{"id":19675,"date":"2019-12-20T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=19675"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:54:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:54:49","slug":"unite-faith-workers-join-union-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=19675","title":{"rendered":"‘Vital support’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When people think of trade unionists, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often think of vicars, but Unite is as ever a big and growing tent of workers who \u00e2\u20ac\u201c despite holding a diversity of views — are united in their belief in solidarity.<\/p>\n

 
\nReverend Chris Haywood (pictured below with wife Georgie) is one such newly minted member of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s faith worker branch, which now exceeds more than 2,000 members and includes those of a number of religions, from Judaism to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and others.<\/p>\n

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\nNew to Unite, Chris is also relatively new to the clergy itself \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in his mid-40s, he decided to leave a 25-year career as a podiatrist in the NHS to pursue his new calling. He was ordained two and half years ago.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI remember sitting in my car before leaving my previous job and just suddenly breaking down in tears,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told UniteLive. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy wife later said that it was me grieving, to leave a profession I loved. But ultimately I had a definite sense of God calling me.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nOne thing Chris has been all his life is a union member, so joining Unite was a natural choice even in a vocation not known for trade unionism.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thankful to Unite rep Pete Hobson [who chairs the Unite section of the Church of England clergy advocates] for coming to speak to us about how a trade union can support people in the clergy. I was also encouraged to join by many of my colleagues when I was first ordained.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nChris says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s come to understand why having a trade union by your side as a faith worker is so important. Vicars don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enjoy many of the employment rights that most of us do, because they are considered \u00e2\u20ac\u0098officeholders\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and not employees or workers.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI like to think of what we do as very similar to lorry drivers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you have an awful lot of responsibility but very few protections,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou have to navigate a lot of regulations (in our case, for example, Canon Law) but you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re mostly on your own. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very isolating at times and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why that support is all the more vital.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nChris said that beyond the value of representation, being part of a union helps give him greater insight into people he serves in his parish.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way to connect with our community, most of whom are working-class people. Being part of a union gives me greater confidence in supporting the people in our area to the best of my ability,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\nChris will be among the estimated 1m people working on Christmas Day. While for many of these workers working over Christmas isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ideal, Chris says he loves it.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor clergy, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re essentially on call on Christmas,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI spent last Christmas in hospital with an elderly lady who comes to our church who was very ill,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo me it was really important to provide that comfort and support to people who are having a tough time at Christmas.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nChris reminds Unite members this Christmas to remember the story of Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 birth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c after all, those who first bore witness, the shepherds, were working people just like them.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bShepherds were the first night shift workers. They worked unsocial hours; they were on the margins of society,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYet they were the first to encounter the saviour and bring the joyful news to others.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nWishing all a happy Christmas, Chris urged faith workers to join Unite.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was speaking to a friend of mine who is now a head teacher and we just came to the conclusion that no matter where we go in life, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re union men at heart. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m truly of the belief that no matter where you work, you can always benefit from the support of a union.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Find out more about Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Faith workers branch, and how you can join, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When people think of trade unionists, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often think of vicars, but Unite is as ever a big and growing tent of workers who \u00e2\u20ac\u201c despite holding a diversity of views — are united in their belief in solidarity.   Reverend Chris Haywood (pictured below with wife Georgie) is one such newly minted member […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[648,293],"wps_subtitle":"Unite faith worker and vicar Rev Chris Hayward on why he joined a union","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19675"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19675"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24799,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19675\/revisions\/24799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}