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Arena Magazine 2005 Issue 1 |
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Media watch
Media watch is under new management as former Tonight with Trevor McDonald journalist Paul Clarke takes over as Usdaw’s media officer.
He succeeds Kevin Hegarty who's gone off to join the army. Don't worry, though, Kevin didn't sign up for active duty. He's joined up as a civilian press officer and Arena thanks him for a job well done in his time with the union.
Paul is available at central office to deal with any press enquires on a local, regional and national basis. He'll also be heavily involved in our Supporting Parents and Carers campaign.
On the campaigning front our Usdaw Santa had a busy time in Scotland where we're campaigning to stop retailers opening on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Santa took time out from ferrying presents to our kids to join Scottish MSP Karen Whitefield on the streets of Edinburgh reminding shoppers that our members want to be with their families on those two special days.
Karen is drumming up support for a bill that will legally enforce a ban on Christmas trading similar to the one in the rest of the UK which we fought long and hard for.
Santa's visit had good coverage in the Scottish press with big features in all the major papers in Scotland and a number of radio interviews as our officials set out the case for keeping the stores shut.
Journalists are often slightly less popular than the Tories with the public but sometimes they can make a positive difference.
A classic example of this was the row over a directive by BHS managers in Scotland to make staff work until 9pm on Christmas Eve. An outrageous idea quickly condemned by Usdaw officials north of the border. The next day billionaire Philip Green, owner of BHS, rang the local media to overturn that decision. A small victory perhaps, but one that proves the need for us to keep putting our case in the press as it often pays dividends.
Overall, Usdaw has done well in making sure your voice was heard loud and clear in a trading period that for many of our members is the busiest time of the year. Our calls for fairness and common sense have featured heavily in the coverage of holiday trading and we intend to continue that high profile strategy in 2005.
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