Anya Greig – Report to AGM Feb 2017.

Overview

Over the past year the County Branch has recruited 664 new members bringing the overall branch membership to 4693. There are 1662 members within OCC and the remaining 3031 are spread amongst the remaining 437employers. The County Branch covers 351 workplaces.The branch has shrunk this year as 432 members in Buckingham have been returned to the Buckingham Local Government Branch following the employment of a Case worker within the Buck’s Branch. We have also seen a reduction in membership due to cuts in schools and children’s centres, nearly 300 members have left from the County Council over the last year. Despite the reduction in branch size our overall recruitment levels compare well with national trends. The year ahead will need to see us building on this recruitment and doing all we can to maintain membership retention levels.

We currently have 30 stewards and contacts in schools, 27 in the private and voluntary sector and 14 across OCC. We have had an increase in the numbers of our representatives receiving training this year despite the difficulties in agreeing facilities time in part due to the availability of courses which are in part accessible online. The branch is also able to hold training locally if 12 stewards sign up and so we will be able train even more stewards in the year ahead.

At this year’s AGM I have received new steward paperwork from Elaine King and Tracie Darke, new stewards and H and S reps at Banbury Academy, Jaqueline Merritt ,new steward at Cheney Academy, Carol Reaney, Charlotte James ,new stewards at Abbey House, Saul Goode, Will Gibson, Grace Haley, new stewards at MIND, Debbie Hollingsworth, new steward for Response,Moshin Shah, new steward at Henley College . Liz Elliot, new steward at Abingdon and Witney College. We have also re-election paperwork for Tracey Mock, steward and hand S rep forDidcot Girls School, Liam Tremayne-Riechsburg, steward and H and S rep for The Charter, Kath Anderson, steward for St Nicholas Primary Abingdon. Steve Moran, steward for Speedwell House.

It really is important that stewards ensure that they are re-elected every year to ensure that 1) They have a mandate from their colleagues and 2) They have access to UNISON training and 3) They have the right to facilities time. I have sent many reminders to stewards that we really do need this paper work to be completed in order to make sure that they can access maximum support from the union.

The Branch welcomes a new Health and Safety Officer, Tracie Darke. A new Vice Chair (although a familiar face) Steve Moran and Daryl Mitchell as our new Treasurer.

Key Focus Areas 2016

Stewards

2016 has seen the branch focus on supporting stewards in building organisation within their workplaces. I have concentrated on making workplace visits with as many reps as possible. The focus of these visits has been;

-To support stewards with mapping workplace changes (as there has been a lot of movement of staff particularly within Oxfordshire County Council OCC)

-Assessing the best way to enable stewards to attend training.

-Encouraging and supporting stewards in holding regular workplace meetings.

-Supporting stewards in conducting workplace surveys to identify issues to organise around.

-Engaging stewards in UNISON activities at branch, regional and national levels.

-Supporting stewards in relevant workplace campaigns.

-Supporting stewards in running recruitment events.

-ensuring that they have up to date information for notice boards and recruitment equipment

Recruitment and Organising

The branch has invested £1,500 this year in recruitment materials to support a range of recruitment campaigns.

County Council Recruitment

Recruitment stall and surgeries have been held at all the main County Council hubs including Samuelson House, County Hall, Abbey house and Knight’s Court. One day a week has been set aside to run these sessions in order to run events monthly in each hub. These sessions have had additional support for our Local and Area Organisers. There have been severalpurposes to these stalls and surgeries;

-To map the changes in membership location at a time of ongoing and widespread restructure.

-To recruit new members.

-To identify new activists.

-To ensure that the union has regular presence during periods of change for members.

-To be in touch with members and to recognise and act on union organising opportunities which inevitably arise during periods of change.

-To conduct surveys to identify issues effecting members.

As we enter 2017 the focus of these regular visits will widen to encompass opportunities for our newly recruited activists to shadow UNISON officers in advice surgeries and to offer activists opportunities to build confidence in having recruitment conversations with non-members.

New starters in OCC are always contacted by the branch with relevant information and joining forms. All staff conferences have a UNISON recruitment stall.

I attend as many Oxfordshire County Council consultation meetings as possible alongside UNISON Officer, this ensures that I am able to pick up on recruitment opportunitiesof both members and activists.

