We still have availability on the above course. If you have any activists who are interested in attending please arrange for the attached booking form to be completed and then forward to activisteducationscotland@unison.co.uk by 12 noon on Tuesday 2 November 2021.
Author: Stirling Websites
The sixth edition of UNISON Scotland’s Care Futures
The sixth edition of UNISON Scotland’s Care Futures is now published. It outlines the proposals to create a new platform for social care staff inside UNISON.
A copy is attached and it can be found online here
FREE – Introduction to Microsoft Excel Courses
We now have on offer two FREE Introduction to Microsoft Excel Courses which will be delivered online.
The courses comprise of two sessions of 4 hours in duration and learners must commit to attending both sessions.
The courses will run on:
Course 1 – 27th and 29th October – 9.30 to 1.30pm
OR
Course 2 – 22nd and 23rd November – 9.30 to 1.30pm
We would encourage early sign up for these popular courses. Learners should register their interest by completing the below preference form to indicate which course they wish to attend and returning it to memberlearningscotland@unison.co.uk
Care Reform
The second of UNISON Scotland’s briefings on the issues around care reform is now on line.
The care reforms being consulted on by the Scottish Government could impact on a wide range of sectors and services. As such it is important that there is engagement across UNISON with these proposals.
Care Futures will be a series of briefings that will provide UNISON Scotland branches and members with information to help discuss and develop UNISON’s approach to the reform of care.
This second edition looks at what Fair work would mean in a National Care Service
The briefing is attached or can be accessed on the UNISON Scotland website.
Letter to COSLA re Pay
SJC Pay 2021
As you know UNISON commenced a formal statutory industrial action ballot on 1st September, of members employed in school cleaning, school catering, school janitorial, waste and recycling services, over the 2021 Pay offer.
The ballot closed yesterday and we wanted to update you on our position.
Each individual employer has been informed of their results directly by our UNISON Ballots team. Employers should remember that this was a disaggregated ballot, targeted at only a small percentage of UNISON members.
The national turnout in this ballot was 42.4%. Whilst individual employer turnouts vary considerably, with us reaching the required 50% threshold in a number of areas, it should be noted that this is one of, if not the, highest turnout in a national ballot in local government ever achieved since the 2016 Trade Union Act took effect.
In every area the percentage of those voting who did so in favour of taking strike action was overwhelming, including a number who had 100% of those balloted voting in favour of taking strike action. There is a very clear message to the employer from our members that the offer currently on the table is not acceptable.
It is now more than 9 months since the Joint Trade Unions submitted our pay claim, on behalf of the 200k local government workers covered by the Scottish Joint Council negotiating machinery, and 18 months into a global pandemic which has seen them working flat out on the frontline with no reward. Our members are now at breaking point and are worth more than what is on offer.
We urge you to come back to the negotiating table with proposals that will take consideration of, and reward, their significant contribution.
Yours sincerely,
Johanna Baxter
UNISON Scotland, Head of Local Government
UNISON formally balloted members across 31 Local Authorities
As you will be aware UNISON formally balloted members across 31 Local Authorities employed in school cleaning, school catering, school janitorial, waste and recycling services regarding the LG Pay Offer. That ballot closed yesterday Wednesday 22nd September 2021.
We would advise that on the close of the ballot we did not reach the statutory turnout threshold in this local authority, set by the Anti Trade Union Bill needed to take action by a very thin margin, however 97.44% of members in the Stirling ballot return voted for Industrial Strike Action which demonstrates a strength of feeling.
I can further advise that on this basis the UNISON Scotland Local Government Committee are considering its next steps and will keep you updated on any further action.
Stirling UNISON 