Emmaís out to help the North Westís working students

Emma Lipscombe is set to arrive at all North West colleges and universities to help trade unions and working students learn more about each other.

The 25-year-old former Unison steward is the TUC in the North Westís Student Project Organiser. Her aim is to raise student awareness of the value of trade unions while helping the TUC learn what work students undertake to fund their studies.

Emma, a former student herself, said:

ìMy work is about making students aware of the value of unions in campaigning and protecting peopleís rights in the workplace.

îBut itís also about making sure we know what types of work students are taking up while they are studying. So I will be visiting all the North Westís universities and colleges and as many workplaces as possible.

ìItís a challenging role and an important one.íí

The North West has 225,000 full-time higher and further education students and another 335,000 part-time students. Of these, an estimated 400,000 hold down jobs while studying.

Research has shown that 40% of full-time students now believe their studies have been hampered by their need to work to fund themselves through college.

A year ago, the TUC and the National Union of Students (NUS) agreed to work closely to address the challenges posed by the growth of student employment. Less than 7% of full-time students are trade union members ñ and this figure drops to 4% among 18-25-year-old students.

The TUC believes that both student workers and unions can benefit from closer relations: Students can gain the workplace protection and services that trade union membership offers while the unions can increase their membership.

Which is where Emma comes in. She will be holding union awareness-raising sessions at all North West colleges and universities and visiting workplaces to meet working students.