Meet the Officers.
Profiles of all our Officers are found below :
Geoff Bagnall - General Secretary
My name is Geoff Bagnall. I
started to work in the ceramics industry in 1974 at Crown Staffordshire China
which was part of the Wedgwood group.
Upon commencing work I immediately became active within
Unity,
attending my branch meetings and completing the various courses that were on
offer at the time. I became
the official union representative for about 3 years.
I left Crown Staffordshire China and started work at Royal
Doulton. Although I was no longer the Trade Union Representative I remained an
active member of the Union.
After a relatively short period of time I once again
became the Union Representative.
I was elected to full time officer in 1981 and elected to the
position of General Secretary
in 1996.
(send
me an email)
Garry Oakes - Assistant General
Secretary
My name is Garry Oakes. I
was elected in 1985 to the position of Organiser.
In 1995 I was elected to the position of Assistant General
Secretary which I still hold.
I have over the past 20 years dealt with many
individual problems as well as
collective grievances.
I have sat as a member of the Ceramic Joint Council for 18
years and have been the
Joint Secretary for the past 14 years.
Part of my current duties are the links between the Union and
the Labour Party both locally and national, overseeing the operation of the
Ceramic Resource Centre and
the North Staffs Workforce Development Fund.
The day to day running of the Unions legal operation and most
recently our new membership and recruitment campaign.
(send me
an email)
John Lally - Education Officer
I have been a Full Time
Officer with the Union since 1995 and also a member of the Union's National
Executive Council.
During this period many changes have taken place within Companies and having to
be involved in members losing their jobs through factory closures and dealing
with
areas of Employment Law and pay terms and conditions for members of the
Union.
(send me
an email)
Jean Johnson - Women's Rights Officer
I have been in office for
over 17 years and during that time I have had responsibility
for most areas of
the industry.
An enormous amount of change has taken place during this time,
and we have had
to adapt to the changes as they have occurred.
Day to day business takes in all aspects of employment, but my
particular interest is women’s issues, these include Maternity Rights and Sexual
Harassment. There are
of course issues that involve both genders such as
bullying and harassment.
Help and advice for all of these is available from Unity.
(send
me an email)
Mick Young - Health and Safety Officer
Hi, my name is Mick Young
and I have worked within the Ceramics Industry for over
thirty two years, for
the past thirteen years I have been a national Organiser with Unity
with
responsibility for Health and safety.
During my time as an officer with Unity I have represented
members in every section
of the ceramics industry and more recently an
increasing numbers of members
outside ceramics.
I have assisted these members by helping and advising on
issues ranging from pay
to pensions.
As I mentioned previously my specific responsibility within
Unity is Health and Safety
and because of the high priority that Unity places on
the health and safety of its
members, Unity has become one of the foremost unions
in raising awareness of its members and their employers in the dangers to health
that may be encountered both inside and outside the workplace.
(send me
an email)
Harry Hockaday - Benefits Officer
As well as the day to day employment issues, I have responsibility as the
Benefits
Officer, offering help and assistance to members concerning a range of
various
benefits. e.g. Statutory Sick, Incapacity, Income Support and various
Disability Rights.
(send
me an email)
John Huson - Pensions Officer
My name is John Huson and I have
been a Divisional Officer for 17 years.
My responsibilities are representing
members on contractual changes to their
Terms and Conditions of employment, pay
negotiations, disciplinary procedures
and grievance procedures at their place of
employment.
I have special responsibility for Pensions and use my knowledge to assist members in understanding information they receive from their Pension Provider.
I am also treasurer to the Unions Welfare Society.
(send me
an email)
April Molloy-Barker,
and Izzy Mohammed - Recruitment Officers
An important part of the Head
Office team are the recruitment organisers - April
Molloy-Barker, and Izzy Mohammed.
They are both local people who have been active within the union for a long
time.
April was a union representative at John Tams (now gone into receivership) for
13
years. Izzy worked at Churchill China where he was the works rep.
Izzy was also
Longton Lodge Secretary and served on the unions National Executive Council.
Their experiences as union representatives brings thorough knowledge of work
place practices, and of course they are equally informed on all aspects of the
union
and all its functions. They are trained by the TUC Academy and are
currently on the
2nd year Advanced Course.
April and Izzy took up their positions at the time when Unity began to develop
into an
organisation serving the entire working community. They have the approach
to recruitment and have a number of ongoing campaigns, both within Stoke on
Trent
and outside the area.
However, no matter how busy they are they will always find time to talk to you.
If you want to join the union or just find out more about us, contact :
April : 07738469261
(send me an email)
Izzy : 07738469263
(send me
an email)
There is also a freephone number : 0800
7317680