NGSU Rapport issue number 97

rapport The Nationwide Group Staff Union magazine

Issue 97 September 2021

MAKE MINE A PINT Help out and give blood

MEET YOUR NEW PRESIDENT

LGBT+ AT THE TUC Supporting everyone in the community

T U O G N I REACH

What you can do n blues o i t la o s i e h t t a e b to

NIC SELLARS

Win

up to

£15,000 in our draw

2 97 SEPTEMBER 21

Conference is coming to a screen near you

One of the big upsides of making this year’s NGSU National Conference a digital event is that more members and reps will be able to take part, says General Secretary Tim Rose.

“We’re both excited and feeling some trepidation at the prospect of taking the opportunities technology makes available to us to share more of what your union has been doing and our goals for the coming months and years,” Tim says.

“We’re obviously disappointed that we won’t be able to meet up with the conference delegates in person as we normally do but one of the advantages of this new approach is that more representatives and members will be able to see what’s going on and to participate.”

One downside of digital is that it would be too complex and confusing to try to tackle the very focused motions the union would normally have encouraged members to submit.

This means that the debates will concentrate on the union’s strategic aims instead – although reps would be happy to hear about members’ issues and experiences to help inform their thinking on those bigger-picture issues.

Look out for the details about our

strategic aims on the Conference section of the NGSU website. They will be published ahead of the event to give everyone the chance to read them and feedback to their representative: https:// ngsu.org.uk/about-us/conference/

rapport September 2021

NGSU Middleton Farmhouse, 37 Main Road, Middleton Cheney, Banbury, Oxon OX17 2QT Tel: 01295 710767 Fax: 01295 712580 ngsu@ngsu.org.uk www.ngsu.org.uk NGSU We use bitly URLs to convert long web addresses into shorter ones throughout the magazine.

To avoid single-use plastics, we use a biodegradable polywrap produced from potato starch.

EVERY LITTLE EXTRA HELPS We’re glad to announce that the Cinema Discount scheme is up and running again, through the NGSU Extras website.

Different cinema chains have different arrangements so the amount of the discount varies depending on the cinema you’re going to, so do check before you buy.

And as restaurants are starting to reopen across the country, we have two more benefits that can make eating out that bit more affordable.

The NGSU Extras site offers Instant Discounts at a range of stores and restaurants. And if you’re not quite ready to face eating in a busy restaurant yet, you can even get a discount with Just Eat! The other benefit to consider is the TasteCard, which offers lots

https://ngsu.salaryextras.co.uk https://ngsu.org. uk/tastecard/

of two-for-one offers or discounts of up to 50 per cent (subject to some restrictions depending on the provider).

By following the link on our website, you can save over 50 per cent on the full TasteCard+ package, adding discounted Days Out, hotel stays, and even theatre tickets.

With many of us thinking about heading to a gym to build up our fitness again, do you know that you can also access discounted rates at some gym chains and skip the joining fees at others through the NGSU Extras website?

Once you’re logged in, select the Health & Wellbeing option on the left hand side and you’ll find all the details there.

RECRUIT A MEMBER

GET A VOUCHER

You could secure a £10 voucher for every new member you recruit under the new NGSU recruitment incentive scheme running until the end of September.

Under the scheme, any existing member who persuades someone to join NGSU will be eligible for a £10 Love2Shop voucher for each new member they recruit, up to a maximum of five. Love2shop vouchers can be used at dozens of high street stores, including Gap, New Look and TK Maxx.

“We know that our existing members are the best people to be advocates for the value of becoming a member of the

Full details of how the scheme works are available on the NGSU website: https://bit. ly/2VJrmkX

union,” says Assistant General Secretary Rob Goldspink.

“So we’d love it if you could have a conversation with any of your colleagues who aren’t members, and explain the value of joining – representation at a difficult time, being a channel to have your voice heard, the benefits and discounts available through membership, the monthly Draw – whatever means the most to you.”

As the scheme aims to encourage members to encourage co-workers to join by having a conversation about the value of the union to them, recruiting a member by speaking at their induction doesn’t count!

4 97 SEPTEMBER 21

MPS URGE NEW LAW TO PROTECT BRANCH STAFF A powerful group of MPs says a new law is needed to help protect front-facing staff from the rising tide of violence and abuse.

The call is particularly timely for Nationwide staff, since 80 per cent of the 1,400 NGSU members who completed the union’s Branch Survey in June reported that they themselves or a colleague they knew had experienced unacceptable behaviour from customers.

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee (HAC) issued the call in its report, Violence and Abuse Towards Retail Workers, which was published in June.

The report also calls for a much stronger policing response to tackle violence and abuse against shopworkers, as well as more support from employers and more prevention work on local high streets.

The creation of a specific offence for assault on emergency workers has driven up prosecutions in that area, the Committee pointed out.

Following suit in the retail sector would send an unambiguous message that workers on the high streets must never be unsafe at work, the MPs said.

