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Scotland in UNISON
 Headlines
D-DAY FOR PAY
UNISON fights trunk road contracts sham
Delegates back PR for council elections
HE action suspended for talks
President hails vital role for regions
Horror at plans to privatise meat inspection
Nursing sick pay breakthrough
Domestic abuse: Collude or challenge
 

February/March 2001 No 29
(Next issue April 2001)
 
UNISON Scotland Home
 Headlines
Membership up by 4,000 as millions won for members
Scotland's water industry faces crisis
Partial victory on part-time pensions claims
Scotland supports tour of Dudley PFI strikers
Living wage to feature in run up to general election
East Lothian's First Step support
UNISON wins funding for two trade union learning projects
Careers service transfer
Electricity shops to close
Scottish Communications Awards
News In Brief Including NEC elections result
South Lanarkshire donates £250 to Indian Earthquake Disaster Appeal
Morning Star Conference: Owning Scotland's Future 
YOUSSEF ALLAN - OBITUARY 
We want to hear your news
D-DAY FOR PAY Ballot papers have gone out for local government members to vote on a new pay offer. Full details of offer.
UNISON fights trunk road contracts sham UNISON is to urge the Scottish Executive to rescind privatised trunk road contracts until the Parliament's Transport Committee has reported on the issue.
Delegates back PR for council elections UNISON Scotland has backed 'Kerley Report' plans for proportional representation (PR) in local council elections, while maintaining the councillor/ constituency link.
HE action suspended for talks The national action short of strike action in Higher Education has been suspended to allow talks to take place from 15 February.
Horror at plans to privatise meat inspection Meat inspectors have reacted with horror to proposals to hand over independent meat inspection to the abattoir industry.
President hails vital role for regions Devolution of resources, a vital role for Regions and the review of all lay structures will all help us deliver the best service to all of our members, UNISON President Adrian Dilworth told Scottish branches on 17 February.
Nursing sick pay breakthrough UNISON has won a major victory for nursing staff who have to take sick leave after an assault by the public.
Domestic abuse: Collude or challenge
Sheila Henderson, researcher to the Scottish Partnership on domestic abuse outlined to a Scottish Council meeting how the Scottish Parliament's response would impact on UNISON members.
Membership up by 4,000 as millions won for members
Scotland's UNISON membership rose officially by more than 4,000 last year - giving an annual recruitment rise of 15.34% to 144,000 (figures rounded to nearest 500). Simultaneously the union announced that £1.7m plus had been won in Personal Injury settlements for nearly 300 members.
Scotland's water industry faces crisis UNISON has been to the forefront recently in defending Scotland's unique publicly-owned water service in the face of a range of threats.
Partial victory on part-time pensions claims The House of Lords has ruled that part-time and contract workers who were excluded from employers pensions schemes because of their status can claim for entering into such schemes back as far as 8 April 1976 or whenever their employment commenced.
Scotland supports tour of Dudley PFI strikers Scottish branches are to be urged to host tours of UNISON Dudley health workers to hear about their long dispute and to build support for a national day of action.
Living wage to feature in run up to general election UNISON's continuing campaign to deliver a living wage for all will feature in the run-up to the general election in a high profile march and rally in Manchester on 28 April followed by an evening rock concert.
East Lothian's First Step support East Lothian UNISON hands over £1,500 to Musselburgh's First Step Family project to help upgrade fireproofing.
UNISON wins funding for two trade union learning projects UNISON is the only Scottish union to have been successful in winning funding for two union learning projects from the Scottish Executive, it was announced in January.
Careers service transfer UNISON has given a qualified welcome to the proposals by the Scottish Executive to bring the many different careers related services together under a new national all-age body to be called Careers Scotland.
Electricity shops to close The Retail Division have confirmed what UNISON long suspected - they intend to close most High Street shops as soon as a buyer can be found.
Scottish Communications Awards New awards for branch communications are to be launched this month by the Scottish Communications and Campaigns Committee.
News In Brief Including NEC elections result
South Lanarkshire donates £250 to Indian Earthquake Disaster Appeal
Morning Star Conference: Owning Scotland's Future
YOUSSEF ALLAN - OBITUARY
We want to hear your news Scotland inUNISON contacts

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D-DAY FOR PAY

by John Stevenson

Ballot papers have gone out for local government members to vote on a new pay offer.

