UNISON believes that public services belong in public ownership.
Over the years UNISON members have seen first-hand the negative impact of outsourcing on service quality, staff terms and conditions and investment in vital amenities.
Just to remind you that the National Executive Council (NEC) elections are now in full swing, and your vote in it is crucial. As a UNISON member, you have the power to help shape the future of our union by electing the right leaders to represent you.
When pay rises by less than our bills, we’re all getting poorer.
Following our AGM the updated list of stewards and officers for 2023/24 can be found by clicking the link on the right-hand side.
If you have any questions please do email us at office@oxfordcityunison.com
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The Oxford Living Wage increases to £11.35 per hour!!
This is great news for the employees of the 100+ Living Wage employers in the city.
www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20027/welfare_reform/1011/the_oxford_living_wage
Artificial intelligence (AI) could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says.
It could replace a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe but may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom.
And it could eventually increase the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7%.
Generative AI, able to create content indistinguishable from human work, is "a major advancement", the report says.
For the full story go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-65102150
It’s important that UNISON’s Muslim members feel supported in the workplace and employers ensure and understand their needs at this spiritual and cherished time
The holy Muslim month of Ramadan is due to begin on Wednesday 22 March, with the first fast from sunrise to sunset on Thursday 23 March.
Eid-al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan, is expected to fall on Saturday 22 April.
During this important holy period for Muslims, UNISON reminds both workers and employers that it is within the Equality Act 2010 for all employers to ensure flexible working and provide reasonable adjustments for workers wishing to observe Ramadan, which includes fasting, prayers, charity and reflecting on the Quran.
During Ramadan, Muslims spend a period of 30 days abstaining from food and drink, including water, during daylight hours, as a means of celebrating and reflecting on their faith.
Iftar, the meal that breaks the fast when the sun has set, is often shared with family and the local community. Traditionally, the fast is broken with a date (pictured above).
If you need any help or support during Ramadan please talk to your local steward or email office@oxfordcityunison.com we are here to support and help we're we can.
As UNISON members prepare for a fifth day of strikes in England on 8 March – with thousands more health workers preparing to join the action – the government stubbornly refuses to engage in talks with all the health unions or to consider improving its miserly pay award.
And all the while, Rishi Sunak and his ministers peddle the same lies and misinformation, to distract from their simple failure to do the right thing. UNISON policy officer Guy Collis applies a scalpel to some of their worst fictions.
Myth: Increasing NHS pay will fuel inflation
Fact: Economic organizations such as the International Monetary Fund have found little evidence that raising pay will lead to the “wage price spiral” that conservative commentators fear. The real crisis is in pay and living standards, which not only directly affects health workers but, by reducing workers’ purchasing power, also damages local economies and the UK’s wider growth prospects.
Myth: The government does not have the money for bigger pay rises
Fact: Figures show that the government recorded a budget surplus of more than £5bn in the month of January 2023. In addition, government borrowing is currently £30bn less than predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility. So the money is there; it just needs government to make health workers its priority.
Myth: All parts of the economy are having to accept cutbacks in the current crisis
Fact: Recent weeks have seen huge profits reported by banks and energy and oil companies. For example, British Gas owner Centrica reported record profits of £3.3bn, while BP and Shell combined to make an eye-watering £55bn in the past year. So while some firms are making money from the spike in energy costs, NHS staff and other workers are left to pay the price. In addition, bankers’ bonuses are once again set to run into billions, regardless of performance.
Myth: No government could afford to increase pay for NHS staff
Fact: Rishi Sunak does not need to look far for a different approach to disputes over NHS pay. Governments in Wales and Scotland have shown that there is an alternative to the intransigence of the Westminster government. In both nations more money has been found for health staff as a way of attempting to bring disputes to an end.
