Inspirational reps
TURNING NEWLY LEARNED SKILLS INTO ACTION
Unite Women’s Week course helps rep Faisa Elmi implement period dignity at work
Just as the hospitality industry was awakening to the possibility of a post-pandemic future in autumn 2021, Unite rep Faisa Elmi first started her job as a hotel receptionist.
“It was a quiet time,” she recalls of her first few months working at the Aloft Hotel in Birmingham. “I met some amazing people from Unite who encouraged me to join the union, and I became involved straightaway.”
Now, slow days at work are a distant dream – “It’s so busy that it’s really difficult to get a room at the hotel – we hardly ever have any vacancies.”
In the years since she first started, Faisa has worked her way up from reception to the reservations desk – and during that time, she’s also become more active within Unite. Last year, she attended National Women’s Week, where she took the ‘Understanding your Union and Getting Involved’ course. This course is intended to help build confidence for reps who may just be starting out.
“It was an absolutely fantastic course,” Faisa said. “I learned just as much from the excellent tutors as from the women who attended. They were from all over the UK, and some of the stories they told about their workplaces were quite shocking. But it was also inspirational learning how these women have fought back against bad employers.”
Faisa took what she learned in the classroom and right away turned her newfound skills into action.
“On the course I learned about Unite’s Period Dignity campaign and how to implement it in your workplace,” she explained. “At the hotel, we used to have free access to sanitary items in the toilets, but because we had problems with agencies coming in and stealing products, HR did away with free provision in the toilets. If staff needed sanitary items, they had to go to HR to ask.”
“I learned about Unite’s Period Dignity campaign and after the course, I put together a PowerPoint presentation for both management and staff, including men because they needed to know how important it is for women to have period dignity at work”
Faisa Elmi, Unite rep, Hospitality sector
While on the National Women’s Week course, Faisa learned sanitary product provision at the hotel in practice actually undermined the aims of the Period Dignity campaign. This is because keeping products under lock and key means workers cannot always access items when they need, and having to ask for them can feel like an invasion of privacy.
“After the course, I put together a PowerPoint presentation for both management and staff, including men because they needed to know how important it is for women to have period dignity at work,” she explained.
Thanks to Faisa’s efforts, now every department in the hotel has a basket of sanitary products in a designated space that all staff know about. Each department has a lead person in charge who ensures products can be accessed freely.
Faisa said it was the Women’s Week course that gave her the confidence to continue to press HR for progress on period dignity.
“After the PowerPoint presentation, I kept chasing HR and knocking on doors. Every day, I’d ask, ‘Has it been done? Has it been organised?’ I didn’t stop until all the policies were in place. We’ve also implemented Menopause Dignity policies too.”
Faisa learned so much in the Women’s Week course that she’s attending National Women’s Week again this year. She’s also since completed reps training courses 1a and 1b. She now says she has the confidence to, for example, represent members in disciplinary meetings.
“Before I would not have felt comfortable doing this, but now I feel confident I can defend my members,” she explained.
Faisa praised all the tutors and coordinators involved in Unite Education courses and urged members to sign up.
“I encourage women especially to go on one of the courses. In sectors like hospitality, often it’s not the greatest place for women, with all the bullying and harassment and low pay. We need to arm ourselves with knowledge to defend ourselves in the workplace. It was incredible meeting women from so many different backgrounds – it’s great to know you’re not alone.”
“Hospitality…it’s not the greatest place for women, with all the bullying, harassment and low pay. We need to arm ourselves with knowledge to defend ourselves in the workplace. It was incredible meeting women from so many different backgrounds – it’s great to know you’re not alone”
Faisa Elmi, Unite rep, Hospitality sector
