wage rates for under-21s could price young people out of the labour market