UNISON has been proud to be at the forefront of the struggle for equality for women. We have to be – the majority of our members are women, which reflects the balance in the wider public sector. It’s thanks to our campaigning that women workers are getting a good deal at work – which benefits men just as much as it benefits women.

Here in Surrey, we are hosting a few events to mark Women’s History Month, which you are more than welcome to join us at – non-members are especially welcome.

Tuesday 6th March
A Brief History of Women Workers and Women Trade Unionists
12-1.30pm, Green Room, Leatherhead Theatre

Fiona Roberts, UNISON South East Womens’ Officer, will be giving a quick overview about key events in Womens’ History, as well as UNISON’s contribution to the cause of women’s equality.

Wednesday 7th March
Surrey County UNISON Equalities Fair
12.00-2.00pm, Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston

UNISON staff and activists will be giving talks on what the unions have done for equality, as well as the chance to meet with activists and find out more about UNISON’s work on equality not just for women, but also LGBT, disabled and black workers. Speakers include Fiona Roberts from UNISON on a history of women workers and Carmel Millar, Head of HR and Organisational Development for Surrey County Council.

Thursday 8th March
Women & Pensions – What Do The Changes Mean for Women?
12.00pm – 1.30pm, Quadrant Court, Woking

Lucille Thurby, National Officer for Local Government from UNISON head office, will be giving a brief update on the pensions proposals and what they mean for women workers in Local Government. Lucille will also be joined by an adviser from Lighthouse Financial, a UNISONplus affinity partner, who will be able to give more individual advice on pensions and other financial planning.

All women – including those who have yet to join UNISON – are welcome to join us at all of these events, and the Equalities Fair is open to all – men and women.

Light refreshments will be provided – unfortunately you will have to attend in your own time.

If you’d like to come to any of these events, have any access needs (such as a BSL interpreter) to make sure you can attend, or would like to find out more about UNISON’s equalities campaigning, please send an email to unison@surreycc.gov.uk

The 2012 Annual General Meeting – to which all branch members are invited to attend – will be on:

Wednesday 18th January 2012
12.00pm – 2.00pm
Runnymede Centre, Chertsey Road, Addlestone

For members working in Surrey County Council, paid time will be given for you to attend this meeting, so long as you let your manager know that you wish to attend. If you have trouble getting the time off, please let us know. There is ample free parking at the Runnymede Centre and lunch will be provided.

Wednesday 23rd November
5.00pm – 7.00pm at the Runnymede Centre, Addlestone Road, Chertsey
Roger McKenzie, UNISON Assistant General Secretary, will be speaking
Find out more about picket lines, pick up goodies, and find out the facts about pensions 

On November 30th, up to 25 public sector unions will be taking strike action to defend their pensions. Across Surrey, unions will be picketing out schools, council offices, leisure centres, Government offices and more in order to oppose the Government’s plans to make workers work longer, pay more pension contributions and get less out of their pensions once they retire.

Picket lines will be manned from 7am onwards and a full list will be published here once unions have let us know.

There will also be rallies in the following places – more are planned and will be published here:

KINGSTON: March from outside Kingston University on Penrhyn Road – assemble at 9.30am for 10.00am start – rally at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Eden Street (opposite Kaatchi), 11.00am
LEATHERHEAD: Assemble for march outside Red House Grounds Park at 10.00am, rally at Leatherhead Theatre, 7 Church Street at 11.00am
WOKING: Assemble in the town centre at 10.00am – stay tuned for further information

Click here to download the leaflet to build for the rallies.

You can find out more about the YES vote, as well as our pay claim for 2012, in the latest issue of Organise!, the newsletter of Surrey County UNISON, which you can download by clicking here.

UNISON members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action to protect their pensions in the biggest ballot we have ever held.

Almost 250,000 public service workers including nurses, teaching assistants, social workers, care assistants, paramedics, police staff, school dinner ladies, probation workers and cleaners posted back ballot papers that said Yes to protecting their pensions.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the work you’ve done in getting that Yes vote.

A total of 245,747 voted Yes, comprising 171,428, or 76% in the local government pension scheme 73,930, or 82% in the NHS pension scheme and 389 or 87% in the principal civil service pension scheme.

Each service group executive – local government, health, police and justice, community, higher education and water, environment and transport – has unanimously agreed to go ahead with strike action on 30 November co-ordinated with other TUC unions.

That has been authorised by the union’s industrial action committee.

Despite statements in Parliament, we have not yet received an offer on pensions, but we are willing to negotiate any time, any place.

Individual ballot results can be found on the links below:

• Local government, England and Wales;
• Local government, Scotland;
• Local government, Northern Ireland;
• NHS, England and Wales;
• NHS, Scotland;
• NHS, Northern Ireland;
• Civil Service scheme.

Thanks again for the work you have done to protect public service pensions. Now let’s keep up the pressure and work to make 30 November a resounding success.

Keep up to date with the campaign by visiting our website atunison.org.uk/pensions/protectour.asp.

Dave Prentis, the General Secretary of UNISON, has sent this message to all UNISON members who are being balloted for Industrial Action on the Government’s proposals for public sector pensions. 

Vote YES to protect your pension

Soon you should receive a ballot paper asking you to vote for industrial action to protect your pension.

Look out for it and vote YES

I am asking you to vote YES because proposed changes to your pension scheme simply aren’t fair.

This is about your future, about the sort of life you want when you stop working. You pay into your pension to give you security and dignity in retirement – and now that retirement is at stake.

