I joined the civil service in March 1999 and I became a trade union rep within a couple of weeks of joining as there was no rep in my office. Since then I have done many varied roles including currently the Group Safety Officer.

I am proud to be an active member of Left Unity on the GEC that has shown, this last year, real leadership.

The Covid 19 pandemic has pushed the GEC leadership, health and safety reps and myself as Group Safety Officer particularly hard, especially as we were dealing with hostile health and safety management and operations managers that failed to prioritise staff safety, instead following their political masters line that put our members at risk.

DWP were too slow to react to the dangers our members faced, and it was PCS that led to DWP setting up a bespoke supplier for cleaning materials.

The Department being determined their offices remained open it was PCS, and myself as Group Safety Officer, that fought for reduced numbers in offices and achieved more members working from home, while maintaining social distancing as a safety measures in all our offices.

The Left Unity members on the GEC have led negotiations and achieved a number of measures throughout the pandemic, and had to renegotiate policies and risk assessments, while identifying rogue managers who tried to force members back to the workplace before it was safe to do so.

I have worked with all the safety reps throughout the group to ensure that workplaces are as safe as possible, while supporting many other reps who had to pick up health and safety issues in the workplace.

The GEC have ran a successful safety dispute across Jobcentres and UC service centres, which resulted in a number of concessions after the consultative ballot. Our engagement with branches all the way through, testing their support for industrial action and what members wanted from the dispute. Left Unity members believe in democracy and involving members in making important decisions.

I am seeking re-election to the DWP GEC. I believe we still have a lot to do, with many issues emerging during the pandemic that need addressing. I feel I have the experience and commitment to help provide effective leadership and if re-elected I will prioritise the needs of members in DWP. I believe that Left Unity are best placed to represent our members in DWP and I would urge you to vote for me and my LU colleagues.

Full Left Unity DWP nomination list