IRENE STOUT
Equalities officer in the
old Edinburgh District Branch and in the current branch since its inception,
Irene works in an Edinburgh Library.
She sees equalities as a dual function of exerting pressure and making people think on the one hand, coupled with direct involvement in service conditions on the other.
DANNY CURRIE
Danny was a steward in the
ex Edinburgh No 1 (Lothian Region) NUPE branch and stepped in recently
to rescue health and safety in the branch.
Danny works in a unit that sets up and responds to community alarms.
PS. He doesn't have a beard anymore - but he's going to grow one to save us getting a new photo.
JOHN MULGREW
Came to prominence as Assessors Stewards Convener
during the 1989 strike in the old Lothian Region Branch. Went on to become
service conditions officer and service conditions convener of the merged
branch. He works in the Lothian Joint Valuation Board.
A negotiator with an eye for detail, he is also famous for his conditions and agreements filing system, without which there was, and would be, chaos.
Loved by the staff for his cheery good humour. Hobbies (nay obsession) is Heart of Midlothian football club, and DIY the hard way.
Likes: Guinness. Dislikes: Mornings.
JOHN ROSS
Arch negotiator John Ross comes from the ex
Edinburgh District Branch. Renowned for knowing about just about everything
before you do and feeling distinctly uncomfortable if he doesn't. Long
history in the trade union, was once vice chair of the Scottish organisation
of ex NALGO and currently sits on the Scottish Committee of UNISON.
John, whose job is in Housing, is also a Labour councillor in sunny East Lothian, and has just become a grandad at a fashionably young age.
Likes: A pint in the local. Dislikes: Any form of retrospection.
GEORGE LEE
Was branch secretary of Scotland's
biggest NUPE branch prior to merger and convener for manual workers since.
Another officer with a long pedigree in the union. George's specialism
is advocacy, making him the branch Petrocelli.
George is a residential social worker. Hobbies include golf, laying patios, wrestling with computers and sleepless nights as a new dad.
Likes: Golf. Dislikes: Computer video cards.
WATTIE WEIR
Chair of the ex Edinburgh
No1 (Lothian Region) branch for a good many years. Currently involved in
national UNISON duties as well as his branch commitments.
Wattie works in City Development and one of his tasks is to grit icy roads, making him popular with drivers everywhere.
Renowned for his sense of humour, and army service in Borneo, Wattie is also active in the Labour Party.
A colleague once said she could never be a union leader, "You need a name like 'Wattie Weir' to do that".
Likes: A good night out. Dislikes: Winters without snow.
TRACY GILBERT
Relatively
new on the scene as an officer, but well and truly baptised as a steward
in the Housing Benefits/ Council Tax benefits dispute which led to a united
and successful, if unofficial, walk-out. Now co-ordinates the branch's
'Best Value' working group.
Tracy works in Finance.
Likes: A drink. Dislikes: Getting back from womens conference on Valentines Day after the bus broke down on the motorway, the plane wobbled on landing and .........
KEVIN DUGUID
Kevin is now in his second
year as a Service Conditions Officer and has managed so far to avoid the
kind of embarrassing events we like to put in these biographies. Still
there's time yet.
Likes: A drink. Dislikes: Falling downstairs with carry-out food (allegedly)