Happy to work 60-hour week to be a union representative
11:59am Thursday 15th December 2011 in Comment
I AM replying to the letter from Desmond Magurk ( December 12), regarding whether trades union representatives work in the best interests of their members.
Well, Mr Magurk, as UNISON convenor for Children’s Services at Bolton Council, I have always worked in the interests of all our members. All UNISON stewards hold down jobs and also represent members.
Unions are allocated time every month for union business and, depending on the workload, this time can vary from steward to steward. We are paid the salary for our job and nothing more.
As for holding down a job and doing union work, for many years I worked a six-day week in excess of 60 hours to do the union work. This was done on my “normal” salary with no extras or perks.
For the last few years, I have been given full-time facility time because of the amount of negotiation that is now involved, including disciplinaries, capability proceedings and restructures. Over recent months much of my time has been taken up by negotiations over reviews of front-line services, which include making council staff redundant.
Such negotiations have been made inevitable by massive cuts in government spending and Bolton Council’s budget.
On the day of the strike, which was taken to try to stop this government’s attacks on our pensions, all union representatives will have given up a day’s pay, just like all members. All representatives are elected by their fellow union members in the workplace and work in their members’ interests for no extra pay.
Finally, if Mr Magurk has previously been a union representative, surely he should not be criticising other union representatives in trying to get the best deal for their members.
This is called solidarity, something he seems to have forgotten.
Florence Hill UNISON Convenor