A wide range of organisations have testified that something urgently needs to be done to tackle the issue that too many staff in the branch network experience first-hand: l The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says there are 455 incidents of violence and abuse a day (a quarter of them involving violence), yet just 27 led to prosecutions. l USDAW, the union that represents

Read the HAC report: https://bit. ly/3lNL0XI

most supermarket staff, says that 76 per cent of shop workers report abuse has intensified during the Covid crisis. l 89 per cent of staff in local shops have experienced some form of abuse, according to the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

“It is … shameful that abuse and assaults against shopworkers went up during the pandemic and it is completely unacceptable that these attacks have become so commonplace in our society,” says HAC Chair Yvette Cooper MP. “A standalone offence for assault on emergency workers has produced promising early results in increasing prosecutions. Violence and abuse towards shop workers must be treated with the same seriousness and those workers must be afforded similar protection in law.”

The HAC published its report shortly after a parliamentary debate on the issue that was triggered when more than 100,000 people signed an e-petition calling for a new specific offence of abusing, threatening or assaulting a retail worker.

While the government once again said No during that debate in May, many in the sector hope that that the power and profile of the HAC may lead to a change of heart in the near future.

Make mine a pint!

Giving blood helps huge numbers of people.

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f every pint of blood donated to the NHS can be put to work for three different patients, then NGSU rep Georgina Isted has helped more than 150 people since she started giving blood when she was 18 years old.

“I got a certificate when I’d made 50 donations and it is those moments that you think, ‘I’ve helped so many people’,” says Georgina, who is the South 2b District Rep. Women giving birth, people undergoing surgery and patients living with long-term conditions like anaemia, cancer or a blood disorder can all benefit from blood donated through the health service.

Georgina herself first gave blood when she was at college. “There was a blood donation session in the local leisure centre and I went down with some friends,” she recalls. “Out of the four of us who went down, I was the only one who could give blood that day!”

While the service is always looking to tweak the process, the essentials of donating haven’t changed a great deal over the years (although there have, of course, been some adjustments during the pandemic to keep everyone safe).

You give your completed Donor Health Check questionnaire to the receptionist. You drink a pint of fluid on arrival while reading a leaflet about the service. And you’re then taken to a private health screening where you’re asked some confidential questions and have your haemoglobin tested to

You can check online before making an appointment, and you will be taken through a checklist before you make a donation: www.blood.co.uk

GIVING BLOOD

check your iron levels are high enough.

Once you get the allclear, you’re taken to a reclining donation chair, where your arm is cleaned before the injection and you’re hooked up to a single-use blood bag for the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to collect a pint.

And when you’re done, you can relax for another 15 minutes at the refreshment table for a drink and a snack (there’s a wider selection than the famous cup of tea and a biscuit).

After that, so long as you’re feeling fine, you’re done. All in all, the appointments usually only last an hour – as Georgina says, not much of your time to set aside every few months to help people in need.

You’ll later get a text message to let you know where your blood has been used. “The text says thank you for your donation and tells you your blood has gone to Swindon General or wherever it’s toddled off to,” Georgina says. “My blood has travelled further than I have!”

Most people can give blood so long as they are fit and healthy, weight between 50 and 158kg and are aged between 17 and 66 (or 70 if they have given blood before). Gay and bisexua l men are no longer automatically prevented from givi ng blood so long as they meet the service’s othe r donation criteria.

6 97 SEPTEMBER 21

Making a positive difference In her new role as NGSU President, Nic Sellars is looking forward to helping union members through the changes that are on the horizon and the changes that are already underway.

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lthough she’s been a rep since the early 1990s and part of the National Executive Council (NEC) since the early 2000s, Nic Sellars never thought she’d want to be NGSU President. She enjoyed her jobs too much to take the two-year secondment that the union role used to involve.

“I’m one of those people who love what they do and I didn’t want to lose touch with it or stop doing it by going off on secondment for two years,” she says.

What changed her mind about standing was the recent reorganisation of the role, which now involves paid release for 20 days a year.

“Now I have the luxury of being on both sides of the fence,” Nic says. “I can do my day job but I can also bring some insights from that into the union and the insight I get from the union back in to the business, so I’m having my cake and eating it!”

Nic has been working in outcomes testing since 2017, helping to ensure that members receive fair outcomes when they transact and interact with Nationwide.

But her career with the Society

stretches back long before that.

After starting on the tills in the Cirencester branch as a 20-year-old in 1990, Nic moved on to become a financial planning manager in Cheltenham and then managed what was the Society’s first technology branch in Yate, near Bristol.

After 15 years on the frontline, Nic moved into head office, working for Nationwide Life before it was sold to Legal & General and later moving into compliance and then regulatory projects before taking on her current role.

A self-confessed people person, Nic has been an NGSU rep for most of her career and it’s a role she has always found rewarding. “It’s about being a voice for people and

“I can do my day job but I can also bring some insights from that into the union and the insight I get from the union back in to the business”

IT’S YOUR

UNION

helping people who find themselves in difficult situations,” she says.

“They need to talk to someone who knows the business but who also knows about people’s rights, someone who can tell them, ‘Stuff happens, everybody makes mistakes, and we can help you get through this’.”

Nic then decided to stand for the NEC around the turn of the century so she could play a part in the union’s strategic decision-making.