Myth: The Pay Review Body decides what staff should be paid, so the government’s hands are tied
Fact: As it always does, the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) made a recommendation to the government for an NHS pay award for 2022/23. Ministers can and have responded differently, in different years, to the PRB, on issues such as whether to implement recommendations in full or in part, or whether to delay or stage recommended pay awards. For example, in 2008-10 and again in 2018-2020 the government settled NHS pay outside of the PRB process.
Governments have also previously chosen to top up PRB recommendations when necessary. So, NHS pay remains the responsibility of the government, however much it might seek to hide behind the pay review body process.
Myth: Health staff have already received a generous pay rise for 2022/23
Fact: At the start of 2022 UNISON and the other health unions asked ministers to short-cut the lengthy PRB process and make a swift inflation-proof pay rise to all NHS staff, to be implemented from April that year. Instead, the government waited until late July to announce the award of £1,400 that the PRB had recommended in May – and health workers did not receive the increase until September. Not only had the government failed to match the unions’ pay claim, but what was offered at this late date was quickly swallowed up by rocketing energy bills.
Myth: The government has started meaningful pay talks with the trade unions
Fact: Health workers in five unions, including UNISON, are involved in industrial action over NHS pay. But last week it emerged that the government had invited the RCN for pay talks, but not the other unions. Choosing to speak to just one of the unions will not be sufficient to stop the strikes taking place and such divisive action risks making a bad situation even worse.
Myth: The unions are responsible for escalating the NHS pay dispute
Fact: Rather than entering early talks with the unions or engaging with all trade unions in the current dispute, the government has embarked on draconian new anti-strike legislation which it is seeking to rush through Parliament with minimal scrutiny. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill has been attacked by politicians from across the political spectrum, with the government’s own impact assessment admitting that it could make disruption worse by forcing staff to opt for other forms of industrial action, such as overtime bans. Regrettably, the government continues to favour provocation over negotiation.
Myth: The public does not support health staff taking action to improve their pay
Fact: Opinion polls continue to show resounding levels of support for striking health workers. This is in stark contrast to public attitudes to the government’s handling of the NHS: a recent report suggests that just 8% of people in England think the UK government has the right policies for the NHS.
Myth: NHS staff have been protected from the worst of austerity in the past decade
Fact: Recent analysis from the TUC shows that hundreds of thousands of NHS workers have lost at least “a year’s worth of salary” because their pay has not kept pace with inflation since 2010. In addition to deteriorating living standards, health workers have worked through the worst pandemic for a century, and the most recent NHS staff survey found that nearly half the workforce had felt unwell as a result of work-related stress at some point in the past year.
Little surprise, then, that the NHS in England is currently struggling with unprecedented staff vacancies of 133,000.
Do you have a burning question that needs to be answered at the AGM? If so please click HERE.
If you would simply like to ask the branch committee a question then please indicate this and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
If your motion is relevant you will be asked to move the motion at the AGM.
It will be a great opportunity to show a united front to the powers that be. It will also give a powerful message to our employer we work together on matters concerning all of us, such as the pay and grading review.
This is your opportunity to ask any burning questions you might have in relation to the direction of where the Council is heading and to let them know what it's like to currently work here.
We are also laying on a raffle for which you have to be in attendance to qualify for entry.
There is no opportunity to view the AGM online.
As well as raffle prizes, there will be a light buffet with refreshments to give us all a chance to mingle and get to know each other again.
I strongly urge that you attend by registering your attendance via the link https://www.eventbrite.
After two years of Covid restrictions and changes to the way we work, the meeting will give you an excellent opportunity to meet up with colleagues from all services and hopefully listen to interesting presentations.
As a Branch, we are addressing serious issues that affect us all in these difficult challenging times remember you are the Union. Please attend we won't get anywhere without you!!.
Whatever your problem at work, from broken heating to a
departmental restructures, UNISON stewards and other activists work together to
protect the interest of you and all its members.
