{"id":7710,"date":"2016-02-11T11:09:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T11:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7710"},"modified":"2016-02-11T11:09:15","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T11:09:15","slug":"life-changing-bonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7710","title":{"rendered":"Life-changing bonds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In Part 4 of our Heart Unions week<\/a> series, UNITELive speaks to Michelle, a transgender member, who explains how the union gave her the support she needed through her transition — both in and out of the workplace.<\/p>\n

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Michelle Winstanley has been a trade union member for decades \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she first joined the EETPU, which went through a series of mergers that eventually became part of Unite.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until only a few years ago that Michelle, who is transgender, became a more involved member of the union.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was around the time that I was going through my transition about five or six years ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI found out by chance that Unite had an LGBT equalities committee and I decided to dip my toe in to find out what exactly it was all about.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nIt was at this moment, Michelle noted, that her relationship to the union strengthened.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAttending that first meeting, it felt incredible to speak to others who understood what I was going through. They were really kind and genuine people, and the help I got was immense.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nShe then became an ardent LGBT activist through both Unite and the TUC, first in Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s North West regional branch and then eventually on a national level. She also helps organise national Pride events.<\/p>\n

 
\nMany people are not aware of all the obstacles that transgender people must confront in the workplace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They can face harassment and discrimination. They may have trouble getting medical leave during their transition. They can be forced to wear clothing or use toilet facilities that go against the gender they identify with.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut Michelle explained that her transition was a relatively easy one thanks to union support.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been working for the same employer, a logistics company, for about 26 years before I started my transition,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo you can imagine I was quite nervous about how it would all work out. But I went to plenty of union meetings beforehand and spoke to people who were going through the same things. Just talking to people really helped.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe main issue in my workplace \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as it is with many transgender people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was using the toilets,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut my union official was fantastic and worked with the employer to help me through the transition. They briefed work colleagues, and while initially there were some complaints about me using the female toilets, that eventually stopped.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was very lucky,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Michelle noted.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite truly has equality at the heart of the union,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 
\nMore than anything, Michelle explained, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the friends she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made through the union that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most grateful for.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe bonds I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made are truly life-changing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany people are hesitant to join the union because they think, well, you have to pay too much,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut if you really engage and take part \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth every penny.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Part 4 of our Heart Unions week series, UNITELive speaks to Michelle, a transgender member, who explains how the union gave her the support she needed through her transition — both in and out of the workplace.   Michelle Winstanley has been a trade union member for decades \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she first joined the EETPU, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[483,329],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7710"}],"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=7710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7712,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7710\/revisions\/7712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}