“As a rep, you’re usually working on a one-to-one scenario, but on the NEC you’re influencing biggerpicture strategic discussions, like pay negotiations, how the branch network operates or the closure of the final salary pension scheme,” she says.

And while Nationwide is in so many ways a brilliant employer, she says, it’s always important to help ensure the Society looks after its people through the inevitable processes of change.

“We’re not a militant union – whatever the Society do, whatever they put in place, whatever changes they make, we’re about making sure that they do it the right way, the best way, with people in mind: we’re there to keep them honest,” she says.

While she’s looking forward to most aspects of her new role, there is one that fills her with dread – making the President’s address to the NGSU conference this autumn.

“Standing up and speaking in front of people never ends well,” she says.

“There was one time where it was like an out-of-body experience: I was sweating so much, by the time I’d finished, I looked like I’d swum the Channel!”

Her dislike of public speaking is rooted in her struggles with selfconfidence, something she has become pretty adept at covering up in most everyday situations. “I

don’t come across like this but I have struggled with self-confidence for a lot of years,” Nic says.

But she has been changing the way she thinks of late, as evidenced by the poster on the wall in her homeoffice that reads ‘Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself’.

So she has a new motto for herself this year – that it’s better to regret the things you have done rather than the things you haven’t.

“I’ve wasted too many years worrying about what people think and ‘Should I do this?’ or ‘Should I do that?’ instead of ‘I want to do this’ and ‘I want to do that’ – because one day I won’t be here and I won’t be able to do anything then!” she says.

So she’s approaching her presidential address very much in that spirit, bolstered by the much more positive experience she had giving a speech at a departmental event in Swindon’s STEAM Museum a couple of years ago.

After seeking advice from colleagues who were more relaxed about public speaking and preparing intensively beforehand, everything went swimmingly – but not in the old Channel-crossing way.

“I proved to myself I could do it, so I’d made progress – and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do stuff you’re uncomfortable doing, because that’s how you learn.”

Nic’s overall aim is to help steer the union and its members to a stronger place over her term in office. “When I finish in two years’ time, I’d like to say that, post-pandemic, I made some kind of difference,” Nic says.

“I hope I can influence positive change and make a positive difference in any way, shape or form that I can, in the time that I have, for the good of as many people as possible.”

8 97 SEPTEMBER 21

© JESS HURD / REPORTDIGITAL.CO.UK

Removing the barriers to all disabled people We still equate disability with wheelchair use, even though more than 90 per cent of disabled people in the UK don’t use a wheelchair.

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enevieve Douglas, who is the NGSU rep in internal audit, was devastated at what she learned about the huge impact of Covid-19 on disabled people when she took part in this year’s TUC disabled workers’ online conference in March.

“I spent a lot of those two afternoons crying because it was really upsetting listening to some of the worst stories,” she recalls.

“At the start of the pandemic, the government created this term of ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’, which masks the fact that six out every 10 deaths from Covid are disabled people.

That is obviously disproportionate when only 21 per cent of the UK population identify as disabled.”

As someone who is disabled herself, Genevieve was further concerned that evidence like this of Covid’s

You can watch highlights of the conference on the TUC YouTube channel: https:// bit.ly/3gYZ7W8

massive impact on disabled people had not featured in most media reporting of the pandemic.

“I myself, being disabled, and having a mum and dad who are both disabled, I had not even caught a glimpse of that in anything I’ve seen – and I look at different news sources,” she says. “So if I didn’t know, how would everyday people, who are just glancing at the news, find out?”

Since she has been working from home herself during the pandemic, Genevieve was interested to hear about the positives and negatives of home-working for disabled workers in other unions.

“Three out of four disabled workers in UNISON, the public services union, felt they were more productive working from home because they were better able to manage their

IT’S YOUR

UNION

fatigue so they’re able to give more in their role,” she says.

“But we also heard from someone with dyslexia who worked in a call centre. He went from getting information disseminated by his manager in a team huddle everyday to receiving an email that he couldn’t understand. And when he asked if someone could call him every day to go through the update, he was seen to be asking for special treatment.”

The most effective de-bunking of the ‘special treatment’ argument that Genevieve has seen is a visual of three people of different heights (4ft, 5ft and 6ft) trying to watch a football match over a 5ft fence.

Treating everyone the same would mean they all got a one-foot box – even though that would only help one more person see what’s happening.

The only way to help everyone watch the game would be to give a 2ft box to the shortest person and a 1ft box to the mid-height person.

“I think it’s one of the best pictures I’ve ever seen to say we’re not giving people special treatment: what we’re doing is allowing everybody to start from the same point and that’s the really important thing,” Genevieve says.

For Genevieve, the big takeaway from the conference was the recognition that 21 per cent of the UK population is disabled. But those disabilities take many different forms. Some are visible, physical impairments; many (such as dyslexia) are invisible. Which means that removing barriers to disabled people’s participation at work and in society at large can never be achieved by a one-size-fits-all approach.

A classic example from Genevieve’s own life is when goes shopping with

her mum. “My mother has arthritis in her spine and walks with two crutches: for her, every step counts as every step wears on her,” she says.

Her mum’s mobility impairment means that the kind of disabled parking that’s most useful to her is closest to the doors of the supermarket.

