Archive for the ‘Unite news’ Category
Unite Launch Unpaid Hours Campaign
Monday, December 1st, 2014
Today the Unite Finance Sector launched its campaign on Unpaid Hours in the Sector. The campaign launch follows up on a survey of Finance Sector workers earlier this year.
Some of the highlights of this survey were:-
• 60% of respondents said they had to work longer hours as a result of headcount reduction
• 76% of respondents said they were told by their managers that they had to work longer than their contracted hours
• 77% of respondents said that the additional hours they worked over their contracted hours were not paid
From the results independent Survey company Survation estimated that:-
• 40% of employees have lost over £2,000 from their annual pay due to not being paid for these additional hours worked
• 20% of employees have lost over £5,000
• For every 100 people currently employed in the Finance Sector their lost earnings are equal to the work of a further 18 people.
As part of the campaign Unite have today launched an unpaid hours calculator. We would encourage anyone who works any unpaid hours (if you get overtime, flex time, time off in lieu for any additional hours work they are categorised as paid hours) to go to the calculator and enter your information.
The calculator will tell you how much pay you are losing by not being paid for these additional hours.
The link to the calculator is below:-
The Prudential Section also conducted its own survey and the key findings are as follows:-
- 95% of respondents knew what their contracted hours were
- 43% don’t monitor and record their actual hours each week
- 54% say their additional hours are unpaid
- 29% get paid overtime for additional hours
- 34% take additional hours as Time off in Lieu or Flex
- 41% say they are pressured to do additional hours
We also found that in certains pockets of the organisation managers have told employees that they work “professional hours” and therefore they have to put in as many hours as necessary to get the job done. Sadly this is becomming more and more common place.
Steve O’Donnell, Senior rep, stated “The standard Prudential full time contracted hours in our bargaining units is 35 hours a week. There are a couple of exceptions (Chauffeurs and Computer Operators) but when and why has it become acceptable for people to work longer than their contracted hours unpaid. We accept at times people will need to work longer hours but these hours need to be agreed and rewarded. There can be no excuse for employees not to be paid for the hours they work. The idea that because you are deemed to be a ‘professional’ you may have to work for free is a nonsense and a disgrace. We will be discussing this issue with the business as part of the wider campaign.”
If you want any more information on the Unite Campaign please go to the Unite website by clicking here – http://www.unitetheunion.org/how-we-help/list-of-sectors/finance-and-legal/unpaid-hours-are-not-acceptable/
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European Elections
Thursday, May 1st, 2014
We are now in the period leading up to the European Elections. The UK media appear to be giving a dispropotinate amount of airtime to the views of Nigel Farage and UKIP.
UKIP are peddling myths about the impact of immigration in the UK. To help dispel these myths a Unite sponsored thinktank CLASS have published a booklet on why immigration is good for all of us.
You can see the booklet by clicking on the following link:-
Why immigration is good for all of us
If you want a hardcopy version of this please email unite@prudential.co.uk and we can send you a copy while stocks last
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Subs Increase – Message from your General Secretary
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013
I am proud to be General Secretary of our great union at a time when the need for collective trade union representation has never been more obvious.
Over the past 12 months Unite has developed as a Trade Union and achieved enormous success for our members.
We have continued to develop our industrial strategy, continued to organise and recruit in workplaces, continued to win victories in the Courts on behalf of members and continued to develop membership services.
In the industrial setting Unite has won victories for members across all of our sectors. Our successes have been seen in sectors with traditionally the most difficult terms and conditions. In Transport we have won for London Bus Drivers and for Howden employees; in Construction we have won for all members affected by the BESNA Agreement and for all of our members we lead the fight against Blacklisting.
Across all of our sectors we have won, in the last 12 months, over 300 industrial disputes for our members and countless other disputes where your collective strength in the workplace has resolved issues without the need to ballot.
Our officers and workplace representatives continue to fight for you in the work place. Our organising team continues to push for 100% membership in organised workplaces. Our Leverage Department continues to fight against the excesses of Employers who feel that they can conduct themselves in the most unethical and immoral of ways, protected by the anonymity of company status. Our Leverage strategy ensures that companies, their suppliers and their customers are held accountable for how our members are treated.
