InUNISON International Women's Day 2022

 Hat tip https://www.in-unison.org/post/international-women-s-day-2022

inUNISON - IDEO MEDIA INTERVIEWS - TOP TIPS

 

by Carole Jones

The trend for more interviews via Zoom or Facetime, etc. continues to grow, and it is essential that UNISON’s voice is heard. Many of us will have become familiar with online meetings, but for media interviews it really is a different technique, and a matter of giving yourself the chance to get your points across effectively, and looking and sounding your best.

Here’s our ten top tips for appearing in media video interviews.

1. If approached to give an interview, contact the UNISON Press Office, and let them have the following information about the interview:

- the time and date of the proposed interview

- the name of the programme and the news organisation conducting the interview e.g. BBC TV News, LBC radio etc.

- the subject

- if known, the name of the interviewer

2. Think about the one or two key points you want to get across, and the simplest way of

saying them.

3. Think about the counter-arguments that might be put to you and the most effective way of

responding to those.

4. Check your connection (visual and audio) by conducting a quick test of it with a friend

5. Position your phone, computer, or camera safely at eye-level (this avoids looking down into the camera, giving the impression of looming over the viewer, and perhaps looking menacing!)

6. Place a lamp or other light source behind your computer etc so that your face is properly illuminated.

7. Think about what is in your background. If you’ve got UNISON material you can display, all

the better. But keep it simple, not too busy.

8. Just before the interview check yourself out in a mirror for messy hair or food-stains!

9. Let others in your household know you’ll be doing the interview so you are not disturbed.

10. Speak as clearly as you can.

Good luck!

inUNISON - Be A Disabled Workers' Ally

 

This is another great post https://www.in-unison.org/post/be-a-disabled-workers-ally in the blog https://www.in-unison.org  by Carole Jones. A 2 minute read.

https://www.in-unison.org/ is a new blog "for unison members by unison members". 

"I’m not a disabled member, so it’s hard to imagine just how frightening and isolating the pandemic has been for our members who live with underlying conditions, whether that’s a matter of physical health or mental health.

That’s why I think UNISON’s Year Of Disabled Workers couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. I also think it is important to consider how members without disabilities can be good allies and work alongside disabled workers to ensure they enjoy equal pay, conditions, accessibility, and health and safety in the workplace.

Being an ally is an important way of working, as it does not deny the humanity or agency of disabled workers, but shows a willingness to listen to and respect what disabled workers prioritise as their needs.

We should never be in the position of telling members what they want. Too many confuse loudhailers and sloganeering with leadership, failing to understand that it is the honest work of talking wiith members and listening and working together to agree plans and objectives that is needed.

So, how do you become an ally of disabled workers?

Educating yourself is an essential first step. That doesn’t mean having to learn everything you can about disease, illness, and injury! It does mean learning about your employer’s policies and practices as regards disabled workers, and whether they meet the needs of disabled workers. If not, ensure this matter gets on the negotiating agenda.

Reaching out to disabled workers is also an essential move. If you already have a disabled members branch self-organised group, that’s great - but have you spoken with them about their needs and priorities? Can the branch do more to support the growth of the SOG? Does the branch ensure members are aware of the group’s existence and how to contact them?

If you don’t have a disabled members’ branch group, why not ask a regional or national disabled SOG speaker to your branch committee or branch meeting to talk about how disabled workers can be supported to get organised?

There are some important things you can do on an individual level, too: consider your own beliefs and actions - do they support disabled workers in the best way or are there some underlying prejudices you need to eradicate?; speak out and challenge anti-disabled prejudice; help amplify the voices of disabled members on social media by liking and sharing their contributions, etc.

Become an ally!

UNISON has produced a range of resources for use in helping to celebrate and organise around the Year of Disabled Members, available at

https://www.unison.org.uk/about/what-we-do/fairness-equality/disabled-members/year-of-disabled-workers-2022/year-of-disabled-workers-resources/"

inUNISON - Beating the bullies

 

Check out this post in the new website inUNISON "by members for members" sign posting a great guide by UNISON on standing up to bullies and harassment in the workplace. 

by Carol Jones 1 minute read

"Supporting members in the workplace is a key role for activists and for UNISON. Sadly, one of the most common problems members face is bullying and/or harassment by managers or by colleagues.

There have always been managers who use bullying and/or harassment to get their way, and being a union member is the best method to protect yourself against them.

But as cuts bite, and in the current situation where COVID may also be causing staff shortages, members may come under increasing pressure to cover gaps in services: pressure which can amount to bullying.

Check out UNISON's guidelines on combating bullying and harassment in the resources section of the dedicated webpage on the UNISON website: https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/knowledge/discrimination/bullying-and-harassment

inUNISON - How do we organise our retired members?

Check out this article inUNISON on how can we organise our 160,000 retired members.

Denise Wilson 2 min read

How do we organise our retired members?

UNISON has over 160,000 members - more than 10% of our overall membership, so it’s no surprise that there is frequent talk of how we can be organised, especially as regards helping branches.

The Retired members organisation in UNISON is not a self-organised group (SOG). SOGs are for working members, so retired members are seen rather as a special category of membership. But there are many similarities, with branch, regional, and national levels of organisation, our own conference, and also relationships with external organisations through such groups as the TUC Pensioners Committee and the national pensioners’ conventions. So, not a SOG, but we do organise ourselves in a very similar way.

Many of us active retired members are also keen to assist our branches beyond the retired members organisation. And we know that many branches would appreciate help, especially with the current pressures on time-off and activist workloads.

There are three quick tips that I’d like to offer. For the more established and effective branches, these are probably standard operating procedure, but for those trying to build, or rebuild, their retired members organisation, I hope you will find them useful.

Tip 1. Work towards building a stronger relationship between the rest of the branch and the retired members. Something as simple as the branch secretary or another senior branch officer attending a retired members meeting a couple of times a year to listen to concerns and to report on branch business can make a real difference. The rulebook makes provision for the Retired Members Secretary to sit on the Branch Committee, but that can be quite limiting and formal.

Tip 2. Using the branch annual planning process can also help. Involving retired members reps in discussions about the branch year ahead means a chance to identify potential common activities, and allow for planned involvement of retired members. This should also mean a calendar of meetings and events that everyone gets to see and work towards.

Tip 3. Run a skills/interests survey amongst retired members. This can identify common interest groups and skills that the branch might be able to benefit from.

We all have to start somewhere, and there’s never been a more pressing time.

inUNISON - launch of brand new blogspace created by UNISON Activists for UNISON activists

 

"inUNISON is a brand new blogspace created by UNISON Activists for UNISON activists.

We aim to be a one-stop site, providing news and view’s on all things UNISON, but we also hope to do more than that. Over the last couple of years, due to the pandemic there has been far less opportunities for activists from all walks of life across our union to come together, and whilst the world has moved towards far greater use of online platforms, we wanted to ensure that the value of engaging with other activists isn’t lost. Therefore, we want inUNISON to be a community, a space for sharing experiences, knowledge, and best practice. A platform for keeping abreast of what’s going on, but also for learning from experiences of other activists organising across the unions nations, regions, service groups and self-organised groups.

inUNISON will be run by an editorial board, made up of a diverse range of activists, with different experience’s/roles with UNISON. In the coming days we hope to post a bit more about our editorial team including some brief bio’s.

All our posts/articles are dependent on contributions from activists, so if you have a post you would like to write, or have an idea for something you would like to see on inUNISON please contact us here!

You can sign-up at the bottom of our homepage to receive regular updates, and to ensure you keep upto date with all things UNISON.