Dr Greg Thomson
Position
National Development Manager Migrant Workers, at UNISON, the public sector trade union.
Qualifications
- PhD, Industrial Relations (LSE)
- MSc, Industrial Relations (LSE)
- LlB, Law (Polytechnic of Central London)
Background/Career
Greg qualified as a Solicitor in 1977, whilst working in the electricity industry, which was then in public ownership. In 1979 he went to work for his trade union, UNISON (at that time he worked for one of the partner unions Nalgo), as a solicitor. Working for the union meant specialising in employment law; but also gave a valuable insight into the importance of collective solutions.
In 1982 Greg started working as a Regional Official, organising and representing members across all areas of the public sector, in effect finding collective solutions for the problems people faced at work. Most of the time was spent in London with a short secondment to Yorkshire and Humberside.
Greg worked with the electricity, gas and water industries during their transition from public to private ownership. He was involved with the establishment of the European Works Council in both EdF and in the water business of RWE. There was a significant amount of restructuring as the various public sector employers prepared for privatisation and competition and Greg led a number of important negotiations. In the gas industry he was involved in achieving recognition for offshore workers.
In 1994 Greg was appointed as a Regional Manager in the London Region, focusing initially on the utilities and then later on the recruitment and organisation of new members across the public sector. Specific projects were targeted at recruiting and organising migrant workers and agency workers.
Since January 2008 Greg has been the National Development Manager for Migrant Workers, heading up a small unit responsible for encouraging migrant workers to become active within UNISON. He has also had responsibility for advising on UNSON policy on migration and coordinating recruitment of migrant workers.
Research interests and expertise
Greg is familiar with both qualitative and quantitive research methods, and used both for his Ph.D.
He has worked on both the MIRE and HIRES projects; these were European funded projects on restructuring and its impact on health. This has enabled him to share his experience of restructuring. He co-authored a chapter in the book reporting the MIRE Project (Restructuring Work and Employment in Europe - Managing Change in an Era of Globalisation - Elgar 2008).
Greg has a particular interest in the treatment of vulnerable workers. He is involved in the RAW Project on agency workers in Europe. He is also actively engaged in disseminating the results of the work he is doing with migrant workers. Dr. Sian Moore and Max Watson at WLRI are providing active supporting research on the UNISON Migrant Workers Participation Project.
Contact details
Publications
'Trade Unions - Obstacles or Facilitators?', by Sian Moore, Greg Thomson and Geof Luton in Restructuring Work and Employment in Europe; Managing Change in an Era of Globalisation, Ed. Bernard Gazier, Published by Edward Elgar, 2008
