www.swyp-unison.org.uk
UNISONnews South West Yorkshire Partnership Health Branch
inside
February 2018
South West Yorkshire Partnership Health
• Annual General Meeting: Thursday 15th March • Wholly owned subsidiary companies • Education Focus UNISON / Open University
Annual General Meeting Thursday 15th March Have your say about how your union branch is run. As a UNISON member you are part of a local branch – in your case South West Yorkshire Partnership Health. All UNISON branches are run democratically – everyone gets to have a say about what the union is doing at a local level. The key date in all this is the Annual General Meeting or AGM. Branch Officers report back on the past year (including how we spend your money) and the election of new Branch Officers is confirmed. This year’s AGM will be on Thursday 15th March between 6.30 and 8pm at the Elizabethan Gallery in Wakefield (between the Bus Station and the Trinity Walk Shopping Centre). Everyone who attends the AGM will be welcome to join us for a free meal afterwards at a local restaurant. This year we will also have a guest speaker, Jim Bell, talking briefly about the work of the UNISON Gambia Project, directly supporting schools and hospitals there. The project was the UNISON Presidential charity in 2016 and started out with a donation from our branch. A formal invitation to the AGM with details of how to stand for Officer positions, as a Steward, etc., is on the back page of this newsletter.
courses open to all members – details of a range of free courses and union support for education • UNISON day trip to Whitby: Sunday 27th May
• Did you know our Barnsley office has moved? • Retirement of longstanding activist Phil Stewart
Wholly owned subsidiaries – what’s the fuss about? The setting up of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or Wholly Owned Subsidiary companies is being considered by a number of NHS Trusts across Yorkshire at the moment. We need to stress that the main employer in our branch (SWYPFT) has not done this so far, but companies like these are a long term threat to everyone who works in any kind of support role in the NHS. These companies are owned by NHS Trusts but their staff are not NHS employees – staff do not have to be on Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions and (unless they are existing NHS staff forced to transfer in) they cannot be part of the NHS Pension scheme. The original scheme was devised by management consultants working with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Trust in Gateshead and partly sold as reducing some tax bills for the Trust. The only one so far in Yorkshire is at Barnsley Hospital where some Estates
staff were TUPE transferred from the NHS into the new company ‘Barnsley Facility Services’ last year. Since then about 10 NHS Trusts in Yorkshire have started looking at doing the same thing, all on a larger scale than in Barnsley. The Airedale, Bradford, Calderdale & Huddersfield and Mid Yorkshire Trusts seem to be the front line at present. If these schemes go ahead not just Estates & Facilities staff such as porters, domestics and catering could be affected but also Admin support – procurement, finance and even HR. We could even see Trusts setting up separate companies for separate contracts that are regularly tendered – for example to run IAPT services. UNISON is running a regional campaign to oppose these companies in the affected Trusts, including balloting members there about taking Industrial Action. No doubt we will stand by our sisters and brothers if it comes to strike action – these schemes are a threat to all of us.
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Tel: 01924 316161 unison@swyt.nhs.uk www.swyp-unison.org.uk
Education focus UNISON / Open University courses open to all members UNISON runs a range of FREE courses aimed at members, many run in conjunction with the Open University. These include: ne day Autism Awareness O in Leeds – Tuesday 31st July (apply by 29th June) One day Dementia Awareness in Leeds – Friday 17th September (apply by 15th August) One day Mental Health Awareness in Leeds – Friday 5th October (apply by 3rd September)
Free Taster Workshops ne day Making the Most O of the Internet – at Northern College near Barnsley – Monday 26th March (apply by 23rd February) One day Your Skills Your Future (looking at personal and professional development) in Leeds – Monday 2nd July (apply by 1st June) One day Get that Job – Job Applications Workshop in Leeds – Monday 1st October (apply by 3rd September) One day Confidence Building – power to be you in Leeds – Friday 16th March (apply by 16th February) or Monday 9th July (apply by 8th June) or Monday 10th September (apply by 10th August)
ne day Assertiveness O Workshop in Leeds – Friday 9th November (apply by 8th October)
Pre Retirement Workshops Run in conjunction with an Independent Financial Advisor. ne day courses in Leeds on O Wednesday 25th April (apply by 23rd March), Wednesday 3rd October (apply by 3rd September) and Friday 7th December (apply by 5th November)
UNISON courses aimed at women members wo day Building T Confidence in Women overnight residential in Leeds – Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th July (apply by 4th June) Two day Women’s Assertiveness (follow on to Building Confidence) overnight residential in Leeds – Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th June (apply by 21st May) or Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th October (apply by 24th September) Two day Pathways into UNISON for women – overnight residential at Northern College near Barnsley – Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th September (apply by 13th August)
2 Email: unison@swyt.nhs.uk
To apply for any of the one and two day courses or for more information please contact the Branch Office: unison@swyt.nhs.uk or 01924 316161.
