From Branch Secretary Rosemary McLoughlin

Hello and welcome to UNISON Merton! 

Whether you are already a member or are thinking of becoming one, I hope you find our website useful and informative. We try our best to update it regularly with items of interest to our members here in Merton. For more on national and regional issues, please go to the national UNISON website on www.unison.org.uk.

I was elected full-time UNISON Branch Secretary in 2003. Before that I was an Occupational Therapist in the Social Services department at Gifford House. So I know what working in Merton is like. Many of us live locally and we value the benefits of working for a local employer, especially those of us who have children. The council's work life balance policy is also a positive step, allowing many staff to arrange their working hours around family and other commitments. However, there are also some deep seated problems in Merton and too often we have had members who have been bullied by their managers, who have been the subject of racial harassment or who have been victimised because they are sick or have a disability. UNISON Merton works hard to stop this kind of behaviour and to ensure that our members are treated with dignity and respect.

We also negotiate with Merton Council on a range of policies including the sickness procedure, appraisals, changes in staff contracts, and almost anything you can think of that affects your day to day employment. We also spend a lot of time negotiating with the council on big national issues like Single Status - for more information on this please see our Single Status page.

At UNISON Merton we try to be as approachable as possible. We are based in the first floor wing of the Civic Centre and our admin officer, Linda Kingsley, is always on the end of the telephone. If you have a problem at work or would like to talk about an issue affecting you or your team, do let us know. Also, if you are interested in becoming a Steward or a Workplace Contact (responsible for distributing information from the union in your workplace) do please let us know. We can offer free training and you are entitled to time off from work for this.

Rosemary McLoughlin

UNISON Merton Branch Secretary

2007-09-08