University Hospitals Birmingham UNISON

Who we are

UNISON is Britain and Europe's biggest public sector union with more than 1.3 million members. Our members are people working in the public services, for private contractors providing public services and in the essential utilities. They include frontline staff and managers working full or part time in local authorities, the NHS, the police service, colleges and schools, the electricity, gas and water industries, transport and the voluntary sector. Last year UNISON recruited 137,000 new members - 375 per day.

What we campaign on

UNISON campaigns and lobbies on key issues affecting our members and the public at large. We're working to protect and improve the public services, win equal pay and employment rights for everyone, improve safety in the workplace and end discrimination and harassment at work. We also support external campaigns on issues such as fuel poverty and fair trade.

To find out more go to: Campaigns

Local organisation

Every member of UNISON belongs to a local branch (in this case University Hospitals Birmingham Branch), which is made up of people working for the same employer. Local stewards are there to represent you at work and help find the answers to your problems.

Local health and safety reps are there to help make sure your workplace is safe and your job is not too stressful. They are volunteers and play a vital role in recruiting new members, ensuring safety at work and organising your branch. Local branches are made up of ordinary members elected by the workforce. They take on different roles in order to make your life easier at work.

To find out more go to: Get Active

Getting your voice heard

UNISON has a clear structure to make sure all members can have their say. The union is divided into 13 regions, each with its own regional council made up of delegates elected from branches in the area.

The governing body of UNISON is the annual National Delegate Conference. The union's policy is decided by delegates elected from branches, regions and self-organised groups. Policies decided at conference are carried out by the National Executive Council (NEC), elected from the regions and service groups.

For news about forthcoming conferences, workshops, training days and other events go to: Coming events

Women in UNISON

Women make up two thirds of UNISON's members so we make sure their voices are heard throughout the union. At every level of the union, when people are elected to committees or delegations women must be elected in fair proportion to their membership. Even the National Executive Council has to elect 44 women out of its 67 seats and 13 are held by low-paid women.

UNISON calls this 'proportionality'.

To find out more go to: Women

Having an equal say

Our self-organised and other groups are a way to get involved on an equal basis with everyone else in the union. They enable the union to reflect particular experiences and enable members with common interests to come together and work on key issues affecting them.

• Women
• Black members
• Disabled members
• Lesbians and gay men
• Young members
• Retired members

To find out more go to: self-organised groups

UNISON in the TUC and the Labour Party

UNISON is the largest union in the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and plays an important role in developing policy. It has a big voice too in the Scottish, Welsh and Irish trades union congresses.

To make sure that issues affecting our members are heard in the outside world, UNISON has a political fund. This money - collected from our members - can only be spent on political and social campaigning. Unlike any other trade union, UNISON offers you the choice of two funds to pay into:

• The Affiliated Political Fund works to support the Labour Party
• The General Political Fund campaigns in a non-affiliated way to further the interests of our members.

I'm interested in joining UNISON - where can I find out more?

A special section details all the benefits you get from joining the UK's largest trade union, from legal and welfare advice and employment representation to cheap holidays and car insurance.
Go to: Benefits

I've got a problem at work - where can I go for advice?

If you are a UNISON member, contact your local UNISON steward or health and safety rep as soon as possible. If you don't know who your local UNISON rep is or aren't sure who to contact, ring our hotline (have your membership number ready):

UNISONdirect 0845 355 0845 (calls charged at local rates)
Freephone textphone 0800 0 967 968
Lines are open 6am-midnight Monday-Friday and 9am-4pm Saturdays.

Alternatively you cal call the Joint Union Office at Selly Oak Hospital on 0121 627 1627 x51503 and ask to speak to a UNISON rep (you will normally be assked to leave a message and a rep will get back to you).