Matt Guy receiving his May Day award at Taminmin College from President Jarvis Ryan
Celebrating a ripper rep
Member Matt Guy has been awarded the AEU NT’s Sub-Branch Representative of the Year Award for his union activism. Matt received the May Day award from President Jarvis Ryan. Matt has been a union rep at Taminmin College for the past several years, building membership and organisation in one of the NT’s biggest schools.
“Good representatives ideally need to consider the role is about serving the needs of others,” Matt reflected. “The longer I have been in the role the more I see the need to approach it will empathy for all around you. This includes the larger union body, the school in which you work and most importantly, those in the sub-branch who have elected you.
“The other important thing about being a rep is to have others around you to support you and who are included at a sub-branch executive level. I have been privileged to hold a role for several years and to have been mentored by others to gain understanding of the role of representation.”
“Support from home and others enable me to continue also. This is part of my story as being a union representative and I realise that we all have our own stories which will differ from mine.”
This article was first published in the Term 2, 2020 edition of the Territory Educator magazine.