It’s all about hope and protection says new president of Wales TUC
THE new president of the Wales TUC is a long way from the stereotype of a trade union leader. She’s a young mother, a feminist and a Muslim who has had personal experience of racial discrimination in the workplace.
For the last five years, Shavanah Taj has led the Public and Commercial Services Union in Wales, where it has more than 20,000 members, most of whom are civil servants.
The union has a reputation for militancy, and under her leadership refused to back down when National Museum Wales sought to reduce premium payments for low-paid staff.
Born and raised in Cardiff, Ms Taj went to Cathays High School, going on to Coleg Glan Hafren, the University of Glamorgan and the University of the West of England in Bristol.
She’s also a graduate of the TUC training academy – the elite course for high-flying union officials thought capable of great things.
It was as a teenager in Cardiff that she got her first taste of racial discrimination in the workplace: “I’ve always worked, since I was 15 – getting parttime and holiday jobs while studying,” she said.
“One day I was with a friend when we saw a notice in a shop window advertising a job. I went in and was told the job had gone the day before. Sure enough, the advert continued to be in the window and when I rang up using a British name I was told I could have the job. But I didn’t go to work for them.
“My family are from Pakistan. My dad came here in 1958 and he worked in the steel industry. I’m a Muslim, although I don’t really like to put myself in a specific category. For me, working in the trade union movement is entirely consistent with the values I grew up with at home.
“My father is probably my biggest influence – he has always been involved in his trade union and was a rep himself.”
Another aspect of Ms Taj’s experience that is rather more unconventional for a union official is her involvement in groups that examined the impact of the 9/11 and 7/7 terror attacks on Britain’s Muslim community, and the issue of forced marriages.
“When I was interviewed by the TUC after I applied for a place at the training academy they asked me a question about equalities, as anyone would. My answer to that was, ‘I kind of tick all your boxes. If you employ me and take a chance on somebody who may not be able to tick the box of [already] being a union official, I do believe I have skills that transfer over, and with the values I hold and everything I’ve done previously – I’ve done pretty much every job on the planet – it makes sense.”
The PCS has a reputation as one of the most militant public-sector unions, but Ms Taj insists that the direction it has taken has been member-led: “You’ve got to give people hope – I think that’s what PCS has been really good at doing. Mark [Serwotka, the union’s general secretary] has given opportunities to younger people and set up equality structures within the union.
“It’s one thing for people to feel that you relate to them, but another to think you’ll work with them to change things. So it’s not about me coming in and saving the world – it’s about us working together to save the world, so to speak. The union movement at its grassroots is about the membership – the union officers’ responsibility is to make sure certain things happen in the background – that we have the structures and are able to assist members in coming forward. But it’s not something that we lead.”
For Ms Taj, there is no distinction between fighting for her members’ wages and jobs, and protecting public services for the community as a whole.
“What we have managed to do through our campaigning is keep JobCentres open, we’ve managed to keep jobs, we’ve managed to work with the public in communities and work with other unions – and that’s something we will continue to do,” she said.
“When we say this is about protecting jobs and protecting pay etc, it’s also about protecting public services, and that’s something that affects every single person in this country in their lives.”
With pay rises still being capped at 1% for civil servants, the possibility of industrial action by her members cannot be ruled out.
Nevertheless, this week’s Wales TUC conference in Llandudno showed that the partnership between trade unions and the Welsh Government could result in tangible improvements for low-paid workers.
Former Counsel General Mick Antoniw, who was a partner with Thompsons Solicitors before being elected the AM for Pontypridd, is to lead on an initiative that could see companies awarded procurement contracts and grants by the Welsh Government obliged to improve pay and conditions for their workers.
This has already been achieved for home care workers.
Recently introduced regulations have enabled workers in the sector not to be forced to accept zerohours contracts.
Employers are now required to give domiciliary care workers a choice of contract after they have been employed for three months.
The regulations also require providers to ensure that time for travel and care is clearly set out, so that care time and therefore the quality of care is not eroded by the need to travel between visits.