Thirty years as a Union Rep
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 124 No 6, 16 August 2019, page no. 20
The QTU Conference saw delegates celebrate the commitment of long standing Union Reps from around the state. Two of those honoured were Don Mengel and Ross Edwards, who have each clocked up more than 30 years in the role. Here they share what they've learned over the years.
Don Mengel: In the pre-internet era, I first saw the role of the Union Rep as mainly one of helping to keep members informed, providing useful information from the Union Rep’s kit and the brochures and recruiting new members. As the years have gone by, the role of representing the members, or empowering members to represent themselves, has come to dominate.
Speaking on behalf of the members is a significant responsibility, but it also gave me the confidence to disagree with people higher up in the school or the region and advocate for better solutions, the power of the collective. It felt good the first time I said: “That will depend on the result of a ballot of QTU members.”
My school has a properly functioning LCC and a culture of respect for industrial agreements, people’s entitlements and concern for their wellbeing, and I’m proud of being one of the Union Reps who worked with other QTU members to make this so. It’s a part of what makes Kingaroy SHS a great school.
I plan to be a Union Rep as long as I’m a teacher, and Kingaroy is where I want to be. Perhaps the toughest part of continuing to be a Rep will be hearing again: “What is the Union doing about…”. Now I tend to sigh before I reply: “We are the Union, what do you want us to do together?”
In my experience, if you become a Union Rep you will grow personally and professionally. The best way to be a Rep is to be part of a team of Union Reps, sharing the workload, and to have a more diverse range of skills. If you’re already a Rep, recruit another. If you’re not a Rep sign up with a friend. If your school already has its quota of Reps, you can apply for an extra - the QTU loves to support its Reps, just ask the General Secretary.
Ross Edwards: This is a role that brings with it many rewards. Comradeship and mutual respect; being on the side of the angels; the satisfaction derived from doing something worthwhile and, hopefully, of enduring value for current and future Queensland state school teachers and their students; supporting/advising members experiencing difficulties (mental and physical exhaustion) and being able to play a small role in their successful recovery and return to their profession; experiencing the gratitude of numerous members who were assisted by the QTU.
And you can make a real difference. I once organised a snap extraordinary sub-branch meeting and galvanised my school’s members to unanimously pass a motion to seek a directive for a stop work meeting to support our (patently innocent) principal, who was threatened with criminal action by the District Director based on a false accusation of “Day 8 enrolment fraud”. The DD was informed of the members’ impending action, which motivated him to visit the school, within hours. Following a more thorough investigation, our principal was exonerated.
If you believe in what our Union stands for, and want to protect and pass on the legacy of those past generations of QTU members who struggled and sacrificed to ensure our present conditions, then becoming a QTU School Rep is for you!
Here’s my advice for new Reps:
Be the best teacher you can be ... unless you’re respected as a teacher first, you can’t expect to be respected (automatically) as a QTU Rep by colleagues, administrators and the broader school community.
Never hesitate to seek advice from experienced Reps, your Organiser or QTAD.
Read the Journal from cover to cover so you are aware of issues and can inform those members who don’t read it (yes, they exist!). Read and digest the Newsflashes so you can communicate the contents with knowledge and authority to your members.
Maintain a mutual-support network of Reps within your area and attend the excellent QTEC training days to support this.
Attend every branch meeting (where possible) and assist the branch executive if asked.
Don’t hesitate to accept nominations for positions on branch executive/Area Council etc.