Confronting the Rise In Racism, Islamophobia and Antisemitism

Oxfordshire Unison Health branch is inviting this branch to join a delegation of our branch members and activists at the national "Confronting the Rise In Racism, Islamophobia and Antisemitism" conference in London on October 21st.  We are paying for our members to go with our branch banner and have hired a coach to get people there.  We are inviting any of your members who would like to go to the conference to travel with us at no cost. 

We believe it is very urgent to build a mass anti-racist campaign in the UK to halt the sharp rise in racism and the increasing use of racist scapegoating against migrants, muslims and refugees that is helping to fuel racist attacks and the growth of the far right. 

The election of fascist MPs in the AfD to the German parliament is a warning to us all.   The vote, celebrated by France's fascist Marine Le Pen is a chilling example of the right wing, racist populism that has won electoral success from France and Germany to Trumps victory in the US.  Actions such as Angela Merkel's call for a Niqab ban wherever legally possible in Germany gained the CDU not one single extra vote and instead handed the best performance to the far right in six decades.

Conference speakers already confirmed include:

Diane Abbott MP Shadow Home Secretary, Kevin Courtney NUT Gen Sec, Dave Ward CWU Gen Sec, Kate Osamor MP Shadow DfID Secretary, Catherine West Labour MP Hornsey and Wood Green, Claude Moraes Labour MEP, Shahrar Ali Green Party Home Affairs spokesperson, Talha Ahmad Muslim Council of Britain Treasurer, Maurice Wren Chief Exec Refugee Council, Esa Charles, Father of Rashan Charles, Moazzem Begg former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Clare Moseley Care4Calais founder, Lowkey - rapper, Sabby Dhalu & Weyman Bennet Stand Up To Racism co-convenors

Following the election of Donald Trump, threats from the far-right in Europe and a prolonged wave of racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism as well as the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing refugees, 2017's conference will be a crucial opportunity to come together to discuss strenghtening our movement and taking on the challenges that confront us in 2017.

Sessions include:

•     Unite Against Trump, fascism and the racist right
•     Brexit: Defending free movement and EU Nationals' Rights
•     Acid attacks & Finsbury Park - Stand Up To Islamophobia
•     Grenfell: Institutional racism & the social cleansing of our cities
•     Refugees welcome here - #DubsNow!
•     #BlackLivesMatter - no more deaths in police custody
•     Opposing austerity & the scapegoating of migrants
•     Love Music Hate Racism

Tickets to the conference cost £10 and £5 concessions and can be booked online here

People should email us seperately to arrange a seat on the Oxford coach to the conference.

Yours fraternally

Julie Simmons
on behalf of Oxfordshire Unison Health branch
07890081211

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Free Financial Advise for UNISON members

GENERAL FINANCIAL SURGERY

Wednesday 1st November 2017

Understanding where you are now and where you want to be in the future enables you to make informed decisions about your finances. Lighthouse Financial Advice is here to offer advice on all aspects of financial planning.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Our Professional Financial Advisers are able to use researched solutions drawn from a wide range of products and providers to find the most appropriate* products for you and can advise upon:

• Financial Protection for You and Your Family 
• Pension Advice and Planning for Retirement Savings and Investments
• Tax Planning** 
• Mortgages

This surgery is free to UNISON members. To take advantage of this invaluable opportunity and book your initial 30 minute consultation with an adviser please contact:

Katherine Cudmore on 01273 523 707 or email Katherine.Cudmore@lighthousegroup.plc.uk

Date: Wednesday 1st November 2017

Venue: The UNISON Offices The Old Police Cells Oxford Town Hall OX1 1BX

Start Time: 10:00am End Time: 3:00pm

If you are interested but are unable to attend, please let us know and we will arrange for the adviser to contact you.


*We have chosen to avoid products we consider to be too high risk for the majority of our clients
** Tax advice which contains no investment element is not regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority

Making your money work harder www.lighthousefa.co.uk.


Registered in England No. 04795080
Registered Office: 26 Throgmorton Street, London, EC2N 2AN Lighthouse Financial Advice is a trading style of Lighthouse Financial Advice Limited, an appointed representative of Lighthouse Advisory Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Lighthouse Financial Advice is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lighthouse Group plc.

