Fundamentally, the organizing model of trade unionism relies on workers’ collective power and, all other things being equal, it is therefore more effective when a larger proportion of workers are actively involved.1 This is expressed in the GMB organizing principle that ‘The workplace is the building block of the GMB’,2 which implies that the strength of the union relies on organization across each workplace. In the current UK context, a company is forced to formally recognize any union that can demonstrate that more than 50 per cent of workers in a defined ‘bargaining unit’ (for example, all workers in the same role in a given warehouse) support the union. This creates a legislative incentive to secure what McAlevey calls a ‘supermajority’, meaning a clear majority of workers who are prepared to act together. This chapter discusses the challenges that the GMB faced reaching the whole workforce at BHX4 and how it responded.

Challenges in reaching the whole workforce

This section explores how the spatial and temporal structure of the warehouse created difficulties for organizers to reach the workforce, and even for workers to speak to each other, followed by challenges associated with the demographic composition of the workforce, the social situation of workers outside the warehouse and the turnover of workers.

BHX4 is a highly controlled work environment, union organizers are not allowed access outside of direct invitations to represent members in formal meetings, and workers describe their roles as strictly monitored and often isolating.