branch newsletter summer 2013

7/30/2019 Branch Newsletter Summer 2013

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Summer

2013

WolverhamptonBranch

.

UNISON members have voted to accept the 2013-14 National pay offer of 1%.

When the NJ C (the unions negotiating body) tookthe decision to ballot members it decided by onlyone vote not to recommend rejection of the offer butto leave it to members . They did this because asmall majority believed that members were not upfor the fight

Following the vote to accept, the unions local

government secretary Heather Wakefield warnedemployers that "enough is enough", and that UNI-SON will be mounting an immediate, high-profilecampaign "to stop the rot" - building towards na-tional industrial action in the event that the offer for2014/15 is not acceptable.

Local government pay and condit ions are nowthe worst in the public sector . The earnings ofNJC workers had fallen by 18% since the coali-tion government came to power, while their pay-

related conditions have been cut at local level,

But in his spending review in J uly, The chancellorGeorge Osborne announced a pay cap of 1% on ourpay until at least 2015.

Do we just accept this and see our pay fall furtherbehind or do we fight it ?

There is concern amongst some members that wecannot ask for a decent national pay rise whilst our

jobs are at risk, and that we need to keep our headsdown,

The fact is, the national pay freeze in the public sec-tor has not saved jobs, and the continuing rise in thepay of company directors, bankers and the like(soon to include MPs) puts paid to the lie that weare all in this together

The truth is working people, the poor and the dis-abled are paying for the crisis caused by those verysame people who now bleat about sacrifice as theycontinue to line their pockets at our expense!

Others tell us , lets work for a Labour party govern-ment in 2015 , they will recognise our case

Again the truth is , that given the current Labourpartys leadership pledge to stick within the con-dems spending plans, we should perhaps not puttoo much faith in this route .

We are not only facing hardship through lost pay weare also seeing our terms and conditions of employ-ment being slowly stripped away ( in many cases,including our own by Labour Councils).

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Continued on back page


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ESSENTIAL CAR USER ALLOWANCE APRIL 2014

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

The City Council intends to abolish the essen-tial car user allowance of 80.25 per month or

963.00 per annum from April 2014 and pay aflat rate mileage rates paid at the HMRC (HMRevenue & Customs) rate (currently 45p permile for 2013/14).

There will be no contractual obligation to useyour vehicle for city council duties in the courseof your employment with the City Council.

If you choose not to use your vehicle for councilduties this will mean:

An increased use of public transport

A contribution to the cities strategy for a sustain-able city

UNISON is aware from members that an in-crease in public transport for employees under-

taking essential duties on behalf of the employermay in some instances have a significant effecton the number of meetings and home visits youmay be able to undertake in the working week.

UNISON therefore encourages all members ef-fected to complete the short questionnaire

Below and return it to our office at the Civic

Do you receive essential car user allowance as an employee of Wolverhampton city council? Y or N

What is your job title? ...

What purpose or type of council business do you undertake where you use your vehicle on behalf of the coun-

cil? ..

Is your travel using your vehicle: only within Wolverhampton (Answer yes or no)?..............

If No what area do you travel within ? neighbouring local authorities ,within English and Welsh local authori-

ties? Or further /.......................................................................................

What was your longest journey in the last 5 years ...

How frequently do you need to travel using your vehicle on council business in categories? ..

Do you feel that your personal safety would be at risk if you we're unable to use your vehicle for council busi-

ness (please give examples)? ...

What would be the implications for you personally if you we're unable to use your vehicle for council pur-

poses? (e.g. Working more frequently after 5pm, bigger workloads, additional hassle factors I.e more organisa-

tional (i.e. travel) arrangements.

...

What action would you support UNISON in taking to protect the existing mileage allowance?

..

Return to UNISON office civic centre, Wolverhampton WV11RR


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For generations the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka have

struggled to end discrimination against themselves

and their culture and declare their right to self determination within their own state (Tamil Eelam).

This has included armed resistance .

In 2009 The Sri Lankan government determined toeradicate the Tamil Tigers (the armed wing of the

Tamil resistance)

According to a UN panel report, the ensuing war not

only attacked the Tigers, it also targeted civilians theSri Lankan army brutally massacred 40,000 in thefinal weeks of the war alone.

Every single survivor - over 300,000 people includingchildren and the elderly are surrounded by the army

and forced into horrific detention camps, described bythe UN officials as among the worst in the world.

The UN report identified war crimes by the Sri lankangovernment.

Over 146,679 people are still not accounted for.The Sri Lankan government has still not publishedthe details of the deaths and those it continues tohold in camps and prisons.

Thousands still remain in the detention camps. Thosewho are released were not settled in their own placesor given proper facilities. Resettled areas were asbad as the detention camps and big military campsstill surround them.

