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Arena Magazine 2004 Issue 6


Campaigns
Companies
Conferences
Editorial
Get Involved
Health and Safety
Legal Services
Letters
Lifelong Learning
Member services
Pay
People and Events
Recruitment and Organising
Rights at work
Work and Life

Campaigns

Companies

    21st century Co-ops re-energised and confident
    For decades the Co-operative societies provided the bulk of Usdaw’s membership but, as the big supermarkets muscled in during the ’70s and ’80s, the co-ops lost a large slice of their retail market share and simultaneously the union’s membership fell.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Breakthrough at Primark
    Fashion retailer Primark has scrapped all junior rates of pay at its stores in Northern Ireland, following negotiations with Usdaw.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Factories rocked by closure news
    Usdaw members were left in a state of shock after food manufacturer Northern Foods announced plans to close two factories, in Carlisle, Cumbria, and Evesham, in Worcestershire, with the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Usdaw lobbies for Coca Cola jobs
    Union reps and senior officials have met senior representatives from the Government’s Northern Ireland office in a bid to secure jobs at Coca Cola, after the drinks company announced plans to re-organise its existing Irish facilities.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Conferences

    Women at work
    Support for parents and carers, pregnancy and work, breast care awareness and the work of the union’s equalities committees dominated this year’s agenda. The event provided an ideal opportunity for members to discuss Usdaw’s key campaign for 2005 ‘Supporting Parents and Carers’ and their own experiences of juggling work and caring responsibilities.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Working to make your life better
    The Usdaw delegation to the Labour Party conference made sure members’ concerns were at the heart of the political debates.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Young mature voices speak up at the National Youth Weekend
    Our young members speak out at the 2004 National Youth weekend.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Editorial

    Media watch
    Puzzled commuters making their way to work in central London probably thought their eyes were deceiving them, but they really did see ten Santas standing outside the House of Commons in mid-October.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    The general secretary’s view - our campaigns deliver for union members
    By any measure 2004 has been a very good year for Usdaw. Almost 10,000 new members, the threat of Christmas day trading outlawed, more success for our Freedom From Fear campaign, and a significantly higher profile for our union in the political and industrial arenas. And don’t forget, it was Usdaw which pressed for a youth rate for 16 and 17 year-olds as part of the national minimum wage. The Government listened and acted.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Get Involved

    Active all areas
    With around 50,000 members aged under 26 Usdaw has one of the highest percentage of young workers in membership than any other trade union in the UK. But with 250,000 young people working in retail alone the potential is even greater.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Summer Schools 2004
    More than 120 union members spent an unforgettable week at one of the union’s three residential Summer Schools held every year for new and experienced reps.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Usdaw news direct to your desktop
    Join our mailing list to receive all the latest news and information from Usdaw.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Health and Safety

    Alcoholics anomalous
    Are you one of the three million people in the UK so addicted to alcohol you can’t get through the day without a drink? That’s the shocking figure from charity Alcohol Concern which estimates one in 13 adults are alcohol dependent. This is twice the number of people hooked on drugs. There are three times as many alcohol-related deaths as there are drug-related fatalities.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Legal Services

    Killer dust tragedy
    When George Taylor swapped his 22 years in the engineering and shipbuilding industry for a 25 year career with CIS he thought he had left behind the harsh industrial conditions of the ’50s and ’60s.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Looking after you and yours
    In 2003 Usdaw’s Legal Plus service recovered more than £18 million in compensation for members and their families, handled more than 13,500 cases, represented around 7,600 accident and employment related cases and organised 2,500 free half-hour interviews for members on issues outside of work.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Letters

Lifelong Learning

    Changing your life
    Across the UK Union Learning Reps are helping members change their lives and take up new opportunities to retrain, reskill or learn for learning's sake at a variety of workplaces and in most industries. Arena caught up with the latest workplaces to make a difference.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Member services

Pay

    Holiday bonus
    Staff at Express Gifts in the North West division were given up to two weeks extra holiday after an error in the payroll system was spotted.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

People and Events

    26 and below
    Young members are the future of Usdaw and in a regular feature on youth activists Arena looks to find out what makes them tick, and takes the pulse of union members aged 26 and below.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Branching out in Warrington
    Activists from across the UK took part in the union’s five day residential Branch Officers course at the National Training Centre in Warrington for a thorough grounding in how the union operates at national, regional and local level.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Closure marks end of an era for Jennifer
    The offer of a casual job in 1977 with the old British Mail Order Corporation (BMOC) set up Jennifer Torkington for a lifelong association with home shopping, but that will all end next June when her Bolton site is closed.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    New Faces
    Five new appointments have seen the union’s staff regenerated during the last 12 months.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Paul looks to the future
    Former National Officer Paul Gaffney retired in September after 26 years on the union’s staff and almost 40 years’ membership of Usdaw.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Two veteran officials mourned by union
    Tributes to Jack Gershman and Syd Fyfe
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Why I am an Usdaw member
    Activist Charlie McLaren explains why he joined Usdaw and how he's become more active within the union.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Recruitment and Organising

    Onwards and upwards
    An energetic new recruitment committee has clocked up more than 300 new members at the Carlisle S branch during the past year.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Reps make Usdaw the UK’s fastest growing union
    Membership figures continue to rise as hard working reps across the UK take the union’s latest total to more than 338,000 - the highest level since 1991. It maintains Usdaw’s claim to be the fastest growing UK union.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Take the Academy challenge in 2005
    Could you recruit staff in an unorganised workplace and help newly elected reps become self-sufficient within Usdaw? That is the challenge facing activists who want to be considered for next year’s Academy, Usdaw’s own exclusive six month training programme for committed activists.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Rights at work

    New procedures but business as usual for Usdaw
    All employers have to follow new minimum standards on grievance, disciplinary and dismissal procedures from October 1, 2004. While these are welcome in non-union workplaces, in Usdaw sites existing agreements are already far superior. Arena takes a closer look at the key parts of the new rules.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Your rights at work
    Did you know that as a member of Usdaw you are entitled to:
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Work and Life

    Cash help for teenage students
    A Government scheme which pays cash to encourage 16 year-olds from low income families to stay on at school is paying off.
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

    Entrapment or community service?
    More and more Usdaw members are facing prosecution as police forces and trading standards officers combine to run ‘sting’ operations to uncover the illegal sale of age-restricted products. With more and more teenagers drinking regularly, the Government has backed the alcohol-blitz and promised more to come. Arena considers the issues and asks – how confident are you that today’s sale won’t turn out to be tomorrow’s prosecution?
    11 November 2004 [Full Story]

Previous Issues

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