And while negotiators and branch delegates have taken different views, they agree that rejection would mean a need for 'substantial' industrial action involving 'all members'.

Dougie Black, chair of the negotiators said, "The offer is a major step forward and we are asking members whether they are prepared to accept it.

"But whatever their view, it must be a clear one. I urge all members to take the time to vote and get their ballot paper back before 5 March".

The offer is...

  • Effective from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2004
  • From 1 April 2000, 2% on all pay points
  • From 1 October 2000, 1% on all pay points
  • From 1 February 2001, 3% on all pay points
  • From 1 March 2002, £500 on all pay points
  • From 1 April 2003, 4% on all pay points.

The settlement ranges from 16.37% SCP3 to 11.29% SCP73 (14.19% on the pay bill)

Low pay
A flat rate increase of £500 from 1 March 2002 seeks to address low pay and a minimum wage of over £5.00 per hour is achieved at 1 March 2002 and £5.21 by 1 April 2003.

Employees who were contracted to work 39 hours per week will receive an increase of over 21% by 1 April 2003.

Inflation
If underlying inflation approaches within 0.25% of the total pay roll increase in each year the settlement for that year will be reviewed.

"The Trade Union Side has unanimously recommended acceptance of the offer as the best that can be achieved through negotiations", says the briefing.

But the Forum of UNISON's 32 Local Government Branches by a majority took the view that the offer be rejected.

Yet they both agreed that if the offer were rejected industrial action would have to be substantial and involve all members.

"It is the members action that has pushed the employers to this position with an offer that ring fences local government workers pay for four years", added Joe Di Paola, UNISON Scottish Local Government Organiser.

With councils now on three year funding, many argue there is a need to ensure pay is protected right at the start.
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Delegates back PR for council elections

by John Stevenson

UNISON Scotland has backed 'Kerley Report' plans for proportional representation (PR) in local council elections, while maintaining the councillor/ constituency link,

"The first past the post system was designed when the two parties were Tories and Whigs. That is no longer sustainable for council elections", South Lanarkshire's Martha McAllister said as she won backing from UNISON delegates from across Scotland on 17 February.

"How democratic is it if 50% of the vote gets 80% of the seats in our council?" asked Martha.

The current system undervalued local government. Fewer people were voting and we needed new ways to get them involved and reflect their views.

"If PR is good enough for the Scottish Parliament, it is good enough for local councils", she said.

But Falkirk's Gray Allan argued that while there may be problems with some councils, these problems were political, not constitutional.
PR would create fragile coalitions unable to deliver clear programmes or any long term policies.

"No party would be able to go to the electorate and say this is our plan for the future".

Parties needed to be directly held to account if they did not deliver.
Gray raised a laugh when he told delegates, "Falkirk is a hung council - maybe it should be hung".

The balance of power between Labour and SNP was held by a 'Rainbow Alliance' which was aptly named because, "they're well on their way down the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard of Oz". That 'nightmare' would be repeated elsewhere under PR.

But Martha reminded delegates we would still have had tuition fees had it not been for the coalition on the Scottish Parliament.

The importance of the constituency link in any PR system was underlined by the 1999 McIntosh Commission into Local Government of which UNISON Scottish Secretary Matt Smith was a member.

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UNISON fights trunk road contracts sham

by Chris Bartter and John Stevenson

UNISON is to urge the Scottish Executive to rescind privatised trunk road contracts until the Parliament's Transport Committee has reported on the issue.

UNISON members working for the four consortia maintaining Scotland's trunk roads have had their jobs and conditions put at risk by the decision to award the contracts to BEAR Scotland Ltd and AMEY Highways Ltd.

These contracts were signed by the Minister of Transport despite sustained lobbying by UNISON, local authorities and members involved in the contracts.

Now UNISON's Scottish Council has backed a motion by Highland, Glasgow and South Lanarkshire branches, moved by Glasgow's Gerry Crawley, which :-

  • slams the tendering process as 'flawed'
  • casts doubt on the independence of the consultants' review and
  • calls for a campaign to highlight safety and quality issues.

Tom Clark, Service Conditions Officer for South Lanarkshire Branch, lead branch for the South West Consortium said:

"It is disgraceful that the Executive should proceed with these contracts whilst the enquiry into the process is still to conclude.

"This decision will have damaging consequences for council budgets, and threatens hundreds of peoples' jobs and conditions. Putting public safety into the hands of private companies has not been a great success on the railways - what makes us think it will be on the roads?"

