National Minimum Wage
Paul Gallaher upcoming retirement
National Minimum Wage
Work related ill health is costing the UK economy
Workers memorial day
Union Benefits guidelines
Personal Injury
Union Benefits
Experts de-bunk economic myths on the Employment Rights Bill
Paul Gallaher upcoming retirement
Neonatal care leave and pay
Employment Rights Bill, six key changes to Trade Union Law
Gender Pay Gap means women work first 48 days of the year free Sickness
Order your Union posters and flyers
Paul Gallaher upcoming retirement
I thought it was ‘groundhog day’ when my attention was recently drawn to an article on the ‘BBC News’ web pages. The article related to why young people don’t want to be HGV drivers. With the ‘Road Haulage Association’ (‘RHA’) indicating that 200,000 drivers being needed to enter the logistics sector over the next five years, to avoid a repeat of the shortage we witnessed earlier this decade, something surely needs to be done to attract younger people into our industry. ‘Office of National Statistics’ (ONS’) data indicates that less than 2% of HGV drivers are under the age of 25. Whatever the reason, unsociable hours or nights away from family life at home, one factor might be that our industry is simply unattractive for women. It is a fact that if the same amount of females passed their HGV test as males whom passed the test, there would be no potential shortage of professional drivers. What is stopping many females becoming part of our profession?
On the face of it, women have fewer accidents and show more empathy toward road users. However, a pre-pandemic survey of more than 3,000 women in the transport sector found that high levels of harassment was one of the barriers to women entering our industry. According to statistics, only 22 percent of transport workers within Europe are women. If we want to make the transport industry more attractive to females and ensure that more women come to work in it we must do better. As a start there has to be decent sanitation facilities available in the sector. Decent sanitation and washing facilities are actually a human right, essential for the health and safety of transport workers. Women transport workers around the world face these problems on a daily basis, putting women at risk of poor health. There is so much more we could and ought to achieve to make our industry as safe and attractive an environment in which women can work.
In November’s edition of ‘Wheels’ it was with a great deal of sadness that I wrote to inform you of the passing of our Union’s former General Secretary, Fank Griffin. As our journal was ‘posted’ on our Union website, I was informed that a second former colleague, Dave Swan, had passed on 15 November 2024, at the relatively young age of seventy-four. Dave started his employment with our Union during October 2003, retiring on 5 April 2015, just prior to his sixty-fifth birthday. Being the General Secretary of our Union when Dave was appointed a Regional Officer during 2003 and at the time of his retirement, it was my great pleasure to have both known Dave as a work colleague of immense dedication and commitment and also sociably, at which his company was infectious. RIP Dave.
Finally, by the time you read this the Easter break will be approaching. For me, it will be a welcome short break from what has been an exceptionally busy start to 2025. If you are off work over Easter, enjoy your break and look forward to a hopefully warm summer… Until next time… Drive safely.
The Government has announced National Minimum Wage rates for 2025, including the National Living Wage. The new rates which will come into force from 1 April 2025 are as follows:
TUC Press Release
10 March 2025
https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-work-related-ill-health-costing-uk-economy-over-ps400-million-week
New analysis shows that number of days lost due to work-related ill-health has rocketed by a third since 2010 to 34 million days
Work-related ill-health reduced economic output by £22bn in 2023
TUC says findings highlight the importance of driving up job quality in the UK and stronger rights at work ahead of Employment Rights Bill returning
Work-related ill-health is costing the UK economy over £415 million a week – according to new TUC analysis published today (Monday).
The analysis of official statistics shows that the number of days lost due to health conditions – including stress, depression and anxiety – has shot up by a third since 2010.
In 2023 to 2024 (the latest year for which figures are available) 34 million working days were lost to work-related ill-health – compared to 22 million in 2010.
The TUC says the findings – which are published as the Employment Rights Bill returns to parliament - show the “urgent importance” of improving the quality of work in the UK.
In 2022 to 2023 (the latest year for which figures are available) work-related ill-health is estimated to have reduced economic output by £21.6bn.
