CLIFF WILLIAMS 1954-2017: a SPECIAL PLACE in OUR HEARTS Great Deals for Work and Play
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SPRING 2018 | ISSUE 29 | £3 WWW.UNISON-YORKS.ORG.UK CLIFF WILLIAMS 1954-2017: A SPECIAL PLACE IN OUR HEARTS Great deals for work and play If you’re a member of UNISON, we won’t just look after you at work, we’ll be there for evenings, weekends and holidays too. We’ve chosen a range of fantastic deals to make your down time the best time. For more information on UNISON Living visit benefi ts.unison.org.uk SPRING 2018 UNISON ACTIVE! 03 WELCOME OurUnion BIGGER AND BETTER his year our on the challenges know, our assistant General Secretary Dave Prentis Tunion will thrown at us, not general secretary Cliff Regional Secretary reach an important just surviving, but Williams passed away John Cafferty DAVE PRENTIS milestone – our thriving, even in in December. He was a GENERAL Regional Convenor 25th birthday. A tough times. Now, champion for UNISON SECRETARY Wendy Nichols quarter of a century as we look ahead to and our members UNISON Yorkshire & ago, UNISON was the next 25 years, – but he was also a Humberside Commerce House, Wade Lane, founded through the this is the right time champion for your Leeds LS2 8NJ coming together of to show we can region too. An adopted T: 08000 857 857 or freephone textphone 08000 967 968 three great unions renew ourselves. The son of Yorkshire, Cliff W: www.unison-yorks.org.uk – NALGO, NUPE world – especially at served with distinction Lines are open 6am-midnight and COHSE. In the work – has changed as your regional Monday-Friday and 9am-4pm Saturdays years that followed, in the past two and secretary. He will be so many people a half decades, and missed by so many Editor have written off both so must we. We are of you in his home Barrie Clement our union and our already the biggest region, and around the Consulting Editor members. First we and best union in country, in the years Mary Maguire were told the union the country, but ahead. Chief Photographer would not succeed, working together, Jim Varney then in more recent we can be an even Contributors years, we were bigger and better Iain Birrell, Peter Carroll, Ryan Fletcher, Helen Hague, Tom Jones, told that UNISON union for all our Mary Maguire, Annie Mitchell, Paul Routledge couldn’t last through members. the austerity years. Of course, this Published on behalf of UNISON by But those time of celebration Century One Publishing Ltd. predictions were is also tinged Alban Row, 27-31 Verulam Road Great deals for St. Albans, Herts AL3 4DG wrong. Our union with sadness. T: 01727 893 894 has always taken As you will all F: 01727 893 895 E: [email protected] work and play W: www.centuryonepublishing.uk Advertising enquiries I’m really proud of you all Jonathan Knight T: 01727 739 193 E: [email protected] Throughout the region our will be too stupid to see through their members are leading campaigns lies. And of course they can rely on their Design and Layout Caitlyn Hobbs against further privatisation of the own newspapers to hide the truth. T: 01727 739 189 WENDY NHS. As our late regional secretary Cliff E: [email protected] NICHOLS The backdoor privatisation Williams said at the beginning of REGIONAL Printed by CONVENOR of NHS services using so-called Cameron and Osborne’s austerity Unison Print wholly owned subsidiaries is a regime, their goal has always been to W.Nichols Copyright reproduction in whole or clear example of the government’s undermine the public sector. part by any means without written permission of the publisher is mission to destroy the NHS. This same poisonous ideology has left strictly forbidden. UNISON and the If you’re a member of UNISON, publisher accept no responsibility But the Tories know that voters local government struggling to provide for errors, omissions or the we won’t just look after you at work, we’ll be there consequences thereof. overwhelmingly support the NHS and the most essential public services. are fi rmly against privatisation of the The Tories continue to infl ict squalor © UNISON 2018 for evenings, weekends and holidays too. We’ve chosen a range service. on our treasured public services while SPRING 2018 | ISSUE 29 | £3 of fantastic deals to make your down time the best time. WWW.UNISON-YORKS.ORG.UK So they insist they are not privatising enriching the private sector fat cats with services, even when they are blatantly our money. For more information on UNISON Living handing over millions of pounds of But our members are fi ghting to taxpayers’ money to companies like protect jobs and services on behalf of visit benefi ts.unison.org.uk CLIFF WILLIAMS Richard Branson’s Virgin. the public. I am enormously proud of 1954-2017: A SPECIAL PLACE IN OUR HEARTS The contempt in which they hold the them