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My name is Michael Langley and I have just recently celebrated my 25
th
birthday at the beginning of June. I live with my partner and we have two
cats, both complete strays taken in from the streets called Elliott and Al (I
am pretty certain Al is Elliott’s dad) and two fish called Tofu & Quorn.
I first became a Union Representative for the Yorkshire Building Society
Group Branch of Aegis the Union last year and have attended Stage 1 &
Stage 2 Representing Members courses, and have now built strong
working relationships with people from within and outside of the current
company I work for. During my time on these courses I also gained new
memories and experiences that I may have missed if I was not at the time
training to become a Union Representative.
Since becoming a Union Rep, it was a bit slow at first being a Union Rep
but I shadowed two cases, one eventually was going to become
something a lot bigger and was taken away from me (to not scare me off I
was told). However, after the slow start came the storm!, there was a lot
of restructuring and re-organisation happening within the company at the
same time and this meant that I could now start putting to use the skills I
had learnt into practice and start representing and supporting our
members. There was also a lot of travelling between different sites to
provide this support. This experience gave me the confidence in my role
as a Union Rep and as well as the training I have received I also have the
support from other Union Representatives who all have a range of
experiences and backgrounds.
I have dealt with one of the biggest changes that has ever been
announced by the company as well as dealing with the day-to-day
business as usual case work within the workplace.
During my time as a Union Representative I have also attended various
courses, training days and union seminars. One of the seminars that
stands out the most for me is when I and a handful of other Reps from
AEGIS travelled to London for a seminar on the possible implications that
Brexit (awful name, sounds like a terrible cereal) may have on Unions and
work policies within the United Kingdom. This also provided a good
networking experience for me with other Reps from other Finance Sector
Unions.