Northern Ireland – Policy and Bargaining Support Organiser

About this job

JOB BRIEF

UNISON is the UK’s leading public sector trade union, with over 1.3 million members working in the public services, private, voluntary and community sectors and in the energy services. We employ 1200 staff, approximately 370 at our national centre in Euston, central London and the remainder in our twelve regions across the UK. The Northern Ireland Region has over 45,000 members working primarily in health, social care, education and the community & voluntary sectors.

This is a key post in the UNISON NI staff team. The post holder will work with the Regional Management Team helping to meet the aims and objectives of UNISON Northern Ireland.

UNISON is committed to improving the working lives of its members and securing equality and rights for their families and communities. This role is at the heart of our mission – helping to develop and support the research, policy interventions and projects that will enable us to meet our objectives.

The role

Working with the Regional Management Team and Policy Officer in Northern Ireland your role will involve undertaking research, policy and project work in accordance with the Regional Plan. This translates into a wide range of activity supporting the union internally and externally. It involves work with the senior team, the whole staff team, senior union activists and, where appropriate, direct assistance to branches. The post will play an important role in developing UNISON data bases to assist the wider staff team and lay structures and requires excellent research and communication skills.

To expand on the information contained in the job description and person specification we set out below some of the key functions of this post as it currently operates in UNISON Northern Ireland. Functions include:

• supporting both national and regional UNISON policy and bargaining objectives, including from an equality and human rights perspective;
• drafting responses to NI Government and, where appropriate, UK and international, consultation documents, calls for evidence and draft legislation – with a particular emphasis on equality and human rights – and disseminating a concise summary of UNISON’s responses through the activist base to relevant external organisations and, where appropriate, through the media;
• supporting UNISON’s democratic structures, including providing briefings for branch and regional delegations to UNISON and wider trade union conferences and providing regular updates for UNISON NI Regional Committee and Regional Council;
• contributing to the development of key UNISON policy across all our objectives and providing staff, activists and branches with concise, accessible guidance;
• liaising with employers and external organisations, political parties and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions as appropriate;
• liaising with UNISON HQ and, in particular, UNISON’s Policy Department as appropriate;
• keeping the UNISON team updated on relevant developments in EU, ETUC, ILO, UN treaty monitoring bodies and wider programmes, policy and legislation as it affects membership and public services in Northern Ireland;
• undertaking lobbying and advocacy as and when appropriate;
• contributing to the co-ordination of UNISON NI strategies on equality and human rights across our organising, bargaining and campaigning objectives and programmes of work;
• working with our wide range of allies and partners in the equality and human rights field;
• assisting with developing UNISON NI’s unique partnership programme – designed to improve service delivery and the working lives of UNISON members;
• supporting UNISON’s recruitment, organising, bargaining and campaign activities;
• engaging with the print and broadcast media as appropriate.

Unison’s Aims 

The key aims of the union as detailed in our Rule Book seek to:

• Extend and promote our influence in the workplace and in the Community.

• Promote, safeguard and facilitate participation by all members in the union’s democracy, with special regard to women, members of all grades, black members, disabled members, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members.

• Provide effective standards of service in the areas of representation and advice, information to members on the work of the union, the provision of financial benefits and the maintenance of educational facilities for members.

Working Time 

While the Policy & Bargaining Support Organiser post can be a demanding position, requiring some attendance at meetings outside of the conventional working day, UNISON is a strong supporter of the work/life balance ethos and has a cross union flexible working policy. Post holders will therefore prioritise their working arrangements in such a way as to demonstrate by example their personal commitment to these aims.