Having your voice heard from the North Lakes

Paul Delaney, a National Trust Ranger from the Lake District, joined Prospect in 2003 when they were first recognised by the National Trust, and has been a big trade unionist his whole life, “I come from Northern Ireland where there’s a big trade union thing going on anyway, it seemed a natural thing to do.”

Having always been a member of a union, Paul says, “it seemed quite odd when I first joined the National Trust and they didn’t have a union,” so once Prospect was recognised in 2003, Paul described his decision to join as a “no brainer.”

The importance of joining a trade union is something that Paul encourages within his workplace at the National Trust, “I tell my colleagues, certainly our younger colleagues that trade union membership is important because it gives you a voice to your employer, it gives you an ability to influence your pay, your conditions, your health and safety.”

He put the emphasis on younger colleagues in particular, who, as they go through their career, they are going to experience lots of change and a trade union can help provide stability for them.

“They’re going to have a lot of different jobs within the National Trust, lots of different line managers,” says Paul, “the one thing that’ll be constant will be your trade union.”

Paul works as a Ranger in the North Lakes and although his team there is small, he still gets to influence the National Trust executive team: “It’s nice that they actually listen to the union’s opinions on things and we change stuff, we make good people’s lives better at work.”

Prospect has not only benefitted Paul in influencing his terms and conditions, but he has also benefitted from training, “Professionally, I’ve benefitted from a massive amount of training trough Prospect and through the TUC which has actually paid off in my work as well,” he says.

Paul also has a great relationship with his HR department: “They talk about what problems they’ve got, I talk about what problems my members have got and we kind of sort it out in the room.”

He is proud that they are able to discuss and sort out any issues quickly to avoid big lengthy processes, a tactic that other reps in Paul’s branch now also follow.

Paul and other reps like him are able to have their voice heard because of Prospect and we are proud to be able to navigate positive change throughout the National Trust.