Help with winter fuel bills

This winter, many UNISON members will be worried about paying their gas and electricity bills as prices go up and wages stay the same. And they're not alone. Fuel poverty in the UK is increasing and today one in four households are in fuel poverty.
UNISON can help.
We've set up an energy switching scheme - a new way to save on gas and electricity bills. It works by getting as many UNISON members as possible to register their interest in taking part so that we can go to the energy companies and negotiate a competitive energy deal.
The more members that register, the better the offer we can get and the more money you can save, it's as simple as that.
There is no obligation when you register to sign up to the new offer, so please register your details so we can send you more information. You can find out more and register at unison-switch.co.uk. Registration closes on 25 November, so please register now.
As a UNISON member, you could also save up to £175 on your energy bills with free loft insulation and up to £135 with free cavity wall insulation from British Gas. Call 0800 107 2547 quoting IUM001 or visit britishgas.co.uk/insulation for more information. You need to apply by 30 November.
In addition, UNISON's charity There for You can help. There for You will be offering a winter fuel grants programme - members whose net household income is less than £18,000 a year can apply for help with their fuel payments. The application form will be available on the web at www.unison.org.uk in December.
We also know that we need to tackle the issue of high fuel costs head on. That's why we've joined forces with the Energy Bill Revolution to campaign to end fuel poverty.
The campaign aims to use the billions of pounds raised by the government's carbon emissions tax to end fuel poverty, create jobs and help the economy to grow.
Please take two minutes to sign the petition at energybillrevolution.org and ask all your friends and networks to do the same. This will help put real pressure on the government to sort out fuel poverty, and not a moment too soon.

Christmas leave arrangements 2012

You will all be aware by now that the Council have changed the dates of the 3 days taken during the Christmas/New Year period.

Unison had not agreed to this happening as suggested and was under the impression this was still being negotiated.

It has never been the case that each year there is agreement on which dates will form the prescribed annual leave days for the closure of some offices/services between Christmas and New Year. The normal practise of Oxford City Council is to use these days between Christmas Day and New Years Day and because of this people have already made plans to be with their family or go away on those days.

We have informed HR that we are not happy with this new arrangement and there will be an Emergency Branch Committee meeting on Wednesday of next week to decide what course of action Unison will/can take about this.

If you have any comments or issues with this please speak to you Steward or leave comments below

Assistant Branch Secretary

Oxford City Branch Of UNISON

A home for life..... or a lifetime of being ‘home’ less

                                                              

A home for life..... or a lifetime of being ‘home’ less

Public debate hosted by

Oxford International Womens Festival

October 25^th 2012 at Oxford Town Hall

630pm – 8.30pm

Lack of social housing, high rent in the private sector, landlord won’t take benefit payment, badly maintained properties, having to live in shared accommodation, overcrowded, can’t access deposit scheme, experiencing discrimination because of your lifestyle or circumstances????

Come and share your experiences of ‘housing’ with Oxford City Council, local councillors and other interested parties.

We also welcome ideas on positive change for the future

Organsior: Debbie Hollingsworth

Contact: oxfordwomen@gmail