What Is It You Do Exactly?
What Is It You Do Exactly?
By Jane Lewis
With a long history in the co-operative and labour movements and with our commitment to the principles and ethics of co-operative business, The Co-operative Bank welcomes Unite as a key stakeholder. Both organisations are working towards the same goals – a happy workforce in a profitable and sustainable business with an ethical workplace culture.
Unite believes that all aspects of working life should be the subject of discussion and agreement. We meet regularly with senior management to consult and negotiate on a wide range of issues and policies and we also meet with the Chief Executive every quarter to discuss matters of concern. On a daily basis we work closely with the People Team advisers and business partners to ensure our members at the Bank [ED1] are treated fairly and properly whilst at work, and to get the best possible outcomes for them. [ED2] Obviously the more trades union members there are, the stronger our voice.
The Bank’s Ethical Policy includes a statement that promises our colleagues the right to join a trade union if they wish and the relationship between Unite and the Bank is regulated by a Recognition and Facilities Agreement. This sets out how both parties operate in relation to each other, what each will provide and what each can expect. This agreement provides for the presence of union reps in the workplace, and for our two senior full time reps, myself and Dave Williams, [ED3] who are on hand to deal with more serious and involved issues.
As a union we provide confidential assistance, advice and representation for members in formal meetings such as disciplinary, sickness absence, performance, grievance and appeals. It’s important to stress that advice and representation can only be given to our members. Non-members can join at any time, but we can’t represent them with a pre-existing problem. That would be like taking out car insurance after an accident and hoping to claim!
All our reps receive a range of training from Unite and as senior reps, both David and I have a Diploma in Employment Law. Whilst we do have disagreements with the business on occasion, and we don’t shy away from that, the job of a senior rep is effectively a diplomatic one – we’re here to sort out problems, find solutions, enforce members rights, and ultimately make the Bank the best employer it can be.
Every year your union reps work on your behalf on our annual pay negotiations. From start to finish, a full pay negotiation cycle takes approximately six months. We start by surveying members to find out what they want in a pay claim and if there are any other issues that we need to address. We also research other pay deals across the finance sector and look at any terms and conditions changes that may need to be tabled. From that information we draft a pay claim and hold a meeting of all of our reps to discuss and agree the draft claim. Around the same time we request a range of data from Reward Team in the People Function [ED4] so that we can assess the impact of any claim. Pay negotiations normally start once we have submitted a pay claim on behalf of members. When negotiations have been exhausted, we hold a full reps meeting to decide what kind of recommendation we want to make to members. We then organise a ballot of our members, and if agreed, pay rises and terms and conditions changes are normally implemented in early April.
Of course, no business is static. Organisations change and evolve, and to facilitate that Unite and the Bank have negotiated an Organisation Change Agreement which lays out how changes affecting staff will be undertaken, including restructuring, redundancy terms, etc. Unite is always consulted in advance on restructures and reorganisations, so that we have a chance to understand the changes and challenge them where necessary. We then support members who are impacted, ensuring processes are followed properly, challenges investigated and redeployments offered where possible. Essentially, we do everything we can to make the process as pain free as possible for our members.
There are lots of benefits to joining the trade union. Join today at
https://unitetheunion.org/members/fb-join/.