The TUC says the rise in days lost to work-related ill health has coincided with a huge boom in insecure work. The union body estimates that over a similar period (2011-2023) the number of people in precarious employment also rocketed by a third to over 4 million.
A separate report out today from the Commission for Healthier Working Lives suggests that poor quality work can harm employee health.
The report states “Most health conditions develop outside work, but for a significant number of people, work itself is the cause. Persistent insecurity, workplace discrimination and extreme demands take a serious toll on health. In some cases, poor-quality work is even worse for health than being unemployed.”
The TUC says driving up employment standards will help improve staff well-being, health and productivity. It will also ensure that more people with disabilities or health conditions can stay in work.
This view was backed up by polling last autumn which revealed that:
Three-quarters (75 per cent) of managers think that strengthened employment rights will improve employee health, compared to just 4 per cent who disagree
Seven in 10 (74 per cent) believe that strengthening employment rights will improve workforce retention, compared to just 6 per cent who do not.
Employment Rights Bill back in parliament
The government’s Employment Rights Bill will return to parliament this week for its report stage.
The Bill will deliver “common-sense reforms” which bring the UK closer to the European mainstream on workers’ rights, the union body says.
The TUC says the legislation will help to deliver better quality work in every corner of the country by cracking down on insecure work and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts.
Workers memorial day is an international event: bringing together trade unionists to remember those who have lost their lives to work, and renew our commitment to make work safer for everyone. This timeline details some of the events in British labour history where employer and government failures led to the preventable deaths of workers. It also includes dates which mark when trade unions won key legislative change to protect rights to safety at work.
Visit: https://www.tuc.org.uk/workers-memorial-day-timeline
Here is a guide to two of the benefits the Union offers its members. Full details and links can be found within the Members area of the website.
The Union may provide Personal Injury Legal Assistance to Members and their Families. To take advantage of this benefit you will need:
• A valid fully paid up to date membership
• Be paying either the Driver or non-Driver full time rates
To use this service members need to visit the Members Area of the website and choose the 'Personal Injury' page. On this page they will find the telephone number for our dedicated Personal Injury Solicitors.
To make a claim the member or family member:
• Must be a member of the Union at the time of the Accident and remain a member of the Union throughout the case.
• Whilst claims can only be made within 3 years of an accident, in order to ensure that a case can be supported, a claim through our Union should be made within 2 years of the accident where possible.
You will receive 100% of your compensation. There will be no deductions for legal fees. Please note that the Solicitor’s conclusion in all cases is final.
Personal Injury claims can be made if you have an accident at or away from work, or on holiday, It should be noted that our Union's Personal Injury Solicitors are unable to assist Family members with work related injuries.
The Union may provide an Employment Law Solicitor to Members whom have paid 'up to date' membership and by quoting their membership number.
You will need to speak in the first instance to your Regional Officer. They are likely to request paperwork. Therefore, please remember to keep copies of all paperwork associated with your complaint.
Your Regional Officer will assess your case. If it merits a referral to the Union's Solicitors, your case will likely be passed to a solicitor whom will determine whether your case will be supported. If appropriate the solicitor will be instructed to provide Legal support.
Published: 10 March 2025
Institute of Employement Rights
https://www.ier.org.uk/news/ier-experts-de-bunk-employer-anti-growth -myths-on-the-employment-rights-bill/
Leading economists and labour lawyers sign an open letter to expose business myths being used to stoke fear around the Employment Rights Bill
“In recent discussions of the Employment Rights Bill, it seems to have become widely believed that there is an inevitable trade-off between labour laws and growth. However, this is not the case.
The question of the economic effects of labour laws has been intensively researched in recent years. The emerging consensus is that labour laws do not, on the whole, have negative economic consequences, and may well have positive ones.
Employment protection laws, requiring good cause for dismissal, positively impact labour quality, and thereby productivity. They incentivise firms to invest in training and in capital goods which complement workers’ skills. Laws promoting collective bargaining tend to raise wages and stabilise employment. Higher wages support consumption and promote demand for locally produced goods and services. They also underpin the tax base. Labour laws need not deter private investment, and can complement improvements to public infrastructure and measures to reduce the cost of capital for productive enterprise. Over time, as their effects feed through to the wider economy and government finances, labour laws largely pay for themselves.