Lighthouse Financial Advice Limited
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Brighton
BN2 6AH

T:  08000 85 85 90
F:  01273 523730
events@lighthousefa.co.uk
www.lighthousefa.co.uk/events

Join us today.

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Gender reassignment advise

Gender reassignment

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against or treat someone unfairly because of gender reassignment.

Overview

The Act's protected characteristic of gender reassignment currently has a specific meaning:

• it covers someone who proposes to go through, is going through or has gone through a process, or part of a process, to change his or her gender from man to woman or woman to man. A person making this change is described in the Act as a 'transsexual' person
• gender reassignment does not have to involve any medical supervision. For example, a person who chooses to reassign his or her gender and lives permanently as the opposite sex without having any hormonal or surgical therapy is protected
• genders outside of man (which includes woman transitioning to man) and woman (which includes man transitioning to woman) are not explicitly protected under UK law. They are the non-binary identities - for example, those who might identify as neither man nor woman. But, someone with a non-binary identity could be protected if they are discriminated against because they are thought to be considering, thought to be going through or thought to have gone through gender reassignment from man to woman or woman to man, regardless of whether this perception is correct or not.

To understand examples of gender reassignment discrimination in the workplace, how they can be effectively dealt with, how to reduce the chance of future discrimination, and best practice for employers and colleagues to also support employees with non-binary identities, click this link ACAS web site for more info

Run, Hide, Tell: Firearms and Weapons Attack

Published on 15 Sep 2017In the UK the Police Service and partners work very hard to keep us safe from the threat of guncrime. Firearms and weapons attacks are thankfully extremely rare, but we must always know to do stay safe. What would you do if you came under fire or heard gunshots at work or in public

Click to watch stay safe video from National Police Chiefs' Council NPCC

'Brutal' new rotas causing stress

Changes to Thames Valley Police officers' rotas have caused higher levels of stress, a survey has found, as reported on bbc.co.uk news 

TVP Federation carried out the survey after a new system was introduced, and 76% of the 1,172 officers who completed it said their work/life balance had deteriorated.

One said the new shift patterns were "brutal" and his family had described him as a "walking zombie".

The force said it "absolutely acknowledged" a rise in stress levels.

The new model has seen officers in frontline teams moved to investigation hubs.

The feedback says changes have resulted in high workloads, long hours, large amounts of overtime and less time between shifts.

Federation chairman Craig O'Leary said officers were "struggling to keep their heads above water".

He added: "They don't want the overtime, they want to see their families. They want to feel like they're well rested.

"I have very real concerns for our members. For their health, their wellbeing and their families."

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What else did the survey find?

• 65% of officers said their workload had increased

• 85% said they had not seen any improvement in the service for communities

• Two thirds said they were more likely to leave

• Two thirds described their mental state as "fair or poor"

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A recently retired member of Thames Valley Police told BBC South Today: "The shift pattern we work now is incredibly hard, described by myself and colleagues as brutal.

"There is no social life, my family describe me as a walking zombie when I'm not at work, and even at work the cumulative effect of that sort of fatigue is constant brain fog."

Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Ross described it as the "most significant change, in terms of scale, that the force has delivered in recent years".

She added: "There is a period of adjustment for the organisation and for individuals and we do not take this lightly.

"We absolutely acknowledge that there has been a rise in stress levels on the frontline and are continuing to ensure that appropriate support is available, at the same time as analysing the sources of this pressure to enable us to take appropriate action."

UNISON public service data blog

Using data to tell the story of our changing public services

Are we running out of nurses? How many libraries in your area have shut down? Has your local police force grown or shrunk?

Many of the important questions about our public services can be answered by looking at data. On the public service data blog we’ll be tracking down the relevant spreadsheets, diving into the numbers and explaining what we find.

If you’re a UNISON activist campaigning around an issue, the public service data blog will arm you with the numbers you need to make your case and make change happen.

Got a topic you want us to explore? Get in touch. Because there’s power in numbers.

Check out this web site for info https://www.unison.org.uk/news/ps-data/