UNISON supports food bank collection at Solent University

To help underline the increase with in-work poverty, UNISON at Solent University organised a food bank collection as part of the Grovember recruitment drive. The goal was simple – to do a good thing and provide help to those who need it whilst underlining that so many of those who were supported by food banks […]

Cuts to school support staff could leave vulnerable children in the South East at risk

School support staff regularly go home worried about pupils’ welfare, safety and emotional state after discussing issues such as grooming, gangs, domestic violence, bullying, loneliness, and sexual abuse with them, according to a survey released by UNISON today (Friday). The research suggests that across the South East 23% of school support staff involved in children’s […]

UNISON and Thinking Schools Academy Trust:  Working Together for Wellbeing

UNISON South East was delighted last month to organise two inspirational CPD day’s for over 250 people at the Thinking Schools Academy Trust (TSAT). With separate days at Portsmouth and Medway, this was a fantastic opportunity to bring together school support staff from across the trust’s 14 different schools. UNISON organisers delivered interactive, wellbeing-focused workshops […]

South East Schools Struggling to Cope with ‘devastating’ Special Education Needs Cuts

A new investigation by the Observer has laid bare the growing crisis with special education needs funding – and Hampshire County Council faces the largest overspend in the country; more than £10.5million. Read the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/10/councils-face-crisis-special-needs-education-funding

UNISON celebrates becoming the UK’s biggest union

UNISON is marking becoming the UK’s biggest union by launching a month of recruitment activity today (Tuesday) to reach out to every worker in the country providing public services. The union has now more than 1.3 million people in its membership who work in education, local government, the NHS, the police service and the energy […]

#MeToo One Year On

New research from the Fawcett Society has found that one year on from the outpouring of #MeToo stories, there has been a significant shift in attitudes to sexual harassment. According to the research released on 2 October by the Fawcett Society, the majority of people (53%) say that since #MeToo what is seen as acceptable […]

Justice Select Committee Report Slams TR

The Justice Select Committee Report on Transforming Rehabilitation was published in June and UNISON responded on the same day to its findings. The Committee has delivered a damning Report on TR and its detrimental impact on service users, communities and staff. The Report bears out what UNISON has been saying for years, that TR has […]

Useful Member Learning Reading Links

Unionlearn:   Promoting Unionlearning 2018 booklet https://www.unionlearn.org.uk/publications/promoting-union-learning-reps-who-spread-word Unionlearn: Supporting black & minority ethnic apprentices https://www.unionlearn.org.uk/publications/supporting-black-and-minority-ethnic-apprentices For Branches: UNISON Organising Space https://www.unison.org.uk/get-involved/in-your-workplace/key-documents-tools-activists/organising-space/ Unionlearn Climbing Frame https://climbingframe.unionlearn.org.uk/Home Kickstart funding for branches https://learning.unison.org.uk/ulf/ The Reading Agency https://readingagency.org.uk/adults/ For Members: UNISON E-notes https://e-learning.unison.org.uk/ UNISON Financial support for learning https://learning.unison.org.uk/financial-support/ TUC E-notes https://www.unionlearn.org.uk/enotes TUC Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgX4MFSLkZp6N-P4FzC9kAQ

Reading Ahead Launch at UNISON Centre

The Reading Agency runs an annual reading challenge for adult readers, Reading Ahead. The scheme challenges less confident readers to choose six reads – this could be poems, articles, or books such as the Quick Reads series, and readers are encouraged to record their reading in a diary, to get a certificate at the end.  […]

Activist Spotlight | Jenny Ford Life Long Learning Coordinator

Jenny Ford, Lifelong learning Coordinator and Joint Branch Secretary, Portsmouth Health branch. Facilities manager for Solent NHS Trust, based at St James’s Hospital in Portsmouth. How long have you been a UNISON member? Gosh I can’t remember! I think around 18 years! How long have you been involved in member learning? The same amount of […]

A stronger union benefits us all

This September, UNISON may be even more visible in your workplace as part of a push to grow the union across the South East. On the eve of this recruitment initiative, we spoke with representatives and staff from 4 local branches about what they had planned – and, in their personal opinion, the difference that […]

46 years to save for a deposit!

Join UNISON today and be part of our campaign for genuinely affordable homes in Oxford

Home ownership now little more than a pipe dream for public sector workers

Owning a home has become virtually impossible for many public sector workers across the South East, according to new UNISON research.

UNISON concern over Oxfordshire County Council Transformation Plan

Plans unveiled today (Thursday) by Oxfordshire County Council to save £33m by cutting over 600 jobs over the next two years will have a negative impact on the local economy and impact front line services says UNISON. UNISON has raised concerns over the scale of proposals and has been in discussions with the council, stressing […]

UNISON members in Adur and Worthing speak out on cuts

“You cannot keep cutting and expect the same level of care we are humans dealing with other human beings. We are not robots.”