UNISON South Tyneside LG Branch Newsletter - July 2018

South Tyneside Local GOVERNMENT BRANCH Issue: July

www.unisonsouthtyneside.org

Celebrating 25 years of

10 July 2018

UNISON

This year, our union celebrates its 25 year anniversary.

UNISON was formed by the merger of three great unions NALGO, NUPE and COHSE – we were told that our efforts were doomed to fail.

In celebrating our 25th Anniversary we have proved the doom mongers wrong in no uncertain terms. As the people who help us, educate us, keep us safe and ensure that we receive care, support and vital services every single day, UNISON people are special people, and the union we have built together is a special union.

For this special union, this year is a special time. A time to look to the future, and also a vital opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved and to remember UNISON’s core values.

A time to celebrate what make UNISON the world-renowned union it is today.

UNISON is THE public service union and the biggest by far because we represent public service workers across such a vast range of organisations, professions and areas, meaning that no other union comes close.

At a time of cuts, uncertainty and austerity the role of the union has been vital, robustly defending our members at work and fighting for the services they provide.

Through the years of austerity w have not just survived we have thrived. Last year 160,000 people joined UNISON and 80% of them were women. This further secures our status as the biggest membership organisation for women in our country.

This milestone was celebrated at the recent

National Conference the Branch Delegation was made up of

Janet Green (Branch Secretary) Jen Smith (Treasurer) and Jane Parkes (Branch Education co-ordinator).

It was a very interesting and at times very moving conference.

Printed and Published by Unison South Tyneside Local Government, 27 Westoe Road, South Shields, Tyne & Wear Tel (0191) 4544167 Email: office.admin@unison-southtyneside.org.uk

Commemorating Grenfell During the week we were all given a green scarf and when asked the hall fell silent and we turned the arena green in commemoration of the victims, survivors and public sector workers of the Grenfell tragedy. This was a very powerful image.

We also had the privilege of watching a video presentation,

“Michaels Story”.

This video chronicled the story of Michael Braithwaite a 66yr old school teaching assistant and UNISON member who lost his job in the Windrush scandal.

Facing eviction. Michael came to the UK from Barbados in 1961 aged 9. He travelled with his two brothers on British Caribbean passports to join their parents.

His father worked for Royal Mail and his mother for the NHS. Michael says from the moment they arrived they considered Britain to be their home. “ I had a knot in my stomach constantly and a void in my head” says Michael. To think that maybe tomorrow I would not be with my family, or in a place a love, was devastating………… I just had to hold on”.

Michaels story is not an isolated case more than 50,000, people who came to the UK from the Caribbean with their parents between 1948 and 1971, were suddenly losing their jobs, and In the 1990’s Michael became a teaching assistant working with children with special educational needs.

Two years ago his families history in the UK and his value in his community counted for nothing. In 2016 his school’s new HR department required him to renew a standard security check for anyone working with children or vulnerable adults. He was also advised, wrongly, that he was required to supply a biometric card to show his eligibility to work in the UK. He had never had to do this and as his Commonwealth passport was stamped ‘indefinite leave to remain’ could not understand why this situation was happening.

When he approached the Home Office to confirm his status, he was refused. In February 2017 he was called into a meeting with his HR and his Headteacher and was told that without the biometric card he could not continue in his job and was asked to leave the premises immediately.

Michael turned to Hugo Pierre who is a UNISON Camden Branch Convenor and he found him a solicitor from the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants. With these allies by his side and The Guardian breaking the news of the scandal earlier in 2018 the tide turned. He now has a biometric card although this is only valid for five years and his fear is that this will all happen again in the future. To avoid this he has applied for full citizenship. This is a costly and lengthy procedure but the fear of facing deportation away from his family including his 5 grandchildren has left him with no choice.

While the school have offered him his job back he has not yet accepted abs he is taking time to rebuild his confidence.

His reluctance to return highlights the real cost of this kind of mistreatment for the individuals and also for the country.

