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Regional Newsletter Spring 2003
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(click on the links below for the article you'd like to read) F.E. College Staff Force Negotiations to Restart A rose by any other name would smell as sweet? 2003 Regional Retired Members' Seminar Milestone reached by Britannia & UNISON Worcestershire County Local Government Branch New Offices Young Members' Pilot Launched in the West Midlands Western Sahara: the East Timor of North Africa? War on Want needs more fighters Diary of Labour Party Conference Blackpool 2002 Hello again I am continuing to work at the evolution of the Regional Newsletter, trying as always to cover a broad range of news and make it as presentable as possible, so I hope you enjoy this edition. Your feedback is welcome. I am particularly interested in those successes, large or small, from your Branch. If you don’t have time to write a long article, please remember that just a few sentences could summarise your news, and could give ideas and encouragement to other Branches. In this vein, two different Health Branches offer inspiration from their recent open days, which have been very successful with building relationships with their members and recruiting new members as well: details on the back page. Don’t forget to join in the “Name the Newsletter Competition” for a chance to win a great stereo system, more details below. And finally, as you know this is UNISON’s Anniversary Year, and many Branches are making plans to commemorate the landmark. If you are thinking of marking this year in a special way, then please share your plans and experiences by sending in contributions to the newsletter. (I no longer have a scanner - so please send any photos in digital format - sorry) Bryony
F.E. College Staff Force Negotiations to Restart. The Association of Colleges met in Birmingham on 19th November 2003. They were met by members of UNISON and NATFHE, who were lobbying the conference, demanding that the AoC return to the negotiating table, and start talking about a serious offer instead of the 2.3% that had been offered in June. Members of UNISON and NATFHE at City College, Birmingham went on a half-day strike to join the lobby and rally. They were joined by colleagues from around the region, and by UNISON members from Cheshire. The rally was addressed by Christine McAnea UNISON`s Senior National Officer, Paul Mackney NATFHE`s General Secretary, and various other speakers, including Tracey Hancock, UNISON Rep from City College, Birmingham. Negotiations re-opened after the Conference, with a meeting taking place on 9th December and a further meeting on 13th January. Charlie Sarell
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet? I am sure that you will agree that "The UNISON West Midlands Regional Newsletter" is not the catchiest title for a publication! So, as we are entering our anniversary year, we are running a competition to find a new name. The competition is open to all UNISON members from the West Midlands. The prizes will be awarded to the individual members who come up with the best ideas, and the winner will not only win a stereo system but will also be able to see their title blazoned across the newsletter for the foreseeable future! Our region covers a broad geographical area which it is difficult to encompass in a title but you might want to think of plays on words or expressions which include Central, or Middle, or you might have another clever idea... it is up to you. National publications have the titles “Focus” and “U” so we need something distinct from that. Why not pass this idea around in your workplace to get members talking about UNISON, and perhaps someone you know will be a winner! The first prize is a fantastic stereo system kindly provided by Britannia. The first runner-up will win a pair of overnight bags and three further runners-up will get their paws on a cute UIA teddy! The runners up prizes have been kindly supplied by UIA. Should more than one person come up with the same winning suggestion, the winner will be drawn from a hat.
2003 Regional Retired Members' Seminar The Seminar will be held on Wednesday 30th April 2003 from 10.30 am to 4.00 pm at the West Midlands Travel Sports and Social Stadium, Kings Heath, Birmingham. Two delegates per branch, excluding travel but including Lunch, will be met from the Regional Retired Members Budget. Others at a small fee - it was £12.50 last year. Topics include
An Open Forum will be held with emphasis on Policy and Organisation matters concerning the Retired Members' Oranisation at Branch, Regional and National Level.
