ANNUAL REPORT 2004/2005

I am pleased to present the Annual report for 2004/2005. The report gives a summary of the activities the branch has been involved in throughout the year.

MEMBERSHIP

During the course of the year membership dropped slightly from over 2122 to 1965. This decrease can be attributed to an update of our records through the national membership system to which we now have direct access from the branch office. Last years figure was probably slightly inflated by members who had left still appearing as members because processing was not so fast as it now is. Recruitment has remained fairly steady, due in no small measure to the work of our stewards. However we know there remain many potential members within the employment of organisations from which we recruit. The decrease in membership reduces the size of our delegations to national and regional conferences. This is because the cut off figure is 2000. Since we have a membership around that figure our delegation is likely to continue to fluctuate from year to year. We have members in the organisations listed below: -

· West Dunbartonshire Council;

· Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute Valuation Joint Board;

· Clydebank College;

· Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park;

· Small employers within the Voluntary and Related Sector; and

· Our retired and unemployed members.

During the course of the year Tom Morrison assumed responsibilities for recruitment of stewards and members. Tom’s hard work has ensured that our membership has remained fairly buoyant. Tom has also encouraged several members to become stewards. His efforts are greatly appreciated although there remains much to be done.

BRANCH ORGANISATION

Recruitment of stewards remains a priority for the branch. Last year saw another small increase in the number of stewards. However it remains the case that many constituencies are left vacant. Members are reminded that stewards are the main contact point for members. Unfilled vacancies in stewards’ constituencies reduce branch efficiency and increase workload for branch officers.

SCOTTISH AND NATIONAL REPRESENTATION

During 2004 – 2005 the branch was represented in the various National and Scottish forums as follows:

Margaret Ferris

Chair of the National Women’s Conference Standing Orders Committee

Scottish Local Government Committee

Scottish Women’s Committee

Scottish Education Committee

Delegate To Scottish Council

Delegate to the Scottish Local Government Conference

Delegate to National Conference

Delegate to National Local Government Service Group Conference

Delegate to the Scottish Women’s Conference

Pat Rowland

Scottish Council Treasurer

Scottish Committee

Scottish Welfare Committee

Scottish Health and Safety Committee

Scottish Region Delegate to National Women’s Conference

Scottish Region Delegate to National Delegate Conference

Member of the National Subscription Appeal Panel

Vice Chair of UNISON Scotland Labour Link

Tom Morrison

Delegate to Scottish Council

Delegate to Clydebank Trades Council

Delegate to National Conference

Delegate to National Local Government Delegate Conference

Tom Rainey

Delegate to Scottish Council

Delegate to the Scottish Local Government Conference

Delegate to National Conference

Delegate to National Local Government Service Group Conference

Isabel Paterson

Delegate to Scottish Council

Delegate to National Local Government Service Group Conference

Delegate to the Scottish Women’s Conference

Delegate to National Women’s Conference

Delegate to the Scottish Local Government Conference

Angela Nicoll

Scottish Young Members Committee

Joanne Geddes

Delegate to the Scottish Local Government Conference

Delegate to Scottish Council

Alex Cunningham

Delegate to Dumbarton Trades Council

Eddie Darroch

Scottish Retired Members Committee

Ben Morrison

Delegate to the Retired Members National Conference

SERVICE CONDITIONS TEAM

The main officers dealing with service conditions this year were: -

Tom Rainey – Service Conditions Officer Covering members in Development and Environmental Services; Chief Executive Officer’s Department and Department of Corporate Services and members employed outwith West Dunbartonshire Council.

Tom Morrison – Depute SCO Covering members in Social Work and Housing and Technical Services.

Tom Dick – Depute SCO Covering members in Education and Leisure Services.

Bill Keady – Depute SCO Covering members in Housing Services and the Department of Commercial and Technical Services.

The work of the service conditions team lies principally in advising members about conditions of service and providing representation where required within the grievance and disciplinary processes. In addition the team makes recommendations to the Branch Executive Committee on the position the Branch may wish to adopt on local negotiations of service conditions and other employment related issues. The team is supplemented when required by the Branch Chairperson, Equalities Officer and the Regional Officer. My grateful appreciation goes to each of them for all their hard work throughout the year.

