A new collective agreement on 2021 pay for Oxford City staff

To all members of Oxford City Branch of UNISON

UNISON has successfully reached an agreement with the Council following several negotiation meetings with Branch Secretaries, on a new collective agreement which will come into effect from 1st April 2021.

The current three-year local pay collective agreement is due to finish next year, at the end of March 2021. In the midst of this, members have worked hard and tirelessly throughout one of the most difficult periods in living memory. We felt that this could not go unrecognised.

It has never been a more important time to be a member of UNISON.

The significant challenges that COVID-19 has placed on all of us also presents a challenge on the medium-term financial plans of both Oxford City Council and ODS. 

In spite of this, Oxford City Branch of UNISON on behalf of its members, have negotiated a one-year agreement following a meeting with the Council and ODS on 25 November 2020.

This one-year pay deal is effective from 1 April 2021 and will give members:

●            A one-off consolidated ‘Recognition’ payment of £400.00 to all staff on permanent or fixed-term contracts of not less than six months at 1 April 2021;

●            Which will be paid on 1 April 2021;

●            With no conditions attached to the payment.

A number of areas were also touched upon by UNISON during these negotiations, such as:

●            Organisational change/ re-deployment;

●            Flexible working – including the homeworking allowance;

●            And grading arrangements for senior roles.

This modest offer precedes ongoing and future negotiations on a more comprehensive pay deal for 2022 – 2023 that UNISON will have with the Council and ODS on your behalf.

UNISON’s strength is through its members.

We welcome and encourage others to join a growing family of more than 1.4 million people across the UK.

 

On behalf of UNISON Branch Committee

We need your input and views so we can increasing participation

The UNISON South East region is committed to increasing participation in all of its decision making structures. We want all areas of our membership to be fully represented and have their voices heard on the issues that matter to them. In response to a regional policy agreed at this year's AGM, we are consulting with all branches and Self Organised Groups and reviewing our structures and ways of working.

We have developed a questionnaire which allows you to feedback on what the barriers to participation are, and give suggestions to how we may be able to do things differently to make it easier for you and others to get more involved. Please take the time to complete this survey and help us shape the outcome of this review. The findings of the survey will be considered by the working group and will result in recommendations to the Regional Council AGM in 2022.

Here’s the link for the questionnaire, it should take less than 5 minutes to complete. The questionnaire is open for one month, until 6 January 2021. 

Complete the questionnaire

Regional Disabled Members AGM

 

REMINDER

In accordance with national guidance, I am pleased to inform you that the Regional Disabled Members AGM will be taking place this year virtually.

In order to accommodate this and ensure that members in the South East have the opportunity to participate fairly and democratically, we have made some slight changes to the normal processes and timescales.

Everything you need to know, including details on registering to attend, nominating members for election, and submitting motions for debate, can be found  HERE

AGM DETAILS

WHEN: 12.00pm - 1.30pm on Wednesday 9 December 2020 

WHERE: The meeting will be held online using Microsoft Teams. 

Holding our meeting online means that this could potentially be the biggest Disabled Members AGM we've ever held in the region. I very much hope to see a great turnout for this first meeting of it's type on 9 December.

Ballot Papers are due this week

 

Our Branch has nominated Roger McKenzie for UNISON General Secretary, Roger has plans to bring our union closer to members and Branches like ours.

Roger’s campaign has set out how together we can build a strong, powerful union that represents all workers delivering public services, stands up for members and ensures social justice is at the heart of our union.

Roger has said that he will support members taking action over pay, terms and conditions, health and safety and fight to stop local employers and this Government using the public health crisis as an excuse to attack workers.

We've got less than a week to chose the next general secretary

Ballots begin to arrive on Wednesday

Oxford City Branch of UNISON is backing RogerMcKenzie for the next General Secretary of UNISON  - check out his pledges to build a fighting, winning union  roger4gs.co.uk/campaign 

Roger would like to personally thank the branch for nominating him  Your Branch Committee has nominated Roger McKenzie to be the next General Secretary for our Union. We believe Roger will bring about the changes we need to be able to represent you better.  Roger is committed, is a real supporter of our branch he cares. Roger knows we need better resources, more funding to be better organised.

Ballot papers will land on doorsteps this week, don’t ignore, use your vote we want to show that Oxford has a big Turnout!  www.roger4gs.co.uk/support. 

Ballots are sent out next Wednesday and your vote is really important so make sure you spread the word and forward this message. 

Regional LGBT+ AGM

In accordance with national guidance, I am pleased to inform you that the Regional LGBT+ AGM will be taking place this year virtually.

In order to accommodate this and ensure that members in the South East have the opportunity to participate fairly and democratically, we have made some slight changes to the normal processes and timescales.

