Request for Nomination for Female Local Government NEC Seat

Request for Nomination for Female Local Government NEC Seat

                                                     

Jane Doolan  

Branch Code: 03492

Membership number  1179349

I am seeking  nomination from your branch for the female local government NEC seat. I am currently Branch Secretary of the Islington Branch (1999) and as an activist of  35 years I have seen the damage successive governments have wreaked on Local Government and it's workforce.

My Experience  

I have held a number of positions in Islington. Branch Chair, Assistant Branch Secretary, Vice Chair. I  have also held the positions of Staff side Secretary and Joint Trade Union Convenor. I was an active member of the miners support group and this resulted in the twinning of Islington with the Tower Colliery South Wales. I represent UNISON on the Greater London Provincial Council and previously the Greater London Employers Forum

I was instrumental in bringing the ALMO back in house as well as the Cleaning contract. Indeed our cleaning staff are some of the best paid in London . Most recently I was part of the negotiating team that brought the waste contract and the repairs contract back in house. This was successful despite opposition from some leading council officers.

Our council, with my branches support, was one of the first to introduce the London Living Wage and I along with other activists am working towards the implementation of the Living Wage for our members in Care UK.

Islington and Southwark were the first Councils to adopt UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter and this was due to the hard work of colleagues and myself in achieving this.

I argued against and campaigned against the proposal to turn our local Libraries over to a Trust. Local Councillors argued it was the only way to save this service but some 3 years on every Library remains intact and Islington still has one of the best Library Services in the country.

Pay

Our members have been taking pay cuts in real terms for the last five years. The Local Government pay campaign last year was an unmitigated disaster. Members who took strike action ended up with less than the original claim Once again we have been tied in to a deal that gives us no hope of a pay rise in the near future. I put a motion to our branch committee calling for a Special Service Group Conference in October and I fully support the need for this conference to happen. Whether our members agreed with taking strike action or not they lost confidence in the campaign.

The Future

I want to share my experience with members. I want to campaign for better pay and terms and conditions for our members. I want us to be in a position where we recruit new members and they have the confidence in our ability to deliver. We need new members and new stewards and we need to recruit younger people and educate them in what real Trade Unionism is all about.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and I hope your branch will nominate me for this position. I have enclosed a nomination form and which needs to be returned to UNISON HQ.

Yours in Solidarity

Jane Doolan