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Arena Magazine 2005 Issue 5 |
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First class delivery
Home shopping reps have performed miracles in looking after their members during the most sustained period of change any industry has faced in the last ten years, national officer Val Pugh told delegates at their biennial conference.
Activists from all the main companies - Littlewoods Shop Direct Group, Grattan, Redcats, Argos, Optimum and JD Williams - were present at the national training centre in Warrington to discuss how to cope with the almost permanent changes going on within the sector.
"There's not one company which hasn't gone through major upheaval," said conference chair Anne Hickson. "Companies have been bought and sold, or merged, but while all of these changes have been going on our reps have been doing a consistently fantastic job in looking after their members."
Job losses have seen the sector shrink as the internet replaces the more traditional catalogue shopping. "The most striking thing about this sector is that although reps work for competitive companies they all support each other in their union work," said Val Pugh. "Our members have had to contend with massive changes and it's not over yet. It is a measure of how hard our reps work that we still have on average 90 per cent membership in our home shopping centres. That's why, despite all the comings and goings and tight profit margins, we have been able to negotiate pay rises, at the very least, in line with inflation."
The afternoon session of conference saw Lynn Healey, Joyce Bole, Dave Stanley, Mel Reynard, Angela Carroll, and Steph Bithell give passionate accounts of how they are dealing with change at their workplaces. Debates centred on SARAH - representing Shock, Anger, Realisation, Acceptance and Hope - emotions which all home shopping staff had experienced during the last few years.
Lifelong Learning continues to progress with a number of sites having well-established, and in some cases award winning, learning centres. Active teams of learning reps are bringing much needed courses to the membership. Head of education James Rees congratulated the reps on their achievements, hard work and enthusiasm.
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