But many large retail and leisure spaces work on the basis that disabled people are all wheelchair users, so they site their disabled parking spaces where they can give users the most space. And that often means they are further away from their doors – exactly what people The TUC disabled like Genevieve’s mum don’t need. workers’ committee Many shops do this because (like issued four a lot of us) they equate disability statements to the conference: with wheelchair use, when only 9 on the unequal per cent of people who identify impact of Covidas disabled use a wheelchair.

19 on disabled workers; Covid“Everyone is different. So what 19’s impact on works for one person is having a disabled people in bigger space further down the road general; enforcing and what works for someone else is reasonable adjustments; and having a smaller space but right next securing working to the front door,” Genevieve says. from home as “I know it’s difficult for companies a ‘reasonable adjustment’. to balance all that. But it’s always You can read all good to keep in your mind that one four statements in five people have got a disability at: https://bit.

– whether you can see it or not.” ly/3qlWGB4

“Three out of four disabled workers… felt they were more productive working from home because they were better able to manage their fatigue so they’re able to give more in their role”

© STEFANO CAGNONI / REPORTDIGITAL.CO.UK

We are the people we know we are Trans people spoke about the challenges they face at this year’s TUC LGBT+ conference, which took place online in February.

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ersonal testimony from trans and non-binary union members at this year’s TUC LGBT+ workers’ conference made a big impact on NGSU reps Tom Gorham and Carl Gomez, who both took part in the online event in February.

“One thing that struck me about the conference debate about trans rights at work was that the majority of the people who spoke identified as trans or non-binary – and those voices often don’t get very much opportunity to be heard,” says Carl, who’s a rep for the payments team at Nationwide House as well as a diversity and inclusion (D&I) rep.

You can watch highlights of the conference on the TUC YouTube channel: https:// bit.ly/3zVvw8v

Yet those voices are the ones that need amplification since trans people are best placed to articulate the significance of the trans journey. “One woman called Sarah put it like this: ‘We want to be able to say that we are the people we know we are’,” Carl says.

But for choosing to live in the gender they identify with, trans people continue to face the persistent threat of violent assault. “According to a Stonewall survey of 5,000 LGBT+ people, one in eight trans people say they have been physically attacked by a colleague or a customer because of how they identify themselves – that’s really shocking,” Carl says.

IT’S YOUR

UNION

The wider realities of the campaign for trans rights also struck Tom, who is the NGSU rep for Intermediary Relationships.

“I’ve heard from trans friends about families that wouldn’t accept the authentic version of themselves,” Tom says. “But what came out of the conference were some of the bigger obstacles when it comes to gender recognition and being correctly gendered or named in the workplace.”

The current legal framework continues to treat trans people as mentally ill, Tom points out.

“To get a Gender Recognition Certificate, you have to have diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a doctor, which effectively means you need to a diagnosis that there’s something wrong with you, which there isn’t,” he says.

Other sessions at the online event included an extensive discussion of the impact of Covid-19 on LGBT+ workers and on their mental health in particular; and two panel discussions – the first on Black Lives Matter and the LGBT+ community and the second on international LGBT+ rights.

Listening to the experiences of LGBT+ workers from other unions and other industries reminded both Carl and Tom that Nationwide is a progressive employer in terms of diversity and inclusion.

“There were statements being made on behalf of other unions by people who are in the LGBTQ community who have had more difficulties than we face at Nationwide,” Tom says.

“It’s good to see us leading the way with how we look after our colleagues but it’s disappointing to look across at other industries and see there are other places that could maybe catch up to Nationwide’s lead.”

Top tips for supporting trans co-workers

1 Learn about trans lives. Stonewall’s booklet LGBT in Britain – Trans Report highlights the profound levels of discrimination and hate crime faced by trans people in Britain today. https://www.stonewall.org.uk/ lgbt-britain-trans-report Your trans co-workers will appreciate if you have the right intent but happen to use the wrong terminology on occasion – especially when you use the opportunity to learn more.

2 Challenge transphobia. Speak up for trans people, for trans equality and against transphobia. Do speak up when there are trans people in the room and when there aren’t. Don’t leave challenging transphobia to trans people.

3 Include your trans colleagues.

Make an effort to include trans colleagues in both work and social conversations. It’s good workplace practice and a courtesy that should be extended to all colleagues.

4 Listen. Speak to, and listen to, trans people and trans colleagues. Listening to how they describe themselves will enable you to follow their lead.

And active listening will help you ensure you use the right pronoun and name if you are unsure. If you realise you’ve used the wrong name, pronoun or terminology, apologise, correct yourself and move on.

Don’t make a big deal about it but make an active effort not to make the same error.

5 Respect boundaries.

Understand and respect trans people’s boundaries. As a general rule, it’s not appropriate to ask a trans personal questions about their transition, e.g., if they’re having, or going to have, surgery. Each person’s transition is different – there is no right or wrong way to transition.

Adapted from the TUC booklet How To Be A Good Trans Ally At

Work. www.tuc.org.uk/resource/how-be-good-trans-ally-work

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Helping members deal with addiction If you’re one of the thousands of people who have been drinking more heavily during the pandemic, your union can help.

