| UNISON
Scotland Young Members
National Young Member's Weekend
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President Malcolm Cantello addresss young
members conference
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This event was excellent with a jam-packed weekend starting on
the Friday with the Chair's address, followed by a welcome from
the
Northern Ireland Regional Secretary, Patricia McKeown, who's
speech highlighted a number of issues their region is working
toward: from recruiting young members and raising their profile
to bigotry and sectarianism.
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Scotland Young Members make a presentation
to the conference
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The first workshop was titled UNISON? Its aim was to look at
the purpose and function of trade unions, explore our main campaign
issues and priorities and explore the roles of young members in
UNISON.
That night it was clear that that Northern Ireland Young Members
had put a lot of time and effort into organising this event. The
night started with a DJ/Karaoke after dinner followed by 2 for
£5 entry to two local night clubs including access to the VIP
rooms!
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Not all work as can be seen from the Scotland
Young Members Night Out
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Saturday saw Membership Services highlighting some of the ‘perks'
you are entitled to through UNISON Plus followed by Workshop 2,
where options were (A) The role of the Branch Young Members Officer
or (B) Increasing activism amongst young members. I chose the
second workshop as this is one of the main things I am currently
trying to achieve within my own branch. The workshop examined
why people get involved in the union, identifying possible barriers
to involvement and exploring the reasons why young members don't
become active.
Next was one of the highlights of the weekend; UNISON President
Malcolm Cantello addressed the young members. He advised of how
he became involved within the union and how his role developed
through various posts. This was interesting and he was very encouraging
telling young members to apply for various posts within their
branches and he expressed how good it was to see so many young
members attending the event and actively participating especially
so early in the morning.
Workshop 3 - with options to choose from: (A) Age Discrimination
(B) Political Campaigning and the Labour Link (C) Trade Unions
and the Environment and (D) Defending Public Services. I attended
Defending Public Services where the aim was to enable delegates
to be better briefed about an issue that is relevant to young
members and to explore why UNISON is campaigning against the prevention
of the erosion of public services. This was very interesting and
during times the debate became heated as there where a lot of
young members in attendance who this is an issue for. Discussions
took place around PFI's in relation to NHS staff and Education
Staff as well as the impact this is having on service provision
from these areas.
After lunch there was, you guessed it, another workshop! Options
were; (A) Public Speaking (B) Rights at work (C) Campaigning and
(D) Organising. I attended the workshop on Rights at Work where
the aim was to identify worker rights and understand the role
of trade unions in achieving these. This was interesting and informative
and I found out a few changes which are due to come into effect
later this year.
Workshop 5 was action planning. Each region worked on their action
plan for the coming year focusing on the campaigns they wanted
to work on. To make this more fun it had to be made into a 3 minute
advert to be presented at the plenary session the following morning.
Northern Ireland Region had organised another social event for
the Saturday evening. After dinner everyone was split into groups
and went on a treasure hunt! All teams had until 11.00pm to go
round ten nominated pubs get a drink in each and receive a token.
The first team to collect all ten tokens were declared the winners.
There were some rumours of cheating by using taxis but we had
been advised there would be extra prizes for using initiative!
Sunday morning commenced with the action plan adverts followed
by the presentation of prizes to the winners of the treasure hunt.
Mid morning saw a Panel Debate with questions put forward from
young members in relation to issues affecting them.
This was my first National Young Member's Weekend and it was
most enjoyable. One of the things I found out during my time at
this weekend is that our branch is fairly unique compared to others
as we have a young members committee. I see this as a positive
thing and others were going to try this within their own branches.
One other thing which was pleasantly surprising about this weekend
was the number of delegates attending with approx 120 very enthusiastic
young members in attendance. Some were real campaigners and were
definitely UNISON's Next Generation!
Tracey Carruthers
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SPONSORED WALK AROUND MILLPORT
Sunday 27 May 2007
In Aid of UNISON Welfare Bucket & Spade
Appeal
I often wonder how I become involved in these things!!!
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Walkers. Well standing at the moment
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After waking up abnormally early for a Sunday morning, I ventured
to Johnstone Train Station to board the train bound for Largs.
The weather was looking fairly grim but I had my trusty waterproof
jacket and sturdy boots! Having purchased my ticket, the friendly
woman behind the counter said "you'd better rush, that's
the only train I've seen today"….. something to do with power
failure?!?! It did not bode well.
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Diana experiences life in Daniel's shoes
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I boarded the train and met up with the rest of the Young Member
Team, Diana MacQueen, her partner Jamie, Carrie Bell and Daniel
Robertson. We all admired Daniel's sparkling new trainers, which
he boasted were the most comfortable shoes ever and had cost him
next to nothing, to which we all expressed our amazement!
I advised everyone that I had brought lots of plasters, should
anyone feel a blister coming on. "What's a blister?"
Daniel asked. We all thought he was jesting!
The train crawled into Kilwinning Station, I happened to look
at my watch and thought that we had arrived a little late, probably
something to do with that power failure. After 10 minutes the
train still had not moved on, something had gone awry! The conductor
eventually told us that there was a problem with the brakes and
that this train would not be going any further. We were to disembark
and await the next train, which would probably have been held
up by our slow progress…… great!
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Which camera am I looking at?
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At last, we arrived in Largs! We skipped onto the boat and set
sail for Cumbrae, the sun had even begun to break through the
clouds, perhaps this was not going to be such a bad day after
all!
