Sharing the love with TUC HeartUnions week

What is HeartUnions week?

#HeartUnions week is a national event organised by the TUC. This year it’s taking place from 10 - 16 February 2025.

HeartUnions week is a chance to celebrate unions and the good work that we do, to tell the story about why unions are vital for everyone at work, and to encourage people who aren't yet in a union to join one.

When the pandemic hit the UK, the government turned to the trade union movement for ideas to support workers - it's because of unions communicating the value we all have as workers that we secured the furlough scheme, keeping people in employment and protecting jobs through the tough times. 

Accord's own track record speaks for itself - we secured recognition payments during the pandemic, and secured cost-of-living cash payments too. In Lloyds Banking Group, our members voted in favour of the pay agreement we've negotiated by a majority of nearly 9:1 in a record turnout. We're here every day, fighting for your right to decent pay, fair reward and dignity at work. And that's what this week is all about - shouting out loud and clear about the good work that we all do on our members' behalf.

That’s why we’re encouraging all our reps and members to speak to colleagues about Accord and why joining is so important – because ‘Every worker needs a union!’

This year, we’re offering 3 months’ free membership to anyone who joins Accord between 10 February – 14 March 2025. All they have to do is enter the promo code: LOVEACCORD.

Every worker needs a union. Choose Accord as yours.

What's the benefit of being a union member?

There are some benefits of having a unionised workforce. Let's take a closer look at some of them:

Higher pay, better work benefits

Working people standing together and collectively negotiating with employers means that union members generally get:

• higher rates of pay and annual pay rises
  
• better sick pay
• more holidays
• improved access to flexible working arrangements
• plus, many other policy provisions improved beyond legal minimum requirements like maternity, paternity and adoption pay and leave

This is because they negotiate with employers, rather than leaving it to managers to decide.

Being treated with dignity & respect

Unions stand up for your right to work in an environment free from discrimination and to ensure you're treated with dignity and respect.

They push employers to make workplaces more inclusive for women, LGBT+ workers, black and minority ethnic workers, older workers, and disabled workers by negotiating progressive policies. Where there’s a strong trade union, employees are far less likely to face problems at work while pregnant, on maternity leave or when they return to work.

Safer & healthier working life

Unions tackle the causes of ill health at work, not just the symptoms. That means lower accident and injury rates, less stress and better understanding and support for those with mental health problems. Every year, unions collectively train 10,000 workers in health & safety.

Workplaces are safer where there's a strong union presence - you only need to look at the responses of unionised workplaces during the Covid-19 pandemic. Trained reps spot unsafe working practices and cut accident rates. That’s why workplaces with union representation have significantly lower injury rates. That's a fact.

Support at work

If you run into problems at work, your union has your back. Every year, unions support thousands of members who run into problems at work - from smaller issues like getting holiday approved, to the significant things like facing disciplinary action. Unions make sure you're treated fairly – without you having to worry about paying for legal support. Whether the problem is with employment contracts, harassment, redundancy, pensions or discrimination - your union will be there to help you.

What can Accord do for you

When you join Accord, you're joining more than just a union - you're joining an extended family with more than 21,000 other members! Our members trust us with two main tasks:

Collective representation

For over 45 years, Accord has been achieving improvements for members. All through constructive dialogue with your employer.

We negotiate terms and conditions of employment and continuously campaign for improvements. The most obvious of these negotiations occurs annually. Yes, we're talking about whether or not you get an annual pay rise and how much you'll get. But we do more than talk about pay.

Throughout the year, our team of experienced negotiators talk to your employer about policies and procedures that govern the way you're treated at work. Things like better parental leave and pay policies, how performance is managed and how issues are resolved fairly. We demand first class safety in the workplace - our record and your employer's treatment of workers during the Covid-19 pandemic speaks for itself.

Individual representation

Our dedicated, skilled team of officers and legal advisers are really accessible. They provide individual advice, support and representation at grievance, health wellbeing & attendance, performance, or disciplinary meetings, and are on hand to talk you through any other work-related matter that crops up.

Accord has around 350 trained workplace representatives who complement our professional team, spread across the UK. They're on hand to help out in your workplace when things aren't going so well. Reps are the beating heart of the union, and often the first port of call offering advice, guidance, information and representation.