Labour laws have other societal benefits. Through their impact in reducing income inequality, labour laws promote inclusive growth. Strong labour laws help protect democracies from authoritarian variants of populism. By ensuring that the gains from innovation are more widely shared, they help build consensus around the introduction of new technologies. They make it less likely that the burdens of environmental transitions will fall on the economically most vulnerable.
It is sometimes argued that labour laws harm small and medium-sized enterprises. However, SMEs especially benefit from effective labour law enforcement and inspection, which limit the scope for undercutting. Ultimately, nobody gains from a race to the bottom.
Britain was a pioneer in labour legislation, being not just the first industrial nation, but the first to enact modern factory laws. Today, after several decades of neglect, the UK needs a new
labour law, setting out clear and comprehensive rights for workers which are effectively enforced. Labour law reform is not just desirable, but an essential part of a strategy for the country’s industrial revival.”
Signed by:
Simon Deakin, Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge
Ruth Dukes, Professor of Labour Law at the University of Glasgo w
Keith Ewing, Professor of Labour Law at King’s College London, and President of the IER
Lord John Hendy KC, Chairperson of the IER
Michael Kitson, Associate Professor in International Macroeconomic at the University of Cambridge
Daniele Girardi, Doctor of Economics at King’s College London
Jonathan Michie, Professor of Innovation & Knowledge Exchange a t the University of Cambridge
Ozlem Onaran, Professor of Economics at the University of Green wich
Roberto Veneziani, Professor of Economics at QMUL
At the end of May 2025, Paul Gallaher is due to take early reti rement, having worked for our Union since 2015.
Paul spent the first thirty years of his working life at two glo bal accountancy firms. His arrival at our Union as 'Administration Manager' represente d a significant change in direction for him. However, Paul was never far away from his debits and credits in managing our Union's accounting function, amongst many other du ties.
In retirement, Paul's priority is to find more time - for family, to indulge his love for the hills, travel, watching cricket, and supporting Altrincham FC.
Paul said: "I don't know where the years have gone but they hav e flown past. It has been a privilege to work for our Union and to serve our members . I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped and supported me during my time at URTU. My main contribution now is to pass on whatever knowledge and experience that I might have gathered over the years, to hopefully provide some lasting benefit. Finally, I would like to wish everyone all the very best for the future."
Thousands of working families with babies in neonatal care will be entitled to additional time off as a day one right, the government has confirmed today (Monda y 20 January 2025).
Currently, many working families across the UK are having to return to work while their babies are sick in hospital, and these measures aim to address some of the difficulties that thousands of parents face when their baby is in neonatal care.
The Government is committed to providing the support families n eed to allow them to be by their child’s side without having to work throughout or use up their existing leave.
Neonatal Care Leave will apply to parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care up to 28 days old and who have a continuous stay in hospital of 7 full days or longer. These measures will allow eligible parents to take up to 12 weeks of leave (and, if eligible, pay) on top of any other leave they may be entitled to, including mater nity and paternity leave.
The government has today laid regulations to implement the chan ge, which subject to Parliamentary approval, will take effect from 6 April 2025 and follows the passing of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act in 2023.
This measure comes alongside the Employment Rights Bill and delivers on the government’s commitment to support families and protect the payslips of work ing people as part of the Plan for Change.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/parents-to-receive-day-one-right-to-neonatal-care-leaveand-pay
From:Personnel Today
Published: 5 March 2025
By: Rob Moss
The decline of British roads has been a staple of conversation and frustration among drivers for far too long. With a new government in charge when will the situation improve?
The government has confirmed the amendments it will make to the Employment Rights Bill as it prepares to update the law within which trade unions operate.
In its response to the consultation it launched in October, the Department for Business and Trade said it would ensure industrial relations are underpinned by “collaboration, proportionality, accountability”, balancing the interests of workers, business and the public.
Trade union law
Consultation: a new framework for industrial relations
Government will ‘ignore’ minimum service levels rules
GMB narrowly misses bid for Amazon union recognition
The government said that trade union law must be “brought into the 21st century” and that the Employment Rights Bill will “fix the foundations” of the industrial relations framework.
