Join UoB Unison
“Your first port of call with any questions you’ve got is your manager. Your second is your trade union.“
— James Bigwood, Chief People Officer, University of Bristol, All Staff Assembly, Tuesday 17 March 2026
UoB Unison represents all professional services staff working at the University of Bristol.
It represents individual members, as well as the entire workforce during major changes such as restructures.
A strong union branch is the primary way for the university’s workforce to hold senior management to account and prevent irresponsible decisions being made unilaterally.
If you have an issue at work or are at risk of redundancy, UNISON can only represent you if you are already a member.
Join now before it’s too late.
Start your UoB UNISON Journey
Level 1️⃣
🫡 Join UNISON
UNISON can help with…
- Improved pay and conditions
- Representation at disciplinaries and grievances
- Tackling stress or bullying at work
- Advocating on your behalf with HR and managers
- Education and training
- Legal advice on work and non-work related matters
- Financial savings through membership benefits
Level 2️⃣
🫂 Find your workplace contact
Your workplace contact is your first point of contact for the branch. Send them a message and introduce yourself! They will add you to the Unison group chat for your workplace.
Level 3️⃣
📢 Stay up to date
➡️ Add the branch calendar to Outlook
The calendar contains branch meetings and social events
To add the calendar, open Outlook calendar (either desktop or online) > select ‘add calendar’ > select ‘from address book’ (desktop) or ‘add from directory’ (online) > search for unison-social@bristol.ac.uk
➡️ Join the branch WhatsApp community
Ask your workplace contact for a join link
➡️ Keep an eye out for branch emails
We send a newsletter about once a month!
➡️ Attend branch meetings
Branch meetings are your chance to vote on important motions and discuss branch activity
Level 4️⃣
✊ Join the Action Group
The action group is a group chat for engaged members who want to help form branch policy and plan branch action
Ask your workplace contact to add you to the action group!
Level 5️⃣
👑 Become a branch activist
Become a Workplace contact
Our workplace contacts help the branch to disseminate key information. They will be a friendly face in your office, and are your first port of call for any workplace issues that may be escalated to the branch.
Become a steward
Our dedicated stewards provide individual support with workplace issues. They have undergone training to support you through difficult processes like grievances and disciplinaries.
Join the branch committee
The branch committee is made up of members who hold specific officer roles. We encourage role sharing – if you think you might be interested, get in touch and we can find the role that fits you!
Member testimonies
Why we joined
I joined for support at work to help me get through a difficult time. Being a member has made a big difference to me – without our UNISON Rep, we wouldn’t have got a higher grading for more pay. Our branch is supportive and also active on issues really important to me such as fighting racism and justice for Palestine. So if you care what is happening at work, In Bristol and beyond – come and join us!
I am part of the Unison Executive Group to give back! Unison helped me through a particular difficult time at work which inspired me to get involved to help and support others. We all need advocates at times in our lives and by becoming a member of Unison you know there is always someone available to advise and help you through, someone to tackle the tough discussions, whether it be pay negotiations, personal help or someone to hold the University accountable and to ensure they follow procedures. Becoming a member means ‘someone is always in your corner’!
I got involved involved for general protection at work, became active because of the fights we were winning locally, and stayed thanks to the lifelong friends I’ve met
As soon as I got my first job, my dad made sure the first thing I did was join a union. Coming from a working class family full of union reps has made me appreciate just how important unions are – change only ever happens if those of us at the bottom of the ladder recognise our collective power. It’s just like in Bugs Live (the hit animated children’s film that’s actually about unions) when the grasshopper guy says ‘those puny ants outnumber us a hundred to one. And if they ever figure that out, there goes our way of life. It’s not about food, it’s about keeping those ants in line.’ We’re the ants! And we need to figure it out!