Dear colleague
We are Jacob Sanders and David Oladele, workplace reps with, between us, 24 years’ experience representing St Mungo’s Unite members.
Candidates are allowed to use the membership list to contact members during an election campaign, so we will write and text to ask for your vote unless you ask us not to. The ballot closes at 5pm on Wednesday.
In the recent past, the shop has lost some of its earlier strength and we want to reverse that.
We will work for:
– A pay increase to reverse the pay cut in real terms that we have suffered over the past year.
– Parental leave above the statutory minimum that St Mungo’s now provides.
– Reversing the decline in membership which has reduced the union’s influence.
The strength of our union makes a vast difference to all workers at St Mungo’s. Our pay is higher now because of the concessions won in our dispute back in 2014. Then, a much larger proportion of employees were Unite members. Now, membership numbers are lower even though the workforce is much larger. That is a big blow to the union’s effectiveness and we want to start building membership again.
As well as representing you as Convenor and Deputy Convenor, we will continue to spend part of our time in our current jobs. This is in contrast to the current convenor, who has no involvement with St Mungo’s other than his convenor role. We think it is important that the shop is led by people who share the day to day experiences of the rest of the workforce.
Not everyone agrees with us. In fact, our opponent took the time to send us a text explaining that he intended to vote for himself instead of for us! (although he may not have known that we could tell it was his phone number). But if you want the shop to regain the influence it needs in order to be able to represent its members effectively, our election will be the start of an important change.
The truth is that we are NOT in this for ourselves. If we are elected, we will be taking on a huge task and we won’t get a pay increase for it, or any thanks from senior management. We promise to work harder than you have seen from the current convenor. We will stay in contact with members about the union’s work and share valuable resources with members concerning other matters, such as welfare benefits and pensions. We will stay in touch with non-unionised workers and let them know about the advantages of being in a union. We will campaign with a vigour and determination that St Mungo’s Unite hasn’t had for years.
Please start the union on the way to regaining its former strength by using this link to vote for Jacob Sanders and David Oladele www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3LRCTDL. The recovery starts here!
In comradeship,
Jacob Sanders & David Oladele
Candidates for Convenor/Deputy Convenor
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