Foster Care Workers Branch Organiser

Job Advertisement

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) is looking for an Organiser to support the Foster Care Workers branch in building power and winning changes. We extend a warm welcome to all applicants, with additional encouragement for foster carers and those with experience of fostering to apply.

The Foster Care Workers branch has a proud history of winning changes in the sector, including ending 10 year plus pay freezes in Glasgow, Falkirk, North Yorkshire and Northumberland Councils.

You’ll be joining the branch at an exciting time where the branch is aiming to build on this foundation. Your focus will be on building organisation in a number of local authority areas, supporting active members who can organise and lead campaigns, and supporting other projects to strengthen organisation in the branch.

You will be part of the organising team in the IWGB union – working alongside and reporting to a Senior Organiser. You will also work closely with elected branch committee members.

The role is fixed term for one year and is for 4.5 days (32 hours) per week. We are open to negotiation on the hours, job shares and discussing a mutually beneficial working pattern with the right candidate. We are hoping to make the role permanent in the future, if the branch is in a position to do so.

This role is suitable for remote or office working and we welcome applicants based anywhere in Britain. The role will involve some travel to support members organising in Scotland and the north of England and to our London office.

Person specification

We expect the successful candidate to have:

Essential:

• Willingness and enthusiasm to organise foster carers.
• Strong communication, social and interpersonal skills and to be comfortable spending a lot of time speaking with people.
• Ability to make a plan and follow through with it.
• Self-motivation, perseverance, and ability to prioritise and make decisions independently.
• Ability to learn quickly, and keenness to develop and educate yourself.
• Understanding core principles of trade unionism, such as that we need to fight in order to win changes, belief in equality and justice, etc.
• Ability to manage your own boundaries and look after yourself and those you are organising with, when doing stressful work.
  

Desirable:

• Experience working as a foster carer and/or knowledge of the foster care system.
• Experience of organising your own workplace or supporting others to do so.
• Experience of organising collective action and campaigns.
• Experience of supporting others to take on leadership roles, and supporting people and groups to make plans together and organise around shared concerns.
• Good meeting facilitation skills.
• A basic knowledge of employment law and how to enforce basic rights.
• Experience of lobbying elected officials and/or political campaigning.
  

We’re looking for someone with potential and motivation, so if you don’t have everything on the person specification, but share our values and believe you have what it takes, then please apply!

Duties will include:

• To recruit members and build collective organisation in priority local authority areas, e.g. through finding carers interested in organising, meeting up with them for coffees, supporting the formation of organising teams, etc.
• To support active members to campaign for improved pay, conditions & rights for foster carers.
• To support active members to develop skills and leadership roles in their local area and in the branch.
• To work closely with elected branch officials and support them to carry out their roles.
• To support the development and organisation of branch teams and working groups.
• To produce communications to members and the public where relevant to organising activity or where required to fill in for support.
• To assist with casework and member support where relevant to organising activity or where required to fill in for support.
• To help develop administrative systems which ensure the smooth running of the branch, and provide some administrative support to the branch where relevant to organising activity or where required to fill in for support.
• To record, keep secure and make use of data for organising purposes.
• To organise members of the branch to take part in union activities such as demonstrations and other initiatives.
• Any other duties consistent with the post.
  

Pay and annual leave

• Annual salary of £28,038 (32 hours per week) Salary will be adjusted annually in line with any London Living Wage uplifts
• Generous leave entitlement of 30 days annual leave per year not including bank holidays (prorated for part time staff)
• We believe in pay parity so everyone at IWGB earns the same hourly rate of pay

Benefits

• Flexibility around working patterns and hours
• Remote, Hybrid or office working options (dependant on position)
• High employer pension contributions: 6% employee-paid and 13% employer-paid pension
• Equal maternity and paternity pay enhancements for parents

How to apply:

You can download an application form from the ‘Work with us’ page of our website. Please send your completed application form with the subject “FCWB Organiser job application” to applications@iwgb.co.uk by 5pm, Wednesday January 15, 2024. Please let us know in your email where you have seen our advertisement so we can improve our hiring processes.

Who is the IWGB?

Founded in August of 2012, the IWGB now consists of 12 branches. The branches are highly autonomous and lead on campaigning for better pay and conditions in their industry. IWGB campaigns are known for being bold, vibrant, loud and effective. In addition to campaigning, the IWGB’s Legal department is also highly active, providing representation on a range of employment matters such as disciplinary processes, grievances, private hire licensing, and employment tribunals. The IWGB organises social events for members, Spanish and English classes, and holds regular meetings where members can engage and feed into policy. We are a democratic organisation with all officials being regularly elected.

As an organisation that fights for workers’ rights, we strongly believe no applicant or employee should face discrimination or harassment based on their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability status, age, or marital/domestic partner status. You can read more in the IWGB Statement of Inclusivity. Please let us know if you have any requirements for interview.

Above all, we’re looking for someone with empathy and the determination to support workers who fight for better conditions.

The interview process:

We like to be open and up front with what our hiring process looks like so people know what to expect. Please see below the typical steps in our recruitment process.

Review candidates

Once the advertisement has been taken down, a shortlist of candidates will be selected by the hiring committee to proceed to the next steps. All candidates will be informed of their application outcome within two weeks of the closing date, whether or not they’re proceeding to the next stage.

Remote interviews

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed via Zoom by a panel of IWGB elected officials and/or staff. Candidates will be interviewed by the same panel to ensure consistency.

Following these interviews, it is possible that there will be a second stage of interviews.

Offer stage

The hiring committee will convene with the goal of selecting and making an offer to one of the candidates. We will offer feedback to people who were interviewed but not selected.