Tag: News

School Uniforms

UNISON’s charity, There for You, is offering help for members on a low income with a one-off, non-repayable grant of £75 per school-aged child which will be paid in the form of a voucher. We want to make this limited fund go as far as possible and help as many members as we can. Please only apply if you are in financial difficulty.

Applications will be made online and a link to apply will be added to this webpage when the grant is live.

The grant will be open for 24 hours from 12 noon on Wednesday 28 May 2025 and close at 12 noon on 29 May 2025.

School Uniform Grant | There for You (UNISON Welfare) | UNISON National 

Am I eligible to apply?

Please ensure that you read the below to check you are eligible for the grant, as well as the further information you will need to hand to be able to apply.

Applicants must:   

  • Be a UNISON member and have paid at least four weeks’ subscriptions as of 28 May 2025. Subscriptions must be up to date.
  • Not have received a grant from UNISON Welfare since 28 November 2024, excluding the Winter Essentials Grant or the Step into Spring Grant.
  • Be financially responsible for school-aged child(ren) and receiving Child Benefit for them**. By school-aged, we mean children aged between 4 and 17 years old, who will be returning to school in the autumn.

And EITHER:

Be on a low income, meaning a net household income* of no more than £26,413/year (£2,201.08/month).

OR:

Be in receipt of means-tested benefits. This includes:

  • Universal Credit
  • Housing Benefit
  • Child and/or Working Tax Credits
  • Pension Credit
  • Means-tested Jobseekers Allowance
  • Means-tested Employment Support Allowance
  • Income Support

* Net household income includes your monthly take-home pay from work (plus your partner’s, if you have one), any income from child maintenance payments, any income from student finance loans or bursaries, pensions (excluding Pension Credit) and any income from people living with you (e.g. adult children or lodgers). 

** Where members either have no recourse to public funds and their household income is above £26,413/year or have no recourse to public funds and don’t receive Child Benefit; an assessment will be undertaken to see whether they would be eligible for benefits if they did have recourse to public funds. 

How do I apply?

All applications should be made online. Make sure you have your membership number to hand. Eligible members will be chosen at random from the applicant pool and contacted to submit supporting documents. Due to limited funds and in anticipation of high demand, we regret that we will not be able to help all members who apply.

If you are unable to complete the application online due to an accessibility need, please contact us on 28 May 2025, either by email: sug@unison.co.uk or by calling UNISONdirect on 0800 0 857 857.

What if I don’t know my membership number?

We cannot accept applications without a membership number. This can often be found at the bottom of any emails you have received from UNISON. Alternatively, please contact UNISONdirect on 0800 0 857 857.

How will you contact me?

Acknowledgement  

Successful online submissions will receive an automated message confirming your application has been received. If this doesn’t show in your ‘inbox’, please check your ‘junk/spam’ folders.

Processing time  

We will require further evidence to support your application, and we will be in touch via email to request this within a week of your initial application.

You should not expect to receive an immediate decision. It could take up to 12 weeks before your application will be completed. Please do not send chasing emails as we will be unable to respond.

If I have recently received a grant, can I apply?

If you have received a grant from UNISON Welfare since 28 November 2024, excluding the Winter Essentials Grant or the Step into Spring Grant, you will not be eligible to apply for a School Uniform Grant.

The grant will open at 12 noon on Wednesday 28 May 2025 for 24 hours.

If you have any questions, please contact us via email: sug@unison.co.uk

International Workers’ Memorial Day on Monday 28 April

Trade Union’s and Stirling Council will mark International Workers’ Memorial Day on Monday 28 April, to remember all those around the world who have lost their lives at work, or from work-related injury or disease.

We invite everyone to participate in the national one-minute silence at 12:00 noon on April 28th, 2025. Please join your trade unions, management, elected members, and colleagues in honouring this moment of reflection. Let’s come together to observe the minute’s silence. 

UNISON Stirling Branch has sponsored the Wallace Monument to be illuminated in purple on Monday, April 28th. This gesture supports the Hazards campaign, which uses the colour purple to remember and honour those killed or injured at work

As in previous years, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial tree in the grounds of Old Viewforth, which will take place on Friday 25 April at 10:45.

Timetable as follows:

10:45    Gather in the grounds of Old Viewforth, beside the memorial tree

  • welcome by Kate Hudson, Head of People and Community Wellbeing
  • speeches by Trade Union representatives

10:55    Laying of the wreaths, followed by a 1 minute silence.

This year’s ITUC theme continues as Health & Safety as a Fundamental Right at Work and looking at the growing threat of Artificial Intelligence

Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be used to mitigate monotonous work. AI at work is increasing work intensification, monitoring and surveillance . Generating negative impacts on mental and physical wellbeing As workers experience the extreme pressure of constant, real-time micromanagement and automated assessment.

UNISON Workers Vote to Strike for Fair Pay

UNISON has announced that council workers have voted to back industrial action in a dispute over pay.

The union says more than 92% of those who took part in a consultation are in favour of striking.

Local government employer body Cosla has offered all council workers in Scotland a 3% increase for 2025-26.

