Unite Scotland

Unite can confirm that the union met with NHS Tayside Management yesterday (15 November) following the panel outcome in relation to the dispute involving pharmacy support workers.
The Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee (STAC) have agreed that the workers be given the higher grade Band 3 from the current Band 2. However, the outcome can only be implemented when all pharmacy support workers are trained to carry out the full range of core duties associated with the higher g...rade. NHS Tayside are refusing to agree such a programme of training and continue to claim that none of the pharmacy support workers are fully competent across all areas.
The dispute relates to a flawed job evaluation process which Unite believes led to pharmacy support workers being paid at a lower grade than they should be. NHS Tayside admitted the job evaluation process was not followed through to its rightful conclusion and the workers were not given a right of appeal.
Susan Robertson, Unite regional industrial officer, said: ŌĆ£Unite has called for an urgent meeting with STAC to discuss our serious concerns over NHS TaysideŌĆÖs skewed interpretation of the job evaluation outcome. The fact is that the pharmacy support workers have finally won their fight to be paid at a higher band by the national board which adjudicates on these matters. But, we now have NHS Tayside attempting to obstruct its implementation by refusing to train them so the workers can receive it. Unite will be meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport, Jeane Freeman, next Tuesday (19 November) to ensure that the Scottish Government is fully briefed on the incompetency and arrogance of NHS Tayside Senior Managers.ŌĆØ
Unite's Pharmacy Support Workers meeting to discuss the latest developments in picture below.
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Take One Action Film Festivals are a global change film festival - screening films that tackle social & environmental justice. They are bringing the festival to Aberdeen (15-17th Nov) & Inverness (22-24th Nov). Here are some of our picks we think look amazing! ­¤æĆ
­¤Ä¤’ĖÅwww.takeoneaction.org.uk/events/­¤ Ĥ’ĖÅ

A General Election is coming. Are you ready? 17% of eligible voters aren't.
You have until midnight on Tuesday 26 November to secure your vote. Do it online at gov.uk/register-to-vote (You will need your NI number).
... Not sure? Check the electoral roll at yourvotematters.co.uk
Need a Postal vote? Apply by 5pm on Wednesday 27 November. What about a Proxy vote? ŌĆō If youŌĆÖre away on voting day, register by 5pm on Wednesday 4 December.
Apply for postal and proxy votes at yourvotematters.co.uk
Have your say and make it count, get registered!
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The West Lothian Council ballot is now open for all members affected by the introduction of random drug & alcohol tests. Ballot closes on the 27th of November, so be sure to return your paper by the 25th!
If you haven't received a ballot, please contact us ASAP on 0131 556 9676.

Unite members in McGill's Buses vote 85% for strike action!
Ex-Arriva staff are paid 8-14% less as a result of a transfer in 2011. They remained on Arriva Scotland West contracts & pay freezes, while pre-existing McGill workers, through several pay increases, have shot ahead.
... Unite members previously at Arriva have been extremely patient; however, this patience has been used by management to suppress wages for 8 years. This strong mandate for action is a reflection of the anger & injustice felt by the workers, & action will beginning from 26 November.
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"Small change in an industry crying out for it can be more significant than big wins in established industries"
If you missed Unite Hospitality Morgan's fantastic speech at policy conference, you can read it here thanks to The Morning Star
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/ŌĆ”/union ising-the-service-seŌĆ”

Next Friday (15th Nov) from 6.30pm at the Beach Ballroom.
The XV International Brigade Aberdeen Commemoration Committee, sponsored by Unite Aberdeen City Council Branch & the Aberdeen Trades Union Council, invite you to remember the brave Aberdeen fighters of the Spanish Civil War. All welcome to attend!

ŌƬThanks to everyone who came along to last nights Korda film showing and to hear Roberto Chile talking about his work as a photographer and to the Havana Glasgow Film Festival for organising! An amazing insight into the art of photography. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did!ŌĆ¼

WeŌĆÖre halfway through Dyslexia Awareness Week in Scotland, and want to thank our friends at Dyslexia Scotland for helping highlight this invisible disability with their blue ribbons. We spoke with one of our reps, Stephen, to tell us about his experience of dyslexia and work #DAWScot

ŌƬUnite Lanarkshire Retired Members Branch (SC/175/RMA) are holding their branch meeting at the Town House, Hamilton, 102 Cadzow St (ML3 6HH) on the 13th November 2019 at 2pmŌĆ¼ ŌƬCome along and help create a stronger union for everyone!