Application forms were sent to Branches on 3rd February. Ian Hydes
The times they are a-changing ... The new welfare regulations are currently being negotiated and two new major initiatives are already on their way. At this early part of the consultation process, branches and Welfare Committees are considering some of the propsals. On 30th Jan 2003 Janet Hughes, Margaret Millward and Judith Longbottom, of our Regional Welfare Committee, met to discuss the proposals in detail and we will bring you their thoughts along with some information about the progress of the consultation in the next newsletter. The National UNISON Welfare AGM will be held on 23rd May. A family holiday scheme is in the “pipeline”, but full details will not be available until later in the year. The Debt Counselling Service however, is already up and running. Members who wish should call 0800 716 239, they should state that they are a UNISON member and ask for Kate. Supporting Members This Christmas the Regional Welfare Committee reviewed the members who had been supported by them throughout the year, and were able to offer vouchers to many of them, totalling £1,150. Members with children received Toys’R’Us Vouchers and other members received Asda vouchers. If you know a member who might be helped by UNISON Welfare, then talk to your Branch Welfare Officer or contact Jan Bott-Obi on 0121 685 3106 at the Regional Office, for information. Margaret Millward, Committee Chair is available on 079 31 316 741 and Janet Hughes Vice Chair is available on 079 66 546 391 (please note that this number was printed incorrectly in the last newsletter). Both Margaret and Janet carry a UNISON Welfare case-load.
Milestone reached by Britannia & UNISON Britannia and UNISON have something to celebrate as the unique Save & Support account for UNISON members, reaches £11 million in total. The account was launched in April 2001, and offers an excellent rate of interest to members whilst a bonus of 1% of the total average daily balances is given to UNISON on an annual basis which is donated to the Union's own registered charity, UNISON Welfare. At the UNISON Welfare Conference on Saturday 4th May 2002, a cheque for £14,000 was presented to Sue Heighton, Chair of UNISON Welfare's Management Board, from Britannia for the first year's bonus payments. The bonus for 2003 is expected to be higher, and if the account continues to increase at its current level, we would expect to raise at least £100,000 for the Welfare charity in 2004. "This account makes it the perfect way to save and get a great return whilst supporting this worthy cause" said Alan Long, head of marketing at Britannia. For further information contact your local UNISON representative at your nearest Britannia Branch.: Britannia has branches throughout the West Midlands or Freephone 0800 77 88 88.
The re-vamped regional web-site went live at the end of December, largely thanks to the long hours of work put in by Mandy Gordon of Solihull Branch, supported by Keith Heron, Regional Officer, Ian Marrey from Dudley Primary Care Health Branch, and many others who have helped along the way, giving feedback about how to make it clearer and shared ideas about how to take it forward. “We now have a clear page layout, a good structure and some basic information. A web-site is never finished, we are moving on to learn more about how to make it even better and working to improve and extend content for the members. Ideas and suggestions are very welcome” said Mandy. In particular we are seeking information about what's happening in service groups. Are you active within your Service Group, perhaps you are a member of your Service Group Committee? If so, the Regional Web-site needs your input. Information about how to contact Service Group Committees would be useful, but you may have other information you would like to see accessible to members. Perhaps you would like to see committee members listed, recent minutes included, information about any vacancies on your committee and information about how members can get involved or perhaps there are other important pieces of information missing? Please bring this matter up at your next committee or just send it in, by post to the Regional Office or to bryonyohara@blueyonder.co.uk
Worcestershire County Local Government Branch New Offices UNISON President Nancy Coull officially opened the new offices of Worcestershire County Local Government Branch on Friday 24th January. The Branch has purchased the new offices, "Griffith House", with the proceeds from selling its previous office and a loan from National UNISON. The opening "launch lunch" was attended by representatives from the NEC, Region and members of Worcester's business community as well as Branch members and staff. "The previous office was never really member-friendly" said Mark Wood, Regional Finance Secretary and recent Chair of Worcestershire Branch, "the Branch now have excellent facilities with full disabled access and a room large enough to hold full Committee meetings." The Branch also received a grant from the first Regional Pool allocation to help install a lift to improve access. As well as office accommodation for the Branch Officers, there is also space for Regional Officers to work from, and the Branch hopes that the resource can help other smaller Branches in Worcestershire.