UNISON Scotland’s local government committee will now meet. They will discuss the next steps in balloting their members formally. This is over strike action.

For more information see UNISON Scotland – https://unison-scotland.org/local-government-workers-vote-overwhelmingly-to-support-industrial-action/

Standing with our social work members on World Social Work Day

Greetings to all our social work members on World Social Work Day, today, 18 March 2025.

Today UNISON Scotland stands with all our social work members to celebrate and promote the social work profession.

This year’s theme is ‘Strengthening Intergenerational Solidarity for Enduring Wellbeing’, which emphasises the importance of caring and respecting across generations to build strong societies, sustain the environment, and share wisdom for a better future.

UNISON represents all those who are involved in providing a social work service, including admin staff, paraprofessionals and OTs. All are an important part of the social work team delivering services to our most vulnerable citizens.

UNISON Scotland’s Social Work Issues Group (SWIG) brings together members working in social work from across Scottish local authorities.

We have spearheaded a great many initiatives over past years to highlight the key issues for our social work members – overwork, too high caseloads, too much bureaucracy, high levels of staff absence and burnout, lack of supervision and support amongst others. We have continued to press strongly for increased investment in frontline services and other measures to address our members’ concerns. Where appropriate we work in partnership with organisations such as Social Work Scotland, OCSWA and SASW.

We have also been keen to highlight and promote the excellent practice that goes on out there despite these significant challenges. This includes our monthly webinars promoting radical social work, in which we ensure the voice of practitioners is always represented.

Please select this link and look at the UNISON Scotland Social Work pages on our website. Social Work – UNISON Scotland.

There you will find our Charter of Demands to End the Crisis in Social Work, launched at our Social Work Conference in October 2024, which sets out the actions that are needed now to support staff.

Other recent work includes our response to the “Future of Foster Care” consultation, Future of Foster Care Response – UNISON Scotland; our paper on Care Management and whether it is the right way to provide adult care services Care Management: Fit for Purpose? – UNISON Scotland; and briefings on the proposed National Social Work Agency. At present, we are collating members’ views to respond to the consultation on the registration of paraprofessionals.

From an international perspective, we issued a statement of solidarity with our colleagues in Gaza in February 2024 – Social Work Issues Group Statement on Gaza

On World Social Work Day, and on every other day, UNISON stands in solidarity with our social work members and thanks you all for the important work you do.

If you would like to know more about SWIG or would be interested in joining please Karen Davidson, Lead Organiser Social Work – karen.davidson@unison.co.uk

 Online Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Online Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The Annual General on-line Meeting (AGM) of the UNISON Stirling Branch of UNISON will be on Wednesday 19 February 6pm-7.30pm 2025

The meeting will be held virtually via video conference on Microsoft Teams. The link will be sent to members that have confirmed attendance (no later than Tuesday 18 February) along with the relevant papers. In order to ensure the meeting can comply with UNISON National Guidance, we request that you confirm by email that you will be attending the virtual AGM.
Please reply by email to the Branch Secretary, Lorraine Thomson, thomsonl34s@stirling.gov.uk to confirm attendance and include your; name, workplace and email.

AGM papers will be attached to the Teams video link once attendance is confirmed the day before the AGM. Should any member not attending the AGM wish a copy of the AGM papers please email the branch directly.

Please reply as early as possible, to allow us to send out the relevant papers and your link to the meeting. You will receive the papers the day before the AGM.

If you wish to attend the AGM but do not have access to a computer, or have an access requirement, then please get in touch at the email address or phone number below and we will do our upmost to facilitate your participation in one of our meetings being held on the 19 February.

If you have any motions/items for the Annual General Meeting please submit to the branch by the 5 February for inclusion within the final agenda.

Guest speaker(s) to be confirmed.

We look forward to seeing you at one of our AGM meetings.

Should you have any questions regarding the AGM please contact Lorraine Thomson on email at thomsonl34s@stirling.gov.uk or phone: 01786 233 093.

SJC Pay Claim 2025-26

Please see below a copy of the Local Government Claim lodged with the employers.

Local Government Draft pay claim 2025

We have endeavoured to agree on a pay claim that accommodates all the trade unions’ aspirations. Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve this by the set submission date. We suggested further discussion around a joint submission, however the other trade unions felt there was little prospect of agreeing on a joint pay claim and decided to submit their own claims.

Our claim is pragmatic and aims to address the devaluation of local government worker pay through a process of pay restoration. It also continues to support UNISON’s call for a minimum of £15 an hour. Addressing these issues is essential to attract and retain the highest quality staff at every level within local government.

Summary of claim

  • A one-year settlement from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
  • A 6.5% increase to all spinal column points and related allowances, crucial for restoring pay levels and making significant progress towards UNISON claim for a minimum pay rate of £15 per hour.
  • Parity with other local government bargaining groups, ensuring no less than equal treatment.

Best regards,

Colette Hunter                                                                     David O’Connor

Chair                                                                                          Regional Organiser

Local Government Committee                                   Joint Lead Organiser – Local Government (Bargaining)