Disability Narratives
Support from Colleagues
Video clip: Jo explains that her Union rep was a useful source of practical support with negotiation during mediation and that being a member also has social benefits.
I had a series of meetings with this manager, mediation. And I made sure that a UNISON rep was the person who was with me, for all of those. And they, and they - it's good, because they are kind of, they're away from the situation so they're not - they're not a university employee, so they're not biased towards the manager, they're not biased to towards you. But they are there to make sure that everything is fair, and done correctly. So yeah, my advice would be make sure you join the union, and there should certainly be information from Human Resources, making sure that you have access to that support.
And sort of fighting through university bureaucracy, and sort of paperwork and that sort of thing. Not so much the emotional side. Although they are there as well, if you need that support. As I did. And they will come in for meetings with you. But it's quite nice to have those - when you meet other members outside of work. We go to the university club, or a café, and just have food, and it's basically like a night out, basically.