This includes repealing much of the Trade Union Act 2016, including the 40% support threshold and the 50% turnout threshold.
The six key changes to the industrial relations framework to emerge from the tabled amendments are as follows:
1. Reducing notice periods for industrial action
The government is of the view that a 10-day notice period, rather than the current period of 14 days, would achieve the appropriate balance in allowing employers the ability to plan to mitigate the impact of industrial action while respecting the right to strike. It rejected proposals for seven-day and 21-day notice periods.
2. Doubling the expiry period of ballot mandates
The government has decided to extend the six-month expiration date of a legal mandate to industrial action to 12 months. It said this would reduce the cost of re-ballots, allowing mandates to continue for longer where they still have members’ support. It cited evidence from the Labour Disputes Survey that most industrial disputes conclude within a year.
3. Introducing e-balloting
The government said it is committed to working with businesses and trade unions by launching working groups on e-balloting in the coming months. It said e-ballots would make balloting more accessible, which it expects will increase participation in statutory ballots and demonstrate clear mandates.
The Code of Practice on Industrial Action Ballots and Notice to Employers will be updated to recommend that email is the preferred method to inform an employer of a ballot outcome. Currently, first-class post, courier, fax, email or hand delivery is recommended.
4. Simplifying information required
The government is introducing a new clause in the Employment Rights Bill to reduce the information required in ballot notices under Section 226A of TULRCA, so that a union no longer has to provide information on the number of employees in each category or workplace or explain how the total number was determined by the union.
The union will also no longer be required to disclose to the employer the number of employees in each category that are expected to take part in industrial action.
5. Protecting against unfair practices
If the union wants to claim an unfair practice, the government is tabling an amendment such that there will no longer be a “second test” which requires the CAC to decide whether the practice was likely to change a worker ’s vote in a ballot.
“Our view is that irrespective of the impact on voting behaviour of an unfair practice, the unfair practice should not be occurring,” said the government.
Complaints of unfair practices will be accepted in a timeframe of five days, up from the current 24 hours.
6. Streamlining trade union recognition
The government will amend the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) such that unfair practice provisions will commence at the point when the Central Arbitration Committee accepts an application for trade union recognition.
The number of people in the proposed bargaining unit for the purposes of recognition, cannot be increased after the point that the application is accepted by the CAC. An employer would be free to recruit more staff, but these new employees would not count towards the number in the bargaining unit and would not be entitled to vote in any subsequent recognition ballot.
The government said that mass recruitment into a bargaining unit to thwart trade union recognition is not a common practice, but it acknowledged concerns raised in the consultation. This appears to be related to allegations from the GMB union in 2023 that Amazon recruited more workers in its Coventry warehouse to frustrate the union’s recognition bid.
An amendment will introduce a negotiation period, starting when the CAC accepts the recognition application, lasting 20 working days, for the union and the employer to agree on access (allowing union representatives to enter the workplace to meet, recruit, represent, and organise workers) and to agree on the bargaining unit.
The regulations will also allow access agreements to cover virtual access, making it possible to agree access covering solely digital access, and ensuring there is no requirement for an access agreement to cover physical access. Further detail on what virtual access entails, such as its definition and the functions it would cover, will be set out in secondary legislation.
Institute of Employement Rights
21 February 2025
https://www.ier.org.uk/news/gender-pay-gap-meanswomen-work-first-48-days-of-the-year-unpaid/
New TUC analysis reveals Women’s Pay Day for 2025 – the day when the average woman stops working for free compared to the average man – was Sunday, 16 February 2025.
In some industries and regions where the gender pay gap is wider, women effectively work for free for even longer.
The TUC says the Government’s Employment Rights Bill will help close the gap by making employers with over 250 employees outline the steps they’re taking to reduce it.
Further, the Employment Rights Bill will be a “huge boost” for working women by introducing a right to sick pay from day one and banning zero-hours contracts that disproportionally affect women. The Bill will also give all workers a day-one right to flexible work and it will introduce fair pay agreements in social care.
