'S Action Special Durham

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SHEILA Hope is a NUPE Shop Steward on a YTS Sch Enterprises Ltd. in Durham. Her training is main She is involved with a NUPE sponsored campaign Jane Ashworth (right) and Tony Dale at Class Fighter conference.

Fighter has campaigned against youth being compelled to go onto conditions for YTS trainees on her scheme.

Sheila, what are the conditions like on your scheme?

Disgusting. Trainees are made to clean out toilets. Supervisors leave trainees for half days, or days on end without supervision. The whole canteen is disgusting. I wouldn't let anybody eat off our tables. • The shopfloor in my biew is unsage. There are bits of wood and sawdust lying all over the floor. It's just generally unhygenic and unsage.

What sort of training do you get?

Not much. I've learnt how to set up a home computer to draw 'Danger Mouse' Posters. I can do a bit of typing and I can use the switchboard. Ah, yes, and I know how to make confetti for people's weddings which I spent 2 days doing for one of the supervisors who was getting married.

How did you get involved with NUPE?

They came in and gave us a talk and told us that we were entitled to join a Union. It we joined we could elect some shop stewards and stand up for ourselves. It started with only a few memebrs and then it gradually built up until we had twelve shop stewards. I went away on a shop steward's course. We sat and worked out what the problems were on the scheme and drafted a press release, a petition and leaflets about YTS.

The petition calls for Trade Union rates of pay that's £40 per week here. A minimum of four weeks holiday because at present we get 18 days. Free travel to and from work and a guaranteed job at the end of training.

We've had gn- apport all round. Th -ponse of the General puvic and ordinary trade unionists has been to welcome it with open arms. We had a rally on March 3rd at which we had a good number of trainees. The support's still going for us.

How did the Management and the MSC react to the campaign?

The MSC were totally against everything and started trouble with the trainees. The supervisors started picking on me and Kaye Algerson who was also involved in the campaign. One day they sat me down in front of twenty-odd trainees and pulled me apart. The Supervisors started trouble up at work. For 3 days no trainee spoke to us and I got beaten up by some trainees.

Rumours

The manager and assistant manager started rumours that I was trying to get the scheme banned so the trainees ganged up on us. I cannot prove it but I also think the management had a hand in calling a meeting of union members to try to get me kicked out as shop steward.

I was re-elected but now they've found a new way to get rid of me. I'm sent out on placement until the end of my time.

fallen off and at you're the only left. Why do you happened?

le wit h Dragon cleric :al work. help improve The union membership has the moement shop steward think this has It's only because the trainees are scared of losing their jobs. There's also a bad feeling at work from supervisors. If you're involved in the union or with the petition you get a load of stick from the Supervisors. They say 'you don't want to be involved with the Union, it's nowt but trouble and they don't edo anything for you' ". As far as I'm concerned at work we have no rights as employees so we are on our own unless we have the unton behind us.

Where's the Campaign going from here?

We're presenting a 'Youth Charter' to the MSC demanding the trade union rates of pay and all the other aspects of petition along with the right to be treated as adults and not immature children.

Forty trainees in NUPE are going down to London on the 1st May to present a draft copy of the petition to Norman Fowler. We will also be meeting Neil Kinnock. We've jsut got to tell them what we want and that we're intent on getting it. But as far as the Tories are concerned the schemes will nver change while they're in government.

Class YTS. YTS campaigners in Birmingham MINT 13Ds