It is clear from the number of protests made and the figures that are beginning to emerge that the tendering process has been widely regarded as flawed. Even the Scottish Executive's own counsel appeared to publicly acknowledge this in his statements in the cases brought for judicial review of procedures on 19 January 2001.

Highland Branch's Munro Ross slammed the 'flat rate' deal for winter maintenance instead of a 'cost plus' basis for work done. It will isolate rural communities as contractors reduce the level of service to make a profit.

"The contract calls for 20 gritters. Last week we had 54 gritters out to keep the roads clear. We must expose this contract for the sham it is", he told delegates.

UNISON has been involved in a lot of work once the likely outcome of the tenders became known. We supported the decision to establish an enquiry taken by the Transport and Environment Committee and will be giving evidence to establish the nature of the tendering process.

But the immediate task is to protect the members who are affected by the transfer of these contracts - both where their jobs are directly affected and where they work in jobs that are affected by the knock-on effects.

Donald Shiach, Regional Officer for Highland, has been involved in discussions with the consortia and the contractors. He said:

"UNISON is clear that the most important task now is to work to safeguard the jobs, conditions and pensions of those members who will transfer to the private sector and those whose jobs are affected elsewhere in the local authority by the loss of the contracts. We are fighting to ensure that TUPE applies and that full protection - including pension rights - is achieved."

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President hails vital role for regions

by John Stevenson

Devolution of resources, a vital role for Regions and the review of all lay structures will all help us deliver the best service to all of our members, UNISON President Adrian Dilworth told Scottish branches on 17 February.

Adrian also flagged up the Utilities - he is from an Electricity Branch - and equality as the main themes of his presidential year.
And, while recognising the different political scene in Scotland, he laid out his views on a general election this year.

"On a national basis I am clear in my view that we need the return of a Labour government. I know that they have not delivered on all we elected them for four years ago. They have not delivered on PFI or on pensions. But one thing I am clear about is we do not want to see the return of the Tories".

As the election approaches, "We as a trade union are entitled to campaign publicly for our policies. That is right for our members", he said.

Turning to devolution of the unions structures, Adrian stressed Regions had a vital role in facing the challenge of setting our own priorities, with the power to influence what is delivered.

Equality
Equality in UNISON had to start with branches. "That is where we bring our members and our activists together".

And that equality would start to be addressed by the review of branch funding. Depending on the distribution of low paid members, per capita income in branches can vary from £40 to £180.

Referring to calls for a review of self organisation, Adrian stressed the need to review all lay structures.

"I don't want 'autonomous' anything - we need to all work together for our members".

But he spoke personally of the value of his 15 year involvement in the Disabled Members Group. Due to eye problems resulting from his mother having Rubella during pregnancy, Adrian spent 10 years in a special boarding school.

"That gave me a good education ...but it did make it difficult to integrate into work and society".

"When I joined the Disabled Members Group, it helped me understand my experience and come to terms with my disability".

Convenor Mike Kirby wished Adrian well for his presidential year and presented him with a gift "made by scottish workers and drunk by Scottish workers".

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Horror at plans to privatise meat inspection

Meat inspectors have reacted with horror to proposals to hand over independent meat inspection to the abattoir industry.

UNISON Meat Hygiene members met in Perth on 11 February to take forward the union's campaign against the privatisation.

A campaign briefing is now available along with postcards for MPs (see right). The Campaign materials outline the increase in problems in other countries where these kind of measures have gone through.

"To many people it must be inconceivable that only four years after the announcement of the link between BSE (so-called 'mad cow disease') in cows and new variant CJD (Creuzfeld-Jacobs Disease) in humans, the government could be considering the deregulation of meat inspection", said Sandy Muir, UNISON regional officer.

MORI research carried out for UNISON shows that 77% of the British public oppose the privatisation.

The BSE and e-Coli crises happened after deregulation in the 1980's had created a climate where official controls on the meat industry were light or non-existent.

The BSE Inquiry Report of October 2000 acknowledges that "The deregulation initiative was an important factor in policy making during [the 1980s]... and concludes that... it may have coloured perceptions of how [BSE] measures ought to be enforced"

UNISON's meat inspector members are absolutely certain that deregulation hampered their work.

