Oxford's best-performing trade union, supporting workers at Oxford City Council, Oxford Direct Services, Proudly working in partnership with NHS and University branches across Oxford for the benefit of all members and a greater UNISON for all.
The Government is currently consulting on plans to allow universities and colleges in England to opt out of offering the local government pension scheme (LGPS) to new non- teaching staff.
The proposal would:
Create a two-tier workforce with new starters offered inferior pensions;
Disproportionately affect women and the lower paid;
Threaten the future sustainability of the whole scheme.
This attack on pension rights is the thin end of the wedge – if these proposals are enacted, the Government won’t stop there. It is vital that we take action.
UNISON has set up a campaign website which explains more about the situation and encourages branches and members to take a range of actions.
As some of you may already be aware, as the result of a burst water main on the Euston Road there was a major a flood at UNISON Centre over the weekend.
The building has been closed to staff since Monday 10 June and the earliest date it may re-open is Wednesday 19 June (although even this is not guaranteed).
The 020 7121 5623telephone number is not currently working.
UNISON Centre departments have not received any post since 7 June.
If members need to contact There for You they should do so by email to thereforyou@unison.co.uk and send any documents as attachments to the email in order for the team to be able to see them now
The UNISON Welfare casework team is currently only able to provide a limited service however are still assessing emergency grant applications at the current time.
In many ways, mental health is just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it.
Good mental health means being generally able to think, feel and react in the ways that you need and want to live your life. But if you go through a period of poor mental health you might find the ways you're frequently thinking, feeling or reacting become difficult, or even impossible, to cope with. This can feel just as bad as a physical illness, or even worse.
Mental health problems affect around one in four people in any given year. They range from common problems, such as depression and anxiety, to rarer problems such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
I now know that if I felt there was something wrong, it's because there was, but I didn't understand mental health fully... it's a spectrum and you should feel able to decide where and when you [are] on that spectrum.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
Experiencing a mental health problem is often upsetting, confusing and frightening – particularly at first. If you become unwell, you may feel that it's a sign of weakness, or that you are 'losing your mind'.
These fears are often reinforced by the negative (and often unrealistic) way that people experiencing mental health problems are shown on TV, in films and by the media. This may stop you from talking about your problems, or seeking help. This, in turn, is likely to increase your distress and sense of isolation.
However, in reality, mental health problems are a common human experience.
Most people know someone who has experienced a mental health problem. They can happen to all kinds of people from all walks of life. And it's likely that, when you find a combination of self-care, treatment and support that works for you, you will get better.
It wasn't until I had a breakdown that I felt my condition was 'serious enough' to qualify as an issue. I could have got help much earlier but I didn't because of this – it's never too early to seek advice.
Lawyers for NHS England have issued a warning that publicly raising concerns about the impact on patients of their proposal to contract out Oxford's PET-CT scanning service could result in a defamation claim.
We say we have the right and the duty to speak out and to report well-founded concerns.
The Oxford NUJ has invited three speakers from the worlds of cancer care, defamation law and journalism to address the urgent issues raised by NHS England's warning.
How can we work together to prevent threats and intimidation from closing down informed debate about the future of vital public services? Is a change in the law required?
Speakers:
Tamsin Allen @tamsinallen1, a Partner at Bindmans solicitors who specialises in defamation and representing whistleblowers. She has recently acted for Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower.
Professor Adrian Harris, A consultant medical oncologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust who continues to raise concerns over the impact that contracting out the PET-CT services will have on the quality and safety of patient care
Seamus Dooley @Seamusdo, the Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists , who has spent his career as a journalist and NUJ official defending the independence of the press and public service journalism
Join the discussion; Register to attend at Eventbrite
Is Mental Health important in the workplace? Tom explores all things related to workplace mental health, including mental health in school workplaces, in this insightful video. Tom helps employers figure out mental health at work. He reviews workplaces, trains managers and writes plans.
Since 2012 he has interviewed more than 130 people, surveyed thousands and worked across the UK with corporations, civil service, charities, the public sector, schools and small business. Tom has worked with national mental health charities Mind and Time to Change and consults widely across the UK. He lives in Norfolk and is mildly obsessed with cricket and camping.
