Thank you all for your patience and understanding whilst the branch has worked through the last few weeks of the response to the Covid-19 crisis, especiallt to those of you that have contacted us with information about how it is affecting you and your particular area of work at the University, and those of you whose non-Covid casework has been held up due to the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re pushing out a lot of information, and it isn\u2019t always easy or practical to email everyone \u2013 you can check our website for news, or check us out on Twitter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given that we are still in a period of lockdown, we have taken the decision to go ahead with the Branch General Meeting scheduled on 7 May 2020 12:00-13:00 via Teams, which is an online platform. Many of you will be familiar with Teams from your work, but you do not<\/strong> need a Teams account to participate, as you can join via your web browser. This is the first time we will have tried to run such a large meeting online \u2013 please be patient with us, there are bound to be some gremlins!<\/p>\n\n\n\n All members are welcome, and we can confirm that if you are on furlough, you can participate in union meetings.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The theme for the meeting will be: Q&A on Covid-19 measures, incl furlough.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Papers for the meeting and the link for joining have been emailed to all members – please check your spam\/junk folder, and contact the branch<\/a> if you still can’t find it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can send questions in advance of the meeting (although we will take them on the day) to unison@lancaster.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n As well as representation at work, UNISON also has lots of other benefits of membership, many of which are useful when you need that bit of extra help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We now have a dedicated Welfare page<\/a> on our website, providing information about financial and legal support available to members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rules for furloughing allow staff to undertake work-related training, so a furlough can be an opportunity to catch up on some of those online courses you\u2019re usually too busy for and to develop your digital skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The staff development portal is the best way to find the full range of training currently offered by the University : https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/staff-development\/<\/a>. By participating in these opportunities, you are not only contributing to your professional development but also adding to your staff training record, which is can be beneficial to your prospects with the University in the long run. <\/p>\n\n\n\n UNISON members can access additional free online learning opportunities. As a result of the COVID crisis, UNISON has expanded the online member learning offer vastly through a new partnership with the Staff Skills Academy. This gives access to over 550 certified CPD courses for free. Some – such as Remote Workers’ Security and How to Manage Virtual Teams – are very timely, others are vocational training relating to various work activities and sklills while yet others are for personal interest and development. Definitely worth having a look on: https:\/\/learning.unison.org.uk\/member-learning\/<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course you don’t have to be on furlough to take advantage of any of these opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have any questions about learning through UNISON, get in touch with us via our branch email address<\/a>. Thank you all for your patience and understanding whilst the branch has worked through the last few weeks of the response to the Covid-19 crisis, especiallt to those of you that have contacted us with information about how it is affecting you and your particular area of work at the University, and those of you … <\/p>\nWelfare Update<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Professional Development while Furloughed<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"