Welcome to Kingston UNISON Branch
Our UNISON Branch website will give you all the information you need about UNISON, our Kingston Local Government Branch, what we do, how to join UNISON and why you should join. It will also give you an insight into some of the workplace issues we deal with and where to go for advice and guidance.
The benefits of being a member of UNISON are many and you will find details about our service providers, Equalities support, free legal advice and the UNISON holiday village in Croyde Bay. UNISON is the largest public service employees union in the country with 1.4m members nationwide and our Branch is your friend at work.
A Personal Message from Dave Prentis, General Secretary on 30 November 2011
Today you made history. Every single UNISON member supporting the day of action has played their part in this fantastic day.
UNISON members - mostly women, many low-paid and many taking strike action for the first time ever - stood up and said, with quiet resolve: enough is enough.
Our members work every day of every year to provide the services our communities rely on. Many work behind the scenes in schools, hospitals, town halls, libraries and a thousand other workplaces unseen by the media and politicians.
But today they made their presence felt and their voices heard throughout the UK.
They told politicians that they would not stand by and see their pensions attacked and undermined and they would not be made to pay for the crisis caused by speculators and bankers.
A historic day indeed. A day which must make the government think again and negotiate a fair deal on pensions for our members.
A great day for UNISON and my proudest day as your general secretary.
For more information:
unison.org.uk/protectourpensions
Yours,
Dave Prentis
General Secretary
NOTICEBOARD
| Last Updated | Latest News Item |
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| 3/1/12 | HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR MEMBERS! |
| 6/12/11 | UNISON membership applications go up by 126% since ballot result |
| 6/12/11 | 30 November Day of Action - Video and Photo Gallery |
| 6/12/11 | Join UNISON and take action against Local Government Pension Scheme cuts |
| 1/12/11 | Thank you to everybody who joined the day of action yesterday - it was a very successful day! The picket lines were well attended by our members with over 800 people, including members from other unions, marching to the rally at the Richard Mayo Centre. To see pictures of the day go to our Members Section! |
| 29/11/11 | Please attend our main picket lines tomorrow within the Guildhall complex from 7.00 am. There will also be a high profile March through Kingston starting at 10.00 am from the Penrhyn Road Campus of Kingston University end with a rally at the Richard Mayo Centre in the United Reformed Church |
| 29/11/11 | If you want to attend the SERTUC march in London against pension cuts click here for information on the where and when. |
| 7/11/11 | Job satisfaction at RBK is at a 10-year low according to the Surrey Comet and an anonymous staff survey carried out by Kingston University. |
| 4/11/11 | After yesterday’s decisive yes vote, a number of newspapers and websites are running polls, asking if we are right to strike... It is key that we keep getting the message across that our fight is fair, so we need members and officers to get in touch with these polls. Two are up today – there will be more, so we will keep them coming.. Daily Star – are these strikes right? Yes – 0901 030 8389 – or text DSFRIYNES to 80088 – calls cost 25p texts, 25p plus standard text Telegraph online poll - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8867567/Unison-votes-for-pensions-strike.html They are currently on 65% NO - so we need to get this vote up. |
| 4/11/11 | There is also a poll running on The Guardian website please see the link below: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/poll/2011/nov/03/public-sector-pension-members-right-to-strike?newsfeed=true Currently 65.1% vote yes! Poll closes in one day! Everyone get voting. |
| 31/10/11 |
PENSIONS CALCULATOR - find out how much more you will have to pay, how much longer you will work and how much pension you will lose when you retire by using the online pension calculator. There is now a calculator for each of the pension schemes:· NHS Pension Scheme
· Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS)
· Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
The calculator is based on a standard 37 hour working week.
In London most boroughs will be on a 36 hour week, whilst some will be on 35. This will not make any difference if you work full time, and if so you should not change the default figure of 37. However if you are part time it will make a difference. To take account of this you will need to adjust the hours you work to take account of the different full time hours you work by doing one of the following:
If your Borough has a 35 hour week you should multiply the hours you work each week by 1.057 and enter the result in the calculator (eg 20 hours x 1.057 = 21.14)
If your borough has a 36 hour week you should multiply the hours you work each week by 1.028 and enter the result in the calculator (eg 20 hours X 1.028 = 20.56)
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| 18/10/11 | UNISON in Schools Autumn 2011 Newsletter is out. Read it here! |
| 30/9/11 | Vote YES to protect your pension - look out for your ballot paper asking you to vote for industrial action to protect your pension - your retirement is at stake. |
| 8/9/11 | For an important update on the Local Government Pension Scheme please go to the Members Section |
| 8/9/11 | For an important update on the NJC Pay Claim please go to the Members Section |
| 8/9/11 |
Please read the following articles - Bosses' bonuses up by 187% since 2002 and Top directors get pensions of £175,000 - interesting reading.