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here’s a long list of people who rely on Clare Morton. Since her husband mostly works away from home, she is the primary caregiver to their teenage daughters.

Then there are her parents and her in-laws, all of whom have complex needs. Her mum has dementia and her dad walks with crutches, so they rely on Clare to shop for them and fix things around the house, which involves a 20-mile round trip every time.

Her in-laws also call on her for help when they have to get to appointments at the hospital, for example, as her mother-in-law is registered blind and her father-in-law also uses crutches – although the trips are usually shorter as they live locally to Clare.

It’s a similar story at work. With her caring instincts and many years’ experience at the Society, Clare is a natural port of call when younger

We’ve not used Clare’s real name to protect confidentiality

colleagues need advice from someone they can rely on to help them.

The one massive problem in all of this was that Clare herself wasn’t getting any support. “If you’re a people pleaser, if you like to help other people, it’s very hard to put yourself first,” she says.

And then the lockdowns we’ve needed to deal with Covid-19 made every single one of her caring responsibilities that many times more complicated.

Clare worried how her daughters would cope getting their education while sat in front of a computer screen instead of going to school and spending time with their friends. And shopping for parents and in-laws became that much more challenging when taking all the precautions to avoid exposing vulnerable elders to Covid-19.

As the pressure began to tell last year, Clare began started drinking more as a way to cope.

She is by no means the only person to have found themselves on that path over the last 18 months. According to Alcohol Change UK, 28 per cent of people reported they were drinking more heavily over the first lockdown,

while 40 per cent of heavy drinkers said they were drinking more as a way to handle stress or anxiety.

Figures from Public Health England (PHE) confirm the trend, tracking how the number of adults in England drinking more than 50 units a week rose from 3.4 to 4.8 per cent during the first lockdown –meaning more than 600,000 people were drinking at dangerously heavy levels.

Clare’s own situation came to a head when she was discovered drinking at work earlier this year and summoned to a disciplinary hearing at which she could have lost her job.

“I’ve never been through anything like this in my life,” she says. “I’ve worked since I was a teenager and I’ve never been even so much as told off let alone go to a disciplinary so I didn’t have a clue what was going on.”

That’s when she reached out to the union and began talking to Individual Cases Officer Nicola Huddlestone.

“Nicola was absolutely lovely and amazing and understanding: she was just immensely supportive and steered me in the right direction,” she says.

Thanks to her previously unblemished work record, Nicola’s unstinting support and her own acceptance that she had to change course, Clare emerged from the meeting with a final written warning.

“The chair was very empathetic, the meeting was very well conducted and considering what could have happened, it was a really good outcome,” Nicola says.

Clare agrees. “You know if you do something stupid, if you do something wrong, you have to pay for it,” she says.

“But I know I will watch everything I do from now on and at the end of it I am grateful to still have a job.”

Thanks to Nicola’s advocacy, Clare

If you think you may have a problem with alcohol, the NHS recommends that the best place to start is by talking to your GP. https://www. nhs.uk/live-well/ alcohol-support/ If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s drinking, you can call the national alcohol helpline Drinkline in complete confidence. Tel: 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am to 8pm; weekends 11am to 4pm).

now has an improved ill-health support plan in place, and the Society is covering the cost of a therapist who specialises in addiction, since that wasn’t covered by Employee Care.

Since the low point of the gross misconduct charge, Clare has begun learning how to put the same energy into self-care that she used to put into helping everyone else.

She’s found much-needed respite at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, even when they have to be online.

“It’s helpful even when you just sit in the background of a virtual meeting and listen to other people’s stories: it makes you realise that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” she says.

Her new counsellor is helping her identify more effective ways of dealing with the challenges. “She’s looking at coping strategies, dealing with stress, anxiety, nervous energy,” she says.

And her extended family have adapted to her needing to make time for herself instead of always prioritising everybody else.

“My mum and dad, my husband and my in-laws have all been so supportive,” she says. “My mother-inlaw sent me flowers and apologised for putting too much pressure on me.”

Clare’s message is never to put off asking for help when you’re struggling.

“Don’t wait till you hit rock bottom,” she says. “Just talk to someone. It doesn’t mean you’ve got a problem. But if you do have concerns, just say, ‘This is getting a little bit out of hand’.”

Nicola says that Clare’s story is another example of the NGSU’s ability to make a difference for its members.

“I’m so pleased we’ve been able to help because it does show what we can do when we’re in the room and how being a member of the union really helps,” she says.

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A new charity is campaigning to create a lasting memorial to the women whose victorious campaign against appalling working conditions at a Victorian match factory helped give birth to the trade union movement of today.

Honouring the women who created modern trade unionism

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he Matchgirls Memorial Charity wants to win wider recognition for the women who went on strike at the Bryant & May factory in London’s East End in 1888 – and won.

The conditions the women had to endure are all but unimaginable today.

Inside the factory at Bow (close to the site of the 2012 Olympic Park), the 5,000 workers were on their feet for 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week, splitting double-length matches in two and pressing them into boxes.

