Equality is a fundamental principle of trade unionism. The strength of our movement comes from people standing together to exercise a collective voice and in refusing to allow employers or governments to divide and conquer. We have seen positive social changes and progress on the equalities agenda in this country that many of us would not have thought possible just a few decades ago. And as a union, we have secured important rights for our members in the workplace.

However no one should think that the job here is finished, inequality and unfairness still exist and sadly do so within our workplaces, this was and continues to be one of the reasons I stood to be your Equality Officers.

As your Equality Officer these are some of the things I can get involved with:

• Recruit new members, organise and provide some representation for members 

• Monitor harassment, discrimination and equality issues at your place of work 

• Campaign, share information and raise awareness on equality issues at work 

• Be involved in negotiating with management along with other union officials on the equality agenda 

• Provide support and identify opportunities for encouraging under-represented groups to take part in the union and ensure their equality needs are also addressed 

• Be involved in promoting family-friendly equality policies. For example, flexible working practices and also encouraging the eradication of discrimination and bullying at work 

• Assist and support members pursuing discrimination cases at the request of the branch.

• Be a contact point for equality matters; 

So if you have an equality matter you’d like to discuss please get in touch you can email me equality@shropsmidwales.com or call on 07968210746.

Ruth Meadows