UNISON members working for the Meat Hygiene Service, the independent Government Inspectorate, are horrified at the new proposals. Their job is to protect public health. They believed that the case for strong independent meat inspection had been made in the late 1990's.

Materials available include:-
Campaign Guide: Stock No. 1829
Postcard: Stock No. 1830

For further details contact Sandy Muir at the Glasgow office, 0141 332 0006.
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Nursing sick pay breakthrough

by Chris Bartter

UNISON has won a major victory for nursing staff who have to take sick leave after an assault by the public.

A letter from the Joint Secretaries of the Nursing and Midwifery negotiating body now makes it clear that such staff should be paid normal salary - ie, including allowances and enhancements.

Willie Duffy, UNISON's Regional Officer who raised this with the negotiating body said:, "Previously nursing staff off sick because of an assault only received basic pay. This was clearly an anomaly and UNISON is pleased that has been sorted out."
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Domestic abuse: Collude or challenge

Sheila Henderson, researcher to the Scottish Partnership on domestic abuse outlined to a Scottish Council meeting how the Scottish Parliament's response would impact on UNISON members.

"Domestic Abuse is everyone's problem", said Sheila as she outlined how the implications for UNISON members as trade unionists and as service providers.

The extent of the problem was huge and there was a need for more education to raise awareness across services. We all had a role to play in helping people disclose, making sure they are taken seriously and given realistic choices to deal with the problem.

"We can choose to collude, or we can choose to challenge", she told delegates.
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Membership up by 4,000 as millions won for members

Scotland's UNISON membership rose officially by more than 4,000 last year - giving an annual recruitment rise of 15.34% to 144,000 (figures rounded to nearest 500). Simultaneously the union announced that £1.7m plus had been won in Personal Injury settlements for nearly 300 members, writes Chris Bartter.

Matt Smith, UNISON's Scottish Secretary said, "These figures show UNISONScotland is providing a valuable service for its members. Obviously we would rather injuries caused by the negligence and culpability of employers were cut out altogether. While they occur, however, UNISON is in the forefront in delivering compensation."

The membership rise - the first for some years - is particularly satisfying in that it puts Scotland in the top three of UNISON regions in terms of recruitment figures.

Matt said: "We know that we need to recruit in the region of 10% a year simply to replace people leaving. To have recruited enough to add to our membership total is gratifying and will help us to continue to deliver a better service to Scottish members.
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Scotland's water industry faces crisis

UNISON has been to the forefront recently in defending Scotland's unique publicly-owned water service in the face of a range of threats.

In addition to the 'creeping privatisation' of PFI financed schemes, the industry recently faced the double whammy of a huge cash cut proposed by the water commissioner (£134m over 5 years), and a Scottish Executive proposal to open up the system to private suppliers.

Dave Watson, Scottish Organiser for Utilities said: "Scotland's publicly owned water and sewerage services are at risk. The Water Commissioners cuts threaten the jobs of a third of the workforce - with a knock-on threat to safety.

"The Competition proposals will endanger rather than safeguard the benefits currently provided by Scotland's water and sewerage services."
UNISON has produced a briefing for MSPs (and others) and has presented its case directly to the Minister for the Environment and to the Transport and Environment Committee as part of an STUC delegation.
The briefing is available on our website at the new Water Links Page.

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Partial victory on part-time pensions claims

by Chris Bartter

The House of Lords has ruled that part-time and contract workers who were excluded from employers pensions schemes because of their status can claim for entering into such schemes back as far as 8 April 1976 or whenever their employment commenced.

This is a considerable advance on the UK Government's law which only allowed backdating of two years, and follows answers that the House of Lords sought from the European Court of Justice.

However claims for entry to these schemes need to be made either during or within six months of leaving the relevant employment, and it is also possible that there may be a demand for claimants to pay the employee's contributions - although UNISON is arguing that they should not have to do this.

Members who already have claims at Tribunal that have been postponed will now need to wait for the Chair of Employment Tribunals to decide on the future running of these.

We don't know how long that will take but once that is done, eligible cases should be able to proceed to the next stage. Obviously this will not include those who submitted claims more than six months after leaving their employment. UNISON is asking for more legal advice to be provided for these members.

One group of workers can still submit claims. - those who are either still employed by an employer who denied them access to membership of their pension scheme (because of the rules excluding part-time workers) at any time as far back as 1976, or who left the employment of such an employer less than six months ago.

