This motion was passed at our December branch committee meeting
Continue readingNotice of Lambeth UNISON AGM 2025
Our 2025 AGM is on Thursday13 February – all the details are below.
Continue readingLambeth Unison and Local Government Pension Scheme Divestment over Palestine
This motion was passed at our Branch Committee in September 2024
Members of this branch:
● Continue to express our horror and outrage at the Israeli state’s genocidal assault on the Gazan people, intensifying Israel’s barbaric colonisation of Palestine since 1948
● Condemn unequivocally the support given to Israel by the UK government and by the Labour Party leadership;
● Declare our determination to provide practical solidarity with Palestine.
Members of this branch
● Note that £10.4 million of our pension fund is invested in companies that support Israel’s apartheid regime and its genocidal actions, including many companies that supply weapons and military surveillance technology to Israel
● Reject entirely a situation in which our pension fund is being used to finance a genocide, alongside the ongoing colonisation of historic Palestine, especially the West Bank;’
● Note that the union’s national policy on Palestine supports a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel
Members of this branch further resolve, in line with branch policy, to:
● Campaign for BDS in solidarity with Palestine
● Demand that the Council divest itself of all investments in companies linked to Israel, either directly or indirectly through banks and investment funds;
● Call upon other unions whose members have LGPS pensions members to support this demand and to campaign with us for divestment
● Insist upon a meeting with the Council to put forward our demands
● Call for a branch campaign and meeting to support maximum attendance at a lobby of the Pensions Committee meeting happening on the 9th October.
Council and School Pay campaign 2024
Local government staff keep communities safe, clean and accessible, often for little to no recognition.
Within our 2024 claim, we asked the employers for a pay increase of £3,000 or 10%, whichever was greater. The offer of £1,290 falls far short of this. (The local government employers have made an offer of a flat rate increase of £1,575 for workers in the inner London area and £1,491 for workers in outer London.)
Following a consultation of member, our NJC committee, made up of leading activists, decided that we would proceed with an industrial action ballot.
The ballot opens on Wednesday 4 September and closes at 10:00 on Wednesday 16 October.
Voting for, and taking, industrial action will send a clear message to employers that you need a better pay rise.
We will continue to every means possible to make the employers improve their offer. Read our latest joint union letter to the employers here.
Industrial action FAQs can be found below.
Find out how the offer stacks up against our claim using our pay calculator.
Lambeth Council signs UNISON ethical care charter
Lambeth Council senior leaders signed up to the UNISON ethical care charter on 18 March.
UNISON has been campaigning for Council’s to sign the Ethical Care Charter since 2013 after a survey of care sector workers found “a committed but poorly paid and treated workforce which is doing its best to maintain good levels of quality care in a system that is in crisis”
The idea of the charter is “to establish a minimum baseline for the safety, quality and dignity of care by ensuring employment conditions which a) do not routinely short- change clients and b) ensure the recruitment and retention of a more stable workforce through more sustainable pay, conditions and training levels. Rather than councils seeking to achieve savings by driving down the pay and conditions that have been the norm for council – employed staff, they should be using these as a benchmark against which to level up.”
You can read the UNISON ethical care charter online by clicking on the link below.
The task for UNISON now is to ensure that the charter makes a difference on the ground to workers in the care sector. If you are reading this and you work in care but are not a member of UNISON then you can join today at join.unison.org.uk.
Will your pay go up in 2024?
Every year the joint trade union side for local governmemnt, UNISON, GMB and Unite, negotiate over pay. Below are details of the joint pay claim for local government workers in 2024-5
Pay Claim 2024-5
Local government pay has fallen back into bargain basement territory. We are some of the lowest paid workers in the public sector.
We have lost 25% of our pay in real terms since 2010.
More and more of us are struggling to make ends meet and falling into debt.
This year UNISON alongside the other unions has proposed the following:
A pay rise of £3,000 or 10% (whichever is greater) for all local government & school workers
The full claim is available on our Pay Campaign Website 2024
Gearing up for the pay campaign!
The Employers Side will be consulting councils on the pay claim throughout March 2024, before meeting initially in April and then again in May 2024 to consider their response. It is crucial that we maximize political pressure on council and school employers during this period. We need everyone to make it absolutely clear to national and local government employers why a fair and decent pay rise is so vital.
Please use this Local Goverment funding campaign website
This is a political fight to get central government to properly fund the public sector. The money is out there but they are prioritising ‘vote winning’ tax cuts over providing the services that people rely on.
Make sure your data is up to date
In case you are balloted for strike action over the pay claim we need to make sure your address is up to date. Please check your current details with us at My UNISON – Login Page.