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| 8/9/11 | More fabulous holiday offers from UNISON Travel - plan your 2012 holiday now!!!! |
| 12/8/11 |
Please read this attached letter from Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate, who are organising a day of action this Saturday to collect signatures for a ban.
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| 21/7/11 | To read our Branch Summer newsletter to go the Members' Section and scroll down to Branch Newsletters |
| 21/7/11 | UNISON Dental Health Plan - for just 32p a day you can get up to 100% of your dental bills back!!! |
| 21/7/11 | UNISONplus Healthcare Plan - protection for you and your family! Guaranteed acceptance, no medical questions and easy to join from as little as £3.23 per week. |
| 21/7/11 | UNISONplus 50+ Healthcare Plan - UNISON has developed this plan specifically for you as a low cost alternative to private medical insurance, helping you plan your finances for the cost of visiting the dentist, optician, physiotherapist and much much more. |
| 28/6/11 | Sister Unions' Industrial Action on 30 June - read UNISON's advice to its members |
| 24/6/11 | UNISON National Conference Newsletter - find out what's been happening in Manchester! |
| 24/6/11 | Teachers' Industrial Action - advice to school members - please read before 30 June |
| 20/6/11 | Regional and National Conference News Updates |
| 6/6/11 | Whilst you're on holiday why not take advantage of these special car hire discounts for all UNISON members |
| 6/6/11 | See the Special Holiday Offers for all UNISON members - get your beach towels ready! |
| 6/6/11 | See these Lealta Special Discounts for all Kingston Branch members |
| 6/6/11 | Special Apple offers for all UNISON members and Lealta Card holders |
| 23/5/11 | Article in Sutton Guardian re Council plans to merge services |
| 20/5/11 | Help us save the NHS Blood and Transplant service - a message from Dave Prentis, UNISON's General Secretary |
| 20/5/11 | Information from UNISON Travel Club - special holiday offers for all members |
| 11/4/11 | Kingston Local Government Branch currently has 143 case files. Thompsons Solicitors handled 813 UNISON London region cases in 2010 with personal injury damages recovered of a total of £2,647,420. This compares to 829 cases in 2009 recovering £3,635,720 in damages. |
| 11/4/11 | UNISON in Schools Spring Newsletter |
| 30/3/11 | For photographs and a brief report on our 2011 AGM please visit the Past Events section of this website. Also see our photographs of the TUC March for the Alternative under Past Events! |
| 30/3/11 | For a full list of Branch Officers and Stewards, as voted in at our AGM on 24 March, please go to 'Who's Who in the Kingston Branch' under 'What We Do' on this website. |
| 22/2/11 | We have, today, handed in our members' response to RBK's Employer of Choice Consultation paper. All members can access the response by going to the Members Section and logging in. |
| 1/12/10 |
Message from Linda Perks, Regional Secretary, UNISON Greater London Region.
Advert it Metro referred to in Linda's message
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| 21/10/10 | Comprehensive Spending Review - A message from Dave Prentis |
| 07/10/10 | If you are worried about redundancy and its process please look at the RBK Managing Change Flowchart |
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Top 10 - Reasons to Join
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UNISON is the leading trade union for staff employed by Kingston local authority. We organise and represent all staff, whatever their role, from receptionists, analysts, social workers and teaching assistants through to housing management and finance staff. We recruit full time/part time staff, contract staff or short term contracts and agency staff throughout the borough.
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What does Kingston UNISON do ?
Kingston Local Government Branch provides support and services for our members in the local authority. Our members work at numerous locations across the borough but UNISON has a team of dedicated stewards, who ensure that their members' voices are heard in disputes or negotiations. UNISON monitor pay and conditions across the sector so that our members benefit from up-to-date information and best practice in employment.
UNISON is a positive influence within the workplace and by maintaining relationships with decision makers we are able to negotiate and lobby on your behalf on employment issues such as health and safety, equality and discrimination.
Want to become more involved and think you can help us - click here