Our stewards are vital to this branch, and UNISON will
provide you with all the training you need. You have the right to paid time off
for this training, and crèches are usually available. UNISON stewards receive
complete support from the union, and there is even a dedicated online space
called the Organising Space.
If you would like more information, you can email us at office@oxfordcityunison.com or
check out the UNISON web
site
If you would like to stand simply, complete this form and we will be in touch
Closing date is 01 March 2023
Dear all,
On Monday5thDec,themove to the Town Hallfrom SACtakes place, some of you mayand will haveconcerns, as per normal, UNISON are here to helpand support you overcome any issues you may have. TheUNISON office will be open from 09:00 till 15:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday for you to walk in and talk to anofficer/steward to share those concerns and hopefully find a way to through.
If you don’t want to just walk in please email office@oxfordcityunison.comto make an appointment
We arealways availableto help and supportwhen needed, we can’t fix every problem but we will have a good go, and sometimes it helps just to talk, don’t struggle in silence, change is always hard.
Environment Agency staff have voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay for the first time in the organisation’s 26-year history, says UNISON today (Tuesday).
In the strike vote, 2,800 Agency staff were balloted by the union across England, including river inspectors, flood forecasting officers, coastal risk management officers and sewage plant attendants.
Of those who took part, 73% voted to strike and 92% for action short of a strike.
Earlier in the year staff, who also work on the Thames Barrier, maintain coastal defences, and manage the risk of flooding from rivers, reservoirs and the sea, rejected what they see as an insulting 2% pay offer (plus a £345 one-off payment), according to their union UNISON.
Low wages over many years have forced large numbers of staff to quit the UK’s key environmental regulator. This has left the Agency struggling to fill vacancies, putting the remaining workforce under intolerable pressure, says UNISON.
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To all members of the Oxford City Branch of UNISON
I wanted to update you all, on what your branch is and have been doing on your behalf in these stressful times.
As you know the council has embarked on many projects, including the SIP project, People strategy, there have been a number of re-structures, the change project and all of which we have been involved with and have been acting on your behalf and representing your views when you have approached us with concerns and suggestions. We have also started receiving a number of HR policies which we are currently negotiating on.
On top of this, we now have the quick move to the Town Hall which is proving to be a difficult challenge to incorporate all that we had in SAC i.e Kitchens, showers and confidential meeting spaces and somewhere to park our bikes to name but a few issues.
We now have the cost of living crisis which we have been proactive about we have recently had an offer Of a £500 non-consolidated payment to go to all staff your branch committee has rejected this offer in favour of an improved counter payment of a consolidated of a £1000 pro-rata. We have also Formally written to Caroline Green asking to review the current pay deal based on the fact that when we agreed on the current pay deal inflation was predicted to rise to 3%, as you will be aware inflation has far exceeded this and is currently running at 10% and feel that it’s right for us to do this on your behalf, I hope you agree.
If we are to succeed we need to know that you the membership agree with this strategy. We are very aware that the Council's finances are not as healthy as they once were, and we are not under any illusion that this will be difficult. That said, we are very aware of the sacrifices that our members have made over the last twelve years of austerity, and to coin the phrase Enough is Enough! It definitely is! And this is the time we need to stick together as we can’t do this without you, and comments or suggestions will be gratefully received.
Lastly, I need to ask you to make sure your details are up-to-date and also for your permission to email you using your OCC email address or to make sure that you have submitted an email address which will allow us to stay in contact with you. If not then please periodically keep an eye on our website for further information.
In Solidarity
Ms C Glendinning
office@oxfordcityunison.com
13-OCT-2022
Financial Wellbeing Fortnight begins next week! We have two weeks packed with webinars and online workshops to help you manage all aspects of your financial life. Whether you're trying to get on top of debt or save for your future, get your head around your pension or find out how to make your grocery budget go further, we have something for you. And it's all free to UNISON members!
Find out more and sign up on our website: https://learning.unison.org.uk/events/financial-wellbeing-fortnight/
