Clean sweep

Like so many others, straight-talking Carol Husk didn’t so much as volunteer for the position of union rep, it was thrust upon her by work colleagues who recognised that she was perfect for the job.

Four years in and the 46 year-old, who works at the Morrisons store in Canterbury in the dry cleaning department, is still enjoying her union involvement. “I have a reputation for speaking my mind so when the vacancy came up I thought ‘I’ll give it a go’,” said Carol. “My work mates said ‘you’ll be good at it’ which was all very well but I didn’t know I would be! Thankfully the union sorted out some training for me that really did help. I’ve done the rep’s basic and advanced courses, two health and safety courses and a maternity rights course.”

Carol has grown as a rep and has been in the thick of the action during the former Safeway’s store takeover and conversion to Morrisons. “This has been a lot of hard work for everyone at the store,” she said. “Initially there was a lot of confusion and we have all had to adapt to new ways of working, a new management structure and new training procedures. But we’re getting there now.”

Carol is well known in the supermarket and has dealt with most types of issues from disciplinaries and grievances to sorting out jackets for cold checkout operators and getting the canteen toaster fixed. “Problems usually come in batches. You can go for months without anything cropping up then all of a sudden everything happens at once.

You can tell as soon as you walk through the door someone will say ‘can I have a word’ and that can lead to being bombarded with questions at lunch and tea breaks. I’m a good listener – you have to be -– and sometimes you find yourself dealing with issues that go beyond the workplace.

“The training courses have helped me to deal with just about anything. They were a great source of information and knowledge and are conducted in a very relaxed manner. Although I’m a confident type of person these courses gave me even more. I rarely have to ring my local office for advice any more and because the local management here are approachable we tend to get things sorted out pretty quickly and at store level.”

Carol has been boosted by the arrival of a new rep Anthea Morris, 26, who is sharing the workload. “We now have an ideal blend of youth and experience. Anthea and I bounce off each other, we recruit together, and help each other out. We get on well. Our biggest challenge is signing up the large numbers of student workers here but we keep plugging away. We’re always on the look out for new starters across the departments.

“Sometimes it can be quite draining being a rep but overall I enjoy it. It gives me something else to think about other than work and there are far more plusses than minuses. Often it breaks the monotony of a normal working day. I love to be busy so it suits me.

At home in Aylesham Carol lives with husband Bob, a self-employed courier, and daughter Samantha who is studying for her A levels. Son Gary is in the army. “I don’t get a lot of time to relax but when I do, Bob and me like to eat out at a local restaurant. At the weekend I’m usually doing the housework and shopping. ”

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