Over 20,000 young people are held in special secrettorture prisons. According to one government

minister children as young as eight are held in theseprisons.

The government is creating vast industrial areas tocreate Free Trade Zones (FTZs) especially for

Chinese, Indian and other investment and thoseheld in camps could be forced to work in these

places.A military-sponsored land grab is taking place,particularly in the east where Tamils and the

Tamil-speaking Muslim population lived histori-cally. In order to facilitate the land grab the gov-ernment is once again sponsoring riots and creat-ing tensions between the Muslim, Tamil, and Sin-hala people who live in this area.

The current government can be described as aveiled dictatorship. Attacks on freedom of speechand all democratic rights are at an all-time high. Allthose who dare to speak against the government

are either killed or imprisoned.While a huge proportion of the budget is still

allocated for defence, public services are cut andattacks on trade union rights and workers rightsare increasing.

UNISON conference in 2012 overwhelmingly

supported the resolution from WolverhamptonGeneral branch to affiliate to the Tamil Solidaritycampaign.

There are over 200,000 Tamil-speaking peopleexiled in Britain alone. The majority of them

marched in London during the war in 2009demanding an end to the war.

Tens of thousands of young people occupied

Parliament Square, day and night, to demand

justice for Tamil-speaking people. And yet the me-dia, in general, ignored their plight and thus helpedthe Sri Lankan government to hide the massacre.

Neither the current Con-Dem or previous Labourgovernment have taken any serious steps towardsdelivering justice or punishing the perpetrators ofthe war crimes.

In fact the Campaign Against the Arms Trade saysthat British governments granted licences for700,000 of military equipment to the regime in2009, a further 1 million in 2010 .

To learn more goto

Www.tamilsolidarity.org


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The NHS is under threat from privatisation and cuts.

The Tory health act has pushed the profit motive to the heart of the English NHS.... Key treatments

are being restric ted, services cut and jobs lost, resulting in increased waiting times, delays and

staff

shortages on our wards.

Our NHS remains the fairest and most cost-effective health service in

the world. Dont let the Tories ruin it!

Join UNISON in Manchester on 29 September to lobby Tory Conference

Wolverhampton will be running a coach -to book your place

Contact 554096 or [email protected]

Dave Auger our Deputy branch secretary was recently elected to UNISONs NEC

(National Executive Council) . We recently caught up with him to find out want it is alboutWhat is the NEC?

The NEC is responsible for the management and control of the union between national delegate conferences (NDC)

National Delegate conference is attended from delegates from all UNISON branches and is where through discussion ofmotions (which is a posh word for proposals) UNISON policy is agreed .

The NECs role is to ensure motions are acted upon , so for example a branch may call for UNISON to campaign on a par-ticular issue. If it is agreed by conference then the NEC is responsible for agreeing the detail and making sure it happens.

How long are you elected for?

For two years

Why did you stand?

As an activist I believe in the current climate that UNISON must be prepared TO FIGHT to defend public services and ourmembers , as such I have expressed concern at the failure of our national leadership to do so and their reliance on theLabour party to save us.

But it is no good moaning about people in such positions unless you are prepared to stand yourself!

What do you hope to achieve? I have felt that NEC members are somewhat divorced from UNISON members andbranches, and this is certainly reflected in the low turnout at such elections, I hope during my stint to improve communica-tion and make the NEC more relevant to members.

But I also intend to raise the issues I campaigned on ,(to make UNISON a far more combatative one ) at the NEC


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ADULT LEARNING WEEK20-24 May 2013.

Adult Learning Week took place from the 20- 24 May 2013.UNISON Education held events throughout the week within the Civic Cen-tre,Wolverhampton.

Monday 20 May the event was CV writing, 4 people attendedwho were facing redundancy, at the end of the month. The session wasvery interesting and the tutor Tim Hollins from the (W.E.A.) Worker Educa-tion Associationgave excellent advice.

Tuesday 21 May 2013 the event Interview Skills, 5 peopleattended this course which again was tutored by the W.E.A. The 5 peoplewho attended had a very successful day.

Wednesday 22 May 2013 we held a flower arrangingSession, which was attended by 12 people.The tutor was our very own Sharon Dixon.

UNISON film crew were filming and interviewed Sharon. Photos were alsotaken during theevent.A good evening was had by all.

Thursday 23 May 2013 we held a Salsa session which took place at thePrince Albert Pub in Wolverhampton.The Salsa tutor our very own Dane Walton did a fantastic job getting all 30 people male and female to dance in timeto the music using the correct steps.The film crew were also in attendance again interviewing participating pupils and also myself.A fantastic night was had by all with interest in making salsa lessons a thing for the future.

Friday 24 May we held a Reflexology session within the CivicCentre Wolverhampton again this was done by Sharon Dixon, one of our stewards.