Lambeth UNISON leads the way
During last years pay campaign Lambeth UNISON got the highest turn out in the country and an amazing 89% yes vote for strike action. This year local government branches up and down the country are looking to us because we are a flagship branch made up of trade unionists who want to fight for a decent standard of living and better pay.
If there are new people in your team then get the to join UNISON today join.unison.org.uk!
If we do get balloted for strike action over the pay claim we will expect every member to vote and have their say. Without a decent fight our pay will continue to decline and the crisis in local government will only get worse – that means engaged and active members across the union.
AGM 2024 booklet
Below is the AGM 2024 booklet with reports from our officers on what they have been doing
Motions Booklet AGM 2024
This is the motions booklet for the AGM(s) on 20 February. We will be voting on which motions we want to become branch policy. You can download the booklet as a PDF by clicking on the link below.
Rest in Power – Professor Benjamin Zephaniah
15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023
We have sadly lost a great voice, who no matter what he went through he always rose-up.
Professor Benjamin Zephaniah achieved so much in his life; he made everyday count. He needs to be celebrated and honoured for all he has achieved.
Continue readingNotice of Annual General Meeting 2024
The Lambeth UNISON 2024 AGM will be held on Tuesday 20 February
Two AGM Sessions, both at Lambeth Town Hall
- 1pm-3pm (Council Workers)
- 4.30 – 5.30pm (Schools and Private Sector)
The purpose of the annual general meeting is to bring the branch committee and its officers to account:
- agree policies and plans for the year;
- to elect branch officers and branch representatives to external bodies for the coming year
- to report on the branch’s finances;
- to report on the branch’s activity during the past year ;
- to receive a report on the annual assessment.
If you would like to submit a motion or an agenda point to the AGM agenda, please email the full text of your motion to Ruth Cashman rcashman@lambeth.gov.uk or to UNISON, Room G.3. Lambeth Town Hall, 1 Brixton Hill, London SW2 1RW
Please see below if you would like to stand as, or nominate a candidate to be an Officer of the Branch. If so write to our nominations officer Paul at PDFitzgerald@lambeth.gov.uk If you have any questions about roles and responsibilities or particular officers do not hesitate to contact us.
Please see below for important deadlines.
12 December 2023: Nominations for Officer and delegate elections close
9 January 2024: Motions and rule change deadline, motions will then be circulated a few days later.
23 January: Alternative motions deadline. Due to nature of the AGM we cannot accept amendments, instead members are asked to write alternative motions.
6 February: AGM papers distributed
16 February: Deadline for emergency motions.
Officer posts at the UNISON branch
Branch Secretary In charge of day to day running of the branch, overall strategy, campaigns, etc (5 days facility agreed)
Assistant Branch Secretary Currently three roles for overseeing policy, casework and campaigns
Branch Chair The branch chair facilitates branch and committee meetings, and may also be a senior negotiator.
Branch Vice Chair Chairs meetings when the branch chair is unavailable
Branch Treasurer Responsible for finances in collaboration with the secretary
Deputy Branch Treasurer Assists the branch treasurer
Publicity Officer Helps produce newsletters, manage social media accounts, press releases and so on.
Membership Officer Assists with recruitment and retention, managing our membership database.
Health and Safety Officer## Watch that badly fixed light! Is work making you stressed? Health and safety is the name of the game.
Environmental Officer Helps keep the branch up to date on green issues and develops campaigns and policy (will be a very important role in years to come!)
Equality Officer Is responsible for equalities issues, assisting self-organised groups and being a union lead on equalities at work
International Officer Keeps an eye on the news, is informed about international issues and feeds campaign ideas into the branch (e.g. anti-fascism in Brazil, solidarity with trade unionists in Colombia, anti-war campaigning in the Middle East)
Welfare Officer The lead person for assisting members with any welfare issues and providing access to UNISON’s welfare fund.
Learning Co-ordinator# Works with employers and co-ordinates the work of union learning reps in supporting members with lifelong learning and skills for life
Education Officer Helps arrange training courses and education programmes for members, stewards, health and safety reps and branch officers.
Returning Officer Oversees elections for the AGM and any by elections that may be held for officer posts or convenor roles.
Branch Auditor Checks over our finances and ensures we have complied with UNISON regulations.
Deputy Branch Auditor Helps the branch auditor carry out their duties
Young Members Officer** Coordinates campaigning and organising work among younger members – are you under 30 and interested?
Labour Link Officer++ A crucial role in liaising with local Labour Parties and coordinating delegates from UNISON to Labour to advocate for our unions agenda.
** must be under 30 at end of their term of office (early 2023)
++must be a Labour Party member who pays into the Affiliated Political Fund
# must be a trained ULR (training provided)
## must be a trained safety rep (training provided)
All posts are open to job share
Lambeth UNISON 