feature Changing lives/Health and safety
When rural members need help roving rep Clive Dixon is there
Clive Dixon is a Unite rep and branch secretary at ADDO Foods in Poole, but as well as supporting members at the Dorset food factory he also travels the South West as an accredited support companion (ASC).
An accredited support companion is a roving rep trained by Unite to help members in workplaces without their own representative – something vital in rural areas with membership spread across the countryside.
Clive has two days a week allocated to his ASC role, keeping him very busy, as he explains. “I can cover quite a wide area. I’ve supported workers across Dorset and beyond, going to Wiltshire and parts of Somerset. It really depends on the needs of the member.
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I helped a member facing a disciplinary. While negotiating, I discovered the reasonable adjustments he needed to support him at work hadn’t been made and we reached an agreement
Clive Dixon, Unite accredited support companion, Dorset
“Sometimes it involves travelling to members working on remote farms, other times it can be a matter of just going through things on the phone.”
Clive deals with a diverse caseload, ranging from helping members facing disciplinary procedures or putting in grievances and pay claims. One case involved supporting a member facing eviction from their tied accommodation after the landowner decided to convert it to an AirBnB.
Clive has worked at ADDO Foods, now part of Complete Foods, for 11 years. Five of which as branch secretary, developing a good working relationship with the employer. He explained how he first got involved with the role.
“A few years ago I decided I wanted to get more involved with the union outside my workplace and mentioned this to Unite regional officer, Steve Attwill, who has now retired.”
“Steve suggested that I should consider becoming an ASC, which sounded really interesting. I said yes and was sent on a two day course in the Unite office in Bristol to get up to speed on Employment Law.”
Since then Clive has helped members in workplaces big and small, and it always starts with a phone call from the Unite office in Bournemouth.
Clive said, “I’ll get a call to check if I am free and able to support a member who doesn’t have a rep. In
24 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2024
a rural area like Dorset this can be quite common as the union has lots of members in small workplaces scattered around the county.”
“The type of support I can offer varies a lot. I recently helped a member in Shaftesbury facing a disciplinary hearing. While negotiating on his behalf I discovered that the reasonable adjustments he needed to support him at work hadn’t been made and we reached an agreement.”
An ASC only does the initial support as Clive explains.
“If the case goes to a tribunal, or the legal team, then a Unite Regional Officer takes over. So I make lots of notes from meetings and conversations about the members’ case so I can pass them onto the officer if it isn’t resolved.”
Clive feels that representing remote members is a vital job that helps them realise that the union is there for them and can also help build membership as their colleagues see the benefit of joining.
FIND OUT MORE
Contact your regional office about becoming a Companion. Find your regional office on page 39
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Mark Thomas
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