Meet SDA Delegate Emily from Officeworks West Gosford.
Since starting as Union Delegate at the end of 2023, Emily has dived into the role, assisting her work mates with workplace issues and their rights.
She has done a fantastic job getting into our campaigns and is looking forward to recruiting and helping more of her team at work.
Keep up the great work Emily!
We asked Emily a few questions about her role and what she values about being a Union Delegate.
1. Why did you become a Delegate?
Becoming a Delegate allows me to help my team more than just with work. It allows me to make sure they have security and routine at work, so they can freely deal with issues at home without having to worry about work. I like being able to help provide the freedom of a work life balance and foster trustful relationships with my peers.
2. Why is recruitment important?
It’s important to know you are not alone. By having more people in the SDA, you are encouraging a new standard of work. One that meets your rights and that has a great support system. The more people we have, the louder our voice is heard, and the easier it will be to ensure our rights are being met. Recruitment is also important in the fact that people don’t always know what their rights are, so by having the support of trained SDA representatives, not only do you learn what you are entitled to, but you can also achieve them.
3. What campaigns have you been involved with and why are they important?
I am only new to the SDA Delegate team, so my first campaign is the Adult Age = Adult Wage campaign. Without these campaigns, no improvement is implemented on the minimum rights of workers. If nobody fights for better conditions, we aren’t going to get any. SDA campaigns just make sense, and in our new age, it’s surprising just how old our basic rights are, and that we still have to fight for things to be better. For example, I find it surprising that we didn’t already have a law in place to protect workers from abuse from customers, but with SDA’s ‘No One Deserves a Serve’ campaign, we now do. Another example, younger workers, who are working the same as others who are older than them, aren’t being paid at the same rate, even for doing the same work. It doesn’t make sense. But thankfully with SDA’s ‘Adult Age = Adult Wage’ campaign, we can fix that. Campaigns are essential in progressing the standard of living and our wellbeing.
4. What has been your most notable achievement in your workplace?
Currently, we are working on backpay for our online training. Our Team Members and Managers too, all thought our online training done at home was automatically paid out. After liaising with our SDA representative, we noticed this wasn’t the case, and are working hard to compile the evidence and get back paid. This has also then raised the flag for other stores this is happening to.
5. What have you enjoyed about being a Delegate most so far?
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning from SDA representatives about our EA/our rights, meeting new people at Delegate events from other stores and the similar/different issues occurring at other retailers, and being able to be there and support my team, at my store, and potentially other stores in the future.
6. What do you aim to achieve in your workplace in the next 12 months?
Oh gosh, a lot! Mainly, I want to recruit more of our team, liaise with other Officeworks Delegates, potentially visit and liaise with SDA members from other Officeworks stores in my area (who don’t have a Delegate). However, I also do want to continue to fight for stability and regularity in my own store and communicate more widely about SDA campaigns i.e. Adult Age = Adult Wage.
7. What do you get most out of the role as a Delegate?
Knowledge and awareness. Being able to know what our rights are, what I can do to help, similar trends across other retailers, and being aware and able to help and be in a bigger movement to raise the bar for the rights of retail workers.