You will have to have been a member of UNISON or a former partner union - NALGO, NUPE, COHSE, BAOT or SHVA at that time and still be a member.

Please contact Aileen Ward in the Regional Office if you have members in this category.

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Partial victory on part-time pensions claims

by Chris Bartter

The House of Lords has ruled that part-time and contract workers who were excluded from employers pensions schemes because of their status can claim for entering into such schemes back as far as 8 April 1976 or whenever their employment commenced.

This is a considerable advance on the UK Government's law which only allowed backdating of two years, and follows answers that the House of Lords sought from the European Court of Justice.

However claims for entry to these schemes need to be made either during or within six months of leaving the relevant employment, and it is also possible that there may be a demand for claimants to pay the employee's contributions - although UNISON is arguing that they should not have to do this.

Members who already have claims at Tribunal that have been postponed will now need to wait for the Chair of Employment Tribunals to decide on the future running of these.

We don't know how long that will take but once that is done, eligible cases should be able to proceed to the next stage. Obviously this will not include those who submitted claims more than six months after leaving their employment. UNISON is asking for more legal advice to be provided for these members.

One group of workers can still submit claims. - those who are either still employed by an employer who denied them access to membership of their pension scheme (because of the rules excluding part-time workers) at any time as far back as 1976, or who left the employment of such an employer less than six months ago.

You will have to have been a member of UNISON or a former partner union - NALGO, NUPE, COHSE, BAOT or SHVA at that time and still be a member.

Please contact Aileen Ward in the Regional Office if you have members in this category.

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Living wage to feature in run up to general election

by Chris Bartter

UNISON's continuing campaign to deliver a living wage for all will feature in the run-up to the general election in a high profile march and rally in Manchester on 28 April followed by an evening rock concert.

Events are being organised in the week running up to the event and the Scottish Committee is encouraging branches to club together to organise buses to Manchester.

Mike Kirby, UNISON's Scottish Convenor said:
"We are encouraging as many members as possible to get to Manchester for the 28, to take part in the activities. We are also commissioning the Scottish Low Pay Unit to research the effect of the National Minimum Wage on employment in both the care and cultural and leisure sector.

"We are concerned by the apparent increase in casualisation in these sectors and the research that the SLPU and UNISON are carrying out will be presented at a seminar in the Spring".

Scotland's Young Members Committee are also committed to campaigning for a living wage. Cameron Day, the Chair of the Committee said:

"In addition to playing a full part in encouraging members to go to Manchester, we want to organise club events in different parts of Scotland -we are already in discussion with one in Edinburgh. We want to use these to promote UNISON's demand for a living wage and particularly our demand to abolish the discriminating youth rate."

Tickets for the evening concert in the MEN Arena on 28 April will be £10 and will be available for a brief period to UNISON members before going on sale.

Details of this and the band line up - likely to include Catatonia - will be announced soon.

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Living wage to feature in run up to general election

by Chris Bartter

UNISON's continuing campaign to deliver a living wage for all will feature in the run-up to the general election in a high profile march and rally in Manchester on 28 April followed by an evening rock concert.

Events are being organised in the week running up to the event and the Scottish Committee is encouraging branches to club together to organise buses to Manchester.

Mike Kirby, UNISON's Scottish Convenor said:
"We are encouraging as many members as possible to get to Manchester for the 28, to take part in the activities. We are also commissioning the Scottish Low Pay Unit to research the effect of the National Minimum Wage on employment in both the care and cultural and leisure sector.

"We are concerned by the apparent increase in casualisation in these sectors and the research that the SLPU and UNISON are carrying out will be presented at a seminar in the Spring".

Scotland's Young Members Committee are also committed to campaigning for a living wage. Cameron Day, the Chair of the Committee said:

"In addition to playing a full part in encouraging members to go to Manchester, we want to organise club events in different parts of Scotland -we are already in discussion with one in Edinburgh. We want to use these to promote UNISON's demand for a living wage and particularly our demand to abolish the discriminating youth rate."

Tickets for the evening concert in the MEN Arena on 28 April will be £10 and will be available for a brief period to UNISON members before going on sale.

Details of this and the band line up - likely to include Catatonia - will be announced soon.

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UNISON wins funding for two trade union learning projects

by Chris Bartter

UNISON is the only Scottish union to have been successful in winning funding for two union learning projects from the Scottish Executive, it was announced in January.

