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Arena Magazine 2007 Issue 4 Winter Arena |
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From zero to heroes
Turning around a workplace which has no history of union involvement is one of the toughest tasks facing new reps, but that did not put off Tracey Lowther and Danny Gee, who have transformed the former Safeway store in Bridgwater, Somerset into a thriving high membership store with plenty going on.
It has taken the hard-working duo just over three years to break the 50 per cent membership barrier and they now have more than 160 members to look after at their Morrisons store. They have built up a reputation that gets them respect from both members and management. The pair won their divisional recruitment award in 2005 and have also done a stint as stand-down reps at other Morrisons stores in the area.
"To be honest I didn't really want to be the rep but no one else volunteered so I had no choice," said customer service assistant Tracey, 49. "In no time at all my area organiser had arranged training for me and things progressed very quickly. I've been a fully-fledged union rep and health and safety rep for about four years now. And I've not a second of regret!"
It was not long before Tracey was joined by customer cafe assistant Danny, who had a baptism of fire when he had to deal with three disciplinaries within one week of becoming a rep. "It's very rewarding when you have helped someone and they appreciate your support," said the 29 year-old. "We deal with all sorts of issues and when we take these forward we get a fair hearing. We don't always agree but most of the time we do get things sorted out. We have a good working relationship with the store management.
"Tracey and I are both good communicators, produce our own store newsletter to keep everyone informed and we include our contact details on there as well. We always have union literature available in the canteen too."
"Danny and I work well together," added Tracey. "We're both sticklers for detail and like everything to be just right. We've made some real improvements over the years - especially on health and safety. We've also used the campaigns. Save Our Sundays and Freedom From Fear - Respect Day both went down very well here."
"Word-of-mouth is our best recruitment tool but although we've made great strides we're not finished yet. Our target is to reach 90 per cent membership."
The new agreement between Usdaw and the company helps Tracey and Danny carry out their union business. "We now have another two reps, Kirsty Bright and Simon Binding, so this will improve our presence in store," said Danny.
www.usdaw.org.uk/getactive
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