Return to Learn and Women’s Lives courses These are run around the region jointly with the Workers Education Association (WEA) a major provider of adult learning and run over a number of sessions. eturn to Learn involves R 16 2½ hour study sessions and one residential weekend. New courses are planned to start in September. Women’s Lives involves 10 2 hour sessions and a residential weekend. For more details on both these contact our regional education team: t.shearer@unison.co.uk or 0113 218 2330.
UNISON Education Grants UNISON provides grants to members of up to £100 for members doing further education courses or first degrees and £200 for members doing 60 point Open University courses (£100 for 30 point courses). For more details of this national scheme go to the UNISON learning section of the website https://learning.unison.org.uk
Why not follow us on Twitter @swyp_unison
UNISON day trip to Whitby We are running a summer trip again this year – it’s to Whitby on Sunday 27th May – the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend. We are running coaches from Fieldhead and Barnsley (setting off 9am) and if there is demand we will run them from Huddersfield & Halifax (with an earlier set off time of 8.15). We will set off back from Whitby at 5.30pm Adult places are £7.50 each for branch members and for one adult guest per member. Additional adult guest places (max 2 per member) are £12.50 each. Children’s places (under 16 and needing a seat) are £5 each. Please see the booking form enclosed.
Phil Stewart – longstanding activist is retiring was Chair of the UNISON Dewsbury Healthcare Branch, but realised the SWYMHT members there needed to come together with colleagues in Wakefield working for the same Trust, setting off the series of changes that led to the branch we have today. Phil Stewart has been around in UNISON forever – literally as he was the COHSE Branch Secretary in Dewsbury in 1993 when COHSE NUPE and NALGO came together to form UNISON. A mental health nurse who did additional training to work as a psychotherapist Phil
He went on to be Assistant Branch Secretary for Kirklees, was active in the union’s LGBT+ group and has remained an active steward until retiring in January. The Branch Committee has nominated him for Honorary Life Membership of the union and we’d all wish him the very best in his retirement.
Did you know our Barnsley Office has moved? Our local office in Barnsley which used to be based at Mount Vernon has moved onto the Kendray site – we are now in the Education & Conference Centre. Please note that this office is available for us to see people in Barnsley but is not open all the time – the Branch Office at Fieldhead in Wakefield (01924 316161) is the one that is staffed every day and should be your first point of contact if you don’t have a local steward.
Website: www.swyp-unison.co.uk
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UNISONnews Dear Colleague
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2018 You are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Branch to take place at 6.30pm on Thursday 15th March 2018 at the Elizabethan Gallery, Brook Street, Wakefield, WF1 1QW (next to Trinity Walk Shopping Centre). Tea and coffee will be provided from 6pm and there will be a free meal straight afterwards at a nearby restaurant for people attending. We will also pay reasonable travel expenses for all those attending. This year we will have a guest speaker, Jim Bell – our former Regional Organiser talking about the work of the UNISON Gambia Project. The business of the meeting will be as follows: 1 Apologies for absence 2 M inutes of the 2017 AGM (Available at the meeting, or in advance from the Branch Office) 3 Matters Arising 4 Reports from Officers & Groups (Retired Members) for 2017/18 5 Branch Accounts for 2017 and Auditors Report (Available at the meeting, or following it from the Branch Office) 6 R eport on Joint Branch & Regional Assessment and branch objectives for 2018 (Available at the meeting, or following it from the Branch Office) 7 Motions & Amendments to Branch Rules (To be received at the Branch Office by 5pm on Thursday 1st March) 8 Election of Officers for 2018/19: • • • • • •
Chair Vice Chair Secretary Treasurer Welfare Officer Health & Safety Officer
• Equalities Officer • C ommunications Officer • Education Officer • L ifelong Learning Coordinator • Women’s Officer
• I nternational Officer • LGBTI Officer • Y oung Members Officer • L abour-Link (APF) Officer
(Nomination papers are available from the Branch Office or the Branch Website and should be returned to the Branch Office by 5pm on Thursday 1st March) 9 Endorsement of Stewards for 2018/19: • S outh West Yorkshire Partnership FT • Choice Support
• Spectrum CIC • O ther Community (Voluntary) Sector
• N HS Commissioning bodies (CCGs)
(Stewards are nominated by and elected from members within their employer – nomination papers are available from the Branch Office or the Branch Website and should be received at the Branch Office by 5pm on Thursday 1st March) 10 Guest Speaker: Jim Bell on the work of the UNISON Gambia Project 11 Any Other AGM Business We look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Yours, David Pickersgill & Elaine Shelton, Joint Branch Secretaries
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