The GMB was acting in a new role, Donaldson says. I am not here to sell one union. I was open and honest, and respected the fact that people were members of other unions. I said that the decision to sign up or not was theirs alone.
Mosson and Donaldson met the staff, and outlined their plan for a new way of working, which had personal growth and development at its core. Mosson sees the Living Agreement as enabling the development of the whole person someone who is intellectually versatile and wants to move forward in an ethical, fair business, he says.
The nice thing for me was their response, Donaldson recalls. When we asked the workforce whether they would prefer the future or the past, a sense of excitement came from individuals who had not felt stretched or valued before.
People wanted to have union representation, he stresses, but were also clear that they didn't want to go back to the old style of trade unionism. They were not too concerned about which union represented them, but they did want to create something new.
Unions are not in a position to say they know best what people want from work, Donaldson says. For me, this issue was about creating the environment to allow the growth of the business, and of its people.
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