In the legal setting Unite has achieved victories that would not be possible for any other union. We successfully represented our members in the Mesothelioma Trigger litigation ensuring thousands of our members would continue to receive compensation for contracting mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos; we have achieved magnificent success for our retired members of Waterford Crystal who without Unite would have seen their pensions lost without the protection of a National pension scheme; and we continue to fight on behalf of members such as Visteon Pensioners.
In our UK Regions we have continued to fight for our National Health Service, organising demonstrations and events throughout the country. We have continued to fight against legislative changes that will only damage the welfare services available to our members. We have continued the fight for a living wage, resisted the imposition of the Bedroom Tax and have been at the forefront of seeking legislation to prevent the practices of Loan to Pay Day companies which cost our members thousands of pounds. On these issues, and many others, Unite is at the front of the fight to protect those welfare services working people have built over the last 70 years.
We continue to develop membership services. Over the coming months we will announce the launch of Unite Credit Union which, along with Unite Debt Management, will ensure our members are not driven into the hands of loan sharks.
We continue to develop membership categories. Retired Members Plus provides our retired members with additional benefits for just 50 pence a week. Community Membership (for 50 pence a week) is designed to ensure that those previously without a voice have a collective voice. Back2Work Membership (for 50 pence a week), along with the Unite4Jobs web site, allows us to offer members who would otherwise leave our union the help, assistance and representation they need to return to the workplace.
As the government introduces Employment Tribunal fees of up to £1200, and brings in legislation to allow solicitors to take a percentage of the compensation an injured victim receives, our Executive continues to make decisions to support you. We continue to say to members that you will receive 100% of your damages and that we will fund the cost of an Employment Tribunal. We are the Union who will not shy away from workplace representation and we will not allow this government to promote a culture where our members feel denied access to justice.
Your union has never offered more to members and there has never been more of a need to be in a union.I hope this goes some way to explaining how your membership fees are used and that your Union is fighting for you.
I am confident that if you visit the Unite web site you will have pride in how we use your funds. I am confident you will find services and offers that will more than recoup for you the costs of Unite membership.
Finally, could I ask that you consider becoming active within our great union. You may want to demonstrate on issues relevant to your community; you may want to be active within your workplace branch; you may want to support the union by using the union services or you may simply want to introduce friends and family members to the union by way of the union’s member gets member scheme. In whatever capacity our union is stronger by your involvement, together we can grow and together our voice, for what is good in society, cannot be ignored.
Yours sincerely,
Len McCluskey
General Secretary
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March to Save NHS – London 18th May
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Unite Prudential Section are proud to support the March to Save NHS which will be taking place in London this Saturday, May 18th.
Marchers are being asked to assemble by 12 noon at Jubilee Gardens, Waterloo (Belvedere Rd SE1).
The March will go to Department of Health & Parliament.
This is to show this government that we are not prepared to accept the privatisation of the NHS and the closure of A&E departments as a result of their legislation.
The recent NHS bill has opened up the NHS to private providers with Companies like Virgin already making £millions as a result.
We would encourage as many members to come along and send a message to the ConDem government that we value the NHS, even if they don’t and we will fight to save it.
There will be more events later in the year which will keep you informed of.
For more information on the Save our NHS campaign click on the following link www.unitetheunion.org/saveournhs
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Celebrate International Workers’ Day
Monday, April 29th, 2013
Unite Prudential Section are happy to support an event to celebrate International Workers’ Day at London’s only union-run pub in London this Saturday (4th May).
The event will start at 7.30 pm at the Bread & Roses Pub, 68 Clapham Manor Street, Clapham North
Featuring music and entertainment from:-
THE RUBY KID (www.therubykid.com)
DAVID THORPE
More acts to be announced
Suggested donation:
£10 waged/ £5 unwaged or low-waged
For full information please click on the following link :- Celebrate International Workers Day
For more information on LabourStart take a look at their website at http://www.labourstart.org/2013/
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