The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is using the power of peer-to-peer communication to enable its workplace reps and pay activists to engage members in the upcoming England and Wales pay ballot opening on 11 November.

One of the key ways to engage members is through one-to-one conversations in person, but this has limits in how many people you can reach. Using the latest technology says the RCM, it can be done on a bigger scale to reach more members, more quickly.  To support its activists to do that during the ballot the RCM is using a peer-to-peer text messaging service called Thrutext. This is a messaging tool that many unions use to engage members to vote in ballots so that their voice is heard.

“It’s a very intuitive and easy to use tool that allows us and our activists to send personalised text messages to hundreds of members at a time. They can quickly reply to each incoming message with a series of pre-written and pre-approved recommended replies. It will help you to really quickly get the message out and respond to individual questions from members on the ballot,” said Lynn Collins, Director for Field Services at the RCM. “It can also be used by members who are not activists as well, enabling them to spread the word and encourage and support their colleagues to vote. We know that members talking to members is the best way to build our campaign and Thrutext gives us the chance to supplement face to face conversations, and to do this on a scale we couldn’t achieve in person.”

The RCM will be holding a short briefing for activists and pay activists on using the text service in the next few weeks, and details on that will be coming through soon. There will also be training and support on offer from the RCM to get activists going on Thrutext so that they are geared up to engage when the ballot starts. Ahead of that there’s a quick one-minute explainer on Thrutext that you can watch HERE.

There’s still time to get involved in making the ballot a success by becoming a pay activist, sign up here- Become a pay activist (rcm.org.uk)

For more information on the RCM’s pay campaign in England and Wales and on the upcoming ballot see the RCM pay Hub at England and Wales – NHS pay award and next steps (rcm.org.uk).

See also RCM urges members in England and Wales to vote YES to industrial action as ballot date announced.