The One UNISON Weekend isn’t just corking courses or wondrous workshops, it’s also our annual celebration of the activists who make UNISON Eastern region great.
Every year we dish out awards recognising those branches and activists who have gone the extra mile for public service workers.
All nominations were fiercely debated by the region’s finance, development and organisation committee, which had the onerous task of picking just winner per category.
So congratulations to all the worthy winners from everyone at UNISON Eastern!
Campaigning Branch of the Year: Suffolk County
The judges were particularly impressed with the scale and range of campaigning carried out by Suffolk County branch.
The branch forced a U-turn on mileage changes that put £1 million back in members’ pockets, it engaged members, politicians and the local communities in winning improvement to social care and led the way in national pay campaigns with rallies and stalls.
Above all, Suffolk County proved anyone who said “you can’t campaign during a pandemic” well and truly wrong!
Health and Safety Branch of the Year: University of East Anglia UNISON
This was particularly hard fought given the central place health and safety has taken in branch work during the pandemic.
But UEA branch stood out: organising a Valued and Visible campaign to win H&S improvements for campus cleaners and convincing all its stewards to “double up”, meaning reps are now dual trained and can really negotiate effectively on Covid-related issues,
It’s also rejuvenated its health and safety committee and backed action up with cash. Well done UNISON UEA!
Recruiting branch of the year: East of England Ambulance Service UNISON
EEAS UNISON activists rolled up their sleeves and built their membership the old-fashioned way: workplace by workplace, conversation by conversation to find out what issues were important to staff and what the union could do about it.
The results speak for themselves: A whopping 499 new joiners in 2021, a net increase of 156 members and the largest percentage rise in Eastern.
Equalities Activist of the Year: Jack Anderson-Player
Jack started out as LGBT+ officer in Hertfordshire County branch, raising the profile of LGBT+ issues within both the branch and council, becoming active on UNISON’s regional and national LGBT+ committees.
He has encouraged and supported others to get involved with the branch doing regular walkarounds and bringing up a range of LGBT+ issues, including trans and HIV awareness and National Coming Out Day.
Communication Branch of the Year: Watford Borough
Our judges were particularly impressed that all the work of Watford Borough was carried out by a relatively new group of activists, most of whom had been in the union for less than three years.
They have worked hard to reach out to council staff on regularly updated social media, through newsletters and emails going out to members and non-members alike and on the intranet. The UNISON section on the council’s intranet is now one of the most popular parts of the site!
Young Activist of the Year: Jasper Bailey
Jasper’s made a big splash since joining the Suffolk County branch executive in 2020, making contact with young workers all over the county and representing the region at UNISON’s first-ever young members conference last year.
Branch colleagues say he has brought new energy to their meetings and has got the branch to do more to reach out to young members.
Jasper was channelling that energy into the Ipswich Waterfront Twilight 5k, raising money for a local homeless charity, over the One UNISON Weekend, so branch secretary Neil Bland picked up the award on his behalf and he received it later.
Learning Branch of the Year: Norfolk County
The whole One UNISON Weekend is proof of how central activist education and member learning is to our union.
That’s an ethos strongly embedded in Norfolk County – and we’re sure that’s why the branch has such an active activist base.
The branch put a whopping 31 different activists through courses, ranging from new stewards, workshops and the regional new leadership school. Well done Norfolk County!
Activist of the Year: Sam Hemraj
It’s no mean feat picking an activist of the year when there are so many dedicated reps and branch officers going above and beyond in the name of UNISON.
But the judges decided to give the gong to Sam Hemraj, who manages to carry out all her responsibilities as a branch secretary and staff side secretary with just 21 hours facility time, balancing the roles with her work as an HCA. On top of that she’s just been re-elected as a city councillor in Peterborough.
And she still had time during the pandemic to lead a successful campaign against plans to flog off portering and catering services to a profit-hungry private firm.
Branch of the Year: East of England Ambulance Service UNISON
Just four years ago EEAS UNISON was in regional supervision but a dedicated group of activists has rebuilt the branch into one well and truly deserving of this top accolade.
Branch activists fit in a multitude of media appearances around formidable negotiations – understanding that partnership working means give and take, but making sure it’s the employer that does most of the giving.
Recent successes include improved rota patterns and payments for the large number of staff without fixed workplaces, additional pay for all mandatory training and progression pathways between grades – all of which have a big impact on members.
Well done to EEAS branch, all the other winners and all the activists that make UNISON the biggest and best union in the UK!
