‘Cherry on the cake’

Unite’s very own Paul McGovern took home the TUC’s prestigious top Learning Rep award today (September 13) presented at conference by TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

UNITElive caught up with McGovern who said he was very proud of the union learning work he and his colleagues have done over the years.

McGovern said his path to becoming a learning rep started off when he was a shop steward.

“The opportunity to become a learning rep presented itself and it dually gave me a chance to gain all the qualifications I never achieved,” he explained. “I was quite happy to do that.”

“It then became my goal to pass on that education path to my colleagues in work,” McGovern added.

At the union learning centre in Blackpool Transport, McGovern noted that they’ve offered many different courses to many different students over the years – from literacy to numeracy to IT to sign language and diversity courses and much more.

“If we can get at least 10 people together interested in a course, we will basically offer any course you can think of,” he said. “We’re very proud of our learning centre and we’ve put a lot of work into it – and now that work has become fruitful. We’re absolutely overjoyed by it.”

What does McGovern enjoy most about being a learning rep? For him, it’s those small moments that makes it all worth it.

“For me personally the biggest reward is when for example a colleague comes up to me and says, ‘Thank you so much, I was finally able to help my son or daughter with their homework last night.’ When people come out with statements like that – it’s a testament to what we do.”

While McGovern explained that he was very proud and grateful to have received the award, the work he does is it’s own reward.

“The award today encapsulates everything that I’ve worked for, going back to all those years ago when I first set out to gain my qualifications,” he said.

“While we don’t do things just to get a pat on the back, it is nice to get that recognition at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s the cherry on the cake if you like.”

Award-winning Unite rep Paul McGovern with Unite general secretary Len McCluskey