When I arrived at the Young Workers Centre I was quickly thrown into a meeting which was actually very useful. 

I was welcomed by a lot of new faces on that first day. I met the team including Sarah, Amy, Rose, Clare, Shirley, Matt and Keelia. I was also welcomed by the rest of the teams here in Trades hall. 

My week was a mixture of Sarah’s earl grey teas, meetings, hot jam donuts and learning about how in some cases, rights at work can be taken away from you. My knowledge was hugely expanded thanks to the team who taught me exactly what needs to be done to help young students and workers, like me, how to campaign issues and how to use media to get your message across.

 I was able to get a great insight into a lot of different jobs. I got to create spoke cards for the Rights for Riders campaign, wrote a blog for the women’s team, inserted survey entries from schools and had a lot of meetings concerning all sorts of projects, issues and campaigns. Amy was also kind enough to let me interview her as I was interested in Media and Communications. She gave me a great understanding on what the job entails and how to get to where she is now.

It was a week of realisation for me. When I had the opportunity to help out with some pay calculations I saw just how big the issue of underpayment was. It opened my eyes to some big social justice issues that we all need to pay attention to. On the last day I was fortunate enough to be taken on a once in a lifetime tour of Trades Hall. We climbed up ladders, were told some amazing, unique stories and let’s just say I definitely concurred my fear of heights.

My week has been so amazing and a great once in a lifetime experience. I thank the whole Young Workers team who taught me so much and were so kind. I will definitely miss all of the experiences and the people here.