all. electorate means they are confi dent we l Page 16,17,18: Cliff Williams 04 UNISON ACTIVE! SPRING 2018 NEWS Don’t be daft, join a union! When UNISON activist fact they had very similar regional organiser Leonie claimants’ waiting room Liam Adam was dismissed job descriptions. Members Sharp who ‘kept calm and on the final day there was from his post in a Yorkshire had to be interviewed for professional throughout’ a woman on an adjacent university after 25 years of their own jobs. said Liam. table. She had just lost her unblemished service, he Liam said: “I was On day one of the case and her barrister was decided to ‘stand up and be confident except that it was hearing both parties telling her that she should counted’. my first interview in 25 conferred with the judge approach her insurers to His UNISON branch took years and I didn’t pass. to agree a running order see if they would cover her up his case and referred it to “All my years of service and the following day both costs. Thompsons Solicitors who gone in as many minutes! parties questioned each Leonie, my wife and I all believed he had a case for I appealed but still the other’s cases. looked up at the same time unfair dismissal, writes Peter university wouldn’t see UNISON won the and, possibly louder than Carroll. sense. My appeal and the case for unfair dismissal we should have, said ‘or The employer grounds for it were turned and the judge awarded join a union’. had embarked on a down.” compensation to Liam, “Unions are here to restructuring excercise but So the case went to an who is now studying for a protect members and refused to ‘slot’ staff into the employment tribunal, degree. this case did all of that in new structure despite the presented by a barrister and Said Liam: “In the spades,” said Liam. Got a yearn to learn? COURSE TITLE COURSE DATES CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS Organising Steward - Online Version 23 April -15 June 2018 Friday, 6 April 2018 Branch Officer Training Weekend 12, 13 May 2018 Monday, 2 April 2018 UNISON Workplace Refresher 4, 5 June 2018 Wednesday, 2 May 2018 Organising Steward 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 June 2018 Wednesday, 2 May 2018 Discussion Leader 6, 7 June 2018 Friday, 4 May 2018 Negotiating Skills for Activists 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 June 2018 Monday, 7 May 2018 Women's Assertiveness 23, 24 June 2018 Monday 21 May 2018 Equalities in your Branch 26, 27 June 2018 Friday, 25 May 2018 Your Skills Your Future 2 July 2018 Friday, 1 June 2018 Health & Safety Representatives 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 July 2018 Friday, 1 June 2018 Building Confidence in Women 7, 8 July 2018 Monday, 4 June 2018 Confidence Building (Power to be You) 9 July 2018 Friday, 8 June 2018 Organising Steward 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 July 2018 Wednesday, 13 June 2018 Mentoring 23, 24 July 2018 Friday, 22 June 2018 Lay Tutor Training 25, 26, 27 July 2018 Monday, 25 June 2018 Autism Awareness (Open University) 31 July 2018 Friday, 29 June 2018 Organising Steward 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 September 2018 Friday, 3 August 2018 Branch Treasurer Online Accounting (OLBA) Training 5 September 2018 Friday, 3 August 2018 UNISON Learning Representatives 5, 6, 7 September 2018 Friday, 3 August 2018 Confidence Building (Power to be You) 10 September 2018 Friday, 10 August 2018 Organising Steward - Online Version 10 September - 2 November 2018 Friday, 25 August 2018 Application forms should be sent to your branch for approval. For courses later in the year and any other information please contact Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Education Team on 0113 218 2330. SPRING 2018 UNISON ACTIVE! 05 NEWS We’re leading the fight against ‘NHS lite’ UNISON is leading the The Airedale and go onto local terms and to getting those staff back fight to stop NHS trusts Bradford NHS trusts have conditions, earning slightly into the NHS and we will transferring staff to private both delayed transferring more basic salary but continue to represent our subsidiary companies – staff to a private company losing five days holiday a members and make sure described as ‘backdoor after hearing UNISON’s year and receiving greatly they get everything they privatisation’. arguments. reduced sickness benefits are entitled to.” Across Yorkshire and But in Harrogate, the and pensions. Sara Gorton, UNISON’s Humberside our members trust ignored all the “We have made it clear national head of health, have held indicative ballots objections and has now this will create a two- recently told The Guardian: for industrial action and transferred 320 non-clinical tier workforce and will “This policy is all too staged protests at hospitals staff to a private subsidiary.