Everything you need to know, including details on registering to attend, nominating members for election, and submitting motions for debate, can be found below.

AGM DETAILS

WHEN: 11am–12.30am on Saturday 5 December 2020 

WHERE: The meeting will be held online using Microsoft Teams. 

Holding this meeting online means that this could potentially be the biggest LGBT+ AGM we've ever held in the region. We very much hope to see a great turnout for this first meeting of its type on 5 December.

Almost time to have your say on who leads us next

 The following have been confirmed as candidates in the election to choose a new general secretary for UNISON.

Their names are listed below in the order they will appear on the ballot paper and in the election address booklet.

Paul Holmes

Nominated by one service group executive, two regional councils and 99 branches.

Christina McAnea

Nominated by the national executive council (NEC), five service group executives, nine regional councils and 210 branches.

Roger McKenzie

Nominated by one service group executive, one regional council and 104 branches.

Hugo Pierre

Nominated by 31 branches.

Ballot papers will be sent to members’ home or other notified address in writing. Members will be provided with a pre-paid envelope for the return of the ballot paper to the independent scrutineer. All voting will be by post

Your chance to choose who leads UNISON

Dave Prentis, our current general secretary, retires at the end of this year after 20 years leading the UK's biggest union. Soon you'll get a chance to decide who leads the union for the next five years.

The general secretary represents you and 1.3 million members of UNISON, so it's important that you use your vote and have your say.

The ballot opens on 28 October so please look out for your ballot paper, which will be sent by post to your home address.

The ballot is being run on our behalf by an independent organisation called Civica Election Services (CES).

Make sure you post your completed ballot in plenty of time to CES by 5pm on November 27. It will be freepost, so don’t worry about a stamp.

Your election pack will include the ballot paper and the pre-paid return envelope. There will also be information about the candidates who are standing to be general secretary.

If anything is missing from your election pack, or you lose your ballot paper please call our ballot helpline free on 0800 0 857 857 or on textphone 0800 0 967 968. The helpline opens on 10 November and closes on 20 November.

More info and a Q&A can be found HERE

This is why you're in this UNISON

 Recently UNISON had another major victory in the courts. This time it was for homecare workers and concerned how they were paid – or not – for the time it took to travel between visits.

The case means 10 UNISON members have received thousands in backpay – but it could have implications for thousands of other home care workers. 

And behind the headlines, it's been a fascinating four-year battle involving members, branch officers and UNISON's legal team, and it sums up what being in a trade union is all about.

If you would like to read the story behind this click HERE

We are still OPEN and here when you need us

Following the recent announcements from the government – we’d like to reassure you that it’s very much business as usual here.

During these unsettling times, we wanted to let you know that we are open as normal. Our opening hours and the ways in which you can contact us are still the same, so you can rest assured that we're on hand to provide the same great service that you expect from us! 

Like everyone, we’ve found ourselves in a very strange situation over the last six months. But be rest assured we are still fighting for you.

A cold, flu or coronavirus - which one do I have?

A blocked or runny nose, a sore throat and a cough are common, especially in the winter. But how do you know if you have coronavirus? 

Check out the video from the BBC for a little guidance, to watch just click the below link:-

Oxford City Branch of UNISON: A cold, flu or coronavirus - which one do I have?

Disabled and LGBT+ members are invited to remotely attend a series of events organised specifically for them – online and live

Like many other organisations, UNISON has had to cancel many of its conferences and meetings as a result of COVID-19.

But the UK’s biggest union has democracy at its heart and still wants its members to be involved.

With this in mind, UNISON’s disabled and LGBT+ members have organised a series of virtual events in place of their usual conferences – online and live.

We will be holding the following events:

Disability Live! – 19 to 24 October.

LGBT+ Live! – 13 to 15 November.

There will be a variety of online sessions that members can participate in during the events.

These events are only open to UNISON members. To attend Disability Live! you must be a disabled member of UNISON. And to attend LGBT+ Live! you must be an LGBT+ member of UNISON. This is in line with UNISON’s commitment to self-organisation for under-represented groups.

In order to make Disability Live! as accessible as possible, please let us know if there are any adjustments you will need to allow you to take part in a virtual event.

To register your interest in attending either event, please email conferences@unison.co.uk as follows:

Subject heading – the event you would like to attend (if both, please send separate emails)

In your email – please provide:

• Your name
• Your membership number
• Your branch name
• Any reasonable adjustments you need to participate

The registration deadlines are:

Disability Live! –  Thursday 8 October at 5pm

LGBT+ Live! – Thursday 5 November at 5pm

Once you’ve been registered for an event, you will be sent an email giving details of the virtual sessions you can attend, so you can register for these individually. You can attend as many or as few as you like.

So get active! Email conferences@unison.co.uk today to register to attend.

Time for us to do our bit.