Young Members' Pilot Launched in the West Midlands Last year, at National Delegate Conference, there was discussion following the showing of a video about the need to recruit more young people in order to keep the union alive in the future. Wednesday 15th January saw the launch of the Young Members’ Project. The project is a National Campaign which is being piloted in the West Midlands at four of our Branches; Birmingham Local Government, City Hospital (in Birmingham), Coventry and Dudley. Large branches were picked to maximise the number of people who could be affected by the project at this early stage, some branches approached did not wish to take part at this time. Over a period of four weeks the Project Workers are targeting one branch each week, and distributing “sandwich” bags. The bag contains information such as a new brochure which, when read in one direction, encourages prospective members to join the union and when turned over and read in the opposite direction, encourages existing members to get more involved. Some Fairtrade goodies, including a tea bag and chocolate coin, are in the bag too. “I hope that prospective members will sit down with a cup of tea and read all about the benefits of joining the union... and then join up!” said Phil Siddle, Project Worker. The campaign included billboards in Birmingham, Coventry and Dudley as well as posters in local newspapers. There was also a profile within the National Press, with the posters going into the Daily Mirror, the Guardian and also into Heat magazine. Other publicity materials included the slogans alongside actual case studies. It is likely that the pilot will lead to the materials being more broadly available to Branches across the union. There may need to be a charge for the “sandwich bags” because of the content; we hope to be able to bring you more information about how the pilot went in the next edition of the newsletter. Young Members Conference will take place in Chorley next month, report from Conference in the next edition of the newsletter.
Fairtrade Fortnight 3-16 March 2003 Fairtrade Fortnight is designed to encourage consumers to buy Fairtrade goods. Fairly traded goods give the grower or producer in developing countries a fair price for their product rather than exploiting them to ensure cheap prices in the West. One fifth of the world's population live on less than $1 a day - the benchmark for absolute poverty. Fairtrade gives the world's poor a chance to escape from the imbalances of power and resources that often mean the poor cannot compete. Fairtrade may cost a few pennies more, but those pennies may make the difference between educating your children and not. You have real power when you decide what to put in your shopping basket, so why not replace at least one item with a fair trade alternative. Most fair trade products carry the logo below and can be bought from most supermarkets. You can find more information and a complete list of products at www.fairtrade.org.uk. There will be a stall of traidcraft products at the April Regional Council and if you would like to know more please contact me via the Regional Centre.
Anita Edwards
Solidarity with Nicaragua As the only black member of the UNISON delegation, Alf Williams was also the only person to be stopped by American Immigration each time the delegation passed through Texas. Alf was so affected by the power of his experiences in Nicaragua he doesn’t mention this or other personal experiences in his report, there is other information which he feels is far more important to share. Nicaragua is a small, impoverished country in Central America with a population of approximately 5million and a turbulent history of foreign domination and intervention by Spain, Britain and the U.S. This has left the country with a very weak economy. From 1936-1979 the Somoza family enriched itself at the country’s expense and deepened social and economic inequalities. In 1979 a broad alliance of different sectors led by the Sandinistas (FSLN) overthrew the US-supported, brutal dictatorship of the Somoza family who had held power in Nicaragua. The alliance came to power with a commitment to reversing the extreme concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the privileged elite. The Sandinista Government carried out this commitment through the setting up of popular organisations such as trade unions and neighbourhood organisations; establishing a system of free health care and education; and introducing a broad agrarian and urban reform programme. However in a global atmosphere of cold war hysteria these attempts to establish a fairer distribution of wealth were viewed by the Reagan administration as a grave threat to the stability of the region. The US set about destroying the Sandinista Government through funding and training a mercenary army known as "the contras", imposing an economic blockade, and implementing a propaganda campaign to discredit the Sandinistas. The consequences were devastating: 60,000 casualties