By Peter Richardson
PANSW Western & South West Industrial Officer
35 Branch Officials from across the Central Metropolitan, South West Metropolitan, Southern and Western Regions have benefitted from attending Branch Focus training courses in recent weeks. Branch Officials from as far away as Moree, Bourke, Broken Hill, Wagga and Albury, and as close as Sydney City gathered together for the occasion.
Covid restrictions prevented these courses from running face-to-face for the last two years. These training sessions followed the successful course run for members in NW Metro in March 2022.
The Branch Focus Course training is a vital part of Your Association's Organising approach, which assists Branch Officials in gaining the skills and confidence to resolve issues at a local level.
On 16 and 17 August, the course ran for Western and South Western Metro Branch Officials and Central Metro and Southern Regions on 23 and 24 August. The Central Metro and Southern Branch Officials benefitted from meeting in the room used by the Executive for its meetings, rich in PANSW's history and with staff on hand. However, due to a large number of attendees from the Western and South West regions arising from the backlog over the last two years, that course had to be held off-site in the Ballroom at Rydges World Square.
Both groups were addressed by PANSW President Kevin Morton, along with Executive members for their region. In addition, assistant Secretaries Paul Hannen (Organising), Kirsty Membreno (Industrial) and Tony Howell (Legal) spoke to the groups along with region and both specialist and region-facing Association staff.
Feedback from members was incredibly positive. Highlights from the sessions included tips for Branch Officials on how to organise their branches and the support available from Association staff, detailed discussions on how to support members during critical incidents and a presentation by Ian Johnstone, Member Support Coordinator, outlining the assistance PANSW can provide members during times of hardship. Attendees also got hands-on with the issues via role-playing running meetings, passing motions and negotiating with bosses.
Further courses will be run based on demand. If you are a Branch Official interested in undertaking the training, please get in touch with us on 9265 6777.