The boxes themselves were made outside the factory, by a network of women home-workers, who had to pay for the glue, string and fuel they needed (to dry the finished boxes) out of their own meagre wages.

Many of the workers were teenagers, although there were children as young as six years old on the payroll, and a large proportion of them were first or second generation Irish.

The poverty wages paid by all the match-making firms in the area were notorious: reforming author Charles Dickens reckoned matchgirls were the “worst paid of all the very ill-paid workers” in the East End. At Bryant & May, wages ranged from four to nine shillings a week – between £23 and £51 per week today.

But the women were subject to arbitrary and costly fines that further reduced what they took home, with supervisors deducting money on the pretexts as flimsy as not tidying a

“Such a heritage should give hope and encouragement to today’s employees who may be coping with difficult working conditions” workbench, talking to each other or having dirty feet (even though many of them were not able to afford footwear).

Even worse, ever since it opened the factory in 1861, the company had been using highly toxic white phosphorus in its matches, even though exposure to the chemical had been known to cause workers’ teeth to fall out for at least a decade by then.

And the women could not even escape exposure on their meal breaks.

As the campaigning journalist Annie Besant wrote in her weekly magazine, The Link, at the time: “These female hands eat their food in the same rooms in which they work, so that the fumes of phosphorus mix with their poor meal and they eat disease as seasoning to their bread.”

What’s important is that none of this was because the company was strapped for cash. Quite the reverse. Even in the year of the strike, which did slightly dent the bottom line, the company still managed to generate to gross profits of £164,700, or £18.7 million in today’s money, and was offering dividends of 20 per cent to shareholders.

It was this commitment to looking after the profits of its shareholders rather than the welfare of its workforce that originally led Annie Besant to cover the plight of the ‘female hands’ in her magazine.

But when her exposé of the conditions in Bow was published in June 1888, based on testimony she had collected from the women themselves, the company tried to force the workers to sign a statement

Find out more and make a https:// bit.ly/3zUI3t4

denying the charges – and sacked one of the women who refused.

Firing the refusenik was the flame that lit the fire. More than 1,400 women walked out on strike on 5 July.

By lobbying their MPs to raise the issue in Parliament and winning the support of key sections of the press, the strikers forced the company to the negotiating table just 12 days later.

Their victory was total. The directors acceded to all the strikers’ demands, agreeing to negotiate with a union; dispensing with the system of fines; and creating a dining room where the women could eat without further exposure to the white phosphorus they had to work with.

The matchgirls’ strike was no one-off. Many of the women’s husbands, brothers and neighbours who worked on London’s docks were part of the equally successful – and very much larger – dockers’ strike for better pay just one year later.

What was significant about both disputes was that they involved the workers who made up the majority of the industrial workforce, thus signalling the beginning of a genuinely inclusive trade unionism (the ‘New Unionism’), rather than the exclusive craft-based model that had held sway till then.

The Matchgirls Memorial Charity wants to win long-overdue recognition for the achievements of the pioneering working class women who won such an important victory not only for themselves but for their contemporaries and their descendants.

“Such a heritage should give hope and encouragement to today’s employees who may be coping with difficult working conditions ranging from lack of diversity, to zero hours contracts, to poor health and safety standards, to gender inequality,” the charity says.

16 97 SEPTEMBER 21

Are you lonesome tonight?

More of us are experiencing loneliness and many are worried about re-connecting as the economy opens up again. But there are small steps we can all take to help us feel less isolated.

L

ong before the Covid-19 pandemic isolated many of us from family members, friends, neighbours and co-workers, millions of adults were feeling they were missing out on the kind of friendships other people were enjoying.

But the measures put in place to deal with the virus inevitably meant more people experienced loneliness as their usual support mechanisms were no longer available. And of course, those who were already lonely found themselves even more vulnerable as the months rolled on.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), levels of loneliness have increased during the pandemic, with the number of adults who

“Loneliness increases the likelihood of mortality by 26 per cent”

Age UK – befrienders who give half an hour hour a week to keep in touch with lonely or isolated older people: www.ageuk.org.uk BBC’s Beating Loneliness Facebook Group: https://bit. ly/2VDQiKr British Red Cross: https:// bit.ly/3yz6fjs Silverline – free advice and friendship for older people: https:// bit.ly/3xxnaBM APPG report on loneliness: https:// bit.ly/3Cyxc98

“always or often” feel lonely rising from 5 per cent (2.6 million people) in spring 2020 to 7.2 per cent (3.7 million people) by February this year.

And the ONS research also revealed that young people were particularly likely to feel cut off – with 16 to 29-year-olds twice as likely as the over-70s to be experiencing loneliness in the pandemic.

Tackling loneliness is not simply about improving people’s mental health, important as that is. Loneliness increases the likelihood of mortality by 26 per cent – making it pretty much as harmful to longevity as smoking or obesity. It’s also a major risk factor for high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.

A report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Loneliness has called on the prime minister to commit to helping people reconnect socially when planning England’s recovery from coronavirus.

This is clearly going to be vital, with research by the British Red Cross identifying that almost a third of UK adults are concerned about being able to interact with people in person in the way they did before the pandemic.

