Dear Member
Hello everyone and Happy Friday! We’re starting today’s email update with a reminder about two ways to have your voice heard in Unison, our upcoming AGM and our homeworkers survey.
Wirral UNISON AGM- No Going Back to Normal!
The AGM will be discussing the challenges we face during the pandemic, but also as we seek to move beyond the current global health crisis. What should our priorities be?
The meeting will be held in two parts (you only need to attend one) and will be held on line. The meeting will be held on Zoom please click on the relevant link to register and you will be sent the link for the meeting.
Please Register:
Tues 23 February 1pm until 2pm https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsduygrD8uE9TC_n-UJVa10dTJsyAPGH6q
Wed 3 March 5:30pm until 6:30pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0uc-qorTspE9LL2CZYSI8hVjjQO9jSyHum
When you’ve registered you will receive a link to the meeting immediately; at this point you will have the option to add the invite to your calendar.
The Guest Speaker will be Paula Carlyle from Unison NEC
As the meeting will be online there will be no hot buffet, sadly. However if the AGM is quorate (just 80 members) there will be a cash raffle for all who attend: £100 x 1, £50 X 2, £20 x10
Homeworking Survey
If you are working from home and haven’t yet completed our survey we would be grateful if you can take a minute or two. Here’s the link https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90313065/Homeworking
We recognise that that the challenges of homeworking are not restricted to financial pressures, but cover many different aspects. What ‘work’ will look like after the pandemic passes remains to be seen, but there are certainly suggestions that there will be a lot more homeworking. We want to ensure that in the medium and longer term homeworking policies are in place that protect the interests of our members not just the interests of the employer. We are keen that the element of choice must be a crucial element of homeworking.
To help us in negotiations we would be grateful if you have been working from home latterly (whichever employer) if you can take a few moments to answer our brief survey:
Vaccine booking system now open to frontline care workers
Frontline care workers who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccination can book an appointment for one through the national booking service from today. The move was announced on Twitter last night by care minister Helen Whately and comes after a recent survey found that only 32% of home care workers had received a first dose of vaccine.
Initially for a period of two weeks, all eligible frontline care workers can access their first vaccination via the booking service. This provides an additional option for employers and eligible frontline social care workers to access an appointment at a time and place that is convenient for them. Social care workers can book a vaccination appointment with a local authority-issued notice of eligibility. They can now also use a recent letter from their employer, along with photo identification confirming their place of work. For those who do not have a work photo ID, then as a minimum, a letter from their employer, together with another form of photo ID, will be needed. Social care workers should inform their employers of their vaccination to enable this to be included in data returns.
Please follow this link to access the vaccination system – and remember you should be given time and travel expenses to get the jab.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/
National Apprenticeship Week
This week has seen many employers highlighting their role in supporting apprentices. That is only correct, many workers get their start in employment as an apprentice, and two of Wirral Unison’s Branch Officers began as apprentices – and joined the union, which we would encourage all apprentices to do. Unison has been at the forefront of campaigning for fair treatment for young workers and apprentices, to ensure they get appropriate training, get a fair wage and remain in long term employment.
Apprentices can join UNISON for just £10 a year which gives you the support of a union – our Reps, legal team, a helpline and more.
UNISON organises, protects and campaigns for apprentices. For more information about how Unison are supporting apprentices, visit the apprentices page on the Unison national website https://www.unison.org.uk/about/what-we-do/fairness-equality/young-members/key-issues/apprenticeships/
Wirral Council is currently consulting as part of the cost cutting budget exercise to use apprentices to fill vacant posts. That may be reasonable, but only if apprentices are guaranteed a job after successfully completing their apprenticeship. We are calling upon Wirral Labour Leadership to pledge that every successful Council apprentice will receive an offer of permanent employment.
Extension to Maternity Leave provision
Members may recall that we successfully lobbied the council to allow parents returning from parental leave between 1 April 2020 and 31 December 2020 up to an additional ten days leave in the 12 months following their return to the workplace. Having sought an extension to this provision, we can confirm that parents returning to work up until 31 March 2021 will also be eligible for the scheme. We know that this will be welcome news to many parents whose parental leave has been impacted by the ongoing restrictions.
That’s all for today everyone, we do hope you continue to find our email updates of use.
As always, please do pass our updates on to colleagues and encourage them to join Unison if they haven’t already. Here’s the link to join up! JOIN UNISON
We’ll be back in touch next week with further updates. Enjoy your weekend.
In solidarity!
Your Wirral Unison Team
Central email: unison1@wirral.gov.uk
Telephone: 07899713498 or 07899715085
Published on: February 15, 2021