I was pleased to see that once we had registered our names that
there was plenty of supplies to keep us going on our 10 mile hike,
bottles of Lucozade Hydro stuff, bananas, Mars Bars and many other
delights. I bundled enough in my rucksack for our little party
and we set off on our adventure!
Lunch was at Fintry Bay Tea Rooms where after 3 miles we could
rest our legs a little and refuel for the next 3 miles! My ham
salad sandwich was one of the best I have tasted in a long time!
Pat Rowland offered us more supplies and then we re-commenced
our walk, the sun by this time was glorious and I was even contemplating
how to get an even tan!!! My thoughts however were interrupted
by Daniel complaining about a bizarre feeling in his heels, which
then turned to pain. We were sorry to inform him that this was
a blister!
Our second stop was in Millport itself where our little party
separated for a short time. Daniel, Diana and Jamie migrated toward
a pub while Carrie and I wandered to the Ritz Café, where
I had been told to try the "Marshmallow Ice". It was
possibly the most sugary experience ever and I cannot wait to
have another! Following a little mooch around the shops we met
up with the rest of the Crowd to refill on supplies and begin
the final stage of our adventure. Unfortunately, Daniel was so
plagued by blisters that he was unable to complete the walk and
limped to the support car.
(Big Aw everyone!)
The weather took a turn as we left the town, but that did not
deter our merry little band from completing the final 4 miles
back to the ferry with big smiles on our faces! Perhaps the thought
of a "poke of chips" when we got back to Largs assisted!
Overall, a most enjoyable day was had by the Young Members who
took part and raised a princely sum for UNISON Welfare "Bucket
& Spade" Appeal. Perhaps next year Daniel will break
in his trainers first!
Laura-Beth Scally
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STUC
I recently represented the Scottish Young Members Committee at
the STUC's 2007 Congress and what a learning experience it was!
Congress was held in Glasgow from 16-18th April. This was my first
congress and I was made to feel very welcome by the UNISON delegation -
to my great relief!
The main theme of Congress was "Reaching Out" which emphasised
the need to continue to encourage people to join trade unions.
Issues debated included UNISON's motions which covered Public
Services and who runs them, Pensions and the situation in the
Middle East between Israel and Palestine.
Congress additionally endorsed statements from the
general Council on education, the Scottish election and Equal
Pay.
Katrina Purcell from UNISON presided over Congress with good humour
and patience. She paid tribute to UNISON for all the support she
has received during her time as STUC President.
For me it was a great opportunity to see how things work at STUC
level as well as to get to know other UNISON activists who are
not young members and activists from other trade unions; not least
it was a great opportunity to get to meet Matt Smith, Dave Prentice
and Malcolm Cantello.
To finish I would definitely recommend to any young member who
gets the chance to go to STUC that they take up the opportunity!
Graham Smith
YMO North Ayrshire LG Branch
AGM & Training weekend in Stirling
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Nicola Ross and Michelle Smith - Media
Training
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This was the first training weekend that I had attended as young
members officer for my branch. I wasn't quite sure what to expect
from the weekend and I was quite anxious about attending, mainly
due to the fact that I didn't know anyone who would be there.
I also had wondered how many ‘normal' young people wanted to give
up their weekends to learn more about union stuff!
The weekend started on the Friday night at 6pm. When I was checking
into the hotel I meet someone who was also attending the training
weekend and we done our introductions. I was so glad I had met
someone, who actually seemed normal, that was going to meet me
to go to the training suite. When the session started on that
night I was quite nervous but after a quick introduction to everyone
I began to feel much better….then came the dreaded ice breaker!
For this we were asked to make a book about our lives giving a
title, place of birth, happiest moment in your life and where
you see yourself in 25 years. In addition, a synopsis was to be
written about your life including three truths and three lies.
This was a good laugh! It also was a good way of getting to know
people and a brief insight into their lives. After this session
finished we all went for dinner and everyone was really friendly.
After dinner we all got together and I think this is when I was
able to relax and get to know everyone a little better.
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The Scottish Young Members' Committee
AGM Meeting
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On the Saturday (along with nursing a sore head) I learned a
lot more about the union as a whole and how young members fitted
into that. I found this session the most valuable as everyone
felt comfortable enough within the group to give their views on
how their branch worked. In addition, it also gave me confidence
to go back to my branch and ask about certain things that the
‘little young member' would not usually concern themselves with
and the confidence to question why things are carried out in the
way that they are. It also made me realise that my input into
my branch and the union as a whole is as just important as anyone
else's. On the Saturday night we had a quiz night. This was a
good laugh and I was in the winning team which made it even better!!!
Some people went out after wards but I was still doing the dying
fly from Friday night so it was off to bed before midnight for
me!!!
On the Sunday we were lucky to have Kay Sillars from UNISON come
along and talk to us about dealing with the media. We were given
a task to do with newspapers comparing the "real" newspapers
with the tabloids. It was good as it made you realise how some
stories can just be made up out of nothing whereas others are
based on true fact, even if the "true" facts may have
a slant on them! Later on in the morning, we had our AGM. This
is where people get nominated onto certain committees for the
forthcoming year. This meeting gave me a better understanding
of how young members fit into other parts of the union.
I'm glad that I took the first step in getting involved with
UNISON's young members and I'm looking forward to the year ahead
representing Scottish young members in UNISON.
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Scotland's
public service union
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