New TUC analysis published on Monday reveals that the average woman effectively works for free for nearly seven weeks compared to the average man.
This is because the gender pay gap for all employees currently stands at 13.1%.
This pay gap means that this year Women’s Pay Day – the day women stop working for free compared to the average man – was Sunday 16 February 2025.
The union body says this is partly because women tend to be employed in lower-paid roles than men.
Additionally, women are more likely to work part-time to accommodate for extended caring responsibilities throughout their lives, therefore taking a significant pay cut.
The gender pay gap has remained stubbornly high over the years.
Gender pay gap reporting was introduced back in 2017. However, the TUC analysis shows that – some eight years later – there are still significant gender pay gaps in many industries. This gap persists even in jobs dominated by female workers, such as care:
• In health care and social work, where the gender pay gap is 11.2%, the average woman works for free for 41 days until 9 February 2025.
• In information and communication roles, the gender pay gap is 16.7%, so the average woman effectively works for free for 61 days until 3 March 2025.
• The longest wait for Women’s Pay Day comes in finance and insurance. The gender pay gap (29.8%) is the equivalent of a whopping 109 days, meaning women work for free until 19 April 2025.
The TUC analysis shows that the gender pay gap affects women throughout their careers, from their first step on the ladder until they take retirement. The gender pay gap is widest for middle-aged and older women:
Women aged 40 to 49 have a gender pay gap of 16.5%, so work 60 days for free until 2 March 2025.
Women aged between 50 and 59 have the highest pay gap (18.9%) and work the equivalent of 69 days for free, until 11 March 2025.
Women aged 60 and over have a gender pay gap of 17.5%. They work 64 days of the year for free and they start earning from 6 March 2025.
The TUC says the gender pay gap widens as women get older, due to women being more likely to take on
unpaid caring responsibilities.
Older women take a bigger financial hit for balancing work alongside unpaid caring responsibilities throughout their lives – often looking after children, older relatives, and/or grandchildren.
The analysis shows that in some parts of the country, gender pay gaps are even bigger, so their Women’s Pay Day is later in the year.
The gender pay gap is largest in the South East of England (17.8%). Women in this region work 65 days for free and they work for free until 7 March 2025. Women in London (14.9% pay gap) also work for free until 23 February 2025.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:
“Everyone should be paid fairly for the job that they do. But w orking women are still waiting for pay parity. The Employment Rights Bill can help to close the gender pay gap by banning exploitative practices like zero-hours contracts that hit women the hardest.
And introducing fair pay agreements will boost pay and conditi ons in social care which has a female-dominated workforce. Government policy to make employe rs publish action plans for tackling their gender pay gaps can also make a real differen ce. Women contribute so much to our economy. They don’t deserve to be treated like second-class workers.”
The Union offers a Sickness Benefit to members who are on the 'A+ BF' and 'A' scales. Below is a brief overview of the benefit and how to claim.
• A member has to be fully paid up for a minimum of 26 weeks to be able to claim the benefit.
• The Union requires copies of sick notes for the entirety of the sickness period.
• A member can only make and receive sickness benefit once within a 12 month period. Once a sickness period has ended, the member has to pay Union contri butions for 49 weeks before a new sickness claim can be submitted.
• There is an initial three week 'waiting period' at the start of a sick claim. Your Union does require sick notes to cover this period.
• The Sickness Benefit entitles the claimant to £15 per week, for a maximum of 12 weeks.
• Sick notes also cover a member's contributions. After the full £180 Sickness Benefit has been paid out, if a member is still off sick they need to contin ue to send in copies of their sick notes. This is to ensure that they do not pay contributions whilst absent from work through sickness.
• A refund of contributions cannot be backdated. Refunds of contributions start from when the first sick note is received into the Union's Head Office, but will be reimbursed from receipt of the second sick note.
• To receive a refund of contributions a member has to have paid contributions 'up to' date.
• Sick notes can be sent through the membership area of the Union's Website or by e-mailing the Union's Head Office.
• Members are responsible for sending or ensuring that their own sick notes are forwarded to our Union's Head Office.
