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25.03.2026 / News /

Full house of students kicks off the firts week of EGOS

Last week 22 students joined us to kick off the first training session of the Emanuel Gomes Organising School (EGOS) at Casa UVW. In a moment where low-paid and migrant workers continue to bear the brunt of workplace injustice, the room was filled with people ready to fight back and learn how to win. 

UVW’s organising school was established in honour of Emanuel Gomes, a UVW member who tragically died after showing up to work sick because he had no sick pay during the Covid-19 pandemic. EGOS brings eager activists together to learn essential organising skills and build confidence to support worker power in real life.  

Students first introduced themselves to the group, listing an essential component of organising, such as ‘trust’, ‘flexibility’, ‘confidence’, ‘strength’, and more. The list served as the jumping off point to introduce the history and defining campaigns of UVW that have become organising blueprints for winning.  

Reflecting on these victories, students reaffirmed a shared commitment: precarious migrant workers must be empowered to fight for their rights. 

Johnny, a physiotherapist in the NHS, expressed how the origins and mission of EGOS speaks to his experience: “I work in a lot of care homes and I’ve gone to work in a lot of hospitals in the past. Hearing about Emanuel Gomes is something I’ve seen first hand when working through Covid in Northwick Park Hospital.”  

Johnny connected this to his excitement to train with UVW to organise and support migrant workers. He said, “UVW, of all the unions in Britain, excites me because of how the people that UVW represents – low-paid migrant precarious workers – come to understand capitalism and become radicalised.” 

The second half of the session previewed an outline of what’s to come in the following weeks of the course. Students lastly discussed American trade union SEIU 1199’s Advice to Rookie Organisers, pointing out the powerful quote: “Workers are made of clay, not glass.” Workers are not only able to be built up and shaped, as this analogy suggests, but they themselves shape UVW into the powerful union it is.  

This is just the beginning. If you want to learn how to become an effective organiser apply for EGOS. 

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