Working for a trade union- Your experiences

[Justwonderinghow]

Hi all,

I work as a caseworker for a relatively small trade union and I’m looking for new roles due to potential changes in leadership.
The work that we do is amazing and very necessary. Many elements of our work are very demanding such as members expectations and needing to sometimes support members beyond matters relating to workplace issues as well as difficulties for progression due to how small we are as an institution. On the plus side, there is a lot of flexibility which helps me with school drop off and pick ups and we are a very relaxed workplace.
Just wanted to hear from fellow trade union employees experience at work. Particularly parents juggling childcare and career
What is the hardest thing about your jobs.

With the current changes to employment law, I hope there will be more opportunities for me to change roles so perhaps this will be the best time for a change.

Jusr posting as I want to get a feel for what it is like working for a bigger trade union.

Feel free to dm me - I work for a quite a large trade union.

Bump

I have worked for large and small trade unions there are different benefits. Is your role home based? A lot of union jobs are home based which is fantastic for childcare. Generally trade unions are flexible employers and so if you are keen for a change I would encourage you to look around. There always case officer posts coming up, which area are you in? Private or public sector union?

I have recently retired from a role with a large public sector union. I can’t recommend them as an employer, particularly for a female.

sorry can’t seem to be able to reply to individual posts @Clarity77 I work in the public sector. I work hybrid , some days work from home some days in the office. I’m London based and I normally look at job opportunities using the TUC website. I have been in my job for over 5 years and I’m slightly afraid of a change. @Annie202 Sorry for your experience and we have also had high staff turnover due to internal issues with leadership and treatment of women staff . I myself have had to raise a grievance? I sometimes wonder if I should try something different. I think I’m just feel slightly lost really and with the incoming changes I’m afraid I might be stuck.

You are not stuck, after 5 years that sounds like an ideal time for a change. Especially being London based your skills will be very transferable to other unions. No employer is perfect but trade unions generally have more favourable conditions than a lot of other people have. Of course your colleagues can make or break your experience but at least your work is meaningful. I have worked for three different unions, take a chance apply for something else and see what is out there.

I have worked for two London based unions - one large, one medium. I started in 2013 in membership admin. Several jobs and two professional qualifications later, I am head of a department. Female, 40s, 2 DCs.

Pros
Doing interesting work that makes a positive impact on people’s lives
Good terms of employment
Good pension (though not as good as back in 2013 and may be further watered down by the time we head towards retirement)
Flexible around DC
Good progression and learning opportunities

Cons
Internal processes can make work slow.
Elected leadership. Obviously this is really important from a membership perspective, but as a staff member it can destabilising when new leadership comes in and priorities change overnight.
The movement has a problem with women. TSSA, GMB, RCN and ITF have all had press coverage of this (Google if you’ve not seen already and check out #MeTU and ITFWomenC190 on socials), but it’s widespread and can be utterly grim.

I am considering a change due to the misogyny. I go between wanting out (on a bad day) and wanting to be part of making a movement I believe in better for women (on a good day).

TUC is the best website for jobs. I’ve also seen colleagues with your sort experience secure interesting roles in other membership organisations (Royal Colleges etc), NGOs and UN bodies. They may be worth a look too. Good luck whatever you decide!