“It’s also clear from recent research that it’s not realistic to expect everyone to be able to find their way out of loneliness on their own” One thing that is clear is that we all need to be able to talk about how we are feeling without any stigma being attached.

There is lots of support available via phone or digital (see below) and, as lockdown measures have steadily reduced, we can meet up with people face-to-face and join in activities once again.

As physical wellbeing has been proved to be a good way of improving your mood both in the moment and longer term, so meeting up with friends to do an exercise class – or joining an exercise class and making new friends – is good news all round.

It’s also clear from recent research that it’s not realistic to expect everyone to be able to find their way out of loneliness on their own but there are steps we can all take that will help us along that path (see sidebar).

We must also continue to consider the needs of those who have been deemed Clinically Vulnerable or Extremely Vulnerable during the pandemic, as they have been obliged to hugely reduce their physical contact with others – and after the restrictions are relaxed for everyone else, they continue to be advised to ‘cut themselves off’ as much as they can.

THE NHS DOS AND DON’TS OF LONELINESS DO l Try talking about your feelings to a friend, family member, health professional or counsellor. l Join a group or class that focuses on something you enjoy; you could ask to go along and just observe if you’re feeling unsure. l Visit places where you can just be around other people – for example, a park, the cinema or a café. l Try peer support, where people use their experiences to help each other. (Find out more about peer support on the Mind website.) l Join an online community like Side by Side.

These communities can provide a place to listen and share with others who have similar experiences. They are available 24/7, most are free and you can access them wherever you are. https://sidebyside.mind.org.uk/ l You could also contact Samaritans (if you need someone to talk to – they’re not just there for when there’s a crisis. Call: 116 123 or email: jo@samaritans.org DON’T l Don’t try to do everything at once – set small targets that you can easily achieve! l Don’t focus on the things you cannot change – put your time and energy into helping yourself feel better! l Don’t compare yourself to others, especially on the basis of what they put on social media. l Don’t tell yourself that you’re alone – many people feel lonely at some point in their life and support is available. l Don’t use alcohol, cigarettes, gambling or drugs to relieve loneliness – they can all contribute to poor mental health.

18 97 SEPTEMBER 21

Sick pay at Nationwide Your guide to the three different forms of sick pay you could qualify for when illness prevents you from working.

T

he payments that you may receive during a period of sickness absence are: l Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) l Occupational Sick Pay (OSP) l Prolonged Sickness Benefit (PSB).

In order to qualify for any form of sick pay, you must be an employee; you must report your absence according to the Sickness Absence Policy; and after the eighth day (or the 15th day if you are suffering from Covid) you must submit a medical certificate (‘fit note’).

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) SSP is paid to you by Nationwide on behalf of the government. SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks and is only payable after the third day of continuous absence (i.e., from the fourth day).

Further information on the qualifying criteria can be found in the Statutory Sick Pay – Employee mini-guide, including under what circumstances SSP is not paid. While you’re eligible for OSP or PSB, the OSP / PSB payments you receive will include your entitlement to SSP. Occupational Sick Pay (OSP) Providing that you follow the absence

Statutory Sick Pay – Employee mini-guide https:// bit.ly/3CyAk4X Shift Working Policy https:// bit.ly/3lHpx2x Grievance Policy https://bit. ly/3CuXdpU Sickness Absence Policy https:// bit.ly/3s1cWIJ

reporting procedure, you’ll be entitled to receive OSP for periods of sickness absence, depending on your length of service. l if you have up to six months’ service on your first day of absence, you’re entitled to up to two months’ contractual salary in any rolling 12-month period worked. l If you have at least six months’ service, you’re entitled to up to six months’ contractual salary in any rolling 12-month period worked.

OSP includes any London allowance you are eligible to receive but excludes shift allowance. Further information on how shift allowance is phased out during OSP is contained in the Shift Working Policy.

If you are employed part-time or on compressed hours, your

“Further information on the qualifying criteria can be found in the Statutory Sick Pay – Employee miniguide, including under what circumstances SSP is not paid”

IT’S YOUR

UNION

OSP entitlement will be pro-rated according to your contractual working days / hours.

If your manager is not satisfied that your absence was justified, they will discuss this with you in the first instance. If your manager is still not satisfied following an investigation, they may advise you that they intend to withhold OSP. You can appeal against this decision through the Grievance Policy.

Prolonged Sickness Benefit (PSB) If you are still unable to attend work once your OSP has expired, you may be eligible to transfer onto the PSB scheme so long as: l you are an employee l you have at least six months’ continuous service with Nationwide at the date the absence first began l you have exhausted any entitlement to OSP (you may be placed on the PSB scheme earlier if you have been unable to do your normal work for at least six out of the previous 12 months, including where you have done alternative work instead of going on sickness absence) l you are under age 75 l you have authorised Nationwide to obtain a medical report from a doctor or specialist chosen by the Society who confirms that you continue to be unfit to carry out any work due to proven illness, or that you should be on a phased return to work programme (where no diagnosis, as classified by the International Classification of Disease Register, is evident, PSB will normally be withheld) l you reside within a reasonable travelling distance of your usual place of work and are able to attend your usual place of work, either on a complete or a phased return

to work programme, subject to the support arrangements.

