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By the time you read this I’ll be in Manchester for the 150th gathering of the Trades Union Congress.

This fantastic event is even more special this year as the TUC comes home to celebrate its anniversary.

I grew up with unions. My family were members of the NUT, Nupe, Aslef and lots of other collections of letters.

In my first job, the first thing they gave me after they showed me where to sit was a form for the NUJ.

I grew up with stories of the TUC, the legendary annual get-together of the unions.

Although I never saw it first-hand, I can tell you that a lot of the cliches – the hard-drinking, the smoky back rooms, late night deals – are true.

Especially the hard drinking. I heard a lot of tales that ended: “So they threw us out” or “We settled it arm-wrestling” or, on one occasion, “It was the right hotel but the wrong city.”

(Image: Daily Mirror/TUC)

But those days are gone, for better or for worse.

There will be a pint or two, no doubt, but things are a lot more sensible these days. Much more than that has changed.

Membership has fallen over the years but that’s only to be ­expected. Traditionally, the public sector has been the home of the majority of union membership.

And as Tory austerity has shrunk the public sector so too has the number of people involved in trade unions.

In the late 70s half the workforce was in a trade union. Now it’s around 20 per cent.

But membership numbers have ­always fluctuated, so there is no ­reason they won’t grow again.

And there are still more than six million people in unions.

This is probably one of the most important times to be a member, what with zero-hours contracts and the like.

So this is a good time to praise the work unions are doing.

On an national level it’s easy to spot. But locally there is vital work that slips under the radar.

There are hundreds of examples but here are a few.

Unison is fighting for the lowest-paid workers at Bolton Royal Infirmary to be paid fairly.

The West Midlands branch of the Fire Brigades Union joined an anti-racist demonstrators last week to ­oppose an EDL rally.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union are campaigning for the rights of people who have been burned while working at McDonalds. And the CWU just sorted out free flu jabs for Royal Mail staff.

The next few days will be a ­celebration of all this great work. And rightly so.

John McDonnell summed it up when we chatted about the upcoming TUC event: “What a trade union does is make sure people are treated fairly, that their workplace is safe.

“The principle is simple – we stand together and we look after one other.

“Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”