FROM HELPING OUT ON DAD’S STALL IN THE BARRAS
Sunday Mail email
Selling bric- a- brac to the east end’s most discerning shoppers developed what are now called great people skills.
Until now, these have been restricted to internal trade union roles where Roz, 47, has had a stellar career as an organiser in Scotland and across the UK.
Now she’s about to unleash her charm on the public when she becomes the general secretary of the STUC.
This was once a huge role in Scotland, as the spokesperson for all the country’s mighty unions and a key voice in a Labour-dominated nation.
The last person to hold the job, Grahame Smith, was well regarded as a policymaker but had no public profile.
With the SNP now the dominant political party, the STUC has struggled to make its voice heard on zero-hours contracts and the other issues that affect today’s more casual, less unionised workplaces.
Smith is retiring after 14 years and Roz is going to bring her zing, enthusiasm, feminist outlook and years of experience sorting out workplace disputes to the job.
She said: “We’ve got a lot of good things happening, I just don’t think we are doing the best job of speaking about it. It’s the lobbies with the money and the power who get to tell their story more effectively.
“We just need to redouble our efforts and really connect with people. Because what hasn’t changed is that when workers come together and connect with each other, they have power and they can win.”
So far, so much like a trade union leader. But Roz knows that what worked down the pits back in the day does not translate to the cal l centres and warehouses where jobs are now.
She said: “Work has changed and b e c ome more isolated. We don’t have big factories any more. Instead, we have care workers whose only contact with their boss is through an app. The same goes for delivery drivers.
“We need to f ind d i f ferent ways of collectivising people to make working life better for ourselves. We have a challenge to make it less old-fashioned. That is what I am going to attempt to do.”
It’s a huge job. Roz thinks it
With husband Simon