Why should I join Unison?

Are you:

• Feeling underpaid and undervalued?

• Being treated unfairly at work?

• Juggling too much work with home and other commitments?

• Needing health and safety guidance or legal help?

• Hoping to progress through education or training?

• Looking for special offers on a holiday, a computer or insurance?

We have more workplace reps than any other union in the country - backed up by experienced full-time regional and national officers.

Being a UNISON member gives you a huge range of benefits, including:

• Unrivalled protection and representation at work
• Help with pay and conditions of service
• Health and safety guidance and support
• Confidential welfare services for you and your dependents in difficult times
• Excellent legal services including free help with work problems and legal support for members and their familiesf
• Pensions advice
• A special hotline, UNlSON direct, for help and advice on workplace issues
• Online employment and workplace advice
• Education and training advice and courses, leading to vocational and professional qualifications
• Cash benefits for accidents and injuries at work
• A colour magazine sent to your home four times a year, a fortnightly newspaper for our stewards and activists and a full range of publicity
• Special deals on everything from computers, tax returns, holidays, mortgages, car breakdown services, insurance and credit cards
• Our own holiday centre for members and families at the Devon seaside

What else should I know?

Here’s four good reasons why UNISON is right for you:

• No one works harder. UNISON won more than £35million in injury settlement payouts for its members last year, has fought many high profile equal pay claims around the country, and is a major influence on government policy such as the minimum wage, health care, policing and pensions.
• Women represented. UNISON’s membership is two-thirds women - so we make sure their voices are heard throughout the union. At every level of the union, women are elected in fair proportion to their membership.
• A voice for everyone. UNISON makes sure everyone has a say in how the union is run, from branch member to general secretary. Our unique structure ensures top-quality help and advice is available at local, regional and national level.
• Bigger and better. UNISON is not only the country’s biggest trade union, it’s one of the fastest growing too. Last year UNISON recruited 148,755 new members, a staggering 407 per day. This is another step along the road to building an organising union of two million members.

These are some of the bigger successes of UNISON in recent years: 

• UNISON has secured over £35 million in compensation to its members for personal injury settlements in the past year alone.
• UNISON achieved a £4 million settlement of an equal pay claim for over 1,500 school meals workers employed by the former Cleveland County Council.
• UNISON has made a number of submissions to the Low Pay Commission (LPC), pushing for a £5 an hour minimum wage. As a result of UNISON’s work, the LPC is now a permanent body and its scope has been widened to examine all aspects of poverty pay.
• UNISON was the key player in ensuring the government increased the value of the Basic State Pension in real terms for the first time in 20 years. UNISON’s delegation to the Labour Party also successfully argued for the restoration of the link to earnings.
• UNISON is the country’s first carbon neutral trade union, thanks to its policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through its partnership with Future Forests and the planting of thousands of trees across the UK.
• UNISON has campaigned hard for increased funding for the NHS and the government is now implementing real terms increases of six per cent for the next three years.
• UNISON has been invited by the Home Office to join the influential Police Reform Steering Forum, developing radical proposals to improve UK policing
• UNISON’s helpline for members and stewards, UNlSON direct (0845 355 0845), handled some 51,800 calls last year. A year on year rise of 228 per cent

What happens when I have completed my application form?

Send your completed application form via the City Council internal mail system or with a stamp to the branch office.  Your application will then be presented at the next Executive Committee meeting (these are held every 4-6 weeks) where you will be accepted into membership (you are not a member until this approval has taken place).  You will then be issued with a letter confirming your acceptance and a temporary membership card. Your subscriptions will be calculated and forwarded to the relevant payroll section for deduction or if you are paying by direct debit, the mandate will be forwarded to the regional office.  If you are still not paying subscriptions within 8 weeks of receiving your temporary membership card, please contact us.  Your official permanent membership card is issued from the Unison Regional Office at Birmingham at a later date.

What employers does the City of Stoke-On-Trent Branch Cover?

If I join will you deal with any existing issues such as disciplinary matters etc?

When do I become eligible for legal assistance? 

You need to have paid subscriptions for at least 13 weeks before you are entitled to claim for Legal Assistance.  In addition, you need to have been paying subscriptions when the incident took place. You are not covered for any incident that took place before you became a member or before your subscriptions commenced deduction.

 

Can Casual Workers Join Unison?

Yes, but we do not actively try to recruit them because of the uncertainty of their continued future employment. However any casual worker, should they wish to join, would be welcome and they would be assured of Unison support if issues occurred whilst they were employed.