and an estimated £12 billion damage to the economic infrastructure. US aggression against Nicaragua was ruled illegal by the World Court in 1986, a judgement the US chose to ignore. First the Chamorro Government and now that of Aleman, under intense pressure from the US, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have set about “reforming” the economy in order to re-insert Nicaragua into global markets. Their free market policies: privatisation of state owned companies, cutbacks in public expenditure, removal of subsidies, deregulation and a reduction of tariffs on foreign imports have led to a reduction in inflation to single figures and some economic growth, however the social costs have been enormous. The result is: 70% unemployment, crumbling social services, local production destroyed by cheap imports, rising malnutrition and illiteracy. Nicaragua has an external debt of $6.1billion. In 1997 50% or the country’s export earnings were spent on servicing the debt. We wish to thank all of the Branches who were able to respond positively to our request for financial support for this venture. The cost of sending Alf as a delegate to Nicaragua was £1,200 and our Branch has paid over £1000 of these costs. If any branch is able to contribute to the cost we would be very grateful. Adrian Turner
Western Sahara: the East Timor of North Africa? War in the Desert Western Sahara is a North African country south of Morocco, also near the Canary Islands. It has some of the world's richest fishing grounds, and there is probably oil under them thar waves too. A Spanish colony until 1975, Spain then left it and turned a blind eye to Morocco's invasion. The UN International Court of Justice ruled that Western Sahara was never part of Morocco and deserved the chance to become independent, but the Moroccan army is still there today. The Moroccan invasion in 1975 was launched by the famous "Green March" of 350,000 Moroccan civilians, a great PR stunt. What happened next was the civilians went swiftly home and the Moroccan armed forces moved in, napalming Saharawis out of their homes. Many Saharawis fled and set up refugee camps in an empty part of the Algerian desert. Sixteen years of war followed, with Morocco eventually building the world's longest wall (longer than the Great Wall of China) to keep out raids by the Saharawi's POLISARIO Front guerillas. A People Divided In 1991, both sides signed a ceasefire agreement which provided for a UN-organised referendum, in which the 1975 inhabitants of Western Sahara would have the chance to vote on the future of their country which was denied them by the Moroccan invasion. But it has still not been held. Morocco has used bureaucratic obstructions and political objections to try to bury the referendum plan in red tape. So, the Saharawi people today are still divided. In occupied Western Sahara, hundreds of Saharawi who "disappeared" in the 1970s are still missing, and human rights campaigners suffer persecution. In the desert refugee camps, the Saharawi are free, and have constructed a remarkable society in exile, with a government, schools, hospitals and even vegetable gardens. But the reality is still that they live in poverty in exile while Morocco exploits their natural resources and oppresses their relatives back home. Hope from East Timor Morocco has recently openly said it rejects the referendum and won't let Western Sahara go. But the Saharawi have struggled for too long to give up. And the example of East Timor has given them renewed hope. There, the UN stood up to the Indonesian generals and a referendum was held. East Timor celebrated its independence in May 2002 - with the Saharawi president a guest of honour. So, as the UN's James Baker makes his umpteenth visit to the region (14th - 17th January), let us hope that the tide is turning. An independent Western Sahara will be positive for Morocco too. It is the elite who profit from the occupation: 99% of Moroccans gain nothing from it. Only the referendum can lead to a secure and democratic future for the people of these two countries. The Western Sahara Campaign UK exists to support them and campaign for the Saharawi's right to self-determination. Please contact us at Oxford Chambers, 1 Oxford Place, Leeds, tel/fax 0113 245 4786, email wsc@gn.apc.org.
War on Want needs more fighters The international development charity is looking for volunteers to help co-ordinate its union conference presence from late April to July 2003, including staffing the stall. This could also include the TUC conference in September. Free time during the week and an interest in international development are necessary, but the precise level of commitment is up to the individual concerned. Training will be given and expenses paid. War on Want works closely with trade unions to tackle global poverty, by financing projects around the world and through campaigning. If you are interested please telephone 020 7620 1111 and ask for Jackie Simpkins or e-mail jsimpkins@waronwant.org.
