Arena Magazine 2006 Issue 2 March April

Real issues – real success

Last year was a fantastic success for Usdaw’s Supporting Parents and Carers campaign. Thanks to the hard work and support of thousands of reps and activists we can look back on some great achievements.

One of the campaign's main aims was to raise awareness among reps and members of the legal and workplace rights parents and carers have. We did that.

Many more members now understand that they do have the right to paid time off for antenatal care, for example, or have the right to take time off in an emergency (albeit unpaid) and they feel more able to use these rights when they need to.

The campaign also gave reps much-needed leaflets and resource materials so they could better represent and advise their members at work.

Usdaw's profile was raised in hundreds of workplaces and has spread the message that the union puts issues like flexible working, childcare and maternity rights at the heart of its agenda.

Real strides have also been made to improve rights for parents and carers across our agreements.

We set out to improve rights on maternity and paternity leave and pay and spread flexible working practices across our sectors.

It is clear we have had many successes. At Tesco Usdaw has negotiated two weeks paternity leave on full pay for fathers - making paternity leave, for the first time since its introduction, a real option for our members.

Flexible working has been another area where Usdaw has pushed back the boundaries.

We've negotiated better flexible working arrangements with some employers, including term time working, carers shifts and extending the right to request flexible working to those not covered by the statutory scheme such as parents of school age children.

We've also had lots of successes with contractual maternity pay, an area where it has often been difficult to make gains.

Usdaw has a wealth of campaign material on offer. Contact your local office for more details.

For more information visit: Supporting Parents and Carers

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