{"id":27704,"date":"2021-02-09T16:33:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T16:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=27704"},"modified":"2021-02-09T16:33:14","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T16:33:14","slug":"best-value-for-money-youll-ever-get","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=27704","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Best value for money you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll ever get\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Sean Halsall, 35, worked as a bus driver for Arriva in Southport for 16 years. He was recruited to Unite during a training session and went on to become the rep at his workplace for six years, the youth rep for the transport road section of Unite and to sit on the European Transport Workers Federation.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a long history of trade unionism in Sean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family with three of his four grandparents all having been shop stewards. His gran, who came over from Ireland worked in the NHS and his dad was the branch secretary at the same bus station where Sean worked.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBeing a rep is definitely the most rewarding thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever done,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Sean.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It was during a strike at the bus station in 2017 that Sean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talent really caught the eye of Unite. Regional officer Neil Clarke saw the work Sean had put in to the strike \u00e2\u20ac\u201c organising campaign materials and rallying members.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never considered a career in politics. I had always wanted to be an officer for Unite,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Sean. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut Neil and another local officer, Alison Spencer-Scragg, suggested standing for council.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI attended Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regional and national political schools and was part of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future candidate program, which was by far the most useful course I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done for getting practical skills,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sean was successfully elected as Labour councillor for Sefton borough council in May 2019. He represents residents in Bootle, Sefton Central and Southport.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWithout the help and support from Unite I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have never developed the skills and confidence needed to get me where I am now,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Sean.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To anyone not already a member of a union Sean says, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou only have to look at the comparison between unionised workplaces pay and terms and conditions to those of non-unionised workplaces to see that you need that support on your side.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnion fees will be the best value for money you ever get. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just be a passive member though. Get active and really engage with your union as that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best way to really make a difference and make your workplace better.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Jody Whitehill<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sean Halsall, 35, worked as a bus driver for Arriva in Southport for 16 years. He was recruited to Unite during a training session and went on to become the rep at his workplace for six years, the youth rep for the transport road section of Unite and to sit on the European Transport Workers Federation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[176,483,349,700],"wps_subtitle":"Former Unite rep and now local councillor Sean Halsall on the immeasurable value of being in Unite","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27704"}],"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=27704"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27713,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27704\/revisions\/27713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}