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News
Carrie Bell Rings in the Changes at AGM
by
Daniel Robertson
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Carrie Bell
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The Scottish Young Members March training weekend
culminated in their AGM on Sunday 25 March. The AGM saw the
election of a new Chair – Carrie Bell from NHS Greater Glasgow
& Clyde.
Carrie is 24 years old and has been a UNISON member
since 2000 when she joined as a student occupational therapist.
She became an activist in 2004 when her department underwent
a restructure and there were subsequent proposals for job losses.
Shortly after Carrie joined the Young Members
and we’ve all had many an adventure since ….. but that’s a matter
for another time, another place!!
Recently Carrie has been helping the Young Members
with their recruitment by giving birth to baby Aimee. She’s
due to go back to work from maternity leave soon. On taking
on the Young Members Chair as well as all the other things she’s
got on her plate Carrie said, "I’ll get a lot of support
from my fellow young members so I know that it’s not as if I’m
taking on a huge burden as Chair; equally, at home, my partner,
David, is fully supportive of my trade union activity. We’ve
got a good committee to form a sound basis upon which to take
our work forward so I’m really looking forward to my time as
Chair."
International Issues
:-
Young members are important
in taking action and raising awareness of international issues
and that of the international activities of UNISON.
Young members can form
part of an international network to share good practice with
trade unionists across the world, and provide mutual support
where workers are facing exploitation or intimidation for union
activity. Click here for more information on International
Issues
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Campaigns
8 Ways 2 Activ8
Once again the national recruitment
figures have arrived showing that the Scottish Region remains
constantly at the top of the ratings in terms of young member
recruitment; what the figures do not, however, detail is that
in Scotland the amount of young activists coming through is no
better than any other region!
As a consequence, this year the Scottish
Young Members’ Committee (SYMC) are focusing some of their work
on "8 Ways 2 Activ8" and in meeting the National
objectives of:
- Increasing young members attendance
at National Delegate Conference and Service Group Conferences
in 2007
- Identifying a branch committee
members to take on a young members organising role in the absence
of a young members’ officer
The SYMC are asking branches to identify
two new young activists, or where this is not possible, to give
the committee a young member’s contact details so the SYMC can
keep them up to date with everything that is happen in UNISON
Scotland’s Young Members. The results so far will be announced
at Scottish Council in December.
Please take a look at the Campaign
Leaflet (PDF format) and ask your branch if they are working
towards filling the objectives and if you are interested, see
if you can be involved.
Grants not fees
UNISON has been campaigning against
the Government's decision to abolish student grants and introduce
tuition fees since 1998. The number of students pushed out of
Higher Education because they can't afford to stay on has increased
dramatically. The average debt at the end of a degree now stands
at £12,000. Many students are now forced to work long hours, often
in unsafe conditions, just to raise enough money to survive whilst
studying.
UNISON is the main sponsor of the
National Union of Students' campaign for the abolition of tuition
fees and the reintroduction of the grant. We also use our links
with the Labour Party to push for a change in policy. Prime Minister
Tony Blair recently announced a review of the student funding
system.
Affordable housing for young public service workers
UNISON is launching a campaign for
the provision of affordable housing for public service workers.
Many young people working in the public services simply can't
find decent affordable housing on current wages, especially in
London and some other cities.
UNISON promotes working in the public
services as a career option. But it is clear that many young people
are put off working in the public sector because pay has not kept
a pace with similar professions in the private sector. As part
of our Positively Public campaign we are pushing for a decent
living wage and decent subsided accommodation for all public sector
workers.
National minimum wage
UNISON is fighting to end the different
age rates in the minimum wage. We led the union campaign for the
introduction of the minimum wage and we believe that all workers
whatever their age should get at least £6 an hour. UNISON young
members are campaigning to publicly name and shame employers such
as Macdonald's who are using the different age rates in the minimum
wage to pay younger workers a lower wage.
Our nationwide Living Wage campaign
has involved thousands of young workers and included rallies and
concerts in Newcastle and Manchester featuring bands such as Toploader,
Idlewild, Wheatus and Catatonia.
If you have any questions about the
current campaigns, please contact the SYMC secretary Janet Stewart
(j.stewart@unison.co.uk).
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Scotland's
public service union 
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