I’m interested in becoming a rep. What do they do?

Being a union rep is very rewarding. It’s a great way to help people, but you’ll need to have some tough conversations. Local reps are important because they are the backbone of their union

More generally, reps represent employees at a local level. They also act as a link between employees, their employer and the union.

Some things reps will be doing are:

• recruiting members into the union and organising them around workplace issues
• talking to members about workplace issues, advise them and keep them informed of the latest developments
• representing members who have problems
• branch work and the wider union
• negotiations with the employer
• health & safety
• learning roles

Not all union representatives have the same roles within the union team. For example, not every rep gets involved in workplace disciplinary problems and not all union reps will be involved directly face-to-face negotiations over key issues.

If you’re a good communicator, feel strongly about issues, want to change things for the better or want to give something back, consider taking on an active role in the CWU. Talk to your local rep about how get involved. You could act as a point of contact between members and the local branch or section, become a rep or run for a set on your local committee. In the CWU, the committee is decided by ballot and branch or section elections take place every two years.

Read more about the role of a union representative and what that entails here