News from the South West Regional BLACK MEMBERS GROUP

The BLACK ACTIVIST

07 Summer Issue WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION TO OUR NEWSLETTER SINCE LIZ HARRISS DEPARTURE.
News in Brief.. We have had our AGM March the 10 th 07. Consequent meetings saw us agreeing plans for the whole of the year read on for more details

Regional SOG invited to highlight its work at Employer event BREAKING THROUGH LEADERSHIP
I attended the South West's very first Breaking Through Leadership Development Conference which took place on Tuesday May 15 2007. The Regional Black Members Self organized Group had the opportunity to have a stall at the event that was attended by Black Workers within the NHS. It was also an opportunity to recruit new members as well as activists as well as raising the profile of Unison and Black Self Organisation. Delegates commented on the strong presentations and interesting debates. The successful event discussed issues around equality and diversity in the NHS and the importance of encouraging all staff to develop their careers. The Chief Executive of NHS South West Sir Ian Carruthers OBE, the Department of Health's Equality and Human Rights Director Mr Surinder Sharma, and the National Breaking Through Programme Lead Ms Yvonne Coghill were just some of the top speakers of the day. Sir Ian told a packed audience that the South West had ambitious targets to meet which couldn't be achieved without the full commitment and enthusiasm of staff. He also said health services must take account of the origin, culture and beliefs of the individual. Sir Ian urged senior members of staff to mentor young talent as without a mentor he wouldn't have risen from a junior office clerk to the position he is in today.
Report given by Peninah Achieng - Chair

Looking at the agenda I realised that our colleagues within the NHS were having the same discussions we were having within Local Government on promoting the Global Majority into senior positions.

The Department of Health's Director for Equality and Human Rights, Mr Surrender Sharma said the NHS took equality and diversity issues seriously making it part of the NHS action plan. He told delegates that the NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson wants 30 per cent of top NHS managers to have originated from an ethnic minority background to ensure the organisation truly reflects the population it serves and be in a better position to address health inequalities. I was very impressed with the presentation made by Shelly Hossain on the barriers and enablers to Black and other Ethnic Staff progressing and thriving in organisations. And noted in particular the statistics which indicated that: The NHS is the largest employer in the UK and the third largest in Europe. The NHS is the single employer of black and minority ethnic staff in England: 14% of the overall NHS workforce 5 - 7% in Ambulance Services (compared to 1.6% in 2000) 75% of the NHS workforce are women 30% of todays medical students are from BME groups 60% of todays medical students are female 16.4% of qualified nursing, midwifery and health-visiting staff are from BME groups. 7.5 % of the social care workforce are from BME groups The initiative is led by Yvonne Coghill who is based in London within the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. She indicated that they will be running a pilot transformational leadership programme and would be recruiting across the regions. She urged the NHS staff to look out for those job adverts as she was also looking to recruit regional champions for the initiative. The annual Breaking Through Conference is scheduled for 15th October 2007. Lead organiser of the event and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's Equality and Diversity Manager, Errol Bryan concluded, "I'd like to thank Sir Ian, Dame Janet, Surinder Sharma and all the other speakers for taking the time to come and speak to us today. Their words and vision for the NHS was truly inspirational and has set the path for us to become the diverse workforce we have signed up to be." For the regional Unison Black Members group it is an occasion to disseminate good practice between the different sectors and continue to promote the Global Majoritys interest.

There were various workshops that took place at the end of the session. A panel discussion was also very interesting as they had invited two candidates who had gone through the Breakthrough Programme and were able to share their experiences of the programme which aims to To equip the NHS with BME directors and senior managers that are fit for purpose Enable NHS organisations to be fully representative of the populations they serve from the board down Support SHAs to commission appropriate development programmes for its BME staff train BME staff and enable them to acquire senior positions within the NHS.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The South West Region held its AGM on the 10th of March 2007. The Theme had been chosen on Abolition 200. And we invited a Speaker, who is a known Historian from Bristol Edson Burton. The earlier part of the AGM was taken up by business relating the region. We had the privilege of having a session with the Regional Secretary Ian Ducat that revolved around regional objectives and overall support for the SOG. He outlined the four objectives established by Unison that need to be addressed by each committee to include branches/sogs etc. There are currently four issues that have been identified as priorities within the organising work by the Union. These relate to: Climate Change Pensions NHS Crisis Local Government Pay