WULF Project Manager, Agnieszka Zamonski, is pleased to announce that the WULF (Wales Union Learning Fund) project has secured its funding for the period of 2025-2028.
The new project called 'Roads to Learning' will ensure that the Union is able to continue to provide and support members across Wales to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities. The Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF) has been operating for over 25 years. During this time, it has established itself as a key element of the Welsh Government’s employability offer. The Fund is uniquely positioned to support people in work in Wales to improve their skills and progress in employment.
Most of the courses available through the URTU WULF-funded project can be accessed remotely so that learning can be flexibly planned around work and personal commitments. Face-to-face and tailored training can also be arranged.
Many learning opportunities are informal, bite-sized courses accessible from any digital device. It is also possible to enhance employment prospects with formal qualifications.
If you live and/or work in Wales and would like to find out more about the project and the learning opportunities available, please contact Agnieszka:
Agnieszka.zamonski@urtu.com 0790 331 9995
Or visit the project’s website: www.urtuulr.com
As well as the opportunity to help your colleagues and improve skills, progression and morale within the workplace, becoming a ULR is also a great opportunity for your own development. You will also have the chance to form strong links with the wider union movement through attendance at meetings and conferences. Many ULRs have gone on from their volunteer role to forge new career paths in the field of adult learning and skills.
Would you like to find out more?
Get in touch on 0790 331 9995 or email: agnieszka.zamonski@urtu.com
It’s been quite a while since I wrote for our magazine, but a lot has happened since then and I hope my story might be an inspiration for others from my humble background. This year has been one that I could not imagine as a child playing in the hills, woods and rivers of my village in Kashmir, that one day I would receive the great honour of becoming Mayor of Rochdale – on of the ten boroughs that make up Greater Manchester. It’s an honour I share with another former resident from the same village, Mohammed Ajeeb who in 1985 became Lord Mayor of Bradford. He was the first Muslim to achieve this honour.
I was born and spent my childhood in Chattroh, then quite a small village in the Mirpur district of Azad Kashmir with about 2,500 inhabitants although it has grown quite a bit since. Chattroh has deep connections with the UK. Many people originally from Chattroh have settled in urban centres of the UK such as Birmingham, Manchester, Coventry, Slough and also Rotherham and my home town of Rochdale. If you visit Chattroh today you can see properties built with money remitted from the UK to support families at home.
When I was eleven or twelve, I arrived in Coventry and having lost my father was brought up by my mother. We moved to Rochdale in 1984 and I went to the now-closed Broadfield High School. I first worked in the textile industry as a machine operator but as the textile industry, which had been for many years the backbone of Rochdale’s wealth and employment, declined, I then spent a few years as a bus driver. For the last 25 years I have been a heavy goods driver delivering baked goods, mainly to supermarkets so I was something of a key worker during the covid lockdown crisis keeping the shelves stocked. As well as becoming Mayor this year sees me reaching 25 years as a driver for Allied Bakeries – the
maker of Kingsmill and Sunblest brands- although I’ve still got a few years to go to catch up with our longest serving driver who been doing the job for 51 years! and I would like just here to thank the company for all their support during my mayoral year and for the long service award I recently received.
In 2012 I was first elected as a Labour councillor for the ward I live in – Kingsway. Before becoming Mayor, I was chair of the sometimes challenging Planning and Licencing Committee. Like a lot of northern towns Rochdale has had its problems ad controversies but it’s on the up and up at the moment with a new shopping development featuring many big names and a recently opened Hilton hotel. It also has as a jewel in its crown our fabulous Town Hall, widely recognised as being one of the finest municipal buildings in the country and recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building which has recently re-opened after extensive renovations. It’s a great place to live with good community coherence but it also has areas of deprivation, some in the worst ten percent in the UK. Like lots of northern towns Rochdale has suffered devastating cuts to its budget - our town’s budget is £157 million less than it was fifteen years ago – but, unlike some other local authorities we are still – justmanaging to stay solvent and carry out measures to improve our town.
