TUC Announces 2011 Reps Of The Year Awards

The TUC announced the winners of the prestigious 'Reps of the Year Awards' at the 143rd annual Congress, which was held in London for the first time since 1902, earlier this month.

The awards recognise the outstanding achievement of union reps in representing women and young workers, learning at work, union organising and improving health and safety conditions in the workplace.

The winners received their awards from TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber at the TUC's headquarters in Congress House.

The safety rep award went to a UCATT member Cliff Mayor who was listed among many other categories of winners in a press release issued by the TUC:

When UCATT rep Cliff Mayor began work at the old Ford factory in Wigan, the 17-year-old quickly spotted how raising health and safety issues on the shopfloor could easily get union members labelled troublemakers.

As he progressed through his 20s, he began to wonder if it was the way they approached the issues couldn't be improved, and his suspicions proved correct when he got the chance to put his approach into practice.

When the Ford factory closed 10 years ago, Cliff began working for a string of service providers for the Highways Agency - McAlpine, Amey Mouchel and now A-one+, where he's become a network steward.

Cliff might be mild-mannered, but his patience is tested when people try to wriggle out of work by making unfounded claims about health and safety.

Cliff's proudest of the system he launched 18 months ago to encourage more people to raise health and safety issues. Now anyone can flag up concerns in a dedicated folder, noting whether they've discussed them with fellow members or supervisors and if they're happy with any proposed solutions. People can put their name to an entry or do it anonymously - a solution will be found either way.

Source: TUC

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