Profile of Chris Thomas – Organising Academy Trainee
Chris is originally from a small town in South Wales, where he worked as a Liaison Officer for the local authority, providing Disabled Facility grants for children, the elderly and young adults.
He was a steward with Unison for 14 months, before becoming an officer and taking up the position of Joint Trade Union Convenor covering all four trade unions within the authority (UCAT, UNITE, GMB & UNISON) for the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.
He thoroughly enjoyed his time within the UNISON branch and cannot thank them enough for providing him with the training and skills to get him where he is today, so a big thank you to UNISON for that!!
He found the recruitment process very demanding and on regular occasions was totally out of his comfort zone, he felt he dealt with the recruitment challenges well and was over the moon when he achieved a place as an Academy Organiser 2010. He would highly recommend the process to anybody who wants to become seriously involved in the trade union movement.
He aspires to be the best he can be and wants to establish himself within the TUC and his sponsoring Union, he wants to promote the importance of organising and the need for Trade Unions to be active in the current climate.
He feels that due to economic downturn, trade unions are going to be at the forefront of many work related issues in the next 18/24 months.
Public service budgets are looking to be cut back and due to the lack of financial resources available, workforces are going to be squeezed in all areas.
He states “in the near future, I feel there will be a surge on Union resources, from individuals and organisations, struggling to cope with economic meltdown. However, if we all pull in the same direction, we organise efficiently and effectively and we work alongside the expertise and togetherness that trade unions provide, I feel that we can weather any storm that is put in our path”
Filed under: Academy
