Glasgow posties strip off in solidarity to deliver 2023 calendar

Thanks to an initiative from Glasgow Strike solidarity, Communications Workers Union members from the Victoria Road depot have produced their own Calendar Girls effort, with a 2023 calendar which is now on pre-sale.

Funds raised will be equally donated to the Royal College of Nurses and local community organisations such as Milk Cafe and Living Rent Glasgow.

The donations were decided on by members of Glasgow Strike Solidarity, which will take around 10 per cent to cover overheads.

Layla-Roxanne Hill of Glasgow Strike Solidarity said: "I think it started as a bit of a joke, I was saying it might be nice to do something like that.

“I guess it’s a good indication of the banter and what happens when you build up trust with people. I think speaking to some of the posties who have been striking they’ve said ‘we can’t believe you just turned up one day, you just turned up and decided to stand with us’.

“I think it’s from that you’re able to have a wee bit of trust. If you’d come out and stand without asking questions.

“I was like, ‘maybe we should do a calendar, get you all to get your kit off’.

“It’s Calendar Girls with a bit of Full Monty. We only need 12 and one of the guys has been an excellent recruiter, I think I managed to get five people on board and he got the rest.

“It’s going to raise money for local businesses and some disputes that are going on at the same time as the striking posties.”

Rebecca Menzies is involved with the Southside branch of Glasgow Strike Solidarity and explains how the calendar came about.

She says: "We’re really close to the posties at Victoria Road – some of them have said I’ve been at more picket lines than some of them!

“We’ve become really pally with them and we basically convinced them to do a Calendar Girls style shoot to raise funds for their strike fund and local causes and charities.

Glasgow Stike Solidarity (Image: Rebecca Menzies)

“Whatever we make goes back into the community, it’s a real community effort which I think is nice. A lot of the time strikes get politicised and this is just about local folk supporting their posties.”

The group was formed to support striking workers across the city, and have been on picket lines for the RMT, the CWU and more.

Miss Hill said: "We got involved, particularly with the Southside, when we found out Royal Mail was striking.

“The big delivery office is in Victoria Road, so we decided to go along one day and show our support. A lot of people involved with Glasgow Strike Solidarity were or are involved in trade unions in some sort of way, whether it’s as members, officials or reps.

“It was just about building up knowledge and figuring out what we could do to step outside the trade union bubble and get members of the public more conscious of what was going on.

“Striking workers haven’t always had a great deal of support from the public, especially with the government rules and laws, so we just wanted to make sure this time round, especially during a cost of living crisis, people are aware workers are doing this for the benefit of us – not just terms and conditions and pay.

"We’ve done some stalls at the park and some leafleting – the usual old school ways. Set up a stall at the park and encourage people to talk to you and find out more about the strike solidarity, or find out why people are striking and how they can get involved.

“At the picket lines themselves we hand out leaflets, we speak to people who maybe come to find out why they can’t get their mail. We’ll take their numbers and ask them to join.

Glasgow Strike Solidarity (Image: Glasgow Strike Solidarity)

“We’ve been holding public meetings, encouraging people to come along and support us in supporting striking workers.”

Miss Menzies first got involved as rail workers took industrial action.

She recalls: "I saw Glasgow Strike Solidarity on Twitter, I saw the account had been started up and had been supporting people on the RMT strikes when they first went on strike.

“They got local folk along to support it and I got involved in September. The posties were on strike on Victoria Road and I went along and met a member of Glasgow Strike Solidarity who asked me who I was and why I got involved.

“Since then the group has really grown, in the Southside we have a really active group and there are groups across the city. We have one in the East End and smaller groups in the West and the North that are starting to build.

“Primarily we’re getting folk along to picket lines, the focus in the past month really has been on the CWU and the postal workers because they’ve been on strike consistently for the past couple of months.

“It kind of involves going along to picket lines, I think the biggest we’ve had in the Southside was 50 folk coming along, a mix of workers and local folk.

“We have open meetings anyone can come along to and the workers have been along to them as well kind of feeding back what we can do for them, what they need from us and giving us updates on ongoing disputes and stuff like that.”

The movement has been embraced by the Southside community, as well as local businesses.

Miss Hill says: "Big Counter have been great, that’s been a God-send because usually it’s me turning up with a big flask of coffee that doesn’t last long.

“They’ve kindly offered to top up any teas or coffees that we need on strike days, we normally get rolls from Nan’s, the takeaway shop, and they always make sure there’s a big box of rolls ready for us and usually thrown in some packets of biscuits.

“A lot of businesses are happy to take posters as well, with information about how people can get involved and come along to a picket line, a meeting or get involved in the organising groups.

"Having posters up on your door encourages neighbours to speak or ask about it, as well as letting posties or any other worker known you support them.

"It's about appreciating everyone's contribution, however large or small.

"A conversation is just as important as standing at a picket or a donation of some kind.

"I'm a trade union rep and I haven't seen this level of engagement from the public in my lifetime.

"The posties, like many workers, kept a lot going for us during the pandemic and really were a lifeline to some."

You can pre-order the calendar here