WELFARE

Isabel Paterson continued in her position as Branch Welfare Officer during the course of the year and several requests for advice were referred to her. Isabel can be contacted via the branch office and members can be assured of complete confidentiality. Our thanks go to Isabel for her services in this important role.

EQUALITIES

Denise McLaughlin, who was elected as Equalities Officer at last year’s AGM left the branch during the year to take up a post in London. Margaret Ferris, who has previously carried out this role, took over the duties on a caretaker basis. The role is to offer advice and guidance on issues of equality and to promote UNISON policies within the branch.

Many thanks to Margaret for her hard work

EDUCATION

Margaret Ferris also undertook the role of Branch Education Officer. During the course of the year Margaret advised on training courses available at a Scottish and National level. Margaret also advised on STUC courses which some of our stewards took up, particularly in relation to health and safety at work. The branch successfully ran a new stewards training course in May 2003 that was well attended. Again our thanks go to Margaret.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

During 2004 Tom Dick continued to organise the Branch Safety Committee.

Consultation with representatives of the Council continues in terms of policies and procedures that will benefit all employees.

UNISON in partnership with other Trade Unions and the Council agreed to arrangements whereby all employees and workplaces of the Council are represented in terms of their health, safety and welfare.

A number of Branch Safety Representatives have now achieved recognised credentials through TUC Training at Stow College, Glasgow. The Branch will continue to encourage and provide support in a rolling programme of Safety Representatives Training.

The Branch recognises the shortage of safety representatives and would encourage members to consider taking up appointments that would specifically address functions of a Safety Representative within their workplaces.

I wish to thank Tom Dick, our Health and Safety Officer for all his hard work during the year.

COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICITY

Steve Rolfe took over responsibilities for the production of the branch newsletter, the UNISON View, and the maintenance of the branch website.

RETIRED MEMBERS

Ben Morrison (Secretary) and Eddie Darroch (Chairperson) continue to look after the business of our retired members. Eddie is a member of the Scottish Retired Members Committee and Ben attended this years Retired Members Conference. The Retired Members Section provides a focus for the many issues that are important to our senior colleagues as well as performing a very valuable social function. On a campaigning level, pensions remain a very important matter for our retired members and continued to be given high profile during the course of the year. I wish to record my appreciation of the work put in by Ben and Eddie.

YOUTH SECTION

This year Angela Nicoll took on the role of Branch Young Persons Officer. As stated last year, youth development within the branch still remains a weakness. However, Angela is only one person and needs assistance. Young members under the age of 26 who would like to become involved in a Youth Section please get in touch with the branch office.

EMPLOYER BASED ACTIVITIES

As last year, branch officers and stewards have been involved in representation and negotiations on a wide range of issues.

West Dunbartonshire Council

· Disciplinary Procedures;

· Grievance Procedures;

· Review of Residential Services for the Elderly;

· Review of Day Care Services in Social Work;

· Joint Futures for Care Services;

· Review of Janitorial Services;

· Review of Integrated Life Long Learning Services;

· Review of Clerical Support Services in Community Education;

· Review of Clerical Support Services in School Library Services;

· Review of Clerical Support Services in Education Establishments;

· Review of Classroom Assistants and Special Educational Needs Assistants in Schools with the resultant creation of posts of Learning Assistants;

· Review of the departmental structure within Housing and Technical Services. This has been an issue of considerable concern to our members and will remain so in the forthcoming year. In particular, there is great concern about the future employment within the organisation of members displaced by the review. Equally there is concern surrounding the redistribution of work carried out by staff who have been given retirement and redundancy packages;

· Job Evaluation and Grading;

· Council Policy on Stress in the Workplace;

· The Nursery Nurses National Pay Claim. Following a protracted period of industrial action our nursery nurses settled their outstanding pay and grading claim in May 2004, winning regradings back dated to April 2003. However, the branch is still in negotiations with the Council over the pay and grading of posts within the promoted structure of nursery nursing and it is a concern that this has yet to be settled

· The McCrone Report and the transfer of administrative duties formerly carried out by teachers to administrative support staff;

· The appeals mechanism arising from disciplinary and grievance cases;

· The Council Budget.

