UNISON reps are the face of our union. Whether they’re stewards (workplace representatives), health and safety reps, or union learning reps, they’re the people who, day in, day out, do the work of making public service workplaces fairer, safer, and more fulfilling places to be.
But our reps need to be confident in their skills and their knowledge if they’re to carry out their roles to their full potential.
That’s why we have training courses for all our reps, designed to help you understand the union and the way it works as well as legal rights, and practise techniques for talking to members about the issues that affect them.
Find out about introductory training for UNISON reps
Our 2022 national courses for workplace reps (stewards) and health and safety reps are now open for booking, and regional education teams are publishing their training programmes too.
The national courses are all online (read about that in this year’s ULearn magazine) while in the regions there’s a mixture of online and classroom based courses. Whatever the format, all our courses are friendly, practical and informal, with support from experienced tutors.
See upcoming national UNISON courses
Contact your regional education team
But training isn’t the beginning and the end of learning how to be a rep – it’s something that starts the day that you take on the role and continues long after you receive your certificate. You’ll keep on learning for as long as you’re a rep. So don’t worry – you don’t have to know everything straight away, and you don’t have to do everything all at once.
Our Trained & Active Plan suggests tasks that you can take on as a rep. Some of them, you can do immediately. Others might take a bit more preparation or confidence. Either way, you can use this plan with a mentor or buddy in your branch and take your new role one step at a time.
Find the Trained & Active Plan
And finally, if you’re interested in becoming a UNISON activist but aren’t sure what’s the right role for you, why not visit our e-learning site and play the Activate! game?