UNISON Barnardos- Virtual Union Branch site

Social Change has developed with Unison, a UK union with over a million members, a pioneering virtual branch site that provides an online solution to organising needs of the union’s more than 1100 branches. A key benefit of the virtual site approach is that it is a very cost effective way of providing powerful branch sites.

Social Change has developed with Unison, a UK union with over a million members, a pioneering virtual branch site that provides an online solution to organising needs of the union's more than 1100 branches. A key benefit of the virtual site approach is that it is a very cost effective way of providing powerful branch sites.

The first virtual branch site has been provided for the Unison Barnardos branch that represents workers employed at Barnardo's throughout England, Scotland and Wales. See Unison Barnardos.

The sites have been designed to make the best use of web facilities to communicate, involve and organise. For example the member only voting and online discussion are perfect for encouraging participation by far flung members who find meetings difficult to get to, while the wealth of information about the union activities on the front page of the site such the virtual branch secretary "Ask Bob" FAQ, shows how efficiently the web can communicate workplace issues to members.

Unison have just launched a second virtual branch for professionals in the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate CSCI Unison. Other unions around the world have also expressed interest in the virtual union branch model.