UNISON Ulearn Northern Ireland

I’ve been working as a chef for the past twenty years and started in the Royal around four years ago, after working through agencies. I’ve only been in UNISON for the past two years, but seemed to have got really involved very quickly and have been offered lots of opportunities for training.

I did a Disability Awareness training session, which I really enjoyed. It was great to find out what rights people have, how people with disabilities are effected within the workplace. We had discussions about phrases which were offensive and how they made people feel. I now would challenge someone in the kitchen who came out with an offensive phrase, it always amazes me, because they don’t see as offensive, they call it a throw away comment. Sometimes you hear someone question whether a colleague with a disability is able to do the job, there’s an assumption that even if you have a physical disability it affects a person’s intelligence. The course looked at the changes in the laws for disabled people, situations they face, their contribution to the work environment and really got me thinking about things I’d just never considered.

We had a steward in our area, but he got moved and the position became vacant and I got voted in. I was very happy that there was a steward’s course because I didn’t really have a clue. But the course looked at what the role of a steward is, how procedures work, how to plan what to say for meetings, dealing with difficult people, the law and rights at work. It covered quite a lot and you learned techniques to deal with different situations.

I generally enjoy being a steward, being able to sort problems out, getting things resolved for people. It has its tougher days too, but overall it’s given me a lot more confidence in dealing with management. I’ve also completed the Health & Safety rep course. Health & safety seemed to go hand in hand with being a steward. I learned a lot about legislation, but it’s relevant to your work so it’s not difficult. The course teaches you how to approach issues and now I’m keen for colleagues to take responsibility for health and safety themselves.

I’d definitely like to do more around the disability issue, I’m a lot more conscious now about things such as signage and whether information is in large print.