For A Shorter Working Week

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Conference
2005 Local Government Service Group Conference
Date
25 February 2005
Decision
Carried as Amended

Local government workers are coming under increasing pressure to work longer hours, often for no extra recompense, to cover for staff cuts and shortages. This is causing massive increases in stress levels exacerbating the situation and leading to further absence and staffing shortfalls.

This spiral has been clearly demonstrated in the opinion polls conducted for UNISON over the last few years by the NOP. The pressure of work for most workers has increased dramatically since the signing of the Single Status agreement in 1997.

To combat this, Conference calls upon the SGE to consult all local government branches on the proposal to reduce the working week to 35 hours (full time) with no loss of pay.

In the event of a positive result to the consultation, Conference instructs the UNISON NJC Committee to submit and pursue the claim with the employers and report back on progress made to the local government conference 2006.