THE locals in Southport’s Victoria Bar were dumbstruck by the sight of karaoke-fuelled youngsters belting out The Internationale as the clocks struck midnight. I’d usually go with Sinatra or The Proclaimers, but the National Union of Journalists conference was an exceptional circumstance.

I love trade unions. Sure, like all institutions they have their shortcomings and contradictions, yet their overall contribution to public life is invaluable. I saw that in action last weekend. There were hundreds of people, from across Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales, united in a desire for a just world through a free media. We debated press standards, low pay, the anti-Trade Union Bill, violence against journalists, strike actions and international solidarity. One motion in particular agreed £5,000 in funding for a national media conference in Scotland to consider the challenges and future of the industry.

As the Scottish Trades Union Congress annual meeting is in session, representing more than 620,000 members, it’s fitting to celebrate similar work across the entire movement, which is often treated as a punchbag by a variety of opportunistic sources.

While other European countries embrace collective bargaining and the role of unions, the UK political system has sought to traduce their reputation and diminish union influence. The result, however you interpret the late 70s impetus for reducing workers’ rights, has been a catastrophic economic malaise.

Attempts to rectify this within the media are particularly important. Voices in the media are our eyes and ears in the wider world, interpreting what matters and what doesn’t. With internships, low pay and a squeeze on workers’ rights, journalism, like other professions, risks becoming the vestige of a small, wealthy elite.

The NUJ, in a variety of ways, mitigates this threat by encouraging diversity in media jobs and promoting respectful discussions on issues like poverty and refugee rights. Personally, I have a lot to thank the union for.

When I was a student, having never joined any union, they put out a statement supporting me when I faced a challenging legal threat for my writing. It meant a lot to me that an organisation cared enough about free expression – even for someone who wasn’t in their organisation – to express solidarity.

Like many individuals protected by trade unions, sometimes you may not fully appreciate the role they play until they are there to support you in a way that few others can.

At both the NUJ and STUC conferences, delegates discussed the difficulty in attracting more young people into trade union activism. Gone are the days of the “closed shop”, which made trade union membership a necessity in many industries. The labour market has also changed considerably for young people.

In the variety of odd-job roles I had in my teenage years and early 20s there was never any trade union presence. Fast-food chains, retail shops, sales positions, kitchens, waiting, security, all were based around short-term contracts on low pay where you sink or swim on the whims of your management.

The most promising trade union campaign in Scotland is “Better Than Zero” which has targeted exactly those sectors where young precarious workers are left without rights at work. G1 Group, a major bar chain notorious for poor employment practices, has been targeted with direct action protests. Fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, alongside bar venues denying staff their tips, have also been challenged to let staff organise in the workplace.

The spirit of the young people leading the campaign, which has involved dressing up, leading sing-songs and directly challenging those responsible for poor treatment of staff, provides hope that better pay and conditions are possible. The system we have at the moment, where farcically these poverty pay firms are subsidised to the tune of billions, can change for the better. But it will only happen if workplaces organise.

Even those in more privileged positions benefit from the legacy of such activism. From a two-day weekend, health and safety and anti-discrimination laws to basic rights to representation in workplace disputes, we still have a great deal to thank the labour movement for. In Scotland we are a world away from the industrial age where factory-bound children would be severely injured and abused while working gruelling hours six days a week.

Of course, unions have suffered their own failings. Too often unions fulfil a conservative role, defending a status quo to maintain their own influence. UK unions also have a tainted past in acting as apologists for empire and war, continued today by senior figures who defend the UK arms industry and nuclear weapons. Unions have also been guilty of gross sexism, with officials sitting on their hands amid unjust and legal dubious pay inequalities.

But the vast majority of those in the labour movement are determined to create a better world. They remain the largest democratic movement in Scotland campaigning for equality and justice. Those who continue to pay their union dues should be proud of what they are funding.

With the anti-Trade Union Bill to defeat and an economy still weighted against the interests of the many, that old lyrical message still carries a powerful resonance today: “Arise ye workers from your slumber.”