Hi All
Please see our latest update including our Survey on Supporting Women in the Workplace, Violence in Schools, Baby Loss Awareness Week, Personal Development Courses, and the launch of the Early Years and Childcare Coalition.
Women in the Workplace.
80% of Wirral UNISON’s membership is female and 65% of the Council workforce is female. There are a number of issues that may affect women (predominately or wholly), menopause and pregnancy are just two.
We want to look at what is being doing to support women in the workplace in Wirral. What is being done well, what could be better.
Wirral Unison has successfully campaigned on issues in the recent past, and as a result of our campaigns we have worked with Wirral Council to improve some policies (eg Menopause Policy) and develop new policies (eg Pregnancy Loss Policy)
Please take a few moments to complete our survey https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90627500/Women-in-the-Workplace
Violence in Schools
UNISON is aware that violence ibn schools, including threats, is becoming an increasing if under reported issues in schools.
No-one should face violence for doing their job. We know that some pupils may display challenging behaviours, but these should be managed by appropriate measures and the risks minimised.
If you work in a school we’d be grateful if you could take a few moments to fill out our survey. https://bit.ly/violenceinschools
Baby Loss Awareness Week 9th to 15th October
This week is Baby Loss Awareness Week, Wirral Unison recognises that 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage and 1 in every 200 pregnancies is classed as still born. Many of the women who go through this are working women and have been detrimentally affected in work after experiencing this type of loss.
In 2022 Wirral Unison successfully campaigned for a stand alone Pregnancy Loss Policy with Wirral Council for women and their partners who experience pregnancy loss. The policy aims to support all employees who experience the loss of a pregnancy, whether it happens directly to them, their partner or their baby’s surrogate, regardless of the nature of their loss, and whatever their length of service.
The policy covers (but is not limited to) miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, and neonatal loss. If you are someone who has been affected by this, then there is support out there for you.
Please do look at the policy (attached to this email) , jointly developed by UNISON and Wirral Council, if you or someone you know is affected by this
Learning at Work Week 16-23 October 2023
As part of this UNISON is running a week of taster sessions of our member learning offer. This is a chance to try out short versions of some of the personal development courses and workshops available free of charge to all UNISON members.
These sessions are open to all – UNISON members and prospective members alike. Sessions include:
Power to be you,
A short taster course looking at how to build self-esteem and confidence.
Staying strong,
By completing this workshop, you will be able to: define stress, identify physical and behavioural signs of stress and use techniques and strategies to combat stress.
Get that job,
A short taster course that looks at Identifying barriers when looking for a job, where and how to find jobs and how to apply your skills to a possible new job role.
Time management,
A short taster course that looks at ways of managing our time better and building good habits to enable us to do that.
Speaking in front of people, an introduction,
A short introductory course for those who are nervous about speaking out in front of others and looking for tips and tricks to improve this.
For more information please click here
Early Education and Childcare Coalition Launched
Today sees the launch of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition – which aims to ensure that all political parties commit to early education and childcare reform – and UNISON is a founding member.
As the UK's largest trade union, representing predominantly female workers, UNISON's members are on the frontline of the crisis facing Britain's childcare sector, whether as parents, grandparents or one of the 50,000 members who work in early years and nurseries.
Please join our campaign and be part of the change needed. Join the Campaign Here
That’s all for now, as always please do share this email with your colleagues and encourage them to JOIN UNISON if they haven’t already.
Published on: October 19, 2023