Courses for the first session of the 2003 programme have recruited very well. But promotion of courses provided by the West Midlands Education Service and the TUC need to be continued throughout the year. As usual there is a range of courses in the programme. While most courses run, occasionally courses are cancelled due to low numbers of applicants. The region does not go ahead with a course if it has less than 10 applicants. So please, please, ensure that you apply as early as you can, and no later than four weeks before the course start date. For an application form or more information on these and other courses run by the Region, refer to the programme which is available from your Branch or download if from the UNISON WM Regional Web-site. Alternatively, you can phone Lynn Horsnett (ext 255) or Rachel Wilson (ext 243) at the Regional Office on 0121 685 4200 and request a copy. Branch Based Courses - an opportunity not to be missed! It is sometimes easier for Education to come to you rather than travelling to the Regional Centre. The Region has successfully provided branch-based courses at venues chosen by branches. Perhaps you want to tackle a particular health and safety issue, or build on the skills of stewards and workplace representatives, or draft your branch development plan. If so, the Region can arrange for a tutor and provide materials. If you can get just 10 of your branch members or make an arrangement with other branches committed to turning up for a course, get in touch with Fred Cattle, the Regional Education Officer (ext 253). Learning together is a great way to learn how to work together. RMS Branch Training Courses - 9 courses in the 2003 Programme! On completion of RMS training, branches can gain access to the new membership and subscriptions database, view and amend their own branch records as well as run reports and print labels. Individuals will also be pleased to know the course is OCN accredited! RMS training is provided by the TUC tutor with the assistance of RMS Staff. The aim is to roll-out to a trained branch as soon after training as possible. So if your branch is considering acquiring RMS you'll need to contact Fred, Rachel or Lynn in the Education Section or Laura Joyce Senior RMS Clerk (ext 224) to discuss what you need to run RMS and how to get it! European Computer Driving Licence 12 May - 21 July, 10 Mondays Code: 515 Non-residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course. This course leads to an internationally recognised qualification and covers modules across a broad range of computer skills. When we ran this course earlier in the year it was so oversubscribed that we nearly filled this second course! Some spaces may be still available, so please apply quickly - if you're not successful, there will be one further chance for 2003 with Course 543, commencing 29 September. This is an ideal course for members with basic experience of using a mouse in a Windows environment and for those intermediate users who want to extend their skills. 16 - 18 May Code: 524 Residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course. The Young Members' Weekend is open to UNISON members who are under 30 years old and are active or interested in becoming active in UNISON. It is an opportunity for young members to get together and learn more about UNISON. This weekend follows on from a very popular and successful Young Members' Workshops Skills weekend which ran at the end of January at the Jury's Inn Birmingham. Get your applications in post-haste - this is an enjoyable course which often leads to inspiring members to become involved in their branch and the wider union. It's in all our interests to encourage young members to participate in these type of events. Succession planning is a must for your branch development plan - we all know our youth of today is UNISON's future - the average age of a member is 47 years of age! Young members' contacts at the Region are Anita Edwards (ext 254), and, whilst the TUC Academy Trainee Organiser Scheme continues, Rachael Baker (ext 290) or Phil Siddle (ext 222). Some other courses coming up... An Introduction to Information Technology & Computing for Trade Unionists 29 April - 1 May Code: 513 Non-residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course. TUC Public Sector Stewards Stage 1 30 April - 9 July Code: 514 Non-residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course. Union Lifelong Learning Weekend 9 - 11 May Code: 511 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee for attending this course. Thompson's Employment Law Briefing: Race, Sex, and Disability Discrimination 12 May Code: 517 Non-residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course. Branch Secretaries 16 - 18 May Code: 518 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee for attending this course. Branch Chairing Skills 16 - 18 May Code: 519 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee for attending this course. Branch Treasurers 16 - 18 May Code: 520 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee for attending this course. Branch Health & Safety Officers 16 - 18 May Code: 521 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee for attending this course. Branch Education Officers 16 - 18 May Code: 522 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee for attending this course. Branch Equalities Officers 16 - 18 May Code: 523 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee for attending this course. Union Learning Representatives 2, 9, 16 & 26 June & 3 July Code: 525 Non-residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course. National Conference Delegates Workshop 7 June Code: 526 Non-residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course. Women's Summer School 27 - 29 June Code: 528 Residential Cost: There is a branch fee of £120 per participant for attending this course. The Organising Steward 1 - 3 July Code: 529 Non-residential Cost: There is no fee for attending this course.
