Unison Somerset Local Government and Community Branch

As Council and school staff begin vote on pay strikes, Our Education Officer thought he'd talk you through the steps to completing your ballot.

Step 1 - The ballot will arrive in the post.📩

Step 2 - Time to fill out the ballot. UNISON recommends voting Yes. ✅

Step 3 - Put your ballot in the prepaid envelope and post it in a letter box. Don't forget to take a selfie 📸

Around 200,000 council and school workers at more than 500 employers across England and Wales are voting on whether to strike over a 3.3% pay offer.

https://unison.org.uk/press/2026/07/council-and-school-staff-begin-vote-pay-strikes-says-unison

Our branch continues to fight against the outsourcing of our members from Somerset Council to MD Group. Today we lobbied councillors ahead of Audit Committee and questioned the integrity of the information supplied as part of the Housing Options Appraisal.

Our power is in our continued collective action ✊

Somerset housing workers lobby council over outsourcing concerns, says UNISON - UNISON South West Somerset housing workers lobby council over outsourcing concerns, says UNISON

Looks like we're getting some more media coverage on our anti-outsourcing campaign. Listen to UNISON rep Zak Stabbins on BBC Somerset this morning 1:08:56 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002sfqq and the Somerset County Gazette https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/25947715.unions-oppose-major-shake-up-somerset-council-housing/ #:~:text=But%20Unison%20representatives%20have%20warned,committee%20formally%20debated%20the%20proposals

For our Somerset Council Members, an update will be coming shortly in your inboxes 📩

Charlie Taylor - 19/03/2026 - BBC Sounds Get your Somerset day underway with a giggle. Plus travel, weather, news and sport.

Following on from last week's lobby, Somerset Councillors still voted for the suggested changes to Somerset Council's Housing model. UNISON and trades staff are concerned around the proposals to outsource a vital service to an external organisation as well as the limited information shared with tenants and workers around the upcoming changes to the service as a result of this decision

Please see the BBC article on this : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c23z3p324j8o

Our members and Somerset Council's trades staff were outside County Hall this morning lobbying and speaking to Somerset Council Councillors ahead of the decision Somerset Council are looking to make today to outsource their housing trades staff to MD Group. Members raised their concerns about the work MD Group does and the lack of transparency in this decision making. Here's a link to our petition https://forms.office.com/e/S8VgL0zeVh

Don't allow tax payer money go to private companies - keep Somerset Council housing repairs service in house to ensure good quality service for tenants. Sign our petition here:

https://forms.office.com/e/S8VgL0zeVh

Join our lobby tomorrow morning at 9:15am outside County Hall, Taunton.

We are delighted to congratulate Andrea Egan on her election as UNISON general secretary, with our branch having nominated her earlier this year.

Voting in the ballot was as follows:

Andrea Egan - 58,579 (59.82%)

Christina McAnea - 39,353 (40.18%)

Read the full details here: https://www.unison.org.uk/general-secretary-election-2025/

Well done to all the migrant health and social care workers who visited Parliament earlier this week with a plan to challenge unfair practices and ending exploitation.

Very proud of the amazing work the migrant workers network has been doing to raise awareness and holding the government to account

BIG DAY 🙌🏼 hundreds of migrant health and social care workers are making their way to Parliament where they’ll lobby the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and their MPs.

They have four asks:

- To end exploitation — replace employer sponsored visas with a sector-wide scheme in social care.
- No retrospective application or 15-year qualifying period - and recognition for the vital economic and social contribution of public sector workers.
- A fully funded Fair Pay Agreement for the social care sector.
- To draw attention to the impact of raised salary thresholds across public services – including in the NHS.

Three coaches from the South West are safely on their way to Westminster ✊🏼

We’re sending solidarity to our phlebotomists in Gloucestershire today as they mark 250 days of strike action.

Members of our branch had the honour of helping to raise money for their strike fund yesterday at Somerset Solidarity Day ✊💜

Our branch was out supporting Somerset Solidarity Day in Frome today. It was a great chance to speak with people in our local community about issues important to them, including our Fair Visa campaign and LGBT+ rights ✊