My mayoral year has been incredibly busy but immensely enjoyable. I have met so many people and groups and attended so many wonderful events that it would be unfair to try and pick out the highlights but these have varied from a scarecrow festival, my first attempt at Bingo, a carers event to celebrate national carers week – and we have 20,000 carers in Rochdale- a pensioners lunch party, through to a wide range of civic duties where
I am proud to represent our town. I’ve learnt so much about my borough and the amazing people who live and work here and how they care for each other.
Another aspect of my duties as Mayor and one of the most important, is to raise money for local charities and the mayor’s charity committee come up with a wide range of fund raisers. We run a number of events over the year the grandest of which is the Mayor’s Ball, held in our beautiful town Hall. It’s one of the highlights of our civic year. A new event for us this year was an Asian Fusion night with great food and entertainment. We had to organise this quickly but it was a huge success and we are already looking forward to an even more spectacular event later this year.
This year we are supporting five charities, Springhill, our local hospice providing high standard palliative care. Aspire 2 Inspire Communities which works with young people from black and minority ethnic communities, new and emerging communities, refugees and asylum seekers, families facing financial hardship and young people with additional needs, disabilities and language difficulties. Rochdale
Heartbeat a locally based self-help group which supports heart patients and their families in and around the surrounding areas of Rochdale. Team Thompson Against Cancer Again raises money for ex professional footballer Joe Thompson’s fight against Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for his treatment and research into the condition. Last but not least Get Together After Serving supports military veterans, their families and communities with mental and physical wellbeing.
There’s so much more I could tell you but I would just finish by saying “If I can do it so can you!!” Get involved and you’ll be surprised what you can achieve.
Shakil Ahmed, union member region one
The course has been designed to enable our Shop Stewards to develop and improve their skills and knowledge. The course identifies ways in which improvements can be implemented to make the Union more effective at a local level.
Course aims:
• Ensure you understand your role within the Union and your responsibilities toward the members.
• Learn essential skills to assist you in representation at disciplinary and grievance meetings.
• Develop your communication skills.
• Give you a clearer understanding of relevant legislation.
• Consolidate your negotiating skills.
• Give you an understanding of the importance of recruitment and retention.
• Develop your recruitment skills.
• Increase your confidence as a Shop Steward.
The course has been designed for our Shop Stewards who have previously attended the Basic Shop Steward course.
Course aims:
• Develop your knowledge of Disciplinary and Grievance procedures.
• Develop your knowledge of Collective Consultation and TUPE.
• Improve your negotiating skills.
• Develop your understanding of the UK legal system.
• Gain an understanding of current Employment Law.
• Develop your understanding of the Working Time Regulations.
The course has been designed to equip our Health & Safety Representatives with the knowledge of the role and the trade union approach to Health and Safety.
Course aims:
• Ensure you can handle Health & Safety issues and develop an appropriate response to both members and management.
• Demonstrate your understanding of the updated SRSc Regulations.
• Ensure you know how to conduct effective workplace inspections, including all accidents and near misses.
• Develop your skills to identify, obtain, order, and summarise relevant Health & Safety information.
The course has been designed for our Health & Safety Representatives who have previously attended the Basic Health & Safety course.
Course aims:
• Ensure you enhance your Health & Safety skills.
• Demonstrate your knowledge to enable you to function in a professional and confident manner within the confines of Health & Safety legislation.
• Develop your understanding of current European Health & Safety legislation.
• Develop your understanding of the constituent parts of the major pieces of this legislation.
• Develop your understanding of the Union’s approach to Health & Safety legislation.
Union Representatives play a vital role within the Union, helpi ng members within their branches and recruiting. To support them your Union hosts a number of courses throughout the year. These courses are designed to give the representative the skills they need to undertake their role and are specifically tailored to the Logistics sector.
Below is a list of upcoming course dates. These are held at the Quorn Grange Hotel and are a three day residential course.
To book your place on one of these courses, please contact your Union's Head Office on 0161 486 2100 or freephone 0800 526 639. You can also e-mail them at admin@urtu.com
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Your employer does not need to know if you are in a union. If you move jobs you can take your membership with you.
We are not politically affiliated.
United Road Transport Union is not affiliated to any political party.
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