He runs Bamboo Mental Health, an organisation dedicated to improving how employers support their people on mental health. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
Acas Senior Adviser Abigail Hirshman talks about the Acas strategy for positive mental health at work.
The Government's Department of Health advises that one in four of us will experience mental ill health at some point in our lives. It is therefore important that employers and their staff take steps to promote positive mental health and support those experiencing mental ill health
For more information on Mental health in the workplace and to book a place on our training program.
http://www.acas.org.uk/mentalhealth
As a member of the UK’s biggest and brightest union you could win a holiday for you and your family –THIS SUMMER! Just from being in UNISON.
You could win a five-night holiday to UNISON’s beautiful Croyde Bay Resort in Devon, this summer, for up to six people, with breakfast included. The prize draw is open to all new and existing members of UNISON. The holiday needs to be taken anytime before October 2019.
But that's not all – our money-saving deals and offers are back. Just in time for you to make the most of your summer. Apart from holidays, days out and trips to the theatre, our UNISON Living partners – including Vision Express, Shepherds Friendly and UIA – are improving their offers to members during May as the union goes for growth.
Investment firms dominate list of worst gender pay gaps of pension companies
JP Morgan Securities has reported the highest gender pay gap of any UK firm working with occupational pension schemes in 2017/18, PP analysis finds.
The UK investment banking arm of JP Morgan Chase recorded the worst gaps on both the mean and median measurements of hourly pay, at 52.8% and 60.0%, when compared with 126 other firms in the occupational pensions and financial sectors.
The figures are significantly above the pensions sector-wide averages of 24.4% and 24.5% respectively, and much higher than the average of investment firms at 30.7% and 28.6% respectively.
Of the 10 largest gaps, many of the spaces were occupied by investment firms, and across the analysis, the mean gap at investment firms worsened on average by 0.3 percentage points.
The mean figure is calculated by finding the difference between the mean hourly pay of a man at the firm and the mean pay of a woman; the median figure is calculated in a similar way. The gaps do not necessarily mean that men and women are paid different wages for the same role.
PP's analysis may not be exhaustive and firms with fewer than 250 members of staff were not required to report. Some firms opted to report voluntarily.
In its supporting narrative, JP Morgan blamed an imbalance in the proportion of men and women in senior roles - a common theme across all organisations with gaps.
The firm said: "We know we have more work to do, not only to increase women's representation at all levels, but to advance more women into management and leadership positions across the firm.
"The business is accountable in driving progress, investing in employees' growth and committed to expanding advancement opportunities for women."
JP Morgan has signed up to a number of initiatives and has, for example, set a target to achieve 30% women in executive director and managing director UK-based roles by 2023.
Across the rest of the analysis of mean hourly gaps, XPS Pensions Consulting recorded the worst figure for consultants, JLT for administrators, Just Group for providers and insurers, Gowling WLG for law firms (a voluntary report), and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) for firms associated with government.
Your public services are at breaking point. Hear from the people who provide them – and their personal, and often frank stories of the tremendous pressures they face.
Hear their voices. Share their stories. Take a stand for your public services. #momentsoftruth
The NHS is suffering the deepest financial squeeze in its 70 year history, with the decade 2010-2020 set to be its most austere ever
At least 12,000 NHS beds have been lost since 2010
Local government budgets have been slashed by nearly 50%, making it increasingly difficult for councils to properly fund street cleaning, libraries, leisure centres and community safety
Approximately 1,000 Sure Start centres have closed since 2009
Because of inadequate funding, nearly 80% of workers providing care to elderly people in their homes report having no option but to rush their work or leave clients early to get to their next call
The number of police community support officers has been cut by more than 30%, at the same time as violent crime and sex offences have been rising
The number of teaching assistants in secondary schools has been cut by 8%
Close to one million jobs have been cut across public services, with more than half of those who are left reporting that they now have to undertake unpaid overtime to keep services going
80% of NHS staff have raised concerns about there not being enough staff on duty to give patients the high-quality care they want to
