Why should I join UNISON?
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Are you:
- Feeling underpaid and undervalued?
- Being treated unfairly at work?
- Juggling too much work with home and other commitments?
- Needing health and safety guidance or legal help?
- Hoping to progress through education and training?
- Looking for special offers on a holiday, a computer or insurance?
If the answer’s yes to any of these questions join now. UNISON can
help you get a better deal.
CLICK HERE
for the application form (PDF file)
What can you offer me?
Together UNISON members make up Britain’s biggest trade union - almost
1.3million members working across the public services.
We have more workplace reps than any other union in the country -
backed up by experienced full-time regional and national officers.
Being a UNISON member gives you a huge range of benefits, including:
- Unrivalled protection and representation at work
- Help with pay and conditions of service
- Health and safety guidance and support
- Confidential welfare services for you and your dependents in
difficult times
- Excellent legal services including free help with work problems
and legal support for members and their families
- Pensions advice
- A special hotline, UNISONdirect, for help and advice on workplace
issues
- Online employment and workplace advice
- Education and training advice and courses, leading to vocational
and professional qualifications
- Cash benefits for accidents and injuries at work
- A colour magazine sent to your home four times a year, a
fortnightly newspaper for our stewards and activists and a full
range of publicity
- Special deals on everything from computers, tax returns, holidays,
mortgages, car breakdown services, insurance and credit cards
- Our own holiday centre for members and families at the Devon
seaside
What else should I know?
Here’s four good reasons why UNISON is right for you:
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No one works harder
UNISON won more than £35million in injury settlement payouts for
its members last year, has fought many high-profile equal pay claims
around the country, and is a major influence on government policy
such as the minimum wage, health care, policing and pensions.
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Women represented
UNISON's membership is two-thirds women - so we make sure their
voices are heard throughout the union. At every level of the union,
women are elected in fair proportion to their membership.
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A voice for everyone
UNISON makes sure everyone has a say in how the union is run, from
branch member to general secretary. Our unique structure ensures
top-quality help and advice is available at local, regional and
national level.
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Bigger and better
UNISON is not only the country’s biggest trade union, it’s one
of the fastest growing too. Last year UNISON recruited 148,755 new
members, a staggering 407 per day. This is another step along the
road to building an organising union of two million members.
UNISON successes
These are some of the bigger successes of UNISON in recent years:
UNISON has secured over £35 million in compensation to its members
for personal injury settlements in the past year alone
UNISON achieved a £4 million settlement of an equal pay claim for
over 1,500 school meals workers employed by the former Cleveland County
Council
UNISON has made a number of submissions to the Low Pay Commission (LPC),
pushing for a £5 an hour minimum wage. As a result of UNISON’s work,
the LPC is now a permanent body and its scope has been widened to
examine all aspects of poverty pay
UNISON was the key player in ensuring the government increased the
value of the Basic State Pension in real terms for the first time in 20
years. UNISON’s delegation to the Labour Party also successfully
argued for the restoration of the link to earnings
UNISON is the country's first carbon neutral trade union, thanks to
its policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through its partnership
with Future Forests and the planting of thousands of trees across the UK
UNISON has campaigned hard for increased funding for the NHS and the
government is now implementing real terms increases of six per cent for
the next three years
UNISON has been invited by the Home Office to join the influential
Police Reform Steering Forum, developing radical proposals to improve UK
policing
UNISON's helpline for members and stewards, UNISONdirect (0845 355
0845), handled some 51,800 calls last year. A year-on-year rise of 228
per cent
Union mark-up: workers are better off in unions
Value for money
Most union contributions represent only around half a percent of
workers' earnings but the pay back is considerably greater.
Support at work
You have the legal right to be accompanied by a trade union
representative if you have a workplace grievance or if you are facing
disciplinary action.
Better pay - especially for ethnic minority and women workers
Trade union collective bargaining produces a better rate of pay for
workers. Average earnings are around eight per cent higher in workplaces
where the bulk of the workforce is covered by collective bargaining.
Black and Asian trade unionists earn almost a third more than their
non-union counterparts. For white workers the union premium is ten per
cent.
Pensions
Workplaces are more likely to have a pension scheme where a trade union
is recognised for the purposes of collective bargaining.
Sick pay
Workers in unionised workplaces are more likely to get sick pay paid at
higher than the statutory minimum than those in non-unionised
workplaces.
Annual leave
The average trade union member in the UK gets 29 days' annual leave a
year compared with 23 days for non-union members.
Equal opportunities and family-friendly working
Workplaces with union recognition are 20 per cent more likely to have an
equal opportunities policy than workplaces where no union is recognised
and 12 per cent more likely to have parental leave policies in place.
Women in unionised workplaces are better off in terms of career
opportunities, flexible working arrangements and support for family
responsibilities than women in non-union workplaces.
Job security
Trade union members are only half as likely to be sacked as non-members
and if they do they get better compensation.
Three quarters of union-organised workplaces in an LRD survey had a
procedure agreement on redundancy consultation, 80 per cent had agreed
measures to avoid redundancy and almost three quarters had a redundancy
pay scheme better than the statutory scheme.
Health and safety
Studies found there was a 50 per cent reduction in major injuries in
workplaces where there were trade union safety reps and consultation. In
trade unionised workplaces there was a 33 per cent improvement in health
and safety.
Legal Compensation
Unions won over £321 million in legal compensation for their members
who were victims of work-related illness and injury in 2000 - an average
of more than £6,000 per case.
UNISON won £35 million for its members in personal injury cases
alone in 2001 and many millions more in employment tribunal cases.
A majority of unions also offer legal help in non-work related cases,
such as claiming social security benefits, representation in road
traffic cases, free wills, and so on to members and their families.
Unions win or achieve settlements in 77 per cent of cases lodged with
tribunals compared with 45 per cent of cases overall.
Training
Workers in unionised workplaces are more likely to receive job-related
training than those in non-unionised workplaces.
Other membership benefits
Unions offer additional fringe membership benefits such as cheaper
mortgages and insurance, holiday clubs, shopping discounts, credit
cards, discounted car breakdown membership and so on.
To find out more about UNISON go to our About
Us pages
CLICK HERE for the application form
(PDF file)
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