{"id":10627,"date":"2016-11-18T11:18:27","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T11:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=10627"},"modified":"2016-11-18T15:33:57","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T15:33:57","slug":"energy-of-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=10627","title":{"rendered":"Energy of youth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Young people working in the energy sector convened for their Young Reps\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Week earlier this month \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a new Unite course that immersed reps in all the work that Unite does in and out of the workplace, from political lobbying to organising to legal work and more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The course ended with a trip to Parliament \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for many of the young reps, this was their first up close and personal experience they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had with politics before.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite shop steward Sam Jones, 25, was one rep who participated. He now works for EDF in maintenance, where he started as an apprentice five years ago.<\/p>\n

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Sam told UNITElive that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite know what to expect from the course.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo be honest, I thought it would be a bit boring,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut in the end I was very impressed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it was a really good experience. The tutors presented all the information in a way we could relate to and understand.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sam said he was particularly challenged by the public speaking exercise, in which the reps had to speak for three minutes straight without stopping.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I would be able to do it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it was difficult but really boosted my confidence,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs reps, we have to have that confidence in order to represent our members well.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was the first time that Sam had visited Parliament, where the reps were given a full tour and spoke with Labour MPs, including deputy speaker Lindsay Hoyle, shadow energy secretary Barry Gardiner and Lisa Nandy MP. The reps also attended Prime Minister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Questions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sam highlighted how the experience dispelled some preconceptions he had about government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Snobby\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI always had this impression that MPs were snobby and unapproachable but they were the exact opposite,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey answered our questions and genuinely listened to our concerns.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite equalities rep Lisa Higgins, 33, who works for Western Power Distribution, agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs workers in the energy sector, we had the opportunity to get our own views across to the shadow energy secretary and other MPs, and they took us seriously \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I was surprised by how open they were,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI learned more about our government and how our democracy works in that one day than I have in years at school. It made me feel that government is in fact accessible to all of us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that we can make a difference.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lisa noted that the course, along with the trip to Parliament, helped her to link together all the different ways that Unite fights for its members.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI learned exactly why Unite is affiliated to the Labour Party \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because those political links form part of a strategy to achieve our industrial aims, to gain better pay, terms and conditions for members, for all working people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both Sam and Lisa emphasised the importance of young people joining trade unions.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYoung people must carry on the work of the trade union movement, to be the voice of working people,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Sam said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re living in very uncertain times right now \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we need trade unions now more than ever.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Different challenges <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lisa agreed. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYoung workers in particular are facing different challenges than previous generations,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTake zero-hours contracts for example \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the vast majority of people on these contracts are young people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDigitalisation is another workplace issue that will largely affect young people who are just now entering the workforce,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Lisa added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why unions need to recruit more young people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because young people understand and are living through these big changes in the workplace that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re experiencing now.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd young people need trade unions too because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re entering the workforce without having any idea of their rights \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something they teach in schools.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer for energy Kevin Coyne, who organised the Young Reps\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Week said the feedback he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d received from both the reps and tutors was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfantastic\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe also had four women on the course, which was terrific when you consider how male-dominated the energy sector is,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Coyne noted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAmid an ageing workforce, we at Unite must find ways to engage our young members, and Young Reps\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Week was one way we hoped to do just that,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe reps were delighted and you could tell that the whole group really gelled together.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coyne hopes the course will continue to be offered in the future and will serve as a blueprint for young reps courses in other sectors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"young-reps\"

Unite national officer for energy Kevin Coyne (second from left) joins young energy sector reps in trip to Parliament<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young people working in the energy sector convened for their Young Reps\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Week earlier this month \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a new Unite course that immersed reps in all the work that Unite does in and out of the workplace, from political lobbying to organising to legal work and more.   The course ended with a trip to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[54,444],"wps_subtitle":"Young reps get inspired by politics","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10629,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10627\/revisions\/10629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}