- Conference
- 2016 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 22 February 2016
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that being a trade union activist has always been difficult and stressful as we regularly deal with members who face difficult and challenging situations.
Conference further notes things have got much tougher in recent times with the pressures of dealing with the impact of austerity on our members, service users and our union.
Sometimes we face members who are suicidal or suffering mental and emotional breakdown. We do our best to support them but we are then left with our own emotional scars and there is nowhere to go to. Regional Office staff often do their best to support us but we recognise they are not trained counsellors or trained in how with such issues.
Some employers offer an employee counselling service that some activists can access. However, not all employers do and sometimes it is not appropriate to use the employer’s counselling service.
The result of this lack of support for activists is, at best the mental and emotional health of our activists is being damaged, and at worst activists are suffering burnout and withdrawing from union activity.
There is a desperate need to improve the support the union provides our activists. Conference therefore instructs the National Executive Council to:
1)Investigate the possibility of setting up a telephone support service staffed by trained counsellors who can support activists who are facing pressure;
2)Develop and deliver a programme of resilience training for activists that can be delivered in regions;
3)Produce a handbook for activists on how to deal with stressful situations and how they can support branch colleagues.
