Our UNISON

UNISON is Britain and Europe’s biggest public sector union with more than 1.3 million members. Our members are people working in the public services, for private contractors providing public services and in the essential utilities. They include frontline staff and managers working full or part time in local authorities, the NHS, the police service, colleges and schools, the electricity, gas and water industries, transport and the voluntary sector.

UNISON is the largest UK trade union for support staff in higher education. Our 50,000 members include registrars, librarians, personnel, technicians, administrators, clerks, secretaries, cleaners, craftworkers, catering staff, porters and people working in IT, finance and estates management.

How UNISON works

Every member of UNISON belongs to a local branch which is made up of people working for the same employer. In Sheffield there are two higher education branches, ourselves and Sheffield Hallam University,  in addition to a number of branches based in the NHS and local government.

Local stewards are there to represent you at work and help find the answers to your problems. They are volunteers and play a vital role in recruiting new members and organising your branch. If you have a problem, talk to your local steward. If they can’t handle the problem on their own, they can talk to other branch officers or full – time union experts on your behalf.

Anyone can face problems at work sometimes but if you are a member of UNISON, you don’t have to face them alone. We can provide advice or representation on things like pay, rotas, leave and sickness procedures. We are also there to help you make sure your workplace is healthy and safe, support you in case of disciplinary action, dismissals or redundancy –  become a member membership application form (pay via salary) .