Do you want to become a Trade Union Official? Here is some information to help point you in the right direction:
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Trade unions are organisations set up to protect and improve workers' interests by negotiating agreements with employers about issues such as pay and conditions of service.
Most trade union work is done at workplace level by volunteer shop stewards or workplace representatives. Unions also employ officials, specialist, and administrative staff. The duties of a trade union official would include:
Specialist officials have tasks related to their specialist role, for example a legal officer would give advice to union staff and members on employment law.
The basic week is 35 hours, but in practice it is common to work more than 40 hours. Officials are office-based, but spend time travelling to workplaces and meetings. Salaries range from about £18,000 to £50,000 for an experienced official with management duties.
Trade union officials should have:
All unions employ paid officials, but opportunities are limited and entry is fiercely competitive. It may be possible to apply for a union sponsorship with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Organising Academy.
Most officials have significant experience of voluntary union work. They may also have qualified and worked in other areas of work first, such as law or media.
Training for trade union officials is mainly on the job. In addition, they may attend short training programmes run by the employing trade union or the TUC. There is also an NVQ/SVQ Level 4 in Trade Union Development, accredited by ENTO (formerly the Employment National Training Organisation).
Officials may be promoted within their union. They can also move into similar jobs in professional bodies, or into human resource management. Some move into politics.
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