You’ll only qualify for the payment of PSB if you meet all of the above criteria and if you do not continue to meet all of the criteria, any PSB you’re receiving may be suspended. If payments are suspended and Nationwide later become satisfied that you have met the eligibility criteria, payments will be backdated to the relevant date.

At the point where OSP ends, you may become eligible for state benefits.

If this is the case, the amount of benefit you are entitled to will be taken into account in determining how much PSB you are paid. The amount of PSB may also be reduced if your absence is due to injury or illness resulting from gross negligence or disorderly conduct on your part.

The maximum amount of PSB, and the period for which it is paid, will depend on when you started working for Nationwide, and whether you used to work for Portman, or regional brands, or Carillion. Full details can be found in the Sickness Absence Policy.

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rapport September 2021

Editorial board Nic Sellars (President), Rob Goldspink (Assistant General Secretary) Editorial Martin Moriarty martinmoriarty@mac.com Design & production The Design Mill www.the-design-mill.co.uk Printed in the UK Banbury Litho www.banburylitho.co.uk

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22 97 SEPTEMBER 21

SUMMARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM THE FULL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SUMMARY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTS (GENERAL AND CHARITABLE FUNDS) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020 2020 2019

£’000 £’000

Subscriptions Other income Charitable donations received Unrealised (loss) on investments

1,391 116 - 9

1,339 121 1 (2)

Total income

1,516

1,459

(1,297) (1,438)

Total expenditure Surplus for the year Accumulated surplus brought forward Accumulated surplus carried forward

219

21

1,496 1,715

1,475 1,496

SUMMARY OF SALARIES AND BENEFITS PROVIDED Details Amount Salary £90,012 Pension Contributions £13,502 (The Union makes contributions of 15% of salary on behalf of all staff) Car and other allowances £5,400

The members of the National Executive Committee do not receive any salary from the Union or any benefits. All members of the National Executive Committee are reimbursed for any expenditure incurred by them in the performance of their duties on behalf of the Union, as are the General Secretary and the President.

The Union is required to issue this financial statement to Members under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amended) Year ended 31 December 2020. A copy of the full financial statements is available on the Union’s website in the members’ only area. If you would like a copy you can also write to Tim Rose at Middleton Cheney.

2020 2019

£’000 £’000

Fixed assets Debtors and prepayments Cash at bank Creditors and accruals

1,250 24 553 (112)

1,194 31 396 (125)

1,715

1,496

Income and Expenditure account Charitable Fund

1,690 25

1,490 6

1,715

1,496

ANALYSIS OF GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020 Services to members 76.58% Meeting expenses 2.77% Administration expenses 10.65% Premises and equipment costs 10%

10% es & costs mis t Pre ipmen equ

Name Position T Rose General

Secretary

SUMMARY BALANCE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2020

Ad ex min pe is ns tra es tio 10 n .65 % Meeting

expens

es 2.77

%

Services to members 76.58%

accounts STATUTORY IRREGULARITY STATEMENT We are required by the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amended) to include the following declaration in this statement to all members.

The wording is as prescribed by the Act. The irregularity statement, the exact wording which is reproduced below: “A member who is concerned that some irregularity may be occurring, or have occurred, in the conduct of the financial affairs of the union may take steps with a view to investigating further, obtaining clarification and, if necessary, securing regularisation of that conduct. The member may raise any such concerns with such one or more of the following as it seems appropriate to raise it with: the officials of the union, the trustees of the property of the union, the auditor or auditors of the union, the Certification Officer (who is an independent officer appointed by the Secretary of State) and the police. Where a member believes that the financial affairs of the union have been or are being conducted in breach of the law or in breach of rules of the union and contemplates bringing civil proceedings against the union or responsible officials or trustees, he should consider obtaining independent legal advice.”

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS Set out below is the report of the independent auditors to the members as contained in the accounts of the Union for the year ended 31 December 2020: Opinion We have audited the financial statements of the Nationwide Group Staff Union [“The Union”] for the year ended 31 December 2020 which comprise the Income and Expenditure account, the Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Changes in Equity, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of the significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements: • Give a true and fair view of the state of the Union’s affairs as at 31 December 2019 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended; and • Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Basis for opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Union in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to the audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the National Executive Committee’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Union’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the National Executive Committee with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The National Executive Committee

is responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amended) requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: • A satisfactory system of control over transactions has not been maintained; or • The Union has not kept proper accounting records; or • The financial statements are not in agreement with the books of account; or • We have not received all the information and explanations we need for our audit.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Responsibilities of the National Executive Committee As explained more fully in the Statement of Responsibilities of the National Executive Committee, the National Executive Committee is responsible for the preparation of financial statements and being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the National Executive Committee determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the National Executive Committee is responsible for assessing the Union’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the National Executive Committee either intends to liquidate the Union or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion.

Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in according with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are consider material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at http://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.

This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report to the members of The Union This report is made solely to the Union’s members, as a body. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Union’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Union and the Union’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

H W FISHER & COMPANY Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor Dated: 6 May 2021

Acre House 11 – 15 William Road London NW1 3ER United Kingdom

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