The money, from the Executive's Scottish Union Learning Fund, was allocated to two projects. £36,000 was given to create up to 30 'lifelong learning advisers' across the NHS and local authority sectors in Scotland and £47,950 to train 100 public sector workers in entry level ICT skills.

Anne Cascarino, UNISON Scotland's Regional Officer (Education) said:

"This is a real feather in our cap. We bid for three projects and were successful in two out of the total of 12. No other union won two projects.

"We want to go ahead now, and try to ensure that public sector staff are geared up to take full advantage of the IT revolution and of the advantages of lifelong learning."

These projects will complement the other lifelong learning innovations that UNISON has pioneered - in particular, Return 2 Learn - and the union will be working to ensure that members are fully aware of these new schemes and how they get access to them.

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Round the Branch Magazines

Striking a blow for fair pay

Clackmannashire's Excuse me! leads with this headline in its September issue.

Branch secretary Catherine Craig praises the majority - and the 206 new members - who stood by the democratic decision, many of who "were unable to understand fellow members' disloyalty".

The strike had united members in their fight for increased investment in local government.

Health & Safety, Single Status, working hours, training and nursery nurse regradings are all covered in a packed and well designed issue edited by Alan Wilson.

Southside UNISON from South Glasgow Hospitals leads on a 217% increase in violence to staff over the last 4 years. A 14 page issue has a centre-spread on PFI. Return 2 learn is covered with a host of service conditions news.

Glasgow Health's new Picture of Health leads on the discretionary points issue (see SiU p2). It is packed with news and features (credit union) with an eye-catching, if familiar design - aha! we see prize-winning editor Robert Rae (South Glasgow Hospitals) had a hand in it. That's cross branch co-operation.

Glasgow City's Voice covers the local government pay dispute and more detail on the campaign to fight housing stock transfer.

UNISONNews from City of Edinburgh is doing frequent two page issues through the pay strikes. It reports a huge 83% rejection of the pay offer by Edinburgh members. A front page leader slams the employers' 'woeful lack of understanding' and warns, "The longer they dally, the more they'll dig a hole for themselves and local government".
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Careers service transfer

By Chris Bartter

UNISON has given a qualified welcome to the proposals by the Scottish Executive to bring the many different careers related services together under a new national all-age body to be called Careers Scotland.

The union is asking branches for more detailed responses, which will be discussed at a delegate meeting on March 5.

Following on a review of the careers service carried out by a committee chaired by Barbara Duffner, Wendy Alexander, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, announced £24m to set up the new structure. It will take over the role of Careers Service Companies, Adult Guidance Networks, Education Business Partnerships and Local Learning Partnerships, and is planned to assume responsibility from April 2002, when it is hoped that functions, funding and staff will all transfer.

Joe Di Paola, Scottish Organiser for Local Government said: "We welcome the principle of the return of careers to a publicly run service and we also welcome the commitment to no redundancies at present.
However, we must now get down to working with the Executive and the new body to ensure that staff transferring are protected immediately, and safeguarded in the longer term."
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Electricity shops to close

The Retail Division have confirmed what UNISON long suspected - they intend to close most High Street shops as soon as a buyer can be found.

197 jobs are at risk and Senior Regional Officer Dave Watson has already put initial proposals on the table to protect the staff involved and a bulletin has gone out to members.

Proposals include redeployment, excess travel expenses, a better voluntary severance scheme and a personal plan for each employee now, not waiting until the closure comes.

An early meeting of the Retail Staff Committee is to be called to discuss these plans.
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Scottish Communications Awards

New awards for branch communications are to be launched this month by the Scottish Communications and Campaigns Committee.

The three Scottish Communications awards which will be sponsored by Frizzell's, Britannia Rescue and the UNISON Credit Card, cover the categories of Branch publications (divided into branches with less than 1,200 or more than 1,200 members); campaigning and use of electronic media.

Each category will have a prize of £200 for the successful branch and an award that they can use on their material.

John Stevenson, Chair of Communications and Campaigns said: "The idea is to promote the importance of good branch communications as an organising tool. We want to give branches who are doing good work a pat on the back, but also display successful work at the Scottish Council to encourage others."

