CUBA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGNS OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION
This post can be considered full time (35 hours) or 4 days (28 hours) per week subject to agreement.

INTRODUCTION

The Cuba Solidarity Campaign works to develop an understanding of Cuba and to build support for the following positions:

• respect for Cuba’s right to sovereignty and independence
• an end to interference in Cuba’s internal affairs by foreign governments
• an end to the US’s trade blockade against Cuba
• the normalisation by the US of all diplomatic, cultural, scientific and travel relations with Cuba

The CSC currently has an individual membership of over 4000 and an affiliated membership of over
300 organisations including 23 national Trade Unions.

OUR STAFF TEAM

The Cuba Solidarity Campaign currently employs five people - a

• Director and four other members of staff: a
• Communications Manager, an
• Office Manager, a
• Campaigns Officer, an
• Administrative Officer.

The staff are managed by the Director, who is accountable to the Executive Committee of CSC, which is elected at the Annual General Meeting.

MAIN PURPOSE

The main purpose of the post is to organise CSC’s campaigning and lobbying programme in particular with the Trade union movement. This will involve working with CSC’s various external constituencies, particularly with the trade union and labour movement but also with MPs and MEPs, and with CSC’s local groups and other networks to meet our agreed campaign objectives.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

He or she will work closely with the Communications Manager and the Director. The post holder will also work with individual members of the Executive Committee.
The Campaigns Officer will be managed by the Communications Manager. The Director and staff are accountable to an Officers Group, which exercises authority on behalf of the CSC Executive.

Although the CSC staff have separate job descriptions and areas of responsibility, the areas of work inter-relate, and all will have to liaise and co-operate with each other. The post holder will also need to work effectively with our team of office volunteers.

CUBA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGNS OFFICER
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

1. To organise and promote campaigns with the trade union and labour movement as well as with CSC’s local groups and other networks. To involve affiliated organisations and CSC members in our campaigning work.

2. To organise campaigning events, such as fringe meetings at Trade Union Conferences, and other campaigning meetings.

3. To manage and develop our affiliate membership by recruitment of new affiliates and retention of existing affiliates through a varied programme of communications and activities and events.

4. To produce campaign literature and information, including the production of leaflets, briefings, press articles and reports in association with the Communications Manager

5. To carry out liaison with and lobbying of government departments, MPs, MEPs, TUC, trade unions and other appropriate organisations.

6. To develop our campaigns work and profile with Trade Union publications and the wider media.

7. To be committed to promoting a way of working as an organisation that ensures the effective participation of all members, including those w ho face discrimination because of race, colour, creed, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, gender, or sexual orientation, and to promoting good relations within the solidarity campaign and in its relationship w ith individuals and organisations outside it.

8. To attend CSC internal meetings (Executive Committee and other w orking groups, Annual General Meeting etc. as required)

9. To undertake any other duties reasonably felt to be necessary to the successful running of theCampaign.

10. The Campaigns Officer will need to manage volunteers.

CUBA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGNS OFFICER
PERSON SPECIFICATION

1. Experience of planning and implementing strategic campaigns.

2. Knowledge of the labour and trade union movement.

3. Ability to communicate effectively with a range of external organisations, particularly at national level, to further CSC’s objectives.

4. Effective time management and organisational skills

5. Ability to work flexibly within a team based working environment.

6. Ability to write campaigning briefings, press articles and produce campaign materials, including briefing designers and printers.

7. Ability to work effectively with a range of IT systems including the use of MS office,databases and spreadsheets.

8. Ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines and on own initiative.

9. Commitment to the aims of Cuba Solidarity Campaign.

10. Ability to work with internal CSC groups and networks to achieve change.

DESIRABLE ADDITIONAL SKILLS

1. Ability to work successfully with the media

2. Ability to speak at public meetings and to represent CSC at public events

3. Ability to contribute to development of web based campaigning

CUBA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGNS OFFICER
TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This post can be considered full time (35 hours) or 4 days (28 hours) per week subject to agreement.
The post holder will need to show flexibility of working as attendance at a number of conferences away from London is an essential part of the job.

Hours
35 hours per week, pro-rata, with time off in lieu for work outside office hours, which are normally 10am to 6pm.

Salary
Appointment will be on a scale from £21,700 to £25,450 pro-rata.

Holidays
25 working days pro-rata plus bank holidays pro rata. (All of the above are pro-rata in the case of part time employment.)

Training
Training relevant to the job and for the development of skills may be allowed for up to ten days per year (subject to approval), the cost of which may be paid by CSC.
Subject to EC approval, a full-time worker may go to Cuba after the first two years of his or her employment as part of their in-service training, normally with the Work Brigade.

Union membership
Workers are encouraged to join a relevant trade union, such as TGWU/ACTS. [which is also a donor to CSC]

Disabled access
There is unfortunately no disabled access to the CSC Office.

Cuba Solidarity Campaign Equal Opportunities Statement:
Cuba Solidarity Campaign has written into its constitution the following statement as one of its objects:

‘Promote a way of working as an organisation that ensures the effective participation of all members, including those who face discrimination because of race, colour, creed, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, gender, or sexual orientation, and promotes good relations within the solidarity campaign and in its relationship w ith individuals and organisations outside it.’

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The reason for quoting this is that union members and casual callers are not allowed to see the accounts of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign. Either you join and go to the annual general meeting in London or you don't get the figures. Unite-T&G members cannot see the outbound money either, unless it's from their branch and the treasurer happens to provide an account or, if it's from a committee with another name like an external trade council, an internal trade group, or a regional office, the only hint is the union web site.

The job is not well paid and the organisation is modest. They manage to describe the job on only one or two sheets of paper. The amounts are about a quarter of one percent of Fidelity Unit Trust's £435,500 donation to the Conservative Party, or the Morning Star's £292,000 declared loss paid by similar organisations to Cuba Soldarity but involuntary donations are still wrong.

If 4,000 members pay £12 each per year there is a membership income of £48,000 minus office costs of say £8000 so there are voluntary donations to pay for one or one and a half paid staff alongside volunteers. This leaves four and a half salaries paid by involuntary donations - donations made "on behalf of" others by busybodies and the busybody community is so large that it's a full-time paid job gladhandling them, wasting a quarter of the money donated, plus the cost of thanking for 300 cheques and paying them in. Similar amounts of work are required in the 300 organisations, servicing committees, paying travelling expenses, reading motions and generally not getting-on with the job. An entire busybody class exist who aren't very good with money and think it's OK to take other peoples'. These are opposite to the characteristics needed in trustees, counsellors, branch committee members and the rest. Once these people have mis-run voluntary organisations, one or two of them go-on to become MPs and even ministers, carrying their slush-fund culture with them. This is a class of people that the 300 organisations and Fidelity Unit Trust's investors could do without.