Help from your rep

Elected workplace stewards are people who have been officially elected to represent UNISON members within a particular workplace.

Workplace stewards are the heart of our trade union. They are the reason we win campaigns that result in better lives for our members and all working people.  

They are the first point of contact for members in a workplace and help to organise colleagues into an effective, strong and welcoming membership. Their role includes:

• Talking to members about the union.
• Talking to staff about their issues.
• Offering advice on issues at work.
• Campaigning for better working conditions.
• Recruiting and organising new members.
• Encouraging more members to get active in UNISON.
• Raising members’ issues with the branch.

Your workplace steward can also support you during challenging times, advising you on your rights and how to tackle the problem. When you first contact your workplace rep, they will sit down with you, talk with you about your problem and discuss possible solutions with you. This could be issues including:

• Disciplinary or grievance procedures.
• Collective problems or grievances at work.
• Long-term sickness or absence.
• Issues around time off to care for your dependents. 

The role of an active member is a good starting point to get involved in the union. They let their branch know what’s happening in their workplace and help the union get messages to its members. They:

• share information with colleagues and other UNISON members;
• keep notice boards up to date with UNISON information;
• have regular conversations with members in the workplace;
• support people looking to join UNISON.
• Active members play an important role in helping groups of members to organise effectively.  

Your equalities rep is trained to improve equality in the workplace and deal with inequalities and discrimination. They aim to ensure people are treated fairly at work and do not suffer from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, age, religious beliefs or because they work part time. Their role includes:  

• Working with their branch to improve a workplace and employer equality policies.  
• Campaigning for equality in the workplace and the union.
• Promoting national campaigns such as International Women’s Day, LGBT History Month and Black History Month.
• Working with other reps to ensure your branch is inclusive and accessible.  
• Supporting people who want to join UNISON.
• Raising awareness of, and talking to members about UNISON’s self-organised groups and forums.  

Ask your equalities rep for help and advice if you are:

• being bullied or harassed;
• not receiving fair pay;
• being discriminated against for any reason. 

Health and safety representatives care about workers’ safety and campaign for better working conditions. They play a vital role in keeping our members healthy and safe at work.  

According to the TUC, workplaces with union safety reps and joint safety committees have half the serious injury rates as those without. Therefore, our reps play an important part in keeping the workplace safe.

Employers have a legal responsibility to keep the workplace safe by carrying out risk assessments to find potential dangers – and then acting on the findings. UNISON health and safety reps make sure that employers act to minimise risks.

As well as helping to prevent accidents, our reps also provide support when things go wrong. UNISON reps advise members on the following:

• Reporting – accidents, near-misses and violence in the workplace must be reported to help prevent them from happening again.
• Personal injury claims – if your employer has been negligent, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
• UNISON accident benefit – we offer short-term financial help to members who can’t work.
• There for You – we can offer longer term support to members who need more time to recover from an accident through our welfare charity, There for You.
• State benefits – if you are off work because of an accident and you’re struggling financially, you may be eligible for state benefits.

Safety representatives have a specific role and functions and responsibilities and also have important legal rights. A health and safety representative has the right to training and to raise issues which affect the health and safety of members.

UNISON aims to have at least one health and safety representative in every workplace where we have members. 

A branch welfare officer is a member who has volunteered to be the local representative of There for You. They are often the contact person for There for You staff at national office.

Local branch welfare officers are the first point of contact for members who are experiencing financial difficulties, or for those who need advice or signposting to local sources of support. They also support members with applications for financial assistance.

A learning rep promotes lifelong learning and workplace development. They are likely to be members who have recently completed a learning programme and are enthusiasts and advocates for learning in their own workplaces.

Union learning representatives, often known as ULRs, are passionate about getting people back into learning – whether it is professional qualifications or basic numeracy and literacy skills. Their role includes:

• Finding out how lifelong learning could help to resolve issues at work.
• Promoting learning in a workplace.
• Supporting members to take up learning opportunities.
• Encouraging adult learners to be active branch members.
• Organising workers around learning.
• Supporting people who want to join UNISON.
• Recruiting new learning reps.

Speak to your UNISON learning rep if you need help negotiating training with your employer or to find out about learning opportunities.