Ian confirmed that Unison was looking to develop Environmental Reps and that training would be available. There was ongoing debate with the wider group on the effects of Climate Change. Pensions Ian urged us to look at: The take up of Pensions by Black Members as a whole Involvement at a local level i.e. encouraging staff to attend events and seeking funding from GPF or other resources to organise around similar issues. Discussions also included Abolition 200 where the black members wanted to know: What extra funding was available to organise around Abolition 200? Involvement or Support from the region? Ian responded that there are different pots of money that we could bid against i.e. General Political Fund, Regional Pool. The seminar which was held in the afternoon covered the legacy of slavery and exploitation affecting black people Africans in Diaspora under the Abolition 200 theme. Dr Edson Burton, As a writer and academic has a broad knowledge of the history of the African Diaspora. He has delivered lectures and workshops on the survival of the African heritage in the Diaspora and the impact of the slave trade on Diaspora communities today. From 1998-2003 he coordinated events for the annual commeration of Black History Month in Bristol. In workshops involving young and mature participants Edson has used aspects of Diaspora History to explore personal identity. Highlights of his career as a performance poet include support slots for award winning poets Dana Bryant, Glenis Redmond and Simon Armitage. He is the

The Black Members in the South West already spent a good session of the first Committee meeting fine tuning the Action Plan against each of the priority areas and this is available on the regional website for anyone who is interested. During the session however members had the opportunity to discuss issues that were concerned with some of these priorities. Climate Change The black members raised questions on: Accessibility of information to help with organising and recruitment targets Availability of training on Globalisation Organising around Fair trade issues and the impact on Climate Change

writer of the drama Armour of Immanuel broadcast on Radio 4 August 2007. It was interesting to see the Historian go through the series that have led to the conditioning of the minds of black people for centuries now and the impact this has also had to Africa and its people, natural resources including land. Later this year the Black Members are hoping to run a wider session open to all people in the South West region another event on the Abolition 200 theme. So watch this

the decision to dismiss Ann Southcott was fuelled by the debt crisis at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. Mrs Southcott said:"Im delighted with this result as I was clearly discriminated against on the grounds of my age which was grossly unfair. I cannot afford to give up work at this time and why should I when I was doing a job I loved. I am looking forward to the challenge of my new job back in the therapies department. According to research from Age Concern, conducted in autumn 2005 in partnership with the University of Kent, more people (29%) reported suffering age discrimination than any other form of discrimination. Other findings were as follows:

space. CELEBRATIONS OF SUCCESS

UNISON wins back job for UKS first Age Discrimination Case Landmark Victory UNISON the UKs largest public sector union, has secured a landmark victory in what is believed to be the first age discrimination case to go before an Employment Tribunal. Ann Southcott (66), a clerical worker in the therapy department at Treliske Hospital in Truro, was dismissed from her work on 30 September 2006 - the last day before the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force. UNISON instructed Thompsons to represent her. Being sacked at that time meant that instead of being entitled to 11 months pay (one for each year of her service) she received just 11 weeks pay instead. As a result of the claim the Trust has agreed to re-instate Mrs Southcott with back pay from October and with no loss of service. Mike Jackson, UNISON Senior National Officer for Health, said: "This is a fair and just outcome to a sorry chapter in the hospitals history. There is no doubt that

From age 55 onwards, people were nearly twice as likely to have experienced age prejudice than any other form of discrimination Nearly 30% of people believed there is more prejudice against the old than five years ago, and that this will continue to get worse One third of people thought that the demographic shift towards an older society would make life worse in terms of standards of living, security, health, jobs and education

WHAT ARE WE DOING THIS YEAR (Or whats left of it) Events
Objective 1 Recruiting, Organising and
Representing Members

Tolpuddle Festival - 15th July 2007 Emancipation Day Celebrations to be Confirmed - Date

St Pauls Carnival (Bristol) -15th September 2007

(more overleaf..)

and a presentation to a panel drawn from the firms Supervisory Board. Vaughan was attracted to Thompsons largely because of their link with the labour and trade union movement and their commitment never to work for insurers or employers. Outside of work, Vaughan is also actively involved in the trade union movement and is currently Vice President of the Wales TUC. At 33 Vaughan is the youngest Vice President and the first black person to hold this role. He should next year go on to become the youngest and first black President of the Wales TUC.

