Hello to all UNISON North West activists and members,

I have yet to meet an activist who is doing anything other than far more and different union work during this pandemic - that steep learning curve is endless. As a result, I have learned the importance of taking a break.

Trade unions fought long and hard for our rights to a break and we should take our own advice we give out daily about health and well-being; not working from unacceptable worktops and chairs (I heard of one worker who has carried out their duties for 6 months at home on an ironing board for a desk!) None of us are indispensable- no matter how important people like me believe we are - we are not!

One of the many brilliant aspects of being your Regional Convenor is constantly learning - I attended an event staged by our International Committee and was staggered to learn that £260bn of public money is spent in the UK procuring goods and services,  largely from unscrupulous global employers for which there are no global/national rules. This has enormous and dire consequences across the globe for workers and I would commend taking time to get involved with Electronics Watch.

We recently held our UNISON North West Regional Council and we unanimously passed three motions which are all being actively pursued. Most pressingly, one motion relates to the outrageous attack on the £95k cap and local government pension/severance payments under the cover of COVID. We need you to take action and templates have been created that you are urged to use - please see this template as well as this link.

With our region in differing awful levels of lockdown, my message is simple- please look after yourself, take a break to re-energise and thank you for everything you do.