EC Meeting July 2017

Christine Miller HMYOI FELTHAM GFTU Expression of Interest

The GFTU has focused itself on giving voice to the excellent work of the unions who are affiliated to it, and assisting in building a new generation of skilled leaders, by engaging young workers in new ways and passing on knowledge. The idea of being part of something new, is an exciting challenge. To learn more about what we can do, learning more of the rights of our members, and exploring different avenues to lead our union down to achieve our goals. As a union who have just affiliated ourselves to the GFTU, I am eager to learn and become a part of this experience. I joined the service, to make a change, even if it was a small one; one person or one thing, I believe that being given this opportunity I can complete this challenge by being part of the Youth Committee. I became a member of the POA in 2015 and was seconded onto the committee at Feltham 2 months ago. I like to help people and try to view the bigger picture. The union has given me some belief and hope that slowly we can experience change things. I currently have 18 months experience as a Prison Officer. These 18 months have been a turbulent time for myself. However as I have settled into my role and grown into my role, I have realised that not everything in OUR world is so black and white. That there is a lot of grey areas and that there is a lot of things that we are able to interpret to our advantage. In June, I took Annual Leave and accompanied my Branch Chair and Branch Secretary to Southport to experience my first conference, as an observer. I enjoyed every moment of learning and understanding what it was all about. Watching a group of people all fighting for the same thing, come together to plan their steps forward. To tackle the issues that we face every day at work. Ensuring that we answer to someone higher – our members. I think that’s the one thing we often forget, we act impulsively and react quickly to the things that happen, but it’s not just ourselves that have the ability to make those tough decisions.