I had the opportunity to have a coffee with Ian, an SDA Shop Steward who has recently retired from the workforce after eight years working at a hardware store and 5 years as a Shop Steward.
The SDA assisted him in his retirement by securing pro-rata long service leave for him as he was retiring for medical reasons before the 10 year mark with the company. This put approximately an extra $4,000 in his pocket on leaving which Ian is very grateful for.
He started working at the hardware store later in life, after receiving a redundancy package from his job in the public service, where he had also been a union Delegate. He put his hand up to be a Shop Steward at his new job after seeing a few things happen in his workplace he thought were unfair.
He said he enjoyed being a Shop Steward for the union because he enjoyed helping people out at work, because they need someone on their side – and his team mates saw the value in the union when they saw him accompanying members to the managers office on a regular basis, as he advocated for them and often saved their job.
He explained that over the course of his working life, he’d witnessed some truly distressing situations such as people being wrongfully dismissed, discriminated against, harassed, assaulted, and seriously injured in workplace accidents that left them permanently disabled.
It’s easy to feel confident looking after yourself when everything is going well, but the reality is that you can find yourself in a situation where you’re unsure what to do or where to turn far more often than you’d expect. That’s when being part of the union matters. The union has the knowledge, experience and resources to stand beside you and fight for the best possible outcome.
About the SDA’s new campaign ‘Under Pressure’ Ian said: “a happy employee works quicker, harder and longer than an unhappy employee”, but workplaces don’t seem to recognise this. Ian recounted always feeling understaffed, with no one else rostered in his department – not only a health and safety risk, but making it almost impossible to complete his tasks and provide good customer service.
He said he’d seen people forced to cut corners just to keep up, entire teams burning out from overwork and stress, and situations where you couldn’t even take a proper break because there was simply no one available to cover.
Something needs to change in the industry, so he said he is glad the SDA is doing something to address the issues that exist.
Finally I asked him about his time as a Shop Steward, and whether he would recommend that others take up the role. He responded, “It’s not a role for everyone. You have to be passionate about workers rights, standing up for everyone in the workplace, not just taking care of yourself. But if you do take on the challenge, you’ll learn a lot, build confidence in dealing with people, and be rewarded by helping many others when they need it most.”.
Ian, I hope you enjoy your well earned retirement and we thank you for your contribution to the union movement.
By Justin Power,
SDA Qld Secretary