UNISON Greater London branch Circular - August 2022

 

Welcome to the new branch update!

Dear Branch Secretary,  Welcome to the new Branch Secretary monthly update! Improving communications is one of the region's key priorities, as a result we have designed this new e-bulletin with the aim to keep you informed of what's going on in the Greater London region. In this email you can find information about upcoming events, updates about regional campaigns and much more. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your hard work in supporting our members. With the country in the middle of a massive cost of living crisis, and the government’s failure to act, now more than ever our members are looking to us. I know many of you are already doing great work, from negotiating an increase in mileage rates, to campaigning for an increase in London Weighting. I hope to be able to share with you an update on the national cost of living campaign in the coming months. In the meantime, there’s a lot of work ahead of us, but I’m confident that by working together we can make a real difference to our members lives. Jo Galloway Regional Secretary | Greater London   Branch participation  Regional Council Wednesday 19th October 2022 Venue TBC 10am More details and relevant deadlines can be found in the attached convening notice. Download the convening notice   Download the motion form   Retired member delegates attending 2022/23 Self Organised Group Conferences  UNISON rule D 7.8 allows for the National Retired Members’ Organisation to send two representatives to each of the National Self-Organised Group Conferences. Travel costs, expenses and accommodation will be met from national funds. Disabled retired members, LGBT+ retired members, Black retired members and women retired members interested in attending can find more information in the document via the link. More information here   Training and education The region is committed to providing a wide ranging education & training programme for activists to support you in your role. We offer courses ranging from Lost in UNISON, a short induction session for those very new to the role, to mandatory introductory training necessary for stewards and Health & Safety reps. We also offer more advanced courses to further develop your skills. Details on all regional courses available can be found on our website. For further information on all education & training please contact Amanda Mayers a.mayers@unison.co.uk The following courses are aimed at Stewards who have completed the Introductory Stewards Course and wish to further develop their knowledge and skills:   NEW Grievances and Disciplinaries Three-day course (In person in Central London) Thursdays commencing 28 September (then 6 & 13 October) £30 course fee Register here   NEW Mental Health Awareness One day course (Online) Wednesday 5 October £30 course fee Register here   NEW Menopause in the Workplace One day course (Online) Monday 17 or Tuesday 18 October £30 course fee Register for Monday 17th October   Register for Tuesday 18th October   NEW Supporting members through Sickness Absence Three-day course (Online) Wednesdays commencing 2 November (then 9 & 16 Nov) £30 course fee Register here   Upcoming events  Meeting for disabled Black Members 10 August 2022 2pm - 4:30pm Meet other disabled Black Members, including your reps on the National Disabled Members Committee. These meetings have been arranged to allow space for members from under-represented groups within disabled members self organisation to network and organise and to ensure they have better access to the disabled members conference agenda. This is a free event with lunch provided, taking place at UNISON Centre in London, travel costs are met nationally. Please contact disabilityissues@unison.co.uk to register   2023 National Black Members Conference  20-22 January 2023 Edinburgh International Conference Centre We have now opened the Online Conference System (OCS) to allow branches to register delegates and submit motions in line with the rule-book requirements.      Please note the deadline to submit motions on OCS is 12.00 noon on Friday, 30 September 2022. If you have any queries please email conferences@unison.co.uk   Contact unison@stewarttravelmanagement.com to book travel   2023 National Higher Education Conference 2 February 2023 Crowne Plaza Newcastle We have now opened the Online Conferencing System (OCS) to allow branches to register delegates and submit motions in line with the rule-book requirements.       Please note the deadline to submit motions on OCS is 12.00 noon on Thursday, 13 October 2022. If you have any queries please email conferences@unison.co.uk   Contact unison@stewarttravelmanagement.com to book travel   Service group updates  Health The Health Service Group Executive (HSGE) has called for a full industrial action ballot of directly employed NHS staff in England. Campaign resources and a full timetable will be published soon. Branches can prepare now by calling branch meetings for mid-August to discuss plans for delivering local campaign activity. The final details are still to be agreed but the HSGE has decided that while vital ballot preparation takes place, we will run a “pledge” drive, to act as a talking point with members and to get them to ‘pledge to vote yes’ when the formal ballots are issues. Read the FAQ's here   Higher Education The University and Colleges Employers Association have made their final pay offer: a below-inflation pay rise of 3% for most Higher Education staff and between 9% and 3% for those on pay points 3 to 19. They didn’t offer any more during the dispute process and will now impose this pay increase on 1 August 2022. A large number of branches in London agreed that members, covered by national HE pay bargaining for the year 2022/3, should be balloted for industrial action over the offer and the ballot is underway. It will close on 26 August. For more info on the offer and the ballot please read the FAQ's.   Read the FAQ's here   Local Government On Monday 25 July 2022 the Employers’ Side of the National Joint Council (NJC) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, made a final pay offer to local government employees. The pay offer is a flat rate increase on all spinal column points of £1,925 to be implemented from 1 April 2022 (i.e. payment to be backdated to that date). In Greater London this equates to an uplift of £2,229 on each spinal column point for Outer London and £2,355 for Inner London. View the figures here. This offer is in response to the joint union pay claim for £2,000, or RPI. Order materials here   Download the Powerpoint   Download graphics for social media