Diary of Labour Party Conference Blackpool 2002 At the UNISON delegation meeting it was very clear that if we wanted to succeed with the contemporary motion on PFI it had to drop the word “moratorium.” Talks continued all weekend with other unions and Sunday night saw Dave Prentis working late on a composite with, for the first time ever, all the unions united against PFI, Private Finance Initiative. Dave, working on the PFI motion, was unable to attend “The Great Public Services Debate” and was replaced by Malcolm Wing, National Officer. Other speakers included Chair, Nick Clarke, BBC Radio Presenter, Rt Hon Frank Dobson, former secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP, Minister without portfolio (now Education Minister) and Labour Party Chair, Dame Sally Powell, LGA, Adrian Harvey, Fabian Society, Conor Ryan, former Government advisor and Margaret Myther, New Health Network. The debate could best be described as unrestrained, the most important comment for me from Frank Dobson, “putting his hands up” to signing off the first 19 PFI hospitals, and admitting “he got it wrong” and was totally against the current situation. A straw poll took place and overwhelmingly supported public services remaining in the public domain. Monday morning saw the start of Conference proper, the Government brought out its “heavyweights” with a storming speech by Deputy Leader, John Prescott. He was followed by Gordon Brown, for once allowing a little emotion to show when describing the care, personal experience of support and friendship of NHS Staff. The afternoon session re-convened with an air of excitement. Michael Cashman, (Eastenders/MEP) chaired the session. UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis delivered the composite against PFI and PPP (public private partnership) in public services. The Chair allowed seven CLP’s (Constituency Labour Party) to speak against the composite. Conference became restless and impatient as the debate was so one-sided. Eventually John Edmunds, GMB and Mick Rix, ASLEF had their chance to up the debate. Eventually Paul Boateng, Home Office Minister, responded for the platform. Previously speakers were kept to time, however he was allowed to speak for what seemed an eternity. He descended into rambling – Conference lost patience, jeering, shouts of time, followed by slow hand clapping and the Chair losing what little control he had. When voting took place, it was close and resulted in a card vote. Media interest in the hall centred on the main union leaders – when the result came in – We’d Won! Tuesday saw Tony Blair give one of his best speeches to conference, clearly unfazed by the defeat the previous day, he continued to state the case for new schools and hospitals under PFI. Wednesday afternoon saw the PM introduce ex President Bill Clinton. Conference had re-convened after lunch, media excitement was heightened as Peter Mandelson took his seat, followed by even greater excitement as Hollywood actor, Kevin Spacey took his seat as guest with Cherie Blair. Mr Clinton spoke for an hour, politics to one side, he has the aura that certain characters in history possess. I attended several fringe meetings: the highlight was definitely WAR ON WANT, the hall full to overflowing. Speakers were Tony Benn, Billy Bragg, Jeremy Cerbyn MP and the Editor of Red Pepper. What a great orator Tony Benn still is. He received a standing ovation and was emotionally overwhelmed by it. Lasting memory – Jack Jones, Pensions Campaigner, now in his 90th year – being assisted to a seat at the table I was sitting at in the Café Bar. Characters that are part of our history, what a privilege to be able to see them so closely. Pat Hetherton
Helen Branch, Housing Rep for Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, recently completed a three month secondment at the Solihull UNISON Office. She helped with the setting up process for notice boards in the area, attended meetings at region, disciplinaries, grievances, management negotiation meetings and helped with implementation of RMS in office. Helen states "the time spent in the union office has been hard work but most enjoyable and has shown me the inner dealings of a local branch office. I have been able to come into contact with a wide section of the workforce and it has been interesting to see the different approaches that can be achieved to get a result for our members. It's definitely encouraged me to think about getting more involved in future." John Sollies, Branch Secretary: 'I always like to encourage new reps to come into the office and spend time with us to see how things operate, Helen has been a real bonus working for the branch over the last few months and its been an opportunity to encourage someone like Helen to think about the opportunities available to her other than her present employment'. John Sollies
