If we want to try and improve the workplace and feedback members concerns we need stewards across all parts of the University.

 THE ROLE OF A STEWARD INVOLVES:

• supporting and advising members on workplace issues
• representing members
• be the first and main point of contact for members with the union
• recruit new members
• work with members to establish an organised workplace
• support and advise members on workplace issues
• act as a spokesperson for the members they represent and for
• the branch
• represent members with the employer, dependent on their
• experience and confidence
• represent members within the branch committee
• be answerable to the members they represent

The benefits of becoming a steward include:

To help you with this role you will receive training and support, and will be part of a group of Officers and Stewards who support members at The University of Sheffield.

• opportunity to improve your communication and negotiation skills
• helping fellow members
• getting to know members from across the University
• being more informed, and involved in your union

If you are interested in becoming a steward please contact unison@sheffield.ac.uk  

There are a number of opportunities for members to be more involved in the branch.

Continue reading ROLES IN THE BRANCH →

The diaries will be available for members to collect at the Christmas Social on Thursday  1 December at the University Arms.

Making a will is important, whatever your age. If you don’t leave a will, the law decides how your possessions are passed on – and it might not be what you had in mind.

But making a will can be an expensive business, typically costing between £150 and £300 with a solicitor.

Luckily, as a UNISON member you and your family are entitled to make a will free of charge. Simply fill in the simple online form and download your will at the end.

Find out more and make your will today.

To celebrate the relaunch of UNISON’s pre-paid plus cashback card all existing cardholders and any member who registers by 19 December 2016, could win back the cost of Christmas (which has been calculated by experts to be £796) read more>>

Top holiday deals of the week including great value Mediterranean holidays, far and away holidays and fantastic cruise holidays read more>>

Research by the Papworth Trust has revealed how propaganda about the NHS swayed disabled voters who didn’t know how many of their protections were from the EU, a Unison conference was told.

The suggestion that the UK could spend the money it sends to Brussels on the NHS was a major reason that many disabled voters backed the call to leave the European Union in June, ‘gambling’ with protections that few realised the EU had guaranteed for them.

Find out more.

National Stress Awareness Day was held on 2 November.

Stress is one of the biggest causes of health problems in the workplace. In general terms, stress is a reaction to pressure or harassment at work read more.

University’s Stress Management Policy

The University of Sheffield unveiled its Staff Release Scheme. This is a measure brought in by the university’s Strategy Delivery Group as a response to the university’s financial forecasts.

We are concerned that members may be under the impression that

• the university’s actions are a direct result of the EU-referendum (they are not: these concerns predate the vote);
• rising staff costs are the main problem (they are not: staff costs have fallen as a proportion of income);
• the university is strapped for cash (it’s not: it’s choosing to prioritize eye-watering levels of capital spending);
• the university can’t afford fair pay increases (it can: it’s factored into its forecasts an undisclosed, probably sizeable, figure);
• the unions negotiated the Staff Release Scheme (we didn’t: it was presented to us with no consultation);
• the Strategy Delivery Group is doing its best to be transparent (it’s not: it reports only to the VC with no publicly available minutes or union representation).

The Staff Release Scheme

A voluntary severance scheme will see accepted staff leaving with a month’s pay for each year they’ve worked, subject to a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 9. The scheme is open to all staff and is an individual decision. Staff must not feel pressured or coerced by managers or colleagues into applying for release, especially if it is felt that pressure or coercion is on the grounds of age, disability or any other protected characteristic as this is discrimination and, depending on individual cases, illegal. Likewise, while there is no appeal, the University does have obligations to make decisions fairly and we’ll be on the lookout for any bad decision-making. Please get in touch with any information or concerns.