Our voice is louder and stronger when we join together. That's why workers join a union. And that's why many in Lloyds Banking Group and TSB join Accord.

What has Accord done recently?

For over 45 years, Accord has been working hard to improve members’ working lives. 

Let’s look back at 2024 and some of our recent achievements in Lloyds Banking Group …

Watch the video below or carry on reading for full details.

Thanks to our collective strength and influence, Accord has delivered real benefits for all colleagues in Lloyds Banking Group. 

Let’s take a look at our achievements in 2024:

• We secured a £1,500 pay rise (or 4% if this is higher) for full-time staff in grades A to E in the 2025 pay deal.
• For grades F & G the budget is 3.5%.
• As a result, 29,000 colleagues will receive increases of between 4% & 7% 
• Thanks to successive union agreements, the minimum starting salary at Lloyds Banking Group will have been increased by more than a third between March 2021 and April 2025.
• We supported thousands of individuals with flexible working hours, shift changes, and hybrid working – making work more manageable for all.
• Avoided redundancies through redeployment and retraining, and where job losses were unavoidable, we secured enhanced compensation for our members.
• Focussed on providing opportunities for skills development and career growth – agreement was reached to introduce a new Skills Council in 2025 to guide investment in career growth, and Union Skills Champions to help identify and promote training opportunities.
• Approximately £3 million in compensation was won by Accord and its legal team to settle disputes at work. That’s an average of £250,000 every month!
• Our team of specialist lawyers secured tens of thousands of pounds in compensation for members involved in accidents at work or elsewhere that was no fault of their own. Every member got to keep 100% of their award.
• Through our private healthcare cashback scheme, we paid over £100,000 to members to help with their excess payments - making healthcare more accessible and affordable.  
• Over £10,000 in grants were paid to members through our Lifelong Learning fund – set up to help members with further education course fees.
• In 2024, our helpline answered nearly 6,000 calls from members with issues at work – from small queries to serious matters like disciplinaries and discrimination.
• We supported more than 600 members in formal meetings, offering expert representation when they needed it most. That’s roughly 12 colleagues a week who would otherwise have had to ‘go it alone’. 
• We welcomed over 3,000 new members in 2024 – amplifying our collective voice and giving us even more influence to shape future employment policies.
• Our workplace reps continue to be a strong, accessible network across LBG – trained, knowledgeable, and always ready to help.
• Our 2024 Conference in Glasgow brought together our vibrant network of reps to celebrate our shared union values and to set the union’s objectives through to the end of 2026. Tackling key issues like the future of AI, pay, and grading. We’ve been working hard to pursue those objectives. 
• Health and safety remains a top priority. We’ve established regular meetings with LBG’s Group Health & Safety team, supported the rollout of new training for health and wellbeing advocates and we’re doing all we can to keep you safe at work. 
• Our digital presence has been enhanced with a revamped website, the launch of news alerts to keep members better informed about the work we’re doing, more articles, helpful guides, and easy access to the information you need.
• And there’s plenty more we do behind the scenes on a regular basis to look after our members and their livelihoods. 

All of this has been achieved through constructive dialogue with your employer.

Isn't that something to be proud of? Now, let's make 2025 even better!

Organise an event

Organise an event (online or in person) to promote the great work Accord does for its members, talk about the benefits of joining and share stories about why being a member is important to you. Use one of the event templates available in the resources section below to promote the event for your workplace. And remember to tell your colleagues that if they sign up between 10 Feb - 14 Mar 2025 using the promo code: LOVEACCORD they'll be given three months' free membership!

If you’re planning on running an on-site event and need some promotional merchandise, complete an online order form and in the ‘reason for request’ field mention HeartUnions so we can send you some HeartUnions merch.

If you'd like us to promote your event on our website, email the details to: [email protected]

Share your story

Your stories are powerful. As part of HeartUnions week, we want as many people to hear yours, so others can benefit too. So, if you have a positive story to tell that would encourage others to join Accord, we’d love to hear from you. Share it on X, LinkedIn or Facebook and remember to tag us @AccordUnion and use #HeartUnions #HeartAccord

If you’d like to remain anonymous, that’s fine. Send us an email: [email protected] and we’ll share your story for you.

Check out our HeartUnions resources below for lots of promotional materials and social media assets for you to share during HeartUnions week.

Wishing you a Happy #HeartUnions Week!