If you are a UNISON member and would like to receive occasional messages about regional media, such as reminders for the deadline for newsletter contributions, and changes to the web-site please e-mail me on inanna@unisonfree.net and I will add you to my activists list. I do not share this list with anyone at this time, but if you have an idea about how this developing list could be used in other ways let me know… before changing the use of the list I would want to consult with everyone on it. I hope that all Branch Secretaries who are on e-mail are already on the list - if not, could you let me know please. Bryony O'Hara
UNISON’s Young Members Recruitment Pilot - an update on how it went Solidarity with Nicaragua, the second part of Alf Williams Report Young Members Conference - a report on how our young members got on in April. The Prize Winners - not to be missed - the results of our "name the newsletter" competition This newsletter is produced by the Regional Recruitment and Campaigning Committee. Shân Williams, Chair. Please send your contributions for the June newsletter no later than Friday 18th April to: West Midlands Regional
Newsletter or to Shân on shan@unisonfree.net or to Bryony O’Hara, Editor on bryonyohara@blueyonder.co.uk
Branch Open Days : The newly appointed Branch Officers, with the assistance of the Regional Officer Claire Breeze, and Branch Support Worker, Opinder Tiwana held a very successful and enjoyable Open Day at Heath Lane Hospital in September. The Open Day was to raise awareness and the profile of the Branch within its membership, which forms part of the ongoing Branch Development work for the coming year. The event was well publicised, which led to an extremely good turnout on the day. UNISON members and non-members came along and chatted with the Branch Officers and representatives. A wide selection of information was available, ranging from Members' Benefits, Rights at Work and lots of freebies. Britannia Building Society were also in attendance to deal with any queries and to discuss the benefits offered to UNISON members. We recruited several new members and are very pleased to welcome on board two new Stewards - Val Grisole based at Heath Lane and Erica Alexander based at CAMHS. The Branch covers a wide geographical area which includes over 20 different sites. Due to the success of the first Open Day the Branch are planning further Open Days at all the main sites early next year. Article from Branch newsletter, sent in by Martin Brown, Branch Chair.
On a surprisingly pleasant December 6th, in the centre of the bustling Good Hope Hospital in the West Midlands, UNISON opened its doors once again to members, new and old. The venue this year was the newly refurbished Education Annexe that provides the services for all events and courses on the hospital campus. The open day, as ever, is a time for members to meet and greet each other, and for prospective members to quiz the branch representatives and existing members about the services that are provided. Officers from regional office were supporting the event with time being allotted for new and existing members to chat about UNISON benefits, and representatives from the Britannia Building Society were on hand to discuss financial incentives for membership. Of course, the proceedings were well received by both management and staff, with over 80% of the membership joining in the event. All those who attended received their new membership badges and 2003 diaries. Thanks for your your support ! The hearty turnout was treated to a prize draw in which the prize was a holiday for two at the Croyde Bay holiday park, another excellent benefit of joining the union. The winner of the prize draw was Mr Ken Marston, a retired member, so - have a nice week in Croyde Bay. Ten runner up prizes of £10 Argos vouchers were also won by various members of the branch. All in all the event was a great success, and will be repeated in the summer where we hope to provide some entertainment and maybe a barbecue, if the British weather holds out ! Steve Caddick, Branch Secretary.
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