Nottinghamshire County UNISON Branch
Don't forget we're on social media......Notts Unison branch are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
4th September 24
Pay claim 24-25 UNISON’s industrial action (IA) ballot for council and school staff over the 2024 pay offer in England and Wales is now open. UNISON’s council and schools committee of leading activists are recommending that members vote ‘YES‘ for strike action and are urging them to return their ballots as soon as possible. Members who are eligible to vote should receive a purple envelope in the post over the coming weeks. It will contain your ballot papers and a free-post envelope to return your vote. Ballots must be returned before 10am on Wednesday 16 October. Further information available here
Branch Violence in Schools campaign 24-25
There has been an increase in violence in schools. We are getting calls to the branch office each and every week about this issue. From September we will be making this a branch priority - check out the notice to see what we will be doing....
Pay claim 24-25
We asked the employers for a pay increase of £3,000 or 10%, whichever was greater. The offer of £1,290 falls far short of this.
We consulted members on this offer, and following the strong reject vote we received, our NJC committee has decided that we will proceed with an industrial action ballot.
Voting for, and taking, industrial action will send a clear message to employers that you need a better pay rise.
The ballot opens 4 September and closes 16 October at 10:00. The hotline is open 17 September, closing at noon on 9 October; also, the cut-off to order a replacement ballot. New members who join by 3 October will have a vote in the ballot.
You can find more information about the pay campaign, by visiting the NJC pay campaign page here:
Council and School Pay | Campaigns | UNISON National
Government scraps anti strike laws on 'minimum service levels'
Council and school workers asked to vote on possible strike.
The local government employers should come forward with an improved pay offer…..
A Labour government can now press the reset button for public services, says UNISON
UNISON to hold 10-year political fund ballot
Local authorities need sustained funding if services and jobs are to be saved
NJC Pay consultations begin...full details
Schools and council workers should reject low pay offer, says UNISON
UNISON statement in solidarity with student protests for Gaza
New East Midlands UNISON Health & Safety Newsletter
NJC Council and School workers Pay 2024
GREEN UNISON - doing our bit to make public services greener
Opinion: Thames Water makes case for renationalisation … now!
Library activists from Walsall and Hampshire explain the reality behind the stats that funding has been decimated and libraries are closing at an alarming rate
All UNISON members can now take advantage of our free careers and training advice service. Just complete the form here and one of our team will be in touch
Why Councils are on the brink and how they can be pulled back
Pay Claim submitted for Local Government and School based staff
Report back on UNISON Womens Conference 15th -17th Feb report 1
Report back on UNISON Womens Conference 15th -17th Feb report 2
Branch AGM - set for Wednesday 20th March - two meetings 12.30pm and 5.30pm - see notice
Celebrating 2024 as Year of LGBT+ workers
Articles from 2023....
Black History Month events.....
20th Oct Black History Month 2023 | Events | UNISON National
21st Oct – YOUNITY – New Art Exchange Nottingham – 3 events across the day celebrating Black History Month and the 75th anniversary of Windrush, join us for a vibrant day of creativity and celebration.
23rd Oct – Broadway Cinema Nottingham. Cassius X: Becoming Ali - a new documentary about Cassius Clay, his political activities, conversion to Islam and name change to Muhammad Ali.
24th Oct - Webinar: Engaging with Black Women - From Activists to Leadership
26th Oct - Five Leaves Bookshop Nottingham - a discussion on the Legacies of Slavery and how they continued to impact politics, economics, and social relations in Britain and the British Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries.
PAY Ballot Branch statement
We appreciate that members are keen to know the outcome of the ballot however as this was a ballot of 345,000 members in more than 4,300 employers, the process of getting results out has been a complicated one. UNISON’s NJC Committee met to consider the full results of the ballot.
Due to the Tory anti-trade union laws, we can only take industrial action in employers where we achieved a turnout of 50% or more (with a majority voting for action).UNISON passed this turnout threshold in a number of employers, but most of these were smaller employers.
Given the legal restrictions placed on action, the NJC Committee agreed to await the ballot results from our sister union Unite, whose ballot closed at the end of July, before confirming publicly our agreed next steps.
UNISON is not delaying acceptance but as there are three trade unions involved in NJC negotiations we must also recognise that we need to act collectively. In a time where money is tight we know that whatever the outcome, members want the pay award in a timely manner and will make sure that leaders nationally hear that message whilst acknowledging the right of the three Green Book trade unions to act according the votes cast by their own membership.
We will update you further as soon as we are able to.
Learning at Work Week 15th - 21st May Newsletter (includes details of event locations and time)
Branch Newsletter April 2023
UNISON now has a dedicated advice section for migrant workers.
NJC Council and Schools Pay 2023 update
Why Join UNISON video
FREE Learning Courses for Members
East Midlands UNISON Learning Team have organised a series of FREE training courses open to all members.....check out the flyer or follow this link for further information https://eastmidlands.unison.org.uk/members/
Are you passionate about learning? Fancy becoming a Learning Rep? We have organised a 3 day training course for new reps, check out this flyer or
follow the link https://eastmidlands.unison.org.uk/learning-reps/
Happy New Year - Statement from Branch Secretary, Karen Eddy to all branch members
Branch Newsletter In UNISON Jan 23
Support NHS workers on strike
UNISON National news 22 Dec 22
Branch 2023 AGM's set for 22nd March 2023 12.30pm and 5.30pm. More news in the new year
Branch Newsletter November 22
Items include:- LG pay award, Fire Service cuts, Retained EU Law bill, There For You
Branch Newsletter October 22
Items include:- update on LG Pay award, UNISON Debtline, There For You
Branch Newsletter Sept 22
Items include:- news on pay claim ballot, cost of living webinars and survey results, and workplace places and market stalls that are coming up.