"These Committees are just full of hot air!" Come to the Unite Scotland Young Members meeting on the 23rd of November, & join the planning for upcoming campaigns. Open to all Unite & Unite Community Scotland members <30 years old, & non-members interested in finding out more.
https://www.facebook.com/events/555711538 539096/

Good to see the NHS Tayside workers still in such good 'spirits' at the picket line today!
For those following the dispute, Pharmacy Support workers have been on strike for 11 weeks, & this week should have been a result from the Consistency Panel. Yet again, no outcome!
... The Consistency Panel could not ratify the upgrade recommended by the initial panel, so we are now waiting on a new date for the panel to reconvene; more frustration being added by a system that seems intent on denying Pharmacy Support workers what they are due!
Don't worry though, the workers aren't going to give up without a fight, they don't frighten that easy! #HappyHalloween
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Fantastic piece in todays HeraldScotland by Martin Williams highlighting the problems in the system our members are up against :
CS Wind in Campbelltown & MJ Ventilation in Coupar Angus, both are set to cost their communities 154 jobs between them.
With pre-tax profits of ┬Ż7.1m at CS Wind, & directors seeing the outlook for the next financial year as ŌĆ£positiveŌĆØ, where do their workforce factor into this positivity?... In Campbelltown, the redundancies are equivalent to around 1% of its ENTIRE population, where do they go now?
At MJ Ventilation, a ┬Ż7m turnover last year, built by hard working people, is destroyed by "bad debts" & "cash flow problems". Workers & communities saw nothing of these bad debts, but now they are set to suffer the most, losing their livelihood, & everything that goes with that.
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ŌƬHappy HalloweŌĆÖen everyone!ŌĆ¼ ŌƬIf youŌĆÖre out guising, stay safe out there; the nights are drawing in, it might be icy, and make sure your workplace is organised by getting everyone to join the Union.ŌĆ¼
ŌƬhttps://join.unitetheunion.orgŌĆ¼

Unite fury as 73 jobs to go at CS Wind in another blow to ScotlandŌĆÖs renewables sector
Unite the Union has reacted furiously today (30 October) to the latest job losses in ScotlandŌĆÖs renewables sector at CS Wind.
The company which employs 94 workers has announced that up to 73 jobs ŌĆō three quarters of the workforce - are to go at its factory based in Campbeltown, Argyll, which is the only UK facility manufacturing onshore and offshore wind towers.
... CS Wind is blaming the decision on present gaps in the order book. However, accounts lodged by the company in April this year show that the directors see the future outlook for the next financial year as ŌĆśpositiveŌĆÖ and posted pre-tax profits in 2018 of ┬Ż7.1 million. Up from a loss of ┬Ż191,000 in 2017.
The factory has been fully operational since January 2002 with it having recently been purchased by the South Korean company CS Wind in April 2016. The company made a ┬Ż27 million investment in the facility. As part of a complex set of partnership arrangements the Danish firm - ├śrsted - also made a multi-million pound investment in the facility in December 2016. It also has preferred access rights to towers for its offshore wind farms. In addition, CS Wind signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Swedish company - Vattenfall - which gave the company the opportunity to tender for tower supply contracts on future Vattenfall onshore wind farm projects.
Unite has been at the forefront of campaigning for Scottish facilities and factories including the BiFab yards in Arnish and Fife to benefit from the ŌĆśgreen manufacturing revolutionŌĆÖ. The union has heavily criticised the Scottish and UK Governments on the minimal manufacturing work which has been directly created by the billions of pounds being invested into the renewables sector in Scotland. In response to the latest blow, Unite is calling for the Scottish Government to immediately reconvene its Offshore Wind Summit and to provide support to the workforce.
Charlie Macdonald, Unite regional industrial officer, said: ŌĆ£The news of the redundancy notices affecting three quarters of the workforce at CS Wind in Campbeltown is a major blow to ScotlandŌĆÖs renewables manufacturing capacity. CS Wind is another example of the spaghetti bowl of multi-national interests calling the shots in our nationŌĆÖs renewables sector with scant regard for workers and communities.ŌĆØ
ŌĆ£There needs to be urgent intervention by the Scottish Government because if the scale of these job losses goes unchallenged not only is there is a major cloud over the future of the factory in Campbeltown but also over ScotlandŌĆÖs green manufacturing capacity.ŌĆØ
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It's one of the most iconic photographs around, but what do you know of the person who took it?
Would you believe they were a wedding photographer, who became one of Cuba's biggest fashion photographers, with a passion for natural light and a unique style of angular photography?
Korda explores the art of photography, and features an unpublished interview made with photographer Korda just six months before he died, in which he tells how he first met the guerrilla icon.... This will be followed by a talk from Roberto Chile, the film's director who also served as photographer and documentarist of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
We have a limited number of tickets that are ­Øɤ­Øɽ­ØÉ×­ØÉ× ­ØÉŁ­ØÉ© ­ØÉö­Øɦ­ØÉó­ØÉŁ­ØÉ× ­ØÉ”­ØÉ×­ØÉ”­ØÉø­ØÉ×­Øɽ­Øɼ, so if you'd like to attend, please send us a message and we can get your tickets to you.
ChileŌĆÖs work will also be shown in an exhibition with Scottish photographer Dougie Souness, running at Trongate 103 from 2-30 November. Exhibition with the support of Street Level Photoworks
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