Secretary's
Report 2001

Building innovative ways to support members and our public services
But the traditional still has has its place.....

Modernisation has been this year's political buzzword. But what does it really mean?

Too often it means going back to old fashioned privatisation, cuts in conditions and fragmentation of services. These are the very things that failed in the past and led our forbears to bring public services into public control.

That is why the Branch has been linking with UNISON's Positively Public and '...for world class public services' campaigns - and why we have worked to support members facing crises in the jobs they do.

Resource Crisis

One innovative example has been the Social Work Childrens Services grievance which brought political and public attention to the resource crisis faced by staff and the people they strive to protect.

This not only brought local improvements but also united campaigns across UNISON branches and Scotland's councils. We won national support for a critique of the Scottish Executive's 'For Scotland's Children' report and a joint call for a review of Social Work pay and conditions.

As we go to print, the branch is presenting its well received 23 page response to a Scrutiny Panel report on 'vulnerable girls and young women'.

To win the case, we need to win the arguments and members deserve support in putting their case via these detailed responses.

But the traditional ways are still relevant. After two years of seeking an independent review of their case for nationally agreed payments, janitors only won arbitration after six days strike (see Service Conditions ).

Progress on policies

Progress has been made on the motions from last year's AGM. Not least was the Social Work grievance, but we also set Scottish policy on the review of the Pay Campaign, national policy on a Commission for Social Need, Stress issues and Road Tolls and Disabled People to name just a few examples.

So when you set policies at the AGM, something does actually happen!

Negotiating

There is nothing negotiators like better than getting their teeth into talks to bring improvements for members. The list of these is long, with something happening every month and sometimes we don't blow our own trumpet enough about them.

But it is demoralising to negotiate hard just to ensure members will be less worse off than the employer is trying to make them. The car allowances issue is one of these, but officers have a duty to get the best deal in face of the attack, and put the facts for members to decide.

The unfortunate bit is that the employer seems unaware of how these attacks affect morale and - most crucial of all - the ability to recruit and keep good staff.

Workload

From 400 stewards seven years ago, we now have just 123. The average caseload of the Service Conditions Team at any time is around 300. It has had to deal with an increase in Employment Tribunals and a seemingly endless increase in formal grievances where common sense at management level could have avoided the problem.

We have signed up to UNISON Direct which gives members a freephone helpline during and outwith office hours.

Staffing

We have reached agreement with our branch employed support staff on a promoted post and new gradings and are working now on harmonising conditions.

Our staff have a difficult job and often have to deal with anxious or irate members. However the Branch will not tolerate abusiveness and unfortunately that seems to be increasing.

Alida Dow left us this year for a new job and we wish her well in the future.

Branch Activists

We lost the services of several key activists this year. Steve Coulson left due to a new job after more than 20 years as a key activist in Social Work. We hope to make a presentation at the AGM.

Health & Safety Officer Danny Currie retired on health grounds and we wish him well in fighting his illness. Natalie Robertson resigned due to a job change but remains an active member.

On a happy note, congratulations to Education Officer Amanda Kerr on the birth of her daughter. Ex Secretary Morag Stevenson is also back at work recovering from ME.

We continue to play a major role in the union's Scottish and UK organisation. Dougie Black heads up the Local Government Group, John Stevenson is on the Scottish Committee and Chairs Communications & Campaigns and we have several members active on the Scottish and UK self organised groups.

September 11

We responded immediately to our colleagues in New York after the September 11 atrocity and exchanged some poignant but also heart-warming correspondence.

The unions played a major part in co-ordinating the early response for construction workers, emergency centres etc and we issued a special bulletin to members to report on this. We also sent token gifts and donations to New York public sector union Locals (branches).

But we also made clear statements calling for restraint in response to the attacks (see International Report).

Thanks

My sincere thanks goes to all the branch contacts, stewards and officers who give of their time for the union and their fellow workers. Our strength is in our members and we all have a role in recruiting new members to build that strength.

JOHN STEVENSON
Branch Secretary