4. Handing casework
General information about making referrals to JCWI:
• JCWI only provides telephone advice. It does not represent people in formal hearings.
• JCWI will phone the member back, usually within a week of a referral being sent to them. The calls will usually be between 10am and 5pm, and normally on a Tuesday.
• Members should look out for calls from an unknown number.
• On the day JCWI calls the member, they will try ringing them twice. Members should ensure that their voicemail is on, as JCWI will leave a message with contact details and times, if they are unable to get through.
• If members have an urgent request with a deadline, e-mail UCCCMSTLQueries who will look into this further and send to JCWI.
Turning casework into organising opportunities
Day-to-day casework is a vital part of the larger aim of organising migrant workers and building strong unions that can fight for improvements to their conditions as well as to those of all other workers in health and social care. Casework can be the first point of contact for many migrant workers – a moment of crisis that becomes an entry point into the union. Handled well, it can build trust, encourage ongoing engagement, and reveal natural leaders among the workforce. Every resolved case is not just a win for one member, but a chance to show the value of the union and build collective strength.
Importantly, casework offers opportunities to identify broader patterns and to plan for collective action. By tracking issues raised in casework, union staff and reps can begin to map out:
• which employers are repeatedly appearing in complaints
• what types of exploitation or legal breaches are most common
• where there may be emerging leaders or groups of workers open to further organising
This intelligence can feed directly into workplace mapping and the development of local campaigns. Even if collective action isn’ t immediately possible against some employers, casework can lay the foundation for it( see Chapter 12).
As you support individual members, consider:
• Logging every case and categorising it by employer, issue, and visa status
• Identifying whether the issue might affect others in the same workplace
• Looking for natural leaders who might be willing to speak to others or take on small roles
• Feeding what you learn into your branch’ s approach to targeting employers or building leverage with councils and commissioners
LRD • Supporting migrant workers 25