Welcome to UNISON, our Trade Union. We support and protect almost 1.3 million working people and offer a huge range of benefits to our members. We represent over 8,000 members in the City of Sheffield and those employees engaged in delivering public services allied to the Council, in addition we have members in Further Education Colleges and the Community and Voluntary Sector within Sheffield.
Council redundancies are on the rise. Service users everywhere are being hit hard as their services are either cut back, closed or privatised. And all the evidence and experience shows that once services are run for private profit, the quality of care and service is reduced.
That's why we're fighting hard to protect services for the public and make sure our public sector workers have decent jobs. Join us now.
Hundreds of thousands of low paid local government workers including home carers, residential care workers, school dinner ladies, cleaners and teaching assistants have been fooled out of a pay rise again this year, said UNISON today (1 April).
When staff look at their pay slips on April 1, the £250 increase promised by George Osborne to public sector workers earning under £21,000 will be missing for another year.
Heather Wakefield, UNISON Head of Local Government, said:
“Living on poverty wages is no joke. It is a disgrace that George Osborne has tried to fool local government workers and the public into believing he cared enough about the hardship of low pay to announce he would cushion the impact of the Government pay freeze.
“Hundreds of thousands of low paid, mainly women workers - who every day care for people in our local communities – the carers, cleaners, cooks, teaching assistants and many more have been fooled out of the £250 promised by George Osborne.
“Try feeding your family or paying your bills when you have not had a pay rise for 3 years. £250 isn’t much to the likes of George Osborne but every little helps when you are on minimum wages.
“Instead of dragging local government workers into dispute, councils should do the right thing and pay the £250 now.” April 1 marks the third consecutive annual pay freeze. It means that council workers will have suffered a 15% pay cut in three years and now earn a shocking 10% less in real terms than in 1996.
The petition of the 7300 plus signatures was presented to the Full Council Meeting which was held on Wednesday the 4th April 2012. Both the branch and its members who work in these two homes have been campaigning tirelessly since the announcement of the proposed closures to keep them open.
As a result of this campaign the Council have now agreed to refer the proposal to close the care homes to the Council's Cross Party Scrutiny Committee. This means that there will be a thorough review of the proposals and we have been assured that all our questions will be answered. Thankyou to all who took part in this campaign and we hope we will achieve a successful outcome for all our members and residents.
We believe these homes provide an essential service to the elderly residents of Sheffield who unfortunately find themselves unable to return to independent living in their home. The staff group provide a first class service to their clientele and if the proposed closures were to go ahead these essential services would be lost forever. There is no guarantee that the 42 beds that are to be lost can be sourced from the private sector.
Recently Sevenfields has been through a thorough inspection by the Care Quality Commission who have assessed the homes as being fit for purpose.
Hi, several months ago I was diagnosed with having depression and my life and outlook on life was bleak. To be honest i'd thought several times about running away or just ending it all, but I have a family and it was the thought of them being left alone that stopped me and the help from UNISON.
My G.P referred me for councilling, my work place referred me to OHN all were very good and support mechanisms were put in place, but to be honest it was UNISON who got me through and where I am today back at work out of human resources procedures and trying to get on with my life again. UNISON supported me in a professional role regarding my job and also maintained email and telephone contact weekly to see how I was.
Without UNISON's support I know I wouldn't be here writing this now they helped me pick the pieces of my life up again and encouraged and supported me when I felt no one really cared, they were always there to help and listen whenever I had a problem or worry.
If anyone reading this is not a member of UNISON I would strongly urge you to re-consider. UNISON are fantastic they were with me to ensure I got all the help I needed and that procedures were carried out fairly and correctly concerning my absence and illness, they were truly amazing.
I THANK UNISON WITH ALL MY HEART AND URGE YOU IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO TO JOIN UNISON THE TOTALLY SUPPORTIVE NETWORK THAT THEY RUN SO PROFESSIONALLY.
Sheffield Council Convenors Election
| Rod Padley | 359 | ELECTED |
| Rob Gascoigne | 345 | ELECTED |
| Lisa Smith | 296 | ELECTED |
| Josie Paszek | 265 | ELECTED |
| Jane Knight | 234 | ELECTED |
| Gareth Burdon | 221 | ELECTED |
| Angie Hall | 216 | |
| Dawn Millington | 210 | |
| Kath Spurr | 203 | |
| Carol Ring | 200 |
Papers distributed: 4683
Papers returned: 598
Turnout: 12.8%
Sheffield Homes Convenor Election
| Joanne Crooks | 75 | ELECTED |
| Darren Whittaker | 33 |
Papers distributed: 368
Papers returned: 108
Turnout: 29.3%
Branch Chair Election
| John Mordecai | 410 | ELECTED |
| Andy Shallice | 378 |
Papers distributed: 7579
Papers returned (Joint Branch Officer elections ballot paper): 805
Turnout: 10.6%
Branch Communications Officer Election
| Josie Paszek | 443 | ELECTED |
| Adam Ford | 341 |
Papers distributed: 7579
Papers returned (Joint Branch Officer elections ballot paper): 805
Turnout: 10.6%
Branch Equalities Officer Election
| Stephen Johnson | 379 | ELECTED |
| Leslyn Reid | 367 |
Papers distributed: 7579
Papers returned (Joint Branch Officer elections ballot paper): 805
Turnout: 10.6%
Letter from a UNISON member...
Dear UNISON
I have 33 years unblemished service working in Sheffield Schools and have always been a member of UNISON. Sadly I have recently found myself under investigation which has led to disciplinary proceedings through a sheer misunderstanding.
Ever since my initial phone call to UNISON I have always felt supported and respected by all the staff there.
At times in the process I have felt confused, angry, degraded and saddened but Lisa Smith has always managed to keep me positive, motivated and strong so I have been able to keep going.
When I felt at my lowest, unable to speak to others Lisa was always there for me supporting and guiding me through complicated paperwork, meetings answering my questions and generally just being there for me at the end of the phone to reassure me and offer me kind words.
I can truly say I could not have got through this ordeal without UNISON’s help.
Thankfully the procedure is over for me now but I do, and always will feel for anyone going through similar circumstances, it really was horrid.
I would urge anyone who isn’t in a union to join UNISON and to those of you who wonder where your monthly subs go well I can only assume a small proportion of those go to the staff at UNISON who work tirelessly to support their members its worth every penny as you never know when you’ll need their services.
Thank you UNISON
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