The forms and rules will be going out very soon and should be returned completed with examples of the work by Friday 9 March. The presentation is planned for the Scottish Council on 7 April 2001.
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News In Brief

Angela is new NEC member
Glasgow City's Angela Lynes is Scotland's newest NEC member, polling 10,843 votes against Dundee's Mary Crichton with 7,772 votes. Angela is contactable on 0141 552 7069.

Also on the NEC is Scotland's Sofi Taylor who was elected to the 'National Additional Member' women's seat.
Our other NEC members are John McFadden, Nancy Coull and Chrissie Carmouche, with Jane Carolan in the National Local Government seat.

'Wee John' McFadden is currently recuperating after a illness. We all wish John well who hopes to be back in harness in the next month or two.

Commission on Social Need
UNISON Scotland is to arrange a Commission on Social Need and Public Finances to pose practical alternatives to austerity in the public services and erosion of the quality of the Welfare State.

The Commission, backed in a motion from City of Edinburgh Branch, would be made up of unions, academics and voluntary and campaigning organisations.

Edinburgh's John Stevenson told Scottish Council, "This will bring together a range of organisations in a co-ordinated assessment of social need and public finances to develop practical alternatives to engage in dialogue with the government".

UNISON to meet BA over access problems
UNISON Scotland is to meet British Airways executives to raise problems faced by disabled members who, despite going through all the proper procedures, find themselves banned from getting on flights.

Boyack meeting
The Scottish Disabled members Committee is to meet Transport Minister Sarah Boyack on 12 March to raise issues relating to transport and disability.

Police help in Stirling
Ann O'Neill who represents Police Support Staff in Stirling Council Branch has negotiated the use of an office in Dunblane Police Station.

Where meetings permit, Ann will be available to members for advice and enquiries at the office on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons.

Clinical Support Workers
Any Clinical Support Worker in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary or Simpsons who was previously an A Grade Nursing Assistant - and was on the top increment - should now be on the top increment of the CSW grade. If this affects you, contact Babs McGahey Ward 2 Simpsons on 61152.
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South Lanarkshire donates £250 to Indian Earthquake Disaster Appeal

Catherine McClymont, South Lanarkshire's Treasurer, and Lila Sneddon, Welfare Officer, hand over a cheque for £250 to Councillor Mushtaq Ahmad for Humanity First's Indian Earthquake Disaster Appeal writes Jane Aitchison.

A one day collection on 12 February in South Lanarkshire brought in over £1500 for the fund. Councillor Ahmad said, "It reinforces the Scottish tradition of altruism, with people translating their feelings for those suffering in other countries into generosity."

Donations can be sent to, The British Red Cross India Earthquake Appeal Freepost MID21782 Halesowen B63 3BR or by phone on 08705 125 125, - also at banks and post offices, and via other charities.
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Owning Scotland's Future: Morning Star Conference

The economic and democratic case for Public Ownership
11am Sunday 4 March 2001
STUC Building, 333 Woodlands Road Glasgow

Speakers include: Bill Spiers, Shona Robison MSP, John McAllion MP, Jane Carolan, Alan McCombes, Karie Murphy, Professor Matthias Beck, Phil McGarry, Kay Allan, John Haylett, Mick McGahey
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YOUSSEF ALLAN - OBITUARY

UNISON international activists were shocked to hear of the sudden death last month of the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland, Youssef Allan.

Youssef who was better known to activists as the UK representative of the Palestine Trade Union Federation, was 47. Although he had been ill, the suddenness of his death was a great shock. John Barton, UNISON Scotland's Chair of International Relations said:

"Youssef was a good friend of UNISON, and a dedicated representative of his people. We will miss him greatly both as a trade unionist and as a Palestinian."

He had been a regular attender at many UNISON conferences. Branches or individuals wishing to pay their respects can send condolences to the Palestinian Office in the UK, Palestine's Delegation, 5 Galina Road, London W6 0LT, Fax No: 0208 563 0058.

Chris Bartter
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Published by UNISON Scottish Council, 14 West Campbell Street, Glasgow G2 6RX. Editor John Stevenson
© UNISON Scotland 1998-2000

 

 

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We want to hear your news

Won any deals or cases for members? Any 'people' stories we could use? SiU is your paper, we want to hear your stories.

Your SiU contacts are:
John Stevenson (Editor)
0131 343 1991
comms@unison-edinburgh.org.uk
Chris Bartter
0141 332 0006,
chris.bartter@unison.org.uk
FAX PRESS RELEASES to 0141-331-1203


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