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UNISONnews
inside
Autumn 2017
South West Yorkshire Partnership Health Branch
• Could you be a UNISON steward?
• Are you a WASPI woman?
• UNISON on the road Recruit a friend – and you can both claim £10
• UNISON Young Members event 14th October in Leeds
Branch Donations to Food Banks – we need your help It is a sad sign of the state of our country that many people have to rely on Food Banks to help feed their families. The Branch Committee discussed this recently and agreed to donate £500 to local Food Banks that help UNISON members, their families and the communities we work in. Because of the large area our Branch covers we agreed to make 5 payments of £100 each. We are asking you as a member to nominate a local Food Bank you have an association with to receive £100. This could be a group you support yourself, one you have referred people to, or one that has helped yourself and your family. Please send details of the Food Bank you’d like to nominate and why to the Branch Office (01924 316161 or UNISON@swyt.nhs.uk) by Tuesday 31st October. The decision as to which groups to support will be made by the Branch Committee on 7th November, reflecting the geographical spread of the Branch.
South West Yorkshire Partnership Health
• Branch Social – Join us on a Chester shopping trip and enjoy Aladdin! • Free UNISON Diary 2018 Claim yours today!
Pay Up Now! – UNISON’s pay campaign The recent news that Government is looking to lift the 1% pay cap for Police and Prison Officers was greeted by UNISON as “a tiny step in the right direction”. The increase for the Police is only 2% while inflation is nearly 3%, and will be ‘funded from existing budgets’ – meaning jobs could go to pay for it. There have also been hints that some groups of public sector workers seen as ‘deserving’, such as firefighters, nurses and paramedics could find their pay increased, while for others the cap continues. Joint Branch Secretary David Pickersgill commented: “Of course the cap needs lifting, it needs lifting now, but public service workers have seen a massive cut in real terms pay since 2010. With inflation rising anything below 3% means our pay is still falling. We need a plan for aboveinflation pay increases over 3 or 4 years to make a career in public services attractive again. We must also reject the idea
that there are more deserving and less deserving groups of staff. When a bomb goes off the 999 call handler, the paramedic, the porter who takes someone to theatre, the theatre nurse, the CSSD staff who clean the instruments afterwards are all part of the team, and we all deserve decent pay”. There is a Parliamentary Petition members are asked to sign to get a fair deal for all public service workers: https://petition. parliament.uk/petitions/200032 There are also TUC lunchtime rallies in October – in Leeds city centre on Tuesday 3rd October 12 noon - 2pm and in Sheffield city centre on Monday 23rd October 12 noon - 2pm. For fuller details please contact the Branch Office.
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Tel: 01924 316161 unison@swyt.nhs.uk www.swyp-unison.org.uk
Tax Relief on UNISON subscriptions, NMC/HCPC registration and laundry – do you claim?
Could you be a UNISON Steward or Learning Rep?
There are a range of things you can claim tax relief on, though the HMRC rules for this can be complicated.
We are always on the lookout for new people to join our 27 strong team of UNISON Branch officers, stewards and learning reps.
These are the headlines: • SOME members can claim tax relief on part of their UNISON/BAOT subscription, though you have to be able to say it is a professional subscription, meaning only people such as nurses, therapists, care support workers and managers can claim. Admin and facilities support staff can’t – we are sorry but this is because of HMRC rules which are outside UNISON’s control.
YOUR UNION NEEDS YOU
• Nurses, OTs and other registered professionals can claim tax relief on their NMC / HCPC fees. • MANY members can claim tax relief against the cost of laundry where they are provided with a uniform but have to wash it themselves, but just to keep life simple there are different amounts you can claim depending on what you do – for example nurses can claim a different rate to domestics. We have produced a set of claim forms for the different possible claims – please ring the Branch Office on 01924 316161 or e-mail us at UNISON@swyt. nhs.uk for a claim pack.
UNISON rep roles are not paid, but in the NHS and other larger employers you’d get paid time off for your initial training and for many union duties, plus we’ll pay your travel costs and any other expenses. UNISON stewards normally do a 5 day initial training course and then shadow a more experienced rep at a couple of hearings
UNISON on the road See us at stalls on 27th October, 13th, 14th and 21st November 2017 We’ll be attending SWYPFT Trust Welcome Events at Fieldhead on 27th October and 13th November (12.30 – 1.15 at the Education Centre) and NHS Staff Benefit Roadshows at Kendray Hospital (Boardroom) on 14th November and at Fieldhead (Education Centre) on
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before taking on more straightforward cases themselves, all the time with support from senior reps in the branch.