9 people attended the session at lunchtime and also to the evening session.

Adult Learning Week has been a great success with lots of interest in courses that took place, with a view to puttingmore events on in the near future.

Paulette WhyteAdult Education Officer.

I ts the summer holidays! And schools out! .Time to give your brain a rest , but in September UNI SON learning courses start again

They are free and open to all!

ENGLISH 10 week course starting 17th September one evening a week 6.30-9pm

Bilston College.

IT FOR BEGINNERS- 10th October 6.30-9pm Bilston College

IT FOR INTERMEDIATES 13th November 6.30-9pm Bilston College

Contact Paulette on 554096 for further details


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Organising for equalityUNISON is committed to achieving equality for all.One of the ways we promote equality is through self-organisation. Self-organisation brings together mem-bers from certain under represented groups - womenmembers, black members, disabled members and les-bian, gay, bisexual and transgender members. Self-organisation helps the union identify and challengediscrimination and build equality. It can be a way formembers to get involved in the union, developingskills, expertise and confidence.

Self-organisation is members organising around their

experience of prejudice and discrimination. Becauseprejudice and discrimination are deep-rooted in oursociety, women members, black members, disabledmembers and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendermembers have traditionally been less visible in tradeunions and under-represented in democratic struc-tures.Self-organisation offers a way to address this.It is sometimes thought that because the members of

self-organised groups meet separately, self-organisation is separatism. It is not. UNISON's self-organised groups are a well-established part of our

organisation. They are actively involved in all the un-ion's mainstream work. They have a valuable role inensuring that the union identifies and takes up equality

issues, actively challenges discrimination and that ourdemocratic structures reflect the whole membership

Is open to all women members in our branch The chairPaulette Whyte can be contacted at the UNISON

office..

The next meeting will be held on;

The Womens group is staging an event during blackhistory month in aid of the Mary Seacole statue fund.

Mary Seacole was a black nurse active during thesame period as Florence Nightingale, who in her lifetime was not recognised as she she should have

been.

Recently voted britains most famous black person a

fund has been set upto erect a statue in her honour.

The event will take place at

the Heritage centre Whitemore Reans on Friday 11th

October.

More details will follow.

This group has recently been

Reactivated and is keen to hearfrom any members with a disability

who are interested in getting in-volved .

The secretary of the group is

Sharon Dixon who can be con-tacted via the UNISON office.

As with all branch SOGs they take part in regionalgroups and attend the UNISON national conference.

This years conference is in October and the group have

elected the following

members to attend ;

Paulette Whyte, Chris Morris, Paul Davis and

Manju Bector.The next meeting of the group is

Tuesday 10 September 2013.

Next meeting

AGM

September 12th

Civic centre

12.30pm

All black members

welcome


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Membership of UNISON gives you essential cover, whereveryou work.

Every member receives our full range of member benefits whichincludes: Advice, support and help when you need it at work

A helpline that is open until midnight Legal help for you at work and your family at home

Financial assistance and debt advice in times of need

Compensation for accidents and injuries at work

A range of exclusive member discounts that can save you and your family money when youare shopping, buying insurance or looking for a holiday.

Education and training advice and course, leading to vocational and professional qualifica-tions.

To join phone 554096 , or call into our office at the CIvic or online atwww.wolverhampton-unison.org


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Continued from front page

The less painful choices and solutions to the problem have all been tried but the Government is hell-bent on

destroying jobs and services in our communities. even though their austerity experiment has failed completely.

Wolverhampton is suffering enormous pain and hardship because of this and our local economy is struggling,

Further redundancies and pay caps will not help Wolverhampton out of recession,

Unless and until this Tory-led coalition is replaced at national level, (and by a Government committed to defending

public services) the attack on local authorities - will go on and on.

Whole services will be lost permanently, and individual lives will be plunged into misery because of unemployment.

As a direct result of this, Wolverhamptons private sector suffers too, from a lack of customers with enough money

to buy their goods and services.

UNISON members up and down the country have co-operated with changes to their roles, increased workload and

increased responsibility, to maintain services while watching staffing numbers fall,

But the cuts still to come are massive and are bound to impact on members pay, terms and conditions andtheir jobs

We are going to need all the energy, skill and commitment we can muster in the months ahead to cope with this Gov-

ernments ideological motivated attack on jobs and services.

Now more than ever workers need the protection, support and advice that only a union can offer.

But, both new members and existing members must recognise that for a union to be effective, they must be

prepared to fight to defend our services, our pay, and our jobs.

Ade Turner

Branch Secretary.

Tuesday17thSe

ptemberCouncilchamberCivicCentre7PMPay

RedundanciesAllmemberswelcome

branch newsletter summer 2013

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