General Political Fund

Branch Spot Bid form for Worth It campaign activity – spring 2014

Background information

The General Political Fund has agreed to invite spot bids for activity in support of Worth It, which is UNISON’s UK wide, cross service group campaign on pay. It aims to raise the profile of pay within the membership, with policy makers and the wider public.

The purpose of spot bids is to encourage local activity in support of particular campaigns at specific times, and to streamline the bidding process to make it easier for branches to engage and make use of GPF funds.

Spot bids on this occasion for the Worth it campaign are invited up to a value of £500. The types of activity that the bids could support include the following (please note this list is just to give you an idea):

-  Workplace campaign stall – with petition and materials

-  Debt workshop - bringing in financial advisor to give ideas on spending less cash

-  Cooking for less – hold a session on low cost meals, maybe with a chef, publicise etc

-  Street stall – with petition and materials (model petitions are available, and once complete can be submitted to employers, local councillors, MPs and candidates)

-  Public meeting/rally, bringing together all branches in a locality to highlight falling pay

-  Advertisement in local paper (if bidding for advertising branches should consult Communications)

-  Campaign stunts

-  Any appropriate campaign activity associated with current pay claims, industrial action or TUC fair pay fortnight

-  Publicising UNISON services designed to help members through tough times (e.g. credit union and debt line services offered by There For You)

The timing of the activity is up to branches and regions, though consideration should be given to whether this can sit with current pay claim campaigns.

All materials produced should be badged with the Worth It logo. Branches should also refer to the campaign guide.

Completed forms should be forwarded by branches to regional secretaries. Bids will be approved or otherwise by the regional convenor or a nominated alternative senior member of the regional council (but either way they should be a GPF payer) and the regional secretary or nominated alternative member of the Regional Management Team. Successful bids will then be forwarded to UNISON centre for payment (Maria Francis – m.francis@unison,co.uk) .

Questions and queries can be directed to GPF officer, David Arnold

Application questions

1 Branch, including officer contact name, phone and email

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2 Amount required (inclusive of VAT - £500 max)

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3 Campaign activity that the bid will support

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4 The Worth It Campaign has five key campaign themes. Please tick which your activity will focus on (could be more than one)

·  Working people across the UK are struggling

·  We are all paying more and getting less

·  Taxpayers are having to pick up the tab for poverty pay and bad employment practices

·  UNISON is fighting for better, fairer pay

·  UNISON is helping you make ends meet

5 What is the timescale for your activity?

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6. Regionally agreed by Regional Head and confirmation of funds to be paid direct to the branch. Please amend bank details if you prefer to be paid direct into regional account.

Yes/No

Your Name:

7 Branch Payment Details –

Bank name:

Name of account:

Bank sort code:

Account number :

Branch Number:

Regional secretaries are asked to send completed forms for successful bids to Maria Francis at UNISON Centre