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18 October 2007
Sainsbury’s rep Ben Taylor, 24, from Hampshire has recently completed four weeks as a stand down rep recruiting and organising at a Sainsbury’s store in Guildford as well as in his native Alton.
"It was a fantastic experience,” said Ben. “Our company agreement with Usdaw allows the union to negotiate a period of time out for reps to recruit in Sainsbury’s stores, it’s a brilliant facility.
“It can be a daunting prospect if you haven’t done anything like this before. But it’s a real learning curve; you certainly come through it a different person, with a lot more experience under your belt.
“Being a stand down rep works because you have time to organise and plan your activity before you arrive. This helps to get the best out of your visits to your targeted stores.
“You have to be a little thick skinned too. Some days you can go all day without recruiting a single member and then the next day nine or ten join up just like that.
“Usdaw’s training has been excellent. It’s helped develop my skills and my self-confidence. I also attended a special recruitment course just before my stint which proved very useful indeed.
“The first thing staff say to me is ‘I’ve never seen anyone from the union before’. After that most of them will sit down and listen to what you have to say, once they’ve got this far they generally join.”
Contact Details
Media and Communications Department
Ph: 0161 224 2804
Fax: 0161 249 2490
communications@usdaw.org.uk
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