Social Worker Self Care – more than a personal responsibility

Gill has worked for UNISON and its predecessor union for over 30 years. Since the 90s she has held several national roles in UNISON’s local government section and has specialised in job evaluation and pay and grading.

She has also been a UNISON negotiator and Assistant Trade Union Side Secretary for national pay and conditions negotiations for staff employed on National Joint Council terms and conditions – the Green Book.

In her current role Gill is responsible for developing policy and campaigns on workplace issues raised by our social worker members and represents UNISON on various forums. UNISON is the biggest trade union for social workers and the wider social care workforce, with over 40,000 social workers in membership working across the whole range of social work employers including local authorities, NHS Trusts, the voluntary sector, agencies, Cafcass, and the care regulators. UNISON is the principal trade union recognised for social workers in the UK, negotiating on pay and conditions of service at national and local level and providing individual advice and representation to social workers.

Mike has over 20 years of experience within Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Starting his journey in 2001 as a UNISON trade union health and safety representative at a University.

Following development opportunities provided by his union's encouragement for life-long learning and his employer’s staff development funding, in 2011, Mike attained a NEBOSH Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety.

Having held national lay activists’ roles involving policy development, campaigning and working jointly with employers and the HSE to seek improvements in health and safety within the Higher Education sector.  Mike moved into a national OHS professional advisory role with the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo).

Now working for UNISON as Assistant National Officer (Health and Safety), Mike works within the national health and safety unit, one of a number of teams helping UNISON support over 1.3 million members delivering public services.

Mike’s main area of OHS interest is “Human Factors”, which examines how working environments, organisational cultures and approaches, the type of work being undertake and individual’s behavioural approaches can influence and affect work related health, safety and wellbeing outcomes.

Kerie is Chair of UNISON’s National Social Care Forum and Assistant Branch Secretary for Tower Hamlets UNISON. A Trade Union officer as well as a registered social worker, she has many years’ experience representing social workers employed in local government on a wide range of collective and individual issues.  From grievances and disciplinaries, protecting whistle-blowers, challenging employers on unsafe workloads, pay and grading disputes, through to leading strike action on ‘fire and rehire’. Kerie has also led on numerous community campaigns in east London, working alongside service users, to challenge outsourcing and cuts to public services.

Rhea Mills is a Professional Services Officer in Unison’s Professional Service Unit (PSU). Prior to joining Unison in 2022, Rhea specialised in social housing and community care law, and has a broader background in bringing civil proceedings. Currently, Rhea represents UNISON members involved in Fitness to Practise and associated regulatory cases across 14 regulators, including Social Work England (SWE) Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and Care Council for Wales (CCW). She regularly appears for members at Interim Order and Substantive Hearings before decision-making panels and has helped to develop training materials for the Professional Services Unit and wider organization. As a national officer for Unison, Rhea works closely with other trade unions, government departments and regulatory bodies to develop policy and legislation. She is passionate about creating a fairer process for health and social care professionals and takes a special interest in helping professionals to strengthen their practice