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, UNISON direct, 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
Here’s four good reasons why UNISON is
right for you:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 freephone helpline for members and stewards, UNISON
direct, handled some 51,800 calls last year. A year-on-year rise of 228 per cent
Most people join a union because they want
protection at work - help with pay and conditions of service, legal or health
and safety advice or representation in case things go wrong at work. That's what
we're here for. UNISON negotiates on pay and working conditions at every level -
local, regional and national.
In October 2003 the subscription rates changed. Rates for the lower paid were
reduced and the rates for the higher paid increased.
To find out more about this you can
download this A4 leaflet produced by UNISON.