These proposed changes will take that dignity and security away. They mean that many of you will pay more for your pension. And most of you will work much longer.

Changes recently imposed mean your pension is already worth less and you will receive less when you retire.

We say enough is enough.

Not a penny of this major increase in your contributions will go towards improving your pension scheme. Instead it will go to the Treasury to pay for the excesses of the bankers.

Vote YES – you can’t afford to do anything else.

For more information, visit unison.org.uk/protectourpensions

Yours,

Dave Prentis
General Secretary

P.S. Remember to vote ‘yes’ as soon as your ballot paper arrives. If you have any questions, you can visit the website: unison.org.uk/protectourpensions or call our ballot hotline from 17 October until noon on 31 October: 0845 355 0845.

We in Surrey County UNISON have been spreading the word around the county, explaining to our members that they will PAY MORE, WORK LONGER and RECEIVE LESS if the government gets its way.

If your team has not heard from UNISON on this issue, please contact us and we will get one of our ‘pensions champions’ to arrange to visit you and explain what is happening. Please also encourage your colleagues to join UNISON if they are not already members.

As our General Secretary said at the TUC, we now have to deliver a huge YES vote in the ballot which will go out in the next few weeks. If the government is still determined to attack our pensions we will then have no alternative other than to take industrial action – along with all the other public sector trade unions – in the Autumn. 5 million public sector workers acting together will have to be listened to.

The full text of Dave Prentis’ speech at the TUC can be found on the UNISON website www.unison.org.uk. but here is an extract:

‘Hands off our pensions!’

“Today, as general secretary of UNISON, I give formal notice to 9,000 employers that we are balloting for action,” declared Dave Prentis when he opened the TUC debate on pensions this morning.

“And in moving to industrial action, I commit UNISON to work with our sister unions the GMB and UNITE.”

He described government plans for public service pensions as “an unprecedented attack on ordinary working people – an audacious and devious means to pay for the greed of others.”

The nature of the attack was clear he said: “They … want to take away our pensions: the pensions our members worked for, the pensions our members saved for every week of their working lives – not for a life of luxury, but for some basic security in retirement.

This Special General Meeting, designed for members who work for Surrey County Council, will discuss what the branch is doing around pay, around pensions and around other changes that the Council want to make.

This meeting is for all UNISON members who work for Surrey County Council and are entitled to attend in work time (provided you have checked with your line manager).

UNISON have been working extremely hard to raise public awareness of these issues and we have teamed up with library action groups and friends groups at most of the threatened libraries towards this aim. UNISON have been central to the publicity, including the very successful lobby of the council attended by over 100 library users and staff on 26th July. We have enlisted the famous childrens author, Alan Gibbons and are working alongside the Campaign for the Book, Voices for the Library and the Love Your Libraries campaigns. We have also enlisted the support of the Surrey Federation of Womens Institutes.

At the last action group meeting (involving representatives of 5 of the threatened libraries and UNISON), a motion was passed unanimously and all the interested parties (friends groups, action groups etc.) are being asked to pass the same motion to prove that the council is misleading people by saying there is ‘enthusiasm’ for the proposals. Please pass on to friends groups in your area.

UNISON are key players locally in the newly launched ‘Surrey Libraries Action Movement (SLAM)’ which brings together local library groups and other stakeholders and which will have its first meeting next Tuesday hosted by the Byfleet Library Action Group.

We are all clear that these eleven libraries will just be the start. If SCC get away with closing or farming out these libraries they will come for the rest. We want to broaden this campaign out further than just the eleven currently threatened libraries.

We ask those of you who are already UNISON members to consider becoming active in this campaign and in UNISON (if you are not already). Contact me at the UNISON office if you are interested.

If you are not a UNISON member you can still get involved directly with SLAM (currently via the Byfleet group) or, ideally, you can join UNISON and be part of our input into the campaign. This is one we can win and then we can continue to protect our libraries and library staff.

Please make sure you fill out the pay survey.

Click here to complete the pay survey

Join the lobby of the SCC Cabinet to save council libraries: Tuesday 26th July, 1pm, at County Hall, Penrhyn Road, Kingston. Click here to download distributable flyers (PDF).

Library workers, users and friends will be breaking the cardinal rule of silence on July 26th when they lobby Surrey County Council’s Cabinet meeting to stand up and say, communities need council libraries!

The lobby has been organised jointly between the Friends of Surrey Libraries, Surrey County UNISON (the union for library workers in Surrey) and has received support from local branches of the Women’s Institute.

They will be joined on the day by much-loved children’s author and Campaign for The Book organiser Alan Gibbons, who will be doing a reading on the day.

Paul Couchman, Branch Secretary of Surrey County UNISON and Secretary of Save Our Services in Surrey, said “Alongside UNISON, Friends of Surrey Libraries voted to send an open letter to the leader of the council, signed by user representatives at all the eleven threatened libraries and to lobby the council cabinet on 26th July.

“The Council’s proposals are flawed throughout, there has been no open public consultation and only financial criteria has been used (which is full of errors) – not the important social and community issues central to what a library does.

“Some of the libraries have started looking at the volunteer option – only because they feel they have a ‘gun to their heads’ and do not want to lose their library altogether – they are not at all enthusiastic about losing their ‘cherished’ paid library staff and fully support the campaign to keep them.

“The lobby of the council promises to be the biggest protest at County Hall in many years, with each library present aiming to get at least ten protesters there (one even suggested they may book a coach!).”

Please note that UNISON members are strongly advised to attend this protest in their own time, e.g.annual leave, flexible working etc.