There is no barrier to becoming a UNISON rep, whether you are 17 or 70, full or part time, a Band 1 or a Band 7. After the initial training we’d typically ask you to commit to between 2 and 4 half days per month supporting fellow members and attending meetings. If you’d like chat with an existing rep about whether this might be a role for you please contact the Branch Office (01924 316161 or unison@swyt.nhs.uk) and someone will get in touch.
21st November (11.30 – 1.15 for both). Please come along to say ‘hello’ and maybe collect some UNISON goodies. We are also continuing our ‘Recruit a Friend and get £10 each’ offer at these stalls – if you bring along a friend or colleague to join (who is able to join this branch) you will both get a £10 gift voucher useable at most high street stores – that’s £20 between you, just in time for Christmas.
Why not follow us on Twitter @swyp_unison
Free UNISON diaries Claim yours today Plus other UNISON goodies – claim your free pens, post-it notes, notebooks, etc. There are two ways you can claim a free UNISON 2018 Diary. Either return the slip included with this newsletter or e-mail us at UNISON@swyt. nhs.uk including your name and full workplace address. (Please note that to keep costs down we use Trust internal mail wherever possible. We can only post them to home addresses for Retired members, those working in nursing homes, etc. and to people on long term sick or maternity leave). The Branch has a range of
other goodies we use at stalls, etc., but they are available to any member at any time. You can choose any four items from this list and we’ll send them to you too. Pencil; Pen Torch; Diary Band (for A5 diaries); Hardback notebook; Post-it note pad; 3 point break lanyard; Trolley token; Nail file/buffer; Windscreen ice scraper We’ll send everybody a pen as well, but if you’d like an extra pen as an option you can ask for that too.
UNISON Young Members event – Saturday 14th October in Leeds Are you one of our many Young Members? We have 130 members who are under 27 in our branch and there are regular events run by our Regional Young Members Forum. The next is in Leeds on Saturday 14th October from 4pm – please contact Branch Young Members Officer Kuleana Rowan (Kuleana.Rowan@swyt.nhs. uk or 01924 316161) for more details.
Are you a WASPI woman? Women born between 1953 and 1960 have been the most badly hit by increases in the state pension age – both the original increase from 60-65 and then the further increase for their age group to 67. “Women Against State Pension Inequality” or WASPI have been campaigning to highlight to position this has left many women in.
The latest step of their campaign is asking affected women to make a formal complaint to the Government (Department of Work and Pensions) about the change. If the campaign achieves one of
its goals of compensation for affected women it is possible that only those women who have formally complained will receive anything, so all affected women are asked to complain. UNISON Head Office recently sent details out to all affected women it holds email addresses for, but if you missed the email or you don’t use email we can send you details – please contact Branch Women’s Officer Lorraine Morgan at the Branch Office (01924 316161 or unison@swyt.nhs.uk).
Website: www.swyp-unison.co.uk
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UNISON Branch Trip to Chester Saturday 25th November 2017 With coaches from Wakefield, Barnsley and Huddersfield Our traditional Christmas shopping trip to Chester is running again this year on 25th November. There are coaches from Wakefield (Fieldhead), from Barnsley (Digital Media Centre) and also Huddersfield (Folly Hall) setting off at 9am and leaving Chester at 5.30pm. As the journey normally takes around 2 hours you should be back by around 7.30pm. We are keeping tickets at the previous price of £5 each for members and for their first guest. Additional guest tickets are available at £10 each. Please complete the booking form included with this newsletter.
Book using the enclosed form
Pantomime – Aladdin We are also back at the Theatre Royal in Wakefield for this year’s Panto. It’s Aladdin and we are going for the 2.30pm performance on Saturday 9th December. Tickets are £9 per adult and £6 per child.
We are operating a ‘first come first served’ system this year, so that early bookers will get seats in the stalls. We’ll then allocate seats in the dress circle and finally ones in the upper circle – if you want the best seats book early!
Saturday 9th December 2017 2.30pm, Theatre Royal, Wakefield Book using the enclosed form
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