TUESDAY 21 JANUARY 2003 @ 2:00 PM IN THE PICASSO ROOM St CLEMENTS HOSPITAL

      Present:  Philip Bloyce (Chair), Ted Moore, Arthur White, Cliff Dawson, Jamie Starling, Paul Taylor, Julia Hunt, Julie Harrison,         Annette Petty (Minutes)

Apologies:  Kay Dawson, Georgia Murray, Ian Talbot, Margaret Goddard, Matt Robinson, Ray Hill, Linda Bird

 Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 December were agreed as a true and accurate record.

1.   Matters Arising

a)     Page 1 No 2(e) Andrea Boakes to be withdrawn as Steward until Annette has received clarification from Glyn/Chelmsford that she has been a paid up Unison member for the past 13 weeks. Annette to check with Gordon Morris if it is ok to email all stewards/reps with his up to date database of Unison members. 

b)      Page 2 No 3 (d) Annette reported to the meeting that she had not received any completed application forms which Julie had sent out to prospective new members in her Department. 

2.   Nominations for Elections to Unison National Executive Council (7)

There were 7 nominations sent into the Branch for perusal by the meeting and Michael McGahey, Branch Secretary representing Lothian Primary Care Union Office in Edinburgh was selected and certified to be returned to the ballots section in London.

3.  Stewards Reports across the region

a)      Arthur White                                                                                                                                                                                        No report

b)      Cliff Dawson                                                                                                                                                                                  Sleep-ins at Tuddenham Road Group Home are continuing. 

c)       Jamie Starling                                                                                                                                                                                 Jamie and Gordon are taking their concerns to Julie Todd in respect of their A&C 1 night in 4 per month extra 20% payment for night rates. They should have been paid according to the Whitley Pay Scales wef July 2001, and if their concerns are not addressed by the end of February will be taking up a grievance on the matter.

d)      Paul Taylor                                                                                                                                                                                        Paul is dealing with a Nursing Assistant’s extra increment for her NVQ qualification. Tracy Stewart has returned to work at Walker Close on a part-time basis.  Paul is attending a disciplinary hearing at Lothingland on Monday 27 January at 1000 hours in Glyn Reynold’s absence, solely as a support role for 3 witnesses involved in the case.

e)      Philip Bloyce                                                                                                                                                                                       The first open session on the 14 January unfortunately had to be cancelled. However Philip has circulated dates for the group homes.  He is also currently negotiating Stourmead Close to bring it back into the Whitley Council Terms & Conditions in due course. 

f)      Ted Moore                                                                                                                                                                                           Ted reported that the Unison 2003 diaries were greatly appreciated by the retired members and had received numerous phone calls/letters thanking the branch.

g)      Julie Harrison                                                                                                                                                                                       No returns as yet for new membership. 

4.   AOB

a)   UNISON Welfare - General Secretary’s Branch Appeal                                                                                                                            It was agreed by the meeting that the Branch should donate £200 to this cause. Annette to email Ian to arrange.

b)   National Delegate Conference - Brighton 2003                                                                                                                                 Ray and Heather Hill will be attending the conference, Annette to contact Margaret Goddard at Newmarket to check if she would also like to attend.

c)   Julia Hunt - New Steward                                                                                                                                  Julia was ratified at the meeting to become a steward representing Learning Disabilities at Walker Close. Annette to confirm the appointment in writing to Judith Alderton, Head of HR.

d)   Preliminary Agenda Unison Health Conference - Harrogate 2003                                                                                                          A copy of the above was given to AW, MG, JS, JH and PT for them to read and circulate to their colleagues, any comments to be forwarded directly to Ray Hill at Bartlet.

e)   Harmonisation of Whitley Contracts                                                                                                                                                Philip to check out the uniform allowance for Paul. 

f)    Branch AGM’s                                                                                                                                                                                      The Branch AGM’s this year will be held in local constituencies across the County the week beginning Monday 24 through to Friday 28 March. The new Branch Officers will be elected at the Branch Meeting on Tuesday 15 April. Philip explained the procedure of the AGM’s to the meeting and reiterated it is important to contact Annette at the Branch with their chosen date/time/venue as soon as possible for the preparation of local flyers.                                                                                                                                          All nomination forms together with posters will be posted out in accordance with national rules 4 weeks prior to the AGM.

g)   UNISON Members seconded to nurse training the meeting agreed that any members who are now undertaking nursing training should only be paying £10 which is the rate for student nurses. Wendy Howells and Debbie Pullen who have been members for a month, will be advised to resign from Unison and rejoin as student  nurses.

h)     Membership Lists/Update                                                                                                                                                            Annette to send Paul the Docas list from Payroll and Jamie/Julie the Sep-Dec database of new members who have joined Unison.  Annette reported that 24 new members joined in November but only 14 in December. She is attending a recruitment day at Suffolk College for student nurses on Monday 27 January with Debbie Smith, Organising Assistant at Bury Regional Office. Annette to check if RMS can redirect a member’s focus magazine  to her work address instead of home.

i)        ID Badges                                                                                                                                                                                    Annette to investigate at Kall Kwik the cost of supplying individual ID badges for Unison Stewards/Reps. It was agreed that this will come into effect after the election of new officers at the April Branch Meeting.

j)        Linda Bird                                                                                                                                                                                           The Branch agreed to send Linda some flowers and get well wishes after her recent stay in hospital.

  5.  Date and time of next meeting:

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 18 February at 2pm, Picasso Room, SCH - any agenda items please forward to Annette in advance by post/email.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 3.30pm.

PB/ADP