An Ayrshire woman has outlined her priorities going forward — after being named the first female Scottish Secretary of UNISON.
Tracey Dalling, who grew up in Prestwick, made history on Tuesday when she landed the role on International Women’s Day.
Ayrshire trade union members will remember Tracey well from a bust-up she and other members had with South Ayrshire Council back in 2017, as the union and the local authority fought a bitter fight over savage budget cuts.
Ms Dalling takes the reigns from Mike Kirby, who retired after decades of service.
She said: “I have represented UNISON members in Scotland for many years and I look forward to continuing to do so in my new role.
”We may be emerging from the pandemic, but it is the start of another huge period of change as our members are further pressed by pay and pension squeezes with bleak choices on managing household bills.”
She added: “UNISON has clear priorities: the crisis in social care and new national care service; investment for local government; the staffing crisis in the NHS; fair pay settlements for all public service workers; protecting all our pensions; equal pay; climate change; and a strong voice for all our public services and those that deliver them.
"I look forward to the challenge ahead.”
Most recently, Tracey was the Regional Secretary for UNISON’s Greater London region.
However, she has been active in UNISON Scotland since 1993 and in NALGO before that.
Tracey’s new role follows the recent appointment of UNISON UK’s first female general secretary, Christina McAnea.
Lilian Macer, UNISON Scotland’s convenor, said: “I am looking forward to working together with Tracey. She has huge experience and long history of standing up for public service workers across the country.”
UNISON is Scotland’s largest public sector trade union, representing more than 150,000 members, over three quarters of whom are women.
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