· Payment of fees in respect of a registration scheme for social workers. This will extend to other care staff in due course;

· The introduction of new computer equipment for flexi-time;

· Chief Officers’ salaries;

The above list does not cover all the issues that branch officers and stewards become involve in. It is necessary that we have as many stewards involved as possible so that the workload can be spread more evenly. Many members find that they encounter problems because there are no stewards in the workplaces to challenge decisions that adversely affect them. An active steward in the workplace facilitates the flow of information from the Branch Committee to the members and vice-versa. This enables the branch to work efficiently and in the best interests of the members.

Clydebank College

In comparison to recent years industrial relations at Clydebank College have been more stable now that issues relating to staffing levels and pay have been resolved. Margaret Bootland and Ena Williamson continue to be our stewards at the college. The main issue under discussion this year has been the proposal to resite the college on redeveloped land on the new riverside site. My appreciation goes to Margaret and Ena for their support of our members in the college.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority

The National Park Authority (NPA) continued to develop during the year. Our stewards at the NPA are Graeme Archibald, Mary Cameron and Michael Hyde. Assisted by Kath Ryall, our regional officer, they continue to represent our members employed there. Membership at the NPA has substantially increased over the year and we now have almost 70 members there. The main emphasis of negotiations this year at the park was on the development of a job evaluation scheme and our stewards were heavily involved in the process. However final implementation of the Job Evaluation Scheme has been delayed pending a further review of it by senior management. We await developments.

Voluntary And Related Sector

The branch continues to have a small number of members who work for several employers in this sector. This is an area where we really lack stewards. Unfortunately this sector tends to be problematic for our branch in that small employers are less aware of legal obligations to employees because they do not have the resources in personnel services that a larger employer has. We do however continue to provide services to our members who require them. Alec Cunningham, who works for the Clydebank Asbestos Group is our main representative for workers in this sector.

WORKING WITHIN UNISON

Scottish Council

Scottish Council is the policy making body of the Scottish Region of UNISON. Council meets three times per year, usually on a Saturday morning in Glasgow. Our delegates to the Council last year were Isobel Paterson, Margaret Ferris, Joanne Geddes, Tom Morrison and Tom Rainey.

At the February meeting of the Scottish Council the branch, through Tom Morrison, proposed a motion on our concerns US wars of intervention. The Scottish Committee ammended the motion because they were concerned that it called for support for industrial action in the event that British ground troops are used in wars of intervention initiated by the USA. The amendment was that UNISON would support calls for demonstrative action rather than industrial action. Branch delegates accepted the amendment in order to establish the principle of opposition as UNISON regional policy.

Scottish Local Government Conference (SLGC)

The SLGC meets at least 4 times per year. Some of the functions of the SLGC are to elect the Scottish Local Government Committee and members of the UNISON delegation to the staff side of the Scottish Joint National Council (SJNC). As well as determining policy in relation to local government issues, the SLGC provides a means of consultation via branch delegates to the SLGC between our negotiators on the SJNC and the views of our members within the local government branches. The arrangement also provides for delegate meetings of occupational groups to deal with specific issues. Our delegates to the SLGC in the last year were Margaret Ferris, Tom Rainey, Joanne Geddes and Isobel Paterson.

APPRECIATIONS

As usual I would like to thank all those people who facilitate and assist with the running of the branch.

Thanks to Linda McGill who provides administrative support in the branch office. Linda has organised meetings, taken minutes and kept me and the office organised during the course of the year.

Thanks to our Regional Officer, Kath Ryall. Kath has been a source of support and constructive advice during the course of the year.

Thanks to the stewards in the branch for their hard work during the year. I hope they will continue in that role and encourage others to become stewards. As we did last year, we will provide training for new stewards. This is essential since stewards get a feel for their role and the confidence to carry it out.

Thanks to the staff at reception at Garshake, Irene, George, Harry, Andy and Iain who have assisted in the booking of rooms and the delivery of our not inconsiderable amounts of mail. Thanks also to the child care workers who staff our crèches, the office cleaners and staff of the canteen.

TOM RAINEY

BRANCH SECRETARY 21^stFebruary 2005

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