Mitali Sen: creating the change people want to see
Mitali Sen is a Portfolio Officer at the National Lottery Community fund, and a passionate workplace rep.
When she first joined Prospect back in 2019, her workplace had two recognised unions so she was weighing up the pros and cons of each. But when senior reps from Prospect and an organiser came to her office to chat to staff, she said “they were so warm and friendly and knowledgeable that after speaking with them all, I just decided to join up there and then on the spot”.
Mitali became a workplace rep for London and the South East in February 2020, being the first one in 2 years. She quickly realised they could really benefit from some local representation through a senior rep, so she put herself forward, “I’m really committed to social justice, including labor justice and labour rights so I really align with the values of trade union movements, including Prospect.”
Becoming a rep a month before lockdown which had its own challenges and was a very busy time for Mitali, “The branch called every single member, and had individual one to ones with over 200 members.” They thought that was the best way to understand each person’s experience and what they needed and expected from both the union and the organisation throughout a very uncertain time for us all. They collated these responses and used them to raise issues with senior staff.
“I think members join unions for different reasons, a lot of people just want to know that that support is there if they need it, but a lot of people from the conversations I have with members really want to see transformational change within their organisations.”
Being a Prospect rep has really helped Mitali influence change, “unions, certainly Prospect, are a really good vehicle for that type of change that people want to see,” and has given her a voice at work.
Aside from being a positive influence in her workplace, Mitali has also been able to develop skills that she wouldn’t otherwise have. “I’ve had loads of informal mentoring and support from other reps, amazing formal training from Prospect which has given me really good skills around negotiation, representing, social media skills. So there’s a lot to gain from it”.
As a union rep, Mitali believes that equity and inclusion are a massive factor of her work. “Our very purpose and need for existence is to achieve equality, fairness, dignity and in order to do that you need to centre the most marginalised people.” Unions are about creating safer spaces for everyone, especially those who are most excluded, and Mitali has put at the heart of her work.