PAGE 2

Pay Award Following the Ballot earlier in the year the Pay Award has now been paid and you should have received the increase in your pay by now. We have also had good news for our Craft Workers (Red Book) and a pay increase has been secured and will be in paid with Julys Pay.

STRESS Did you know that help is at hand? There are now Mental Health Champions in workplaces and these can be identified by their yellow lanyards. These designated colleagues have been trained to offer help to anyone in their workplace and are available to speak to should you need to. Please also see the attached link for information about stress and where you can go for help h*ps://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/ ar9cle/63132/Stress-

School Restructures St Peters and Pauls RC Primary, Stanhope Primary School and St Matthews have all gone through support staff restructures and a restructure at Biddick Hall Infants School is ongoing.

These restructures are as a result of the Government squeeze on school budgets.

As Government look to reduce school budgets further UNISON can see more schools having to go through restructures and possible redundancies.

To support our members during this difficult time Branch Officers are available and we have dedicated Stewards and Safety Representatives for school support staff and Maureen

Deans is available for

school catering/kitchen staff.

UNISON have been working hard to produce a new job description for Level 2 Teaching Assistants to ensure they are not taking the place of teachers except in the cases of emergency only. HR are currently working on this which will be sent to all Heads when finalised.

BT Sta Return The return to South Tyneside Council of BT staff is scheduled to take place on 1st October 2018. We have been speaking to all parties involved and all questions raised by UNISON have been answered by either BT or South Tyneside Council. Nevertheless if any members affected by this situation have any questions please contact the Branch by telephone or by email or your workplace steward Lynn Overton and we will be more than happy to address any concerns.

PAGE 3

Food Bank Appeal As the school summer holidays are fast approaching we have received an urgent appeal from the Food Bank at Hope and Hospitality in South Shields.

During term 9me children of families who are struggling to make ends meet receive free school meals however, during the school holidays the already 9ght purse strings cannot be stretched any further and without help from the Food Bank children will go hungry.

In the past, thanks to your generosity, we have been able to donate food and have been able to ensure this dreadful situa9on is eased.

The Food Bank have told us that their stocks are extremely low and in an9cipa9on of the school holidays we wanted to ask for dona9ons.

All dona9ons are of course much appreciated however in par9cular the volunteers said they desperately need the following:

Tinned Rice Tinned Fruit Tinned Meat Tinned Fish Long Life Milk And Toiletries We will accept dona9ons in the Branch OďŹƒce on Westoe Road or if you have a collec9on in your workplace we can arrange to have them picked up.

Durham Miners Gala This is just a reminder that the Durham Miners Gala 2018 is taking place on Saturday 14th July. If you have never been before we can well recommend it as a wonderful day out for the family. The spectacle of the lodge banners and the marching brass bands representing pit communities is a sight to behold.

PAGE 4

Christmas Trip I know we are all still enjoying the summer weather and are more likely to be thinking about summer holidays than Christmas however we wanted to give members the heads up that we will be once again arranging a Christmas Trip in December.

The details are as follows: Date 8th December Destination York We will be sending out full details and costs at a later date.

UNISON lottery

supporting our charity There for You

Win cash prizes and support our charity There for You For just £1 a month you could win cash prizes of up to £1,000. Plus, it’s a powerful way to support There for You, the charity that helps UNISON members through tough times.

Join online now at unison.charitylotteries.co.uk Published and printed by UNISON, UNISON Centre, 130 Euston Road, London NW1 2AY. CU/Jan18/24746/UNPxxxxx.

LV= is UNISONs approved Car insurance provider and UNISON members have been enjoying exclusive discounts on LV= Car and Breakdown insurance for many years. We’re excited to now offer UNISON members our new Mul9 Car policy that gives UNISON members discounts on every car. With this new mul9 car policy UNISON members can: • Add up to 6 cars and 12 drivers on one policy • Add all cars at the same 9me, schedule some for later or add them in a[erwards • Choose the cover level and specific op9onal extras you'd like for each car • All cars will share the same renewal date For more informa9on on mul9 car, breakdown cover, motorbike, classic car and caravan insurance head to LV.com/UNISON

PAGE 5

PAGE 6