Branch newsletter August 22
Items include:-
1. Branch webinar on the Cost of Living 17th August
2. Pay meetings for local government members
3. LGBT+ conference delegates
4. Rise up Notts 3rd Sept – trade union day of education and political debate
5. Ask a friend or work colleague to Join UNISON
Pay Offer - Local Government staff
We have arranged a series of online meetings to discuss the Local Government pay offer. Check your UNISON emails for the Zoom link!
The Online meetings are as follows:-
• 12.30pm -1.15pm Wednesday 24th August / 31st August / 7th September / 14th September
• 5.00pm -5.45pm Wednesday 17th August / 24th August / 31st August / 7th September / 14th September
Pay offer details including Spinal Colunm Point salaries Click here
Cost of Living - Branch Webinar 17th August 12 noon - check your UNISON emails for the link to the Webinar
We have arranged a webinar for members to talk to us about the cost of living prior to the formal launch of the branch campaign in September.
We are all feeling the strain of the ever-increasing price of the weekly shop, fuel at the filling station, rises in transport costs, rising energy bills and the knock-on impact of this on the cost of other goods and services.
We need the decision-makers to act before it is too late.
We will formally launch our branch campaign in September (before the energy price rise that is predicted for the Autumn makes heating a luxury for most people) aimed at empowering members, putting pressure on national and local decision-makers and calling for support from employers across all sectors in your branch. If you have any questions in advance that you would like us to consider please email branch.office@nottsunison.org.uk using the Subject: Cost of Living Crisis FAO James/Karen/Jo. We will try to answer all questions sent in advance in our discussion. Check your UNISON emails for the link to the Webinar.
What are the root causes of the cost of living crisis?
TUC London Cost of Living demo 18th June twitter pics and comments
UNISON School Uniform Grant - see video for details
Branch Newsletter June 22 edition
TUC/UNISON Demo Cost of Living London 18th June - Nottingham Coaches
Action for Happiness calendar
Meaningful May - Happier, Kinder, Together
Branch Newsletter May edition
Report back from Empowering Women Workshop pdf download
Branch Hi Five Newsletter - April edition
Branch AGM 17th March 22
We are holding two meetings to afford members more opportunity to attend (Zoom link in the attached Agenda). Alongside the regular AGM business we will be running prize draws throughout each meeting so you have a chance to win a range of shopping vouchers from £25 up to £100. Each meeting should be no more than an hour in length.
NAAS is scrapped!
Following a fantastic camapign by UNISON the Department of Education scraps the social work accreditation scheme!
UNISON has long campaigned for the National Assessment and Accreditation Scheme (NAAS) to be scrapped and welcomes the Department of
Education’s decision. Regions and branches are thanked for all their efforts
in campaigning against NAAS and members are applauded for not engaging
in the programme More info here
Branch launches across Social Media!
Don't forget we're on social media......Notts Unison branch are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
PAY CLAIM - UNISON calls for the bottom NJC pay point to be £10 per hour and a 10% pay rise on other pay points PAY UP NOW Bulletin No.1
UNISON, GMB and Unite today lodged the following pay claim for all council and school workers employed on NJC pay in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The claim is for:
- A real living wage of £10 per hour to be introduced for NJC scp 1 and a 10% increase on all other NJC/GLPC pay points
- A one day increase to the minimum paid annual leave entitlement set out in the Green Book
- A two hour reduction in the standard working week as set out in the Green Book
- A comprehensive joint national review of the workplace causes of stress and mental health throughout local authorities
UNISON in numbers
- UNISON has more than 1.3 million members and activists, making us one of Europe’s largest unions
- More than 70% of our members are women.
- UNISON is spread over 12 UK regions.
- There are more than 1,000 UNISON branches around the UK
Race in a Post Viral World- the branch is undertaking an extensive project on 'racism within the workplace' this will include webinars, questionaires and consultation with members and employers with a view to progressing issues facing black members in the workplace
Notts UNISON Freedom From Racism - we launched a new booket last year aimed at challenging racism in the workplace. If you are a branch member and would like a copy please email the branch office branch.office@nottsunison.org.uk and request a hard copy of the booklet or alternatively you can download an electronic version here
Race in a Post Viral World, a trade union response - Interview with James Minto, Branch Chair updated 20 MayBelow are some short extracts from the first branch webinar which took place last year
Wilf Sullivan National TUC - "What is it that you want?" (30 seconds)
Wilf Sullivan National TUC - "An approach to solving racism" (1 minute)
Everton Lewis Gordon Branch H&S Officer - advice on COVID ( 3 minutes)
James Minto Branch Chair - highlighting the role of UNISON (2 minutes)
Interview with Veronica Price - Job Branch Equalities Officer
Interview with Ali Lewis - Chair of Notts County Council BME group
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