See also:

• Contact us

• Noticeboards

About this branch

What do we do?

Devon County Council encourages all staff to belong to UNISON. Not that the County Council is the sole employer as we have members in Connexions, special schools, Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue, Probation and many other agencies - 95 at the last count.

We look after the interests of our members by negotiating on your behalf. We negotiate about your -

• pay

• pensions

• leave

• equal opportunities

• health and safety
  and much more!

Local stewards are there to represent you at work and help find the answers to your problems. They are volunteers and play a vital role in recruiting new members and organising your branch. If you have a problem, talk to your local steward. If they can't handle the problem on their own, they can talk to other branch officers or full-time union experts on your behalf.

Anyone can face problems at work sometimes but if you are a member of UNISON, you don't have to face them alone. We try to provide advice or representation on things like pay, rotas, leave and sickness procedures. We are also there to help you make sure your workplace is healthy and safe, support you in case of disciplinary action, dismissals or redundancy.

Negotiating for you

UNISON has regular meetings with Devon County Councillors (Personnel Partnership Committee). It also holds Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meetings with Devon County Council management, based on directorates (Adult and Community Services; Chief Executives; Children and Young People's Service; Environment, Economy and Culture; Finance, Information Technology & Trading; and Personnel & Performance).

The people who attend these meetings from UNISON are known as 'staff side'.

A wide range of topics are discussed at these meetings including things like

• accommodation changes
• restructuring
• redundancies

These JCC meetings also provide a way for UNISON to let Devon County Council know about issues of concern to staff. By doing this issues can often be resolved early before they become bigger problems.

UNISON is run by its members for its members. The Devon County Branch is managed by an Executive Committee, which meets every two months. This committee is made up of

• representatives who are elected by members
• officers of the branch including the chair, treasurer, education officer, health and safety officer etc. all of who are elected at the annual general meeting.

Devon County UNISON is run by a branch commitee and supported by skilled staff, locally, regionally and nationally. (see Contact us)

All members of Devon County UNISON can attend branch meetings, vote and stand in branch elections and get involved in our campaigns and activities.

We are always looking for people who feel they can contribute to the branch and to helping other members. This could be a regular commitment or just the occasional hour or so. We also provide training courses and support for our reps and officers. Contact branchsec@devoncountyunison.org.uk if you'd like to find out more.

Stewards represent you locally in the work place and are your first point of contact if you have a problem or enquiry. Stewards also meet regularly and report back to their members.