Objective 2 Negotiating and Bargaining

on Behalf of Members and Promoting Equality

Joint SOG Event Effectiveness Day November 2007 Objective 3 Campaigning and Promoting
Unison on Behalf of Members

Abolition 200 Events Slave Trail (Central Bristol to Blaise Castle) 25th August 2007 Black History (Malcolm X Centre) 13th October 2007 Developing and Effective and Efficient Union Understanding Racism Workshop 1st Dec 2007 - Bournemouth Climate Change and Africa How it affects the developing countries (Fringe Meeting -As part of Black History Event)

And BIG thanks this issue goes to: Our Chair, Peninah Achieng for her many contributions to this issue as well as a special Thank You to Janet Wheeler for preparing and producing this newsletter. Please remember everyone is welcome to attend any of our advertised events and we would especially welcome any contributions to our Newsletter.
If anyone is interested in contributing to the newsletters please be in contact with myself either by e-mail or telephone at Janet.Wheeler@brandontrust.org

Congratulations

this issue goes to Vaughan Gething who has now become a full partner in Thompsons Solicitors. Vaughan was born in Zambia and now lives in Cardiff where he is a Labour Councillor. He joined Thompsons as a trainee solicitor in September 2001 qualifying as a solicitor in 2003. In 2006 he became a Client Manager and in 2007, a partner. He supervises a team of employment lawyers and support staff. Vaughan was one of 8 new Thompsons partners in 2007 following a new partnership entry programme. The programme set out a challenge for individuals to step up to the role of partner and take on an organisational perspective to add value to the firm. It included a written process, 2 interviews

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UNISON SOUTH WEST REGIONAL BLACK MEMBERS SELF ORGANISED GROUP ABOUT US:
The South West Regional Black Members Self Organised Group aims to reflect the views of black Members throughout the Region and to ensure that those views are expressed within the Regional structure. Too often black people expected to pay their unison dues, but not take part in union activity or help decide union policy. Not only thatblack members can meet separately at Branch, Regional and National level, to ensure that this actually happens in practice. Where black members get together this is called, black self organisation. Where our members form a Formal group, this is called a Black SelfOrganised Group (SOG). working with Race Equality Council in the South West and working with the South West TUC Race Equality Committee backing Black members in race discrimination cases. helping our members where they feel they are not getting adequate support from the Union arguing far more resources to be provided for our black members to organise and campaign demanding that the union introduces ethnic monitoring, so that we can identify our black members and communicate with each other promoting the idea of black UNISON lay-tutors to run courses for black members helping black members to participate in education and training activity and other democratic structures in UNISON. Working with UNISON branches across the region to educate and advise members on the issues surrounding black members in the workplace. Looking at Climate Change and how it affects the developing countries. More info: k.davidson@unison.co.uk

South West Regional Black Members Self This is not the case in UNISON Organised Group

where Black self organisation and the guarantee of black The South West Region includes, representation in our structures Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, ensure a positive role for black Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire. Members. Soon every branch based SOG will be Gauranteed Representation in entitled to be represented within the Regional Self-Organised Group. So the Structure once a self-organised group is formed UNISON is committed in its Rule at branch level, the black members Book to proportionality and fair there will become part of a regional representation in all committees and network. The Regional SOG has at all levels of the union. This means formed a committee of 15 members that black people must be represented who meet quarterly, and as and when in proportion to our numbers. For necessary. This group has a voice that example, black members are entitled is being heard on all policy making committees of the union. We are to be elected as a right to the: pressing our Region to act in the National Delegate Conference. interest of black members, and we National Executive Council are already actively campaigning on a Regional Council number of key issues. For example, Regional Committee we are: Branch Committee