General Secretary election 2020: timetable agreed

The union's National Executive Council at a meeting on 23 July 2020, agreed a timetable for the election of the post of general secretary. Full details and procedures are available:

Details and Procedures (PDF)

Nomination period

The nomination period will run from 10 August to 25 September 2020. Any meetings held to agree a nomination must take place between these dates. All nominating bodies will receive an email from Civica Election Services on 10 August with details about how nominations can be submitted.

Voting

Any ballot will run from 28 October to 27 November 2020. Any results will be issued on 11 January 2021.

Eligibility to vote

All members, including retired members (but not honorary members), who are on the union's membership register as of 28 July 2020, will be entitled to vote in this election. Members not on the membership register on 28 July 2020 will not be able to vote.

Returning Officer and Scrutineer

The returning officer and scrutineer for this election is Civica Election Services. Email: unison@cesvotes.com Tel: 020 8365 8909

Complaints

Any complaint about the conduct or fairness of this election must be received no later than 5pm on 4 December 2020. Complaints must be in writing and should enclose any supporting documentation. Complaints should be sent to Civica Election Services. Email unison@cesvotes.com Any queries on this information or this election should be directed to the Member Liaison Unit at the UNISON centre. Email: gs20election@unison.co.uk Tel: 020 7121 5399

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Equality Survey 2020 COVID-19

Tell us about your experiences during the coronavirus pandemic.   The results will be used to direct our work with government, employers and others in keeping workers safe and fighting for better conditions at work. If you complete the survey and give us your email address, you will be entered into a prize draw to win up to £100 worth of shopping vouchers.

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The government must fund local councils properly to keep communities safe and rebuild the country after the pandemic. Unless ministers fix the council funding shortfall of £10bn, there could be tens of thousands of job losses and catastrophic cuts to local services in England. But in this week's economic statement, the Chancellor failed to offer any support. Join UNISON's urgent call for a £10 billion bailout by signing the petition.

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Learning and Organising Services Website

A great resource to find out about all the learning opportunities available to members. You can log in and discover wellbeing, stress management and many more learning opportunities. I cannot list them all here, and it will include everything we are learning about in this session. I usually use the A-Z of learning resources to find what I am looking for.

https://learning.unison.org.uk/

Looking for a way to get started with computers, smartphones and the internet?

Then enrol on the free, user-friendly courses on Learn My Way. Learn My Way is an online learning platform that has helped 2 million people get to grips with IT.

All you need to do to start learning is to register for a free account to save your progress:

•  Log on to: www.learnmyway.com

1. Click Register (top right corner of your screen)
2.  You then fill in four boxes on the next window: 

✚ your name

✚ your address (or phone number if you don’t yet have an email address)

✚ a password for accessing the site

✚ UNISON’s centre number: 8000647.

That’s it! You’re now ready to start. Simply choose the course you want to take and away you go. 

Start learning today at https://www.learnmyway.com

What can I learn?

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✚ Improving your health online

✚ Public services online

✚ You can also undertake initial assessments of your literacy and numeracy skills.