ABOUT
Welcome to the University of Bristol’s UNISON branch
We are here for all professional services staff at the University, offering individual and collective support. We fight for a fairer workplace and society, always putting staff and students before profit.
What we do
Our branch is here to support you through any problems you may encounter at work, whether this is help dealing with restructure, pay discrepancies, or a difficult manager.
We also fight for wider collective change, striking for fair pay. The Higher Education sector is currently at crisis point after we have suffered 15 years of real terms pay cuts: UNISON have a tool to calculate how many earnings you may have lost per year – we are fighting to stop these atrocious losses.
We are an extremely active branch, and also show up for Bristol and our wider community. We recently had a large presence at Bristol’s anti-racist rally, and a continued presence at Palestinian support marches in Bristol and London.
For some examples of what we’ve been up to recently, see our News section.
Who we are
Our branch has existed for over 20 years, and continues to grow stronger: campaigning for our members, striking for fair pay, and representing our branch at national events.
Our branch executive committee is made up of a hardworking team of volunteers who work far and wide across the University. We each support different members and areas of the union – see below for our full list of different roles. You can contact us individually by searching for our names in Outlook or email the office at unison-office@bristol.ac.uk
For individual support with workplace issues, we also have a group of dedicated Stewards. These individuals have undergone training to support you through difficult processes like grievances and disciplinaries.
We also have workplace contacts who disseminate information within their buildings – we’re a huge family!
Branch Officers
Our roles & what we do
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Co branch secretaries
- Oversees the branch and all roles below
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Assistant branch secretary
- Assists the above
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Chairperson
- Organises and runs branch meetings
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Co Comms officers
- Responsible for branch comms: member emails, social media and website
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Education officers
- Manages workplace contacts
- Organises training for members
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Environment officers
- Encourages sustainability at the University
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Equalities officer
- Coordinates other equalities officers
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Black Members officers
- Supports ethnic minority members (‘black’ encompasses all)
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Disabilities officers
- Supports disabled members
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LGBTQ+ officers
- Supports LGBTQIA+ members
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Women’s officer
- Supports members who identify as women
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Health and Safety officers
- Supports members’ physical and mental health at work
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International officer
- Develops and leads on international solidarity activities
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Labour Link
- Link with local constituency Labour Party
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Lifelong Learning rep
- Supporting members with lifelong learning and skills for life
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Membership officers
- Keeps track of the branch’s membership
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Recruitment officer
- Develops member recruitment and organising
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Retired members officer
- Helps retired members of the branch to continue to be active in the union
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Social Secretary
- Organises member socials both in person and online
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Treasurer
- Responsible for managing branch finances, including keeping accounts
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Vice Chair
- Deputy to the chairperson
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Welfare officer
- Helps members seeking welfare assistance (from UNISON’s ‘There For You’ charity)
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Part Time members officer
- Supports members who work part time
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Young members officers
- Supports members 30 and under