10 years in UNISON

I'm not sure sure of the exact date, but it was this time around 10 years ago that I both entered the workforce and joined UNISON.

I was working while at college and knowing that I wanted to be a nurse and needing a flexible job that I could fit around my studies I got a job as a care assistant (or Personal Carer as we were known) with HICA a private sector provider which had taken over care homes across Humberside (as was). I was very much from a family where it came as naturally as anything else that if you had a job, you joined the union, and the only recognised union was UNISON.

Being a member 10 years ago was for different to my experience now. I think I was the only member in the home (though I may not have been), those staff that had been members told me how they left because they felt let down and abandoned when they were privatised. Now I'm sure the local Branch were working hard on behalf these members (though it was about 5 years before I worked there) but rightly or wrongly those staff felt that their union had let them down.

As someone who is now massively involved in the leadership of the union, both at a Branch and National level, I always try and remember that unorganised workplace and the experience of those staff.

I hope in my own Branch that we try and communicate well enough with our members, face to face as much as possible, for them to feel involved and know we're on their side. That challenge is even harder on a national level but the principle's the same.