Community Mental Health Services

Significant recruitment of both members and activists has come from a period of intensive support for members Oxfordshire MIND. I have worked closely with members to address workplace issues through multiple workplace meetings. These have led to the recruitment of some very active stewards and to good levels of recruitment and an increasingly well organised workplace.

2017 has seen a focus on Community Mental Health Services supported by UNISON campaign nationally. The good organisation established within Oxfordshire MIND is something that the branch will be building on in the year ahead. The plan is to establish a local forum for CMHS workers including those from Response (where we have a very experienced steward in Debbie Hollingsworth), Elmore Community, Dimensions, Mencap etc. Meeting with members in several of these employers have been arranged to take place in the coming weeks. The County Branch will be building UNISON organisation in these stretched workplaces to reverse the trend of dwindling union strength in recent years.

Four Seasons

We continue to hold regular recruitment stalls at this employer in conjunction with the National Office.

Housing Association

Members acrossGreenSquare and Places For People have been supported through significant periods of restructuring. This sector has suffered dramatic cuts in funding which has resulted in redundancy and additional pressures on those remaining in work. Members have been assisted in compiling responses to consultation and in scrutinising policy proposals. UNISON has ensured that all members have been supported through periods of change both through collective workplace meetings, individual advice and advocacy and through delivery of UNISON workshops.

I have worked with the UNISON National Office to support members in Sanctuary to become more active leading to 2 trained workplace steward, activists attending National Delegate conference and significant recruitment higher within Sanctuary.

Carillion

I continue to support members working on the Carillion cleaning and catering contracts. This year has seen a focus on resolving issues regarding complications LGPS reporting for these members, a work in progress but an issue of vital importance for members wishing to save for their futures. The work on pensions has run alongside the usual support for members with sickness issues, disciplinary problems and grievances as well as collective support in restructuring.

Campaigning

Stars In Schoolswas a fantastic recruitment campaign which saw the branch contact all of it’s schools and academies to encourage them to participate in events to celebrate their support staff. There were celebratory events held at Cheney School, Bayard’s Primary, Banbury Academy and Mabel Pritchard Special School including assemblies where staff were awarded with UNISON certificates and children talked about what they valued in the staff. Tea parties were also held in several schools and all school were provided with UNISON good bags for staff. The events gave me an opportunity to meet with members and recruit non-members and to engage with new activists. The campaign proved a very positive experience and led to good some new recruitment of members and activists

Social Work Watch - We spent several days getting out and meeting with our social workers, we conducted surveys as part of a national campaign to support our social care staff. The surveys fed into national data identifying the volume of work that social care staff are expected to achieve safely in one day. This data will be used to support lobbying for additional social care funding in the future.

I Heart Unions - We supported a TUC campaign which ran alongside the introduction of the controversial Trade Union Bill brought in by the Conservative Government last year. The branch joined their fellow trade unionist in leafleting, petitioning and demonstrating to inform the public of the countless benefits of trade union involvement over the years. The campaign was successful and is rerunning this year.

One Day Without Us – We are campaigning in support of our migrant workers. UNISON County Branch will be distributing ‘Hope not Hate’ leaflets on 20th Feb at County Hall and at a lunchtime rally in Radcliffe Square. Our Welfare Officer, Claire Stanhope will be speaking later on at a public event at 5.30pm in Cornmarket. We would love to see as many of you as possible joining us at these events.

Local Women’s Group

With the support of our Women’s Officer and colleagues from the region and other local branches the County Branch is looking to join up with local UNISON branches to build a strong network of female activists. We are currently focussing on organising stalls to run alongside events at the International Women’s Festival, we will be working alongside the Young Women’s Trust to campaign around equal pay. This group has its own Facebook page, please speak to me or email me if you want to be involved. 01865 815990

Local LGBT Group

I am working with my colleague in the university branch to build a strong network of LGBT activists withlinks across local branches. This group meets regularly to socialise and campaign, it also has its own Facebook page. Please speak to me or email me if you would like to be involved. 01865

Save Our Services and ‘A life Time of Union Membership’

I have recently engaged with the retired members with a view to involving them in the national SOS, Save Our Services Campaign which involves championing local services and those that run them.

I am also looking forward to working with the retired members to produce a series of leaflets and recruitment and campaigning materials based around the benefits of a ‘Life Time of Union Membership’