An extraordinary achievement at South Bucks saw a Conservative Council agree to recognise UNISON after two decades of dismissing trade unions. Ruth Smith, a Regional Organiser in the Reading Office, led an effective campaign to increase membership by 55%. This followed plans to merge two councils, South Bucks and Chiltern where one recognised UNISON and the other did not. Restructure and harmonisation of terms and conditions were seen as an opportunity to make a positive impact. The result is that staff at both councils now benefit from full recognition of their trade union.
April saw a month of high recruitment across the board and Heatherwood and Wexham Park Branch, supported by Liz Woodhouse, managed to secure more new members in the first four months of 2013 than they usually recruit in a whole year.
To explain more about recruitment, Caroline Raine and Kieran Pearson have kindly volunteered their services for this video filmed at the JR Hospital in Oxford.
