Becoming a trade union rep just before the Covid-19 pandemic
I am a very proactive person. When I was expecting my first baby, I found the maternity policy for my health board and made sure I was aware of my rights and my responsibilities.
When I was unfortunately absent from work following a pregnancy loss I wasn’t treated with kindness or compassion during a long-term absence meeting. Therefore I made sure I knew what the absence policy stated to support myself through a horrible time.
This type of behaviour was noticed by my colleagues, and I quickly became someone who people came to for advice. I could also fix the printer which made me invaluable and people treated like a goddess!
Would I like to become a union rep?
Because of some of these qualities and my 15 years experience (at the time) as a midwife, a RCM union rep approached me in 2019 and asked if I’d take on a branch role.
I didn’t commit initially as have a young son and the health board that I worked for had just been placed in special measures. And I was uncertain about what I would be expected to do in the role.
But by 6 February, two days before my 40th birthday, I had changed my mind and had been voted in as a workplace rep. I was excited to start improving the working environment for the staff.
Little did I know then what was to come.
Starting the role a month before a global pandemic
The global pandemic and lockdown measures catapulted me at full speed into the role.
Early in the pandemic it all became too much for some of the branch officials and I was left as the only active branch officer on my site.
We had to drastically adjust our plans for 2020. We moved to virtual meetings and used WhatsApp, Facebook and Microsoft Teams to keep in touch.
This has forever changed the way we communicate, celebrate, and educate ourselves as a profession and trade union branch.
We have recently celebrated international day of the midwife with an awards ceremony. Holding it virtually meant that we could come together across our three sites and have everyone involved in celebrating the amazing work achieved in our health board.