Underpaid, undervalued, unseen – until now

Catherine McKenna (pictured above), who works for the Education Authority in Northern Ireland and is the co-chair of Belfast education branch, is the new president of UNISON.

Passionate about women’s rights and the power of low-paid workers, Catherine’s journey as a union activist began 18 years ago, when she got a job in a school meals kitchen in Belfast.

“Whenever you join a school or any workplace where there’s loads of women, there’s always that one strong woman. Her name was Kate, she walked straight up to me on my first say and said, “you’re joining the union” and I went “but I’m only temporary,” and she said, “no, you’re joining the union, and it’s UNISON, and we’re all in it, and you’ve no choice.”

Catherine was glad she became a union member, because when one of her supervisors harassed her, UNISON supported her to file a grievance and resolve the matter. This in turn inspired Catherine to get more involved, so she became a rep for her other workplace, in education transport.

Since then, her ascent through the union over the past two decades has been impressive. From shop steward, to branch secretary, to co-chair of UNISON Belfast education branch, then to NEC member and now president, Catherine has gradually climbed the ranks of the union and accumulated invaluable experience along the way. Most notably, in 2023, Catherine led education workers in their first strikes in Northern Ireland in 15 years, which successfully changed the pay and grading infrastructure.

‘Lift as you rise’

She credits her new appointment as president to all the women who have encouraged her over the years. “I’ve just had all these different powerful women in Northern Ireland guiding me, pushing me forward, saying ‘you know what you’re talking about, you’ll be good at this’.”

Now, Catherine sees it as her responsibility to guide other women to move up through the union. And to her, it’s important that the president of a union that represents over one million women is a woman herself. “We have so many women who are underpaid, undervalued, unseen, and we need a voice,” she says.

“I remember at my first UNISON conference, there was a motion called ‘lift as you rise’. It was about climbing the ladder and pulling it up behind you,” she says. “I believe we need to look at people who are new, and who want to get involved, rather than people who stay in positions for 30 years.”

This is something Catherine’s already been doing for years in her role as one of the senior lay tutors in Northern Ireland, where she delivers training for new union stewards. And it’s something that she wants to lead on as the union’s president – particularly to inspire more low-paid women to take up leadership roles within the union.

“I want to speak up for low-paid women. A few years ago, one of my NEC colleagues Lyn Marie [O’Hara], said, ‘low paid doesn’t mean low intelligence,’ and I agree. Low-paid is just a reflection of the circumstances you’re in. Nobody wants to be a low-paid worker,” she says.

Honesty, fairness, unity

Catherine explains that the reason she first took a low-paid role as a school meals worker was because, like many women, she couldn’t afford childcare. “I went into a job where I was able to go to work as they went to school, and then I could go and pick them up. That was it. And so many low-paid workers feel like they don’t have a voice.

“I’ve come from low-paid work and pushed myself through and been determined. Anyone who’s like, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I’m only a cleaner’, I want to say: ‘You can do anything’.”

Catherine’s intention as president is to lead the union with honesty, fairness and unity. As an NEC member for the last four years, she says: “I’m not going to please everyone, but I’ll try my best.”

This is something she says she learned as a union activist. “It’s important to realise you can only do your best. You can’t do everything.”

According to Catherine, a good activist also has ‘the patience of a saint, and a thick skin.’

Catherine will hold the position for a year. She is joined on the presidential team by James Anthony (pictured above, right), a registered nurse from Birmingham as senior vice president, and Debbie Rowden (above, left), a local government project manager from Norfolk as junior vice president.

Inclusion is central to her ethics. Catherine takes inspiration from Inez McCormack, the late UNISON activist and first female president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, who played an integral role in ensuring equality and human rights provisions were included in the Good Friday agreement.

“Whenever Inez was setting up a meeting, she would say, ‘But who’s not at the table?”, and that’s always stuck with me. It’s usually a woman that’s not at the table.”

Each year, the UNISON president gets to pick a presidential project that they encourage branches and activists to donate to. Catherine has chosen Women in Hebron, a Palestinian fair-trade co-operative that’s based in the city of Hebron in the West Bank.

Catherine became very passionate about Palestinian rights after a 2019 trade union Friends of Palestine visit to the West Bank.

 “It was an educational trip to visit kids in schools,” she says. “Seeing children have to go through checkpoints to get to school and seeing armed officers physically beating on children, it absolutely broke me to see the injustice.”

“The genocide in Gaza just beggars’ belief,” she says.

So, what does Catherine most want the UNISON membership to know about her? “I